Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • June 7, 2024 3 Gulf Pine Catholic (ISSN No. 0746-3804) June 7, 2024 Volume 41, Issue 21 The GULF PINE CATHOLIC , published every other week, is an official publication of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Editorial offices are located at 1790 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, MS 39532. Periodical postage paid at Gulfport, MS. —POSTMASTER— Send address changes to: The GULF PINE CATHOLIC 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —PUBLISHER— Most Rev. Louis F. Kihneman —EDITOR— Terry Dickson —PRODUCTION/ ADVERTISING — Shirley M c Cusker —BILLING — Aimee M c Lendon —CIRCULATION— Robin Peeler —PHOTOGRAPHY— Juliana Skelton —OFFICEHOURS— 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday —PHONE NUMBERS— Editor: 228-702-2126 Production/Advertising: 228-702-2109 Billing: 228-702-2127 Circulation: 228-702-2100 Photography: 228-201-2132 —EMAIL— News: tdickson@biloxidiocese.org Production / Advertising: smccusker@biloxidiocese.org Billing: amclendon@biloxidiocese.org Circulation: rpeeler@biloxidiocese.org Photography: jskelton@biloxidiocese.org —OFFICEAND MAILINGADDRESS — 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —WEBSITE— www.gulfpinecatholic.com —SUBSCRIPTIONS — Subscription rate is $18 per year. When changing address, renewing or inquiring about a subscription, customer should include a recent address label with old address and new address. Allow three weeks for changes of address. —DEADLINES for JUNE 21— News copy and photos: Due JUNE 11, 4 p.m. Advertising: Completed Ad and/or copy due JUNE 11, 10 a.m. Bishop Kihneman’s Schedule June 10 Mass, Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis, 10 a.m. June 10 Adoration, Holy Hour, Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis, National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, 5 p.m. June 12- USCCB Spring Meeting, 14 Louisville, KY June 16 Mass & Installation of Pastor, Father Tomasz Golab, St. Peter, Bassfield, 10 a.m. June 20 Finance Council Meeting, Pastoral Center, Biloxi, 2 p.m. BY BISHOP LOUIS F. KIHNEMAN III Bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi “When the Father sends His Word [Jesus], He always sends His Breath [Holy Spirit]. In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 689). At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, the Apostles, and the first followers of Jesus in the upper room, and brought about the birth of the Church. The Holy Spirit bestowed gifts and fruits of the Spirit that are necessary to fulfill the Great Commission to all those present, and these gifts are also given to us. The Holy Spirit came with power, “When the time for Pentecost was ful- filled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were (Acts 2:1-2). We on the coast know what a strong, driving wind looks like, feels like, Bishop Kihneman Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth and sounds like. It is amazing, and it can be frightening when we encounter a powerful, driving wind. The Spirit also came in flames, “ Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them” (Acts 2:3). -- the flame of hope, the flame of faith, the flame of love. Our first encounter with the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments is in our Baptism. We are anointed two times at Baptism -- before, we are anointed with the Oil of Catechumens, and following the baptismal water, we are anointed with the Oil of Chrism -- which is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We are reborn and set on a path towards God, in which we truly become sons and daughters of God, heirs of heaven, and His Spirit dwells within us. It is His Spirit that leads us, guides us, shapes us into His disciples, and keeps the light of Christ that we receive at our Baptism bright in our lives. When those present in the upper room received the Holy Spirit, and allowed the Spirit to move and work in them, they were able to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, “as the Spirit enabled them.” St. Peter’s bold proclamation of the Gospel soon after he received the Holy Spirit is recorded in Acts 2:14-41. He urged the people to repent and be baptized and forgiven so that they could also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit: Peter [said] to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Those who accepted His message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day (Acts 2:38,41). Confirmation, our own Pentecost, is given to us to enable us to become inten- tional disciples of Jesus Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit. With the laying on of hands and the anointing on the forehead with Holy Chrism oil, we invoke the Holy Spirit upon each indi- vidual to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus to become his committed disciple. All of us who have received the Sacrament of Confirm-ation have received the gifts and fullness of the Spirit of God. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are described in Isaiah 11:2-3, as wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, for- titude, piety, and fear of the Lord. These gifts and the Spirit that brings them are meant to change our lives. Through the Spirit, we allow God to guide our lives, but we must cooperate with His Spirit. We are to live according to the Spirit as followers of Christ. The Gifts of the Spirit are ours to use for the glory of God and for the evangelization of those we encounter. In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul writes that when we are guided by the Spirit, we realize the fruits of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control . We pray for the Spirit to come to us when we gather to worship and celebrate the Eucharist. We ask that God sanctify the gifts we offer on the Altar by sending the Holy Spirit, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eucharistic Prayer II, 101).” The bread and the wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus born of Mary through the Holy Spirit, the Jesus whose Spirit we are baptized into, the Jesus that speaks to us through His word, the Jesus who died on the cross, the Jesus who rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father, and He gives us himself to us in Holy Communion. SEE BISHOP’S COLUMN, PAGE 10