Gulf Pine Catholic

18 Gulf Pine Catholic • September 27, 2024 Sacred Heart Parish in Hattiesburg recently held a workshop for the parish and school religion teachers as well as the OCIA facilitators about the Directory for Catechists. Deacon Mike Butler presented the workshop. Father Sergio wants to thank Deacon Mike for his time and dedication helping Sacred Heart’s teachers start the sacramental year by receiving faith formation and sharing it with the students. Workshop for parish and school religion teachers S acred H eart P arish , H attiesburg S anta M aria del M ar , B iloxi Santa Maria del Mar Residents complete The Rescue Project Residents of Santa Maria recently completed The Rescue Project , a 9-week video series hosted by Father John Ricardo and ACTS XXIX. Each received a St. Joan of Arc medal and prayer card for completing the series. Left, residents who complete The Rescue Project. They are: from left to right: Anne Hardison, Melba Saucier, Freda Moore, Harriet Leckich, Greg Crapo, Anne Hale, Judy Tobias, Bonnie Jennings, Virginia Nobles Medjugorje Vatican From page 1 “This often-repeated appeal probably comes from the love and generous fervor of the alleged visionaries who, with goodwill, feared that the Blessed Mother’s calls for conversion and peace would be ignored,” the note said. “This insistence becomes even more problematic when the messages refer to requests that are unlikely to be of supernatu- ral origin, such as when Our Lady gives orders about specific dates, places, and practicalities and when she makes decisions about ordinary matters.” In fact, in many of the messages, the dicastery said, Mary “asks that her messages be listened to, but she also subordinates them to the incomparable value of the Word revealed in the Holy Scriptures.” The dicastery drew particular attention to the alleged messages’ description of Mary as “Queen of Peace” and how they rightly offer “a vision that is theocentric and very rich in the true meaning of peace. According to this understanding, peace signi- fies not only the absence of war; it also has a spiri- tual, family, and social meaning.” “A constant call to abandon a worldly lifestyle and excessive attachment to worldly goods appears in the messages, along with frequent calls for con- version, which makes true peace in the world possi- ble,” it said. Cardinal Fernández said that with a little “good sense,” most Catholics will be able to distinguish between the alleged messages that are spiritually beneficial and those that are imprecise or simply unimportant, like one in which Mary tells the young people her birthday is Aug. 5 and not Sept. 8, as celebrated on the church’s calendar. Asked if he had ever been to Medjugorje, the cardinal said he had during a trip to Europe with two confreres to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their ordinations, which would have meant the trip was in 2011 or 2012. The cardinal said he had not wanted to go -- he preferred Venice or Florence -- but one of the priests was a “fanatic” and they gave in. Although the bus journey was not easy, the car- dinal said what he found in Medjugorje was “an environment of prayer and peace” and a desire among the pilgrims to change their lives. “We prayed, and it did us well,” he said. Las Misas Celebradas en Español / Masses Celebrated in Spanish Sábado/Saturday Laurel: Immaculate Conception Parish, 8 p.m. Pascagoula: Sacred Heart Parish, 6 p.m. Domingo/Sunday Bay St. Louis: St. Rose de Lima Parish, 12 noon Biloxi: Blessed Seelos Parish, 11 a.m. Gulfport: St. John the Evangelist Parish, 2 p.m. Hattiesburg: Sacred Heart Parish, 1:30 p.m. Laurel: Immaculate Conception Parish, 4 p.m Ocean Springs: St. Alphonsus Parish, 2 p.m. Picayune: St. Charles Borromeo Parish, 12:30 p.m. Lunes/Monday Biloxi: Our Lady of Fatima Parish, 6 p.m. Jueves/Thursday Laurel: Immaculate Conception Parish, 7 p.m.