Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • May 12, 2023 3 Gulf Pine Catholic (ISSN No. 0746-3804) May 12, 2023 Volume 40, Issue 19 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 —CIRCULATION— Aimee McLendon —PHOTOGRAPHY— Juliana Skelton —OFFICEHOURS— 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday —PHONE NUMBERS— Editor: 228-702-2126 Production/Advertising: 228-702-2109 Circulation: 228-702-2127 Photography: 228-201-2132 —EMAIL— News: tdickson@biloxidiocese.org Production / Advertising: smccusker@biloxidiocese.org Circulation: amclendon@biloxidiocese.org Photography: jskelton@biloxidiocese.org —OFFICEAND MAILINGADDRESS — 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —WEBSITE— www.biloxidiocese.org —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 MAY 26 EDITION— News copy and photos: Due MAY 17, 4 p.m. Advertising: Completed Ad and/or copy due MAY 17, 10 a.m. Bishop Kihneman’s Schedule May 14 Mass, Rite to Candidacy Seminarians Chris Collins and Jacob Lott and Rite of Lector, PJ Necaise, Nativity BVM Cathedral, Biloxi, 11 a.m. May 16 Annual Association of Priest meeting, St. Francis, Madison 10:30 a.m. May 16 Baccalaureate Mass & Resurrection High School Graduation, Our Lady of Victories, Pascagoula, 6 p.m. May 17-18 Bishops’ Meeting, The Cenacle on the Lake Retreat Center, Metairie, LA May 19 Baccalaureate Mass & Our Lady Academy Graduation, Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis, 6 p.m. May 20 Baccalaureate Mass & St. Stanislaus College Graduation, Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis, 11 a.m. May 21 Mass, Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Confirmation, St. Alphonsus Parish, Ocean Springs, 5:30 p.m. May 25 Confirmation Mass, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Wiggins, 5 p.m. May 27 Vigil Mass, Solemnity of Pentecost, Confirmation, Holy Spirit Parish, Vancleave, 6 p.m. May 28 Mass Solemnity of Pentecost, Adult Confirmation, Nativity BVM Cathedral, 11 a.m. BY BISHOP LOUIS F. KIHNEMAN III Bishop of Biloxi Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much, you can never love her more than Jesus did. St. Maximilian Kolbe There are at least 20 memorials, feast days, and solemnities for our Mother, Mary, throughout our liturgical year (three are Holy Days of Obligation), the Catholic Church has designated the month of May to Mary, the Mother of God. In the Scriptures, we have her yes, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) , and her role as the Mother of Jesus that we read in the Gospels -- His Nativity, His Presentation, her searching with St. Joseph to find Him in the Temple, her encouraging His first public miracle, to Mary witnessing the Passion and death of her only son. She was steadfast to her Son all the way to the foot of the cross and remained in prayer with the apostles in the upper room for the Bishop Kihneman Mary, a model for all Christians encounter with the Risen Jesus and for the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Outside the celebration of the Eucharist, one of my most powerful encounters with Jesus happened when I was very ill and weak in the hospital contemplating whether God wanted me to be your Bishop or if He was calling me home. During my prayer and medi- tation on Jesus forsaken on the cross, I heard Jesus speak clearly to me, “Behold your mother” and then he said “Behold your son.” I have always had a special devo- tion to Mary, but in this moment, when I barely felt tethered to this world and not quite able to grasp the next, I felt a renewed and intensified connection to Mary, as my mother. I took the words of Jesus to heart and I clung to them and to Mary as I carried my cross through my pain and suffering and slowly recovered. The more we fall in love with our Blessed Mother, the deeper we fall in love with Jesus. Mary always leads us into deeper relationship with her Son. We can pray for her intercession before her Son which we do every time we pray the “Hail, Mary.” When we con- sider the prayers and meditations of the Rosary, while we are praying and meditating on our Savior, we are asking His (and our) mother, Mary, to intercede for us in prayer so that we may obtain the virtues to live a life close to her Son. When Mary appeared to the children at Fatima (memorial May 13), her messages of prayer, penance, and reparation for sins, she asks us to pray, and particularly to pray the Rosary. Jesus witnessed that His mother was blessed by her faithfulness to the Word of God, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Luke 11:28) . Mary is a model for all Christians. She shows us obedience in faith, humility, and purity. She is a model of charity, hope, and perseverance in her faith that God’s holy covenants would be fulfilled. “Full of grace” she was redeemed by God from the moment of her conception. Conceived without sin, she is literally the “perfect” example to us all of holiness achieved through union with Jesus. Mary, Mother of God, and Queen of Peace, Pray for us! SEE BISHOP’S COLUMN IN SPANISH, PAGE 6