Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • November 22, 2024 11 Ministries of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi In the Gospel of Matthew, as the Lord Jesus was about to ascend to the Father, He gave the Great Commission to the Apostles, commanding them to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.* And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20). Jesus established the Catholic Church to evangelize, and He gives us His Great Commission in Matthew’s gospel to make disciples of all nations, to baptize them, to teach all He commands us, and to trust that He is with us always. The reason we exist as a Church is to evangelize. To evangelize is to welcome people into a personal relationship with God that will transform them completely inside and out. Living out the Great Commission of Jesus is both personal and communal. Each of us is called personally not only to witness to our faith but also to accompany others in faith. Each of our parishes, schools, and ministries have the same mission, and it should be fostered each time the community comes together. Office of Vocations Director: Father Braxton Necaise The Diocese of Biloxi Vocations Office has seen significant growth with- in the past year. For the 2024-2025 academic year, we accepted three new seminarians. This brings our current total number of seminarians to nine men. In 2023, Vocation Ministry, which is based in Houston, TX, produced a report which showed that in order for us to sustain the current levels of priest within the Diocese of Biloxi, we are in need of fourteen seminarians. Since the issu- ance of this report and with the retirement of priests, we now need sixteen seminarians. We are currently at 56% of our seminarian goal. We have five men currently at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, LA. We have three men at St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, LA. We have one transitional Deacon who is currently in a parish assignment. We recently accepted as a candidate, a young woman for Consecrated Virginity Living in the World. Our Diocesan Vocations Team helped our seminarians to begin the process of consecrating themselves to Mary. We currently have seven of our nine sem- inarians who have consecrated themselves to Mary. The Vocations Office was consecrated to Mary on July 31 at our annual convocation. We consecrated the office to Mary in her image as Rosa Mystica. There is a promise from Mary to those who have a devotion to her in this image that vocations will prosper. This image of Mary was incorporated into our annual Vocations Poster. We currently have five parishes with active Vocation Ministry Teams. In April, the Vocations Office was present at the Diocese of Biloxi Youth Conference. We had forty-four individuals who submitted their names indicat- ing that they are interested in either the priesthood or religious life. A number of our youth groups within the Diocese attended Steubenville Youth Conferences over the summer. We had a total of nineteen of our young people express interest and openness to discerning a priesthood or religious vocation during these conferences. We launched our new Vocations website: biloxivocations.org . Young men now have the opportunity to sign up for weekly personalized discernment texts or email messages from the Vocations Office, providing them with help- ful advice as they discern God’s will in their lives. In our Catholic schools, we launched this fall the Traveling Vocation Crucifix. This crucifix travels from classroom to classroom within our schools and encourages our students to pray for Vocations. Each school is forming a Vocation Ministry Team, which will help to assist students as they discern. We will be launching a Vocations curriculum for our Catholic schools within the next month. Please join us in praying for a fresh outpouring of Vocations here in the Diocese of Biloxi. We pray for those whose hearts may be stirred by the Holy Spirit, that they may have the courage to discern and that their families may be supportive. If you are interested in forming a parish Vocation Team, please feel free to reach out to Father Braxton Necaise, the Director of Vocations here in the Diocese of Biloxi, at (228) 863-1610. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Office of the Permanent Diaconate Director: Deacon Mike Harris The Office of the Permanent Diaconate fosters the ministry of our ordained deacons and guides the formation of new deacons. Cur- rently we have 39 active deacons, 10 retired dea- cons and 33 men in for- mation. We conduct retreats and provide continuing education for our ordained deacons. During this past year the office organized a special retreat/convocation with the Catherine of Siena Institute to help us identify and better understand the charisms God has given us. Understanding these graces helps us better know how God uses us in ministry to serve those around us. Additionally, we have quarterly “Post Ordination” sessions to help prepare us to better serve our parishes and the diocese. Formation of men for the diaconate is now a 5-year process. There is a focus on the Human, Spiritual, Intellectual and Pastoral dimensions of the individual. We currently have 15 men in the Class of 2025 and 18 men in the Class of 2028 for a total of 33 men in formation. The Senior Class meets once a month at the Kelly Retreat Center in Bay St. Louis. Class starts Friday night and ends around noon on Sundays. The Junior Class meets once a month at the Chancery all day Saturday. Both classes have “End of Year” Retreats over a weekend to reflect on their calling. SEE MINISTRIES, PAGE 12