Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • November 22, 2024 19 • The Choose Life billboards and Protect Life car tags also continue to draw support and recognition for the Respect Life Movement. There are currently 62 billboards in 21 states. • Protecting our youth and vulnerable adults and providing a safe environment for learning and wor- ship is always a priority. We had a recent audit of our records and an onsite visit to confirm that we are doing all we can to ensure the protection of children, youth, and vulnerable adults. Each year we have age-appropriate training for our students, and our teachers, school staff, parish volunteers, clergy, and religious receive training on providing a safe envi- ronment. This past year, we trained 6,051 youth in our schools and religious education programs and 1,376 clergy, educators, employees, and volunteers. We have recently updated our Code of Conduct and Policy Regarding the Complaints of the Abuse of Minors and have moved to the Virtus program for training (www.virtus.org ). This platform enables us to track background checks, Safe Environment train- ing, and acknowledgment of our policies, priests, employees, and volunteers. It also provides excellent training materials and lets us know who has or has not completed the training. • A real point of pride is our Catholic schools. Enrollment is over 4,200 and I am very proud of our families, students, faculty, and staff for their hard work. Our Catholic schools are strongly committed to Forming Intentional Disciples who will follow Christ and change the world through their witness and actions. We have conducted Evangelization Leadership Training with all school leadership teams, faculty, and staff. In addition, our students’ test scores rank consistently above both state and national averages. • Evangelization Leadership at the Diocese and in our schools and parishes are working together to follow the Great Commission of Jesus to make dis- ciples, baptize, teach the Lord’s commands, and to remember that God loves each of us and Jesus suf- fered and died for us so that we might have abundant life and have eternal life. Adults, youth, and children are coming to Know Jesus, Love Jesus, Serve Jesus, and Witness to Jesus -- to become His disciples! Workshops and retreat days for school staff, faith formators, ministry leadership, in addition to our priest and deacon convocations are provided to learn to embrace the Great Commission to form disciples and disciple-makers in our families, schools, parish- es, and ministries. We have formed a cohort of ten parishes with their pastors for Evangelization Leadership Training and will begin another cohort of pastors and their leadership teams soon. • Through de l’Epee, we provided over 3,700 hours of communication and over 4,500 hours of service, giving equal access in medical, educational, legal, work and religious settings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. • The Tabitha Project provides valuable network- ing and counseling services for families with special needs learning about the faith journey. Teams are being built within each parish to continue the mis- sion and promote education among the congregation in the best way to support our parish family mem- bers living with special needs. • In July we traveled to Indianapolis to Lucas Oil Stadium to join 60,000 other Catholics for the National Eucharistic Congress. Over 240 people from our diocese were able to attend and we are still hearing about the incredible experiences being shared in our parishes. This is the beginning of the year “On Mission.” Our mission has many different efforts, but the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic remains front and center. • One major part of the Eucharistic Revival was the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that passed directly through our Diocese in July. A few of the events included walking along Highway 90 in Eucharistic procession with hundreds of parishio- ners from our Diocese and many other Dioceses as well. We walked just over 24 miles with the Blessed Sacrament being carried the entire way for the world to see. • The Kerygma is being preached and shared throughout the Diocese through our various Pathways to Discipleship, which provided programs such as Alpha , Divine Renovation , Called and Gifted , Evangelical Catholic , The 99 , Ananias Training , The Rescue Project , ChristLife , and Discipleship Quads . • Our Office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry also supports our parishes and college cam- puses in developing and maintaining their respective youth and young adult programs. They also assist our youth ministers in planning and formation to better understand how we can lead our youth to become intentional disciples of Jesus Christ in their parishes. • The Diocesan Project Team is supporting three initiatives for our parishes and schools. The first is having faith formation plans for all of our children, youth, and adults in formation. The second is devel- oping pathways of discipleship for our children, youth, and adults. And the third is having intentional unifying of faith development and worship calendars of parishes and schools to enable the school and religious education families to participate in parish faith development, worship, and community-build- ing events. • All of this is communicated through the Gulf Pine Catholic , our respective websites, our social media outlets and our regular Monday and Friday updates. Yes indeed, there is much to be thankful for in the Diocese of Biloxi. In the spirit of gratitude, let us remember that the Eucharist stands as the ultimate celebration of Thanksgiving. In the breaking of bread, we are reminded of Christ’s profound gift to us -- His body and blood, freely given out of love. Just as He shared His life with us, your contributions allow us to share that love with others, extending our reach to those in need and nourishing the spiritual lives of our community. Thank you for your dedication and support. Together, let us continue to be a living testament to God’s generosity, shining His light in the world around us. May you and your families have a blessed Thanksgiving filled with joy and peace. SEE BISHOP’S SPANISH COLUMN, PAGE 4 Bishop’s Column From page 3 Prayer for Vocations God our Father, We thank you for calling men and women to serve in Your Son’s Kingdom as priests, deacons, and consecrated persons. Send your Holy Spirit to help others to respond generously and courageously to Your call. May our community of faith support vocations of sacrificial love in our youth and young adults. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen