Gulf Pine Catholic

2 Gulf Pine Catholic • January 3, 2025 Diocese of Biloxi Bulletin Board Diocese of Biloxi Bulletin Board ► Notre Dame Hospice Looking for Volunteers ~ Notre Dame Hospice is looking for volunteers to serve in their Mississippi church parishes.Volunteers can provide caregiver relief, compan- ionship for patients, run errands, play music, prepare a meal & offer whatev- er talents our volunteers would like to VOLUNTEERS ► St. Mary Parish, Woolmarket, Jan. 4, 2025, First Saturday Devotion ~ All are invited to attend our First Saturday Devotion at St. Mary in Woolmarket on Jan. 4 to help bring devotion to the Mother of God in the new year. We will begin the Devotion with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 9:30 a.m. Then we will pray the scriptural Rosary at 10 a.m. There will also be the hearing of con- fessions, meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary as requested by Our Lady of Fatima, & Holy Mass at 11 a.m. A procession will follow in PARISH EVENTS ► St. Stanislaus College, Bay St. Louis, Jan. 16, 2025, Day Student Interview Night for 2025-26 App- licants ~ St. Stanislaus is pleased to invite parents to register their sons for our upcoming Day Student Interview Night, an important step in the admis- sions process for the 2025-2026 school year. This event is scheduled for Thurs., Jan. 16, 2025, 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. All new incoming day students are required to participate in this interview process, which provides an opportuni- ty for applicants to meet with a mem- ber of our admissions team. These one-on-one interviews are designed to get to know your son better and assess his fit for our academic community. Register for the Day Student Interview Night: https://ststan.com/day-stu- dent-interview/ ► St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School, Long Beach, March 29, 2025, An Evening with Caleb and John ~ This event will be a faith-filled concert of praise & worship with Christian Music duo Caleb & John who brought us the hit songs “Hallelujah Feeling” & “Somebody Like Me.” It will be held at St. Vincent de Paul School, 4321 Espy Ave., Long Beach, March 29, 2025, 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $20 if purchased before Jan. 1. For more info, contact Jamie Ruoss at (352) 223-4218. SCHOOL EVENTS ► Courage International ~ Courage International is an apostolate within the Catholic Church for men & women who experience same-sex attractions & who have made a commitment to strive for chastity. They are inspired by the Gospel call to holiness & the Catholic Church’s beautiful teachings about the goodness & inherent purpose of human sexuality. Through this apos- tolate, people who experience same- sex attraction receive pastoral support in the form of spiritual guidance, com- munity prayer support, & fellowship. EnCourage is an apostolate which provides pastoral care for families & friends of people who experience same-sex attractions &/or gender dis- cordance. In many cases, their loved ones have adopted the LGBTQ label, & may have moved away from active- ly practicing their faith. Through local chapters & online support, our mem- bers receive help & encouragement to understand the experience of their loved ones more deeply, to foster healthy relationships within their fam- ilies, & to deepen their own relation- ship with Christ. For more infor. on the Courage Apostolate & group meeting info, please contact Father Mark Ropel at Church@stthomas-usm.org. For more info on the EnCourageApostolate & group meeting info, please contact Betsey Sawyer Estrade at esawye1@ gmail.com . APOSTOLATE Tthe Gulf Pine Catholic will be published two times a month instead of every two weeks. During the months of June, July, and August, there will only be one paper printed. Deadlines will remain 10 days prior to publication except for holiday schedules. which we will carry a statue of Our Lady & a banner to honor Mary from the Church to Murray Hall where we will enjoy a potluck lunch & refresh- ments. All are welcome to join us in this Devotion! For more info, please contact Sharon Poulette at (443) 699- 8281 or email aloha7290@gmail.com . share. Helping our staff with special events & activities is another way that you can assist. Hospice volunteers do not need any medical experience as they do not handle patients. If you are interested or would like more info, please contact: Janine Bonner, Volunteer Coordinator at (504) 418- 1049 or email jbonner@notredame- hospice.com . Catholics and Methodists are called to spread hope, pope says BY CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY ( CNS ) -- The upcoming celebration of the 1,700th anni- versary of the Council of Nicaea is a reminder to Christians that “we profess the same faith, and thus have the same responsibility of offering signs of hope that bear witness to God’s presence in the world,” Pope Francis told leaders of the World Methodist Council. The Council of Nicaea, which began meeting in May 325, led to agree- ments on the basic articles of faith and the development of the Nicene Creed, affirmed the full divinity of Christ and set a formula for determining the date of Easter. The anniversary, the pope said, “is a summons to all churches and ecclesi- al communities to persevere on the path to visible unity and in the quest of finding ways to respond fully to the prayer of Jesus ‘that they may all be one.’” Pope Francis met Dec. 16 with U.S. Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, who was elected in August to a five-year term as president of the World Methodist Council. She is the United Methodist bishop for the church’s Tennessee-based Holston Conference and for its West Virginia Conference. Bishop Wallace-Padgett was joined by the Rev. Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto, general secretary of the council, and the Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, direc- tor of the Methodist Ecumenical Office in Rome. For the Jubilee Year 2025, the official Catholic-Methodist theological dia- logue commission is preparing a document summarizing the 12 agreed state- ments the dialogue has produced since it began in 1966. While the theological dialogue continues to work toward agreements that will allow full unity, Pope Francis told the group, “We must journey together, as brothers and sisters, pray together, do charitable works together, and move forward together in dialogue.”