Gulf Pine Catholic • April 24, 2026 3 Gulf Pine Catholic (ISSN No. 0746-3804) April 24, 2026 Volume 43, Issue 15 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 McCusker —BILLING — Shirley McCusker —CIRCULATION— Robin Peeler —OFFICEHOURS— 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday —PHONE NUMBERS— Editor: 228-702-2126 Production/Advertising: 228-702-2109 Billing: 228-702-2109 Circulation: 228-702-2100 —EMAIL— News: tdickson@biloxidiocese.org Production / Advertising: smccusker@biloxidiocese.org Billing: smccusker@biloxidiocese.org Circulation: rpeeler@biloxidiocese.org —OFFICEAND MAILINGADDRESS — 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —WEBSITE— www.gulfpinecatholic.com —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 8— News copy and photos: Due APRIL 28, 4 p.m. Advertising: Completed Ad and/or copy due APRIL 28, 10 a.m. Bishop Kihneman’s Schedule April 24- Knights of Columbus 26 Convention, Natchez, MS April 26 Mass, Holy Infant of Good Health, St. Ann Parish, Clermont Harbor, 2 p.m. April 28 Confirmation, Most Holy Trinity Parish, Pass Christian, 6:30 p.m. April 29 Catholic Charities Meeting, Pastoral Center, 3 p.m. April 29 Confirmation, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Long Beach, 6 p.m. April 30 Foundation Meeting, Pastoral Center, 2 p.m. April 30 Confirmation, St. Alphonsus Parish, Ocean Springs, 6 p.m. May 1 Mass, Blessing of Columbaria, Sacred Heart Parish, D’Iberville, 8:30 a.m. May 2 Confirmation, Immaculate Conception Parish, Laurel, 1 p.m. May 3 Confirmation, St. Bernadette Parish, Waynesboro, 11:15 a.m. May 5 Confirmation, Our Lady of the Gulf Parish, Bay St. Louis, 6 p.m. May 6 Confirmation, Our Lady of Victories Parish, Pascagoula, 8:45 a.m. May 8 Confirmation, Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Biloxi, 6 p.m. May 9 Confirmation, Blessing of New Parish Hall, Vietnamese Martyrs Parish, Biloxi, 5 p.m. May 10 Confirmation, Sacred Heart Parish, D’Iberville, 5 p.m. BY BISHOP LOUIS F. KIHNEMAN III Bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” Isaiah tells us, “because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God, to comfort all who mourn.” The prophet, Isaiah, is speaking about our Savior, Jesus, very directly: this is the Christ, Jesus, who brings anointing, healing, and the personal love of God into our lives. For those of us in Holy Orders, this passage is deeply personal. In ordination to the Holy Orders, Christ becomes the center of our lives. His love draws us to the priesthood and calls us to be healers -- serving all we encounter with compassion and care. This call is both an invitation and a responsibility. In a particular way, we see this lived out in the Church’s use of the holy oils. Blessed at the Chrism Mass each year Chrism Mass 2026 Anointed to Heal: The Sacred Gift of Christ in the Life of the Church during Holy Week: the Oil of Catechumens and the Oil of the Sick, and the consecration of the Oil of Sacred Chrism. These oils become powerful signs of Christ’s love and healing at work among His people. At the Easter Vigil, throughout our diocese, men and women and children enter the Church through the waters of baptism. As they enter the Easter water and it is poured over them, they become sons and daughters of God, baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In that moment, all sins are forgiven. It is a powerful and transformative grace. They are then anointed -- marked with sacred Oil of Catechumens as a sign of healing and new life in Christ. They are also anointed with Holy Chrism as a sign that they are now priests, prophets, kings and queens, heirs of heaven as sons and daughters of God! Through these sacramental actions, the healing of Jesus becomes present through the hands of the priest (deacons may also baptize). It is both humbling and extraordinary. Those same hands, anointed at ordination, are entrusted with the care of souls. They absolve sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation -- one of the most humbling and beautiful moments in the life of a priest. To speak the words of absolution is to witness the mercy of God poured out in a deeply personal way over the penitent. In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the faithful are sealed with the Holy Spirit and strengthened to live as mature disciples. Through the anointing with the Oil of Holy Chrism, they receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of faith, hope, and love. They are sent forth to live their Catholic faith boldly and to witness to the love of Jesus, our Savior, in and through their lives. SEE BISHOP’S COLUMN, PAGE 7
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