Faith Magazine 50th Anniversary Issue

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One faith, one family

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LIVE YOUR The Magazine of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis Bishop David P. Talley PUBLISHER

Rick Ouellette COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Amy Hall EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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Beth Simkanin STAFF WRITER

ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 VOLUME 7: ISSUE 8

FAITH West Tennessee magazine helps you live your faith in everyday life.

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FAITH West Tennessee (ISSN #23299878) (USPS No. 096070) is published monthly 10 times per year except for February and August by the nonprofit organization, FAITH Catholic. FAITH West Tennessee is the diocesan publication of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, serving more than 65,000 Catholics in West Tennessee. Periodical Postage paid at Memphis TN 38101 and other offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FAITH West Tennessee, P.O. Box 341669, Memphis, TN 38184-1669. Serviced by Catholic News Service – Faith West Tennessee – March 15, 2012

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house

THE MONA STE

in a CHURCH NDEMIC T I M E of P A The

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feature story

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4 life of virtue

Are we wasting time on the wrong things?

5 the sentient spirit

What baggage are you carrying?

6 feature story

St. Clare: A woman with an iron resolve

8 feature story

Coming home: A seminarian’s call to Memphis and the priesthood

10 feature story

12

Love for God and students: St. Paul Catholic School

12 feature story

120 years of faith and joy: Dominican Sisters providing education in West Tennessee

14 cover story

A legacy of faith: Passing the Catholic faith on to the next generation

18 one Catholic family 24/7 Penance, mercy and hope

20 feature story

And the bodies all lay where they fell 3

Are we

wasting time on the

wrong things?

LIFE OF VIRTUE

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ater this year (on the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, to be exact), we will hear the Gospel in which Jesus asks His disciples about their understanding of His identity. Toward the end of that Gospel

passage, Simon Peter rebuked Jesus for telling them that He had to die in order to fulfill His mission. After the Apostle’s comment, Jesus offered His own gentle rebuke: "You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

(Mk 8:33) This

short phrase resonates in my head and heart, and I think these few words

provide a key to understanding why the world operates as it does.

DEREK ROTTY

is a husband, father, historian, theologian and director of evangelization & discipleship at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Jackson, Tenn. His first book, A Life of Conversion: Meeting Christ in the Gospels, is available from Our Sunday Visitor Press.

Visit his website: derekrotty.com.

PHOTO BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

4

We are surrounded by an ocean of people who think according to the ways of humanity, rather than the ways of God. Sometimes, those people are at our jobs; sometimes, they are in our parishes; or sometimes, they are in our homes. Sometimes, we are those people! Sometimes, we're drowning in an ocean of bad philosophy, vindictive words and unholy actions. Sometimes, we are responsible for drowning others in those negative things. Usually, we have no one to blame but ourselves. That's because we're thinking as human beings do, and not as God does.

Each one of us is guilty of wasting too much time and in this way. Many of us spend lots of time thinking about how to save for retirement, which presidential candidate will save our country, which tribe lost a person from the island, the best mode of revenge on a co-worker or buying products that will make our lives easier. I certainly know that I can count myself among the people who think and act this way!

Yet, Jesus has made it abundantly clear: We must cease to think as fallen human beings, and begin to see with God’s eyes, hear with His ears and ponder things according to His heart. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that the spiritual gift of wisdom means “seeing things from God’s perspective.” Saving for retirement,

FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

voting for presidential candidates, watching television, dealing with work stresses and purchasing recreational toys are not bad things. They must, however, be submitted to God's light and grace for purification.

We must see them all with His eyes.

In that process of illumination and purification, we will begin to see that God will allow us to suffer in some ways. Yes, He will hold out crosses for us to take up and carry. That’s the very last clause of the Gospel passage mentioned above.

Some of us won't have much in our 401ks. Some won't get to watch the latest reality TV show or full weekends of football games. Others will have to deal with co-workers who are less than pleasant. Others will not have the newest gadgets available on the capitalist market. But, it is true that the people who willingly submit to God’s illumination and purification, those who have begun to think as God does (or try to do so), will bear these small crosses more joyfully. Good and lasting spiritual fruit, the best things in life, will be brought into their lives.

So, let’s cease wasting too much time thinking according to the ways of the world. Rather, let’s go to our mighty and merciful God in prayer and ask Him to teach us how to think as He does. That will begin to transform the world in which we live!

During my 10 years serving as an active university president, travel to various meetings and to visiting benefactors was an essential component of my vocation. Fortunately, my wife joined me on many of these trips, which was wonderful for me. However, each of us had a significantly different concept of how much baggage we would need and how much we needed to pack for our trips. My goal for travel was to return home with a suitcase filled only with used clothes, while my wife enjoyed carrying extras so that each event had multiple possibilities of outfits. Our different styles of packing at times led to friction as to bag sizes and their respective weights.

Recently, I was listening to a former NFL football player named Gary Shamiel, who, after a modest football career, started a career as a public speaker with a focus on the concept of the emotional baggage we carry with us on a daily basis that inhibits our ability to live life to its fullest.

He equated emotional baggage to luggage we carry around in the trunks of our cars, where we may clean the outside of our cars but seldom empty out our trunks. Just as the car is weighed down by all of this baggage and cannot perform to its fullest, we are weighed down by our emotional baggage. He suggests that each of us should spend some time cleansing our souls of that baggage.

In the Scriptures, Jesus makes it very clear that in order for the apostles to be effective in their ministries, they needed to shed their physical and emotional baggage: Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick — – no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second

tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The Scripture passage above provides us with a wonderful lesson of how we can effectively follow the example of Jesus. By shedding their physical and emotional baggage, the apostles were able to work miracles such as driving out demons and curing the sick. I am convinced that in the passage above, Jesus was referring to individuals who did not listen to the apostles, as those who carried too much baggage were unable to provide fertile ground for the proliferation of God’s word.

Just as the apostles gained strength in shedding their baggage, we can equally become stronger by letting go of feelings we are holding onto that prevent us from freely accepting Jesus and listening to His word. What’s in your trunk?

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What baggage are you carrying?

THE SENTIENT SPIRIT

DR. JOHN SMARRELLI, JR.,

president emeritus, Christian Brothers University

5

FEATURE STORY

ST. CLARE

K

nown to contemporaries as Chiara Offreduccio, Clare was born in

1194 in Assisi, a small city in the Umbria

A woman with an iron resolve

region of Italy, the eldest daughter of Favorino Scifi, count of Sasso-Rosso, a forceful but honest Catholic gentleman.

Her lovely mother Ortolana, of the noble Fiumi family from Florence, was conspicuous for her piety and care for the poor.

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FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

Clare was an attractive, highly intelligent young woman. Well-educated, Clare had a first-rate intellect; her letters exhibit a fine literary style. Young women, even members of noble families, were expected to find work for their hands. She exhibited a great talent for embroidery, examples of which still display the clean artistry of her industry.

Beyond that, Clare was a handful. She was as inflexible and single-minded as any man or woman who keeps themselves focused on God. Earthly endeavors had no appeal to Clare. From her youth, she desired spiritual union with Jesus above all else – despite pressures to the contrary from family, society, government and even the hierarchy of the Church.

Such dedication is disturbing to those who think that docility, meekness, modesty and humility really mean being fainthearted, submissive, spineless and cowardly.

Courageously resolute saints like Clare have a tendency to disturb people who aren’t. Taking seriously Christ’s declaration that perfection comes by renouncing riches, power and fame, Clare herself was going to achieve that ideal – come hell or high water.

At age 18, she heard the words of a man considered a traitor to his well-born merchant class and her life turned a somersault.

Francesco Bernardone, son of a wealthy cloth merchant, was poking about the tumbledown ruins of a church called San Damiano on the outskirts of Assisi when he heard the voice of God: “Behold My Church has fallen into ruin. Rebuild My Church!”

Francesco, Assisi’s master of revels, left behind the soft arms of his ladies, the dicing tables of his friends and all his fine clothing. He donned a coarse woolen tunic of "beast color," the same as worn by the poorest Umbrian peasants. Around it, he tied a knotted rope.

Thus attired, Francesco took literally the command he heard. Begging for stones from friends and neighbors, who were at first sure he’d gone mad. Yet Francesco restored the walls of San Damiano and two other churches, aided by men touched by his love of poverty.

In time, Francesco grasped that God meant him to use human hearts, transformed into living stones and galva-

nized with love, to rebuild the Church as the reality of “the body of Christ” on earth.

Pope Innocent III, impressed by Francesco’s humility, allowed him to form his Ordo Fratres Minores, the “Order of Little Brothers,” as beggars and street preachers.

Regarding the priesthood as a vocation far above him, Francesco followed the pope’s command that he be ordained a deacon so he could sing the Gospel and preach at Mass.

Now the apostle of “Lady Poverty,” Francesco preached the Palm Sunday sermon in Assisi’s cathedral in 1212. Hearing him, Clare found her heart and soul awash in a deluge of ardent love. She implored his aid to live in poverty, “after the manner of the Holy Gospel.” She wanted to live with women consecrated to Francesco’s vision, sisters prayerfully united with his mendicant brothers, devoted to the love of Jesus.

That Palm Sunday evening, she arrived at St. Mary of the Angels, one of the churches Francesco restored. Stepping out of her beautiful gown, Clare bent her head to Francesco, who sheared off her radiant blonde tresses. She donned a nun’s woolen, homespun habit and quickly fled to a nearby Benedictine convent, a few steps ahead of her father.

The mighty Count Scifi banged on the doors of the convent, demanding she leave and return home. He intended that Clare should make a fine marriage with a husband from another high-born family.

Her father was adamant. Clare was inflexible.

Unable to overcome his daughter’s unyielding resolve, the count at last gave way and left in peace. Clare wanted no one other than Jesus.

The holy Clare attracted other holy women. Indeed, two weeks after Clare’s flight from home, her father was again infuriated when his daughter Agnes, also a canonized saint, joined Clare. Their little sister Beatrix followed. Eventually, the girls’ Aunt Bianca sought admittance.

After her husband’s death, Clare’s widowed mother came to join her daughters in Franciscan poverty. She is now honored as Blessed Ortolana Scifi.

Having renounced comfort and wealth, Clare and her religious family lived in crude shelters adjoining San Damiano. “Love Him totally, who gave Himself totally for your love,” she told her sisters. A sturdy wall was soon built and afforded the women a measure of privacy. Originally calling themselves

the Poor Ladies, ever since her election as With the soldiers scaling their walls, the abbess, they became known as Poor Clares. sisters fearfully sought out the abbess. She Clare and Francesco planned for the order was ill but rose from her sickbed. Always to be devoted to prayer, begging their bread devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, Clare from whomever would share it. The two brought from the chapel a silver and ivory friends joyfully discovered Jesus in serving basket-shaped pyx containing the Sacred the poor, the heartbroken, the desperately Host, which she raised on high as she endiseased – everyone whom Jesus called “the tered the courtyard. least of My brothers.”

The Saracens, bedazzled by a bright light In 1219, with Francesco away preachflooding from the pyx, were overcome with ing to the Saracens in Palestine, Cardinal fear and took flight. This is why Clare is Ugolino di Conti, appointed protector of the often represented in art holding high a ciboFranciscans by Pope Honorius III, drew up rium or monstrance. a rule for Clare’s order, effectively canceling The Church celebrates Clare’s life of the Franciscan principle of absolute poverty, devoted love on the day she died in 1253, which the cardinal Aug. 11. As with her regarded as impractibeloved Francesco, it cal for an order of took only two years for The Church celebrates women.

Pope Alexander IV to Clare’s life of devoted The cardinal inrecognize her sanctity, sisted. Clare resisted. canonizing her in 1255. love on the day she She and her sisters Her body can be viewed died in 1253, August continued to pray in the crypt at Santa 11th. Like her beloved and work as they Chiara, Italy. had. Clare continued Casting about for a Francesco, it took living in her hut, patron saint in 1950 for only two years for austerely sleeping on people working in the Pope Alexander IV to a bed of twigs covered wonder of television, with a mat woven out Pope Pius XII recalled recognize her sanctity, of rope. “Love that how Sister Clare, again canonizing her in 1255. cannot suffer is not suffering from a severe Her body can be viewed worthy of that name,” illness one Christmas she said. The cardinal Eve, was granted a in the crypt at Santa gave way. vision of the Mass she Chiara, Italy.

In 1228, Ugolino, ached to attend. now Pope Gregory So clear were the IX, came to Assisi to canonize Francesco a proceedings shown on the wall of her little scant two years after his death. While there, cell, Clare recognized people from the town Gregory visited Clare, again hoping to conand later accurately described what they vince her to be more prudent and accept the wore – the first instance of high-definition rule he’d drawn up. She replied that she was TV, courtesy of God. just fine as she was, thank you very much.

While St. Clare of Assisi is now the Calmly but firmly, Clare explained her patroness of all who work in the television position, finally convincing His Holiness industry, the prayerful intercession of the that she and the members of her order really gentle abbess of Assisi who embraced povcould live in Christ-like poverty. erty is available to anyone seeking higher After Gregory died, Clare’s heroic othgoals of spiritual perfection. erworldliness prevailed on Pope Innocent IV. She was finally left in peace to live in holy poverty.

SEAN M. WRIGHT, an Having stood up to popes, Clare was ready Emmy-nominated television to take on Emperor Frederick II as well. In writer, is a Master Catechist September 1240, during his on-again/offfor the Archdiocese of Los again struggle with whomever was pope, a Angeles. He is also part of contingent of Frederick’s Saracen mercenarthe RCIA team at Our Lady of Perpetual Help ies thought to invade the walled cloister of San Damiano at night to establish a foothold parish in Santa Clarita, CA. He responds to comments sent him at Locksley69@aol.com. from which to attack Assisi.

7

Coming home

FEATURE STORY

A seminarian’s call to Memphis and the priesthood

G

rowing up in Memphis, Seminarian John Griffith enjoyed exploring Memphis and serving as an altar server at St. Louis Catholic Church. The Catholic Church and Memphis are the two places where he felt like he was at home.

As a child, he loved to visit different churches in the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. It wasn’t just the brick and mortar that called to him, but Jesus, who was present in every one of them. Looking back on his childhood now, it makes sense to him that those two places had a hand in him answering God’s call to the priesthood.

“I have a deep love for Memphis,” said Griffith, who is in his third year of priestly formation. “My parents are from here. I have a deep, emotional and spiritual connection to Memphis and its people. I felt, and still feel, at home here. It’s through my connection to Memphis and the Catholic Church here that God called me to the priesthood to save souls in the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.”

8

Growing up in the Church As a child attending Catholic elementary and high school in East Memphis, the Church was the center of Griffith’s education and social life. He had a unique opportunity to observe and learn the duties of a priest when he became an altar server in fourth grade.

“I was on the altar a lot as a kid as an altar server and attended Catholic school, so I learned a lot about what a priest did, both behind the scenes and during Mass,” he said. “I thought priests were some of the coolest people in the world.”

He volunteered to serve as an altar server at weekly school Masses and during weddings and funerals. Additionally, he played the cello at various Catholic churches in the diocese. In high school, he was active in the youth group at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Cordova.

Griffith was interested in the priesthood as a child and teenager, but didn’t mention it to Msgr. John McArthur, who was pastor of St. Louis Catholic Church at the time, when the monsignor asked him if he was thinking about it.

FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

Griffith left Memphis to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., in 2011 where he majored in finance. He was active in campus ministry and attended Mass regularly through college. Upon graduation, he worked in the finance field in Northwest Arkansas for two years.

Even though he continued to attend Mass and be active in his parish in Tontitown, Ark., he admits that he didn’t feel a connection to the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock like he did to the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.

Coming home In July 2017, John made the drive to the Memphis area with his roommate to attend the Men’s Morning of Spirituality Conference at the Catholic Church of the Incarnation in Collierville, Tenn. The annual men’s conference is designed for Catholic men to encourage each other to live for Jesus while gathering in fellowship and worship.

Father Mike Schmitz, a priest and director of youth and young adult ministry in the Catholic Diocese of Duluth in Minnesota,

was the keynote speaker for the conference. His homilies are streamed on YouTube, and he hosts a popular daily podcast called “The Bible in a Year,” which has more than 20 million downloads. Griffith was moved by his words, and as he was driving over the Hernando Desoto Bridge into Arkansas after the conference, he felt the pull to turn around and go back to Memphis.

“It was clear to me, heading back to Arkansas after Men’s Morning of Spirituality, that it was time to come home,” he said.

Griffith prayed for guidance and began to apply for jobs in Memphis. Almost immediately, he was offered a job and moved back to Memphis during the Memorial Day weekend in 2017, just two months after he made the decision to

Living in community during COVID

move back to his hometown.

He began to rebuild his relationships within the Catholic Church in Memphis.

He became friends with young adult parishioners at St. Michael’s Catholic Church and assisted with youth ministry at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

He sought a spiritual director.

“I was being pulled back to Memphis and its churches,” Griffith said. “I realize now that the calling [to the priesthood] was always there. Things just fell into place when I moved back to Memphis.”

Griffith contemplated why he felt like the Lord was calling him to Memphis and, as part of his discernment, he drove around Memphis on Sundays after Mass to revisit different churches in the diocese.

It was in the place where he felt most at home as a child that he realized that God wasn’t just calling him to Memphis, but to its people.

“I would sit in the church by myself after adoration,” he said. “I realized that it’s in the silence where we find Jesus. I began to understand that the aspect of caring about Memphis is intertwined with caring about the souls in the city and the diocese.”

In January 2018, he began the application process for acceptance into the seminary. He was accepted into seminary in June 2018 and began taking classes in pre-theology at the Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He transferred to Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans in August 2020. Currently, he is three years through the priestly formation process, which will take him three more years to complete.

Mass together and even sang hymns. They sat down every evening to share a meal together.

“We had a normal Mass set-up with music and even a procession of the Blessed Sacrament during Holy Week,” he said.

“I experienced an intimate relationship with the Mass.

It gave me a sense of normalcy and was a healthy, community PHOTOGRAPHY BY GRAGG HIGGINBOTHAM experience for me in the midst of the pandemic.”

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TALKING Last summer, he was assigned to WITH SOMEONE ABOUT JOINING THE Immaculate Conception Catholic Church PRIESTHOOD, CONTACT: in Union City, Tenn. He was able to travel Rev. Robert Szczechura throughout rural Tennessee and meet Diocesan Director of Vocations the faithful and assist the pastor with 901.373.1262 many duties. vocationsdirector@vocations.cdom.org Seminarians are assigned to live and www.cdomvocations.org serve at different parishes while in formation. Currently, he resides at the Church BETH SIMKANIN is a freelance writer with of the Holy Spirit in East Memphis until 20 years of journalism and public relations he goes back to seminary in the fall. experience. She is a parishioner at The Church

Griffith had a unique opportunity as a seminarian to live in community with other seminarians in Memphis during the pandemic last year. When Theological College shut down in March 2020 due to the pandemic, Griffith went to live at St. Theresa the Little Flower Catholic Church in Memphis with two diocesan seminarians and Father Yoelvis Gonzalez, pastor of the church.

He says living in community during the pandemic was a positive experience. Father Gonzalez livestreamed Mass on several social media platforms every Sunday in three languages ( Latin, Spanish and English) for the faithful. Since all four men lived together in community, they served

Advice for those considering holy orders After going through discernment and the formation process, Griffith recommends three things for those contemplating the sacrament of holy orders.

• Talk to your parents and be honest • Seek out a spiritual director to help guide you • Attend Mass and confession regularly He admits that he didn’t talk openly to his parents about joining the priesthood, and he wishes he had.

“You can’t discern the priesthood by yourself,” he said. “You can’t grow as a Christian by yourself. You need to surround yourself with people who can help you grow and guide you.”

of the Holy Spirit in Memphis.

9

Love for God and students St. Paul Catholic School

On a recent Friday morning —

That perspective captures life at St. Paul. After an unprecedented year during which COVID-19 upended life actually on the next-to-last Friday of the academic year and as we know it and introduced new challenges for teachonly hours before the first in-person eighth-grade graduation ers and students, the faculty and staff at the 208-student at St. Paul Catholic School in three decades — school Principal school are focusing on brighter days ahead, instead of Sister Mary Lawrence, OP had a thoughtful idea. Now that’s becoming sidetracked by momentary struggles.

“When this all happened, we struggled like everynot particularly surprising, because the Dominican sister has one else and wondered how to address a new sense spent the full 15 years of her life as a nun thinking of others of normalcy in the age of COVID,” said Deacon Ted and working in the service of our Lord.

Schreck, who serves as director of advancement for the PK-8 school. “We decided to remain open for in-person However, Sister Mary Lawrence’s reaction to what unFEATURE learning, rearranged everything from our classroom folded offers a glimpse into the personality she brings to STORY setup to daily meals and had faith that God would see her vocation, and reveals a sense of the spiritual joy that us through.” pervades daily life at St. Paul.

BY JAMES And that’s exactly what occurred.

“Because it was going to be such a busy day, I decided DOWD During the 2020-21 academic year, St. Paul experienced to surprise our faculty and staff with lunch,” Sister Mary PHOTOGRAPHY only a single isolated case of COVID-19 and the school Lawrence said. “I was walking with a plate full of croisBY KAREN never closed its doors. Although enrollment dropped by sant sandwiches and all of a sudden I dropped them. At PULFER FOCHT about 100 students at the beginning of the school year, that point, I could be angry about the sandwiches all over Schreck said the school made the best of the challenging the floor, or I could laugh and move on. I chose not to be circumstances required for in-person learning. upset about some dirty croissants.”

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FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

“We get to know each of them, we pray for and with them, and that’s a beautiful educational model that I believe their parents value.”

©ISTOCK.COM

child,” Sister Mary said. “We get to know each of them, we pray for and with them, and that’s a beautiful educational model that I believe their parents value.”

In fact, the school ministers to a diverse population that extends well beyond the Memphis Catholic community. About half the students come from non-Catholic families and its ethnic diversity is equally reflective of the community. About 45 percent of students are African American, 30 percent are Hispanic and 25 percent are Caucasian/Irish Travelers. This rich mix of cultures and identities infuses St. Paul with a vibrant energy and builds upon its storied heritage.

And building upon that legacy is something that Sister Mary Lawrence, Schreck and an enthusiastic Board of Advisers and alumni are committed to doing. Later this year, a group will meet to formulate a three- to five-year strategic plan that includes expansion of the campus and a joyful celebration of the school’s 75th anniversary in 2023. Ambitious enrollment goals are in the plan, as expectations include more than doubling the number of St. Paul students within the next five years.

“We’re moving in a good direction and in the right direction, I believe,” Sister Mary Lawrence said. “Our love for God and for our students permeates every moment at St. Paul, and that is the most joyful experience I can imagine. It’s simply beautiful.”

“If we’d kept our pre-COVID numbers, we would have had to rearrange our learning environments much more dramatically than what we ended up doing,” Schreck said.

“We used masks and employed social distancing very effectively; lunches were delivered directly to classrooms and we maintained the exemplary standards of education that St. Paul has been recognized for since opening nearly 75 years ago.”

Founded in 1948 under the auspices of St. Paul Catholic Church in Whitehaven, the parish school has remained in continual operation ever since. Although some in the community may have thought that St. Paul closed when the Jubilee Schools did, the school was not part of that system. From its enrollment heyday in the mid-1960s, when about 1,000 students filled its halls, St. Paul has educated generations of students and has a dedicated and enthusiastic alumni network determined to continue its mission.

“We don’t consider ourselves in competition with public schools because we have the freedom and joy and mission to foster the complete and total formation of each 11

FEATURE STORY

120 YEARS OF

FA I T H & J O Y Dominican Sisters providing education in West Tennessee

S

chool has returned to full swing and this month we are celebrating Catholic education in West Tennessee.

During this season, it is appropriate to celebrate the religious communities that have served our region and diocese. Among these communities are the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (also known as the “Nashville Dominicans”). The Dominican Sisters have been a strong and welcome presence in this region since the late-19th century, and they continue to educate and form children here, faithfully and joyfully.

The presence and ministry of the Dominican sisters began in West Tennessee after the bishops of our country emphasized the importance of Catholic parents sending their children to Catholic schools. At that point, the whole state of Tennessee was the Diocese of Nashville. In the western third of the state, what became the Diocese of Memphis in 1971, the first school at which the Dominican sisters taught was St. Mary’s School in Jackson. The sisters came in 1889, but taught just two brief years before being replaced by the Sisters

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of Mercy. Then, in 1900, they returned as teachers and administrators, and they have served at the school ever since. That’s more than 120 years of service to this school and this region!

The Dominican sisters also taught at St. Joseph School in Jackson, which was established in 1919 to serve Black children and families in the area. The sisters faithfully taught at St. Joseph’s until it closed in 1960, and when the student population was merged with St. Mary’s School. By serving in this capacity, these sisters exhibited their commitment to making great education available to all children, regardless of socioeconomic status. They have been examples of educating in diversity, for the sake of unity, for many years.

Many parishioners and residents of Jackson and the surrounding area have attended St. Mary’s and been educated by the Dominican sisters. Maggie Poole Vucina, who still lives in Jackson, attended St. Mary’s through 1950, with nine other siblings. “We got a good, very thorough education,” she reminisced. She specifically recalled the memory of all the students attending daily Mass at the first school, in downtown Jackson. That lesson of faith remains with Vucina to this day, who still attends daily Mass.

There were many other young ladies who were impacted by the witness of the Dominican sisters and desired to follow them into consecrated life. One of those was Adele Poole, who graduated from St. Mary’s in 1949 and entered the community in 1954, taking the name Sister Mary Camille. She lived out her vocation, the Dominican vocation, of teaching schoolchildren until she passed away in 2002. Another graduate of St. Mary’s was Mary Margaret Long, who graduated from St. Mary’s in 1946 and then attended St. Cecilia Academy in Nashville, run by the Dominican sisters. After high school, Long entered the convent in Nashville, taking the name Sister Assumpta.

Later, she served as prioress general of the community; and then in the late 1990s, Sister Assumpta helped Cardinal O’Connor form the Sisters of Life in New York and then founded the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Many families from Jackson, like the Longs and Pooles, would certainly tell us that the Dominican vocation provided the solid foundation for these young women’s lives.

Father David Graham, pastor of St. Mary’s Church, is also a native son of Jackson and a product of Dominican education at the school. Father Graham recalled that these sisters Dominican taught the schoolchildren a life of education in prayer, to pray hard. He recalled noticing that one sister had prayed West Tennessee her rosary so much that the paint has always had rubbed off the beads. That provided an image, he said, helped him to uneducation that derstand that prayer is something to be brought into every aspect of nurtures the life. There is no more important whole person, lesson of faith that these sisters (or intellectually, any teacher) teach: the lessons of morally, prayer and growing in faith.

In addition to serving at St. spiritually Mary’s and St. Joseph’s, the sisters and socially. have a long-standing ministry in Memphis. They taught first at St. Thomas School and Academy, from 1947 to 1965. After the closure of St. Thomas Academy in 1965, they began ministering at Bishop Byrne High School and St. Paul’s School in Memphis. They ended their mission at Bishop Byrne in 2010, but they continue to teach at St. Paul’s School to this day. The sisters’ mission continues at our diocesan high school, St. Benedict at Auburndale, as well.

David Delgado, a local attorney and judge, attended Bishop Byrne from 1989 to 1993. He was taught by Dominican sisters in religion, psychology and sociology. He recalled that the Dominicans who taught him provided a visible presence of the Church, specifically because they wore the well-known black-and-white habit. He recalled that the presence of sisters in habits gave a sense that there was something holy and devout happening there.

Devotion and holiness are two of the best things that any young Catholic ought to learn, and we are grateful for the sisters helping to pass on these qualities to youth in West Tennessee.

BY DEREK ROTTY PHOTOGRAPHY

BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

Within their work, the sisters bring one other vital element. Dominican education is built on forming students in the liberal arts and virtue (those “arts” and habits that free us to live a good life). Dominican education in West Tennessee has always provided an education that nurtures the whole person, intellectually, morally, spiritually and socially. It helps children in our diocese live as joyfully and fruitfully as God has made us to live, preparing them also for eternal life.

We all ought to celebrate the 120 years that the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia have served in West Tennessee! We pray that our diocese will continue to grow and flourish with the ongoing service and assistance of this wonderful consecrated community! Sts. Cecilia and Dominic, continue to pray for us!

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COVER STORY

14 FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

A legacy of faith

Passing the Catholic faith on to the next generation

BY BETH SIMKANIN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

GETTY IMAGES/MT

BETH SIMKANIN

is a freelance writer with 20 years of journalism and public relations experience. She is a parishioner at The Church of the Holy Spirit in Memphis.

F

or the Byrd family, their Catholic faith is a way of life. For over 40 years, Artie, Sr. and Janet Byrd’s ultimate goal has been to teach their three children how to live a faith-filled life with the hope they would pass on that same way of life to their own children.

It doesn’t take long, while in the presence of three generations of the family, to realize the Byrds achieved their goal.

For the Byrds, the key to passing on their Catholic faith from generation to generation is building a solid foundation of faith, establishing meaningful relationships with Catholic priests and fostering a strong family bond.

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The Byrds’ children credit their parents for instilling in them their own Catholic values, which they, in turn, are passing down to their own children.

“Being Catholic is a part of who we are,” said Ashleigh Siddiqui, one of the Byrds’ three children. “It’s important to know our faith and grow in it. We need it. The world is hard. Knowing how to live our faith is just how we grew up. We learned from our parents how to show our children what it means to be a good steward and be active in our faith. My goal now, as an adult, is to pass that on to my own children.”

A foundation of faith

Both native Memphians, Artie, Sr. and Janet met in the 1970s.

Janet grew up in the Catholic faith attending Catholic schools.

Her mother was a first-generation American of Italian descent.

Artie, Sr. attended both Baptist and Methodist churches in Memphis growing up. While he and Janet dated, he began to attend Mass with her and admits that he was drawn to the holy Mass, but intimidated at the same time.

“I was scared by the Catholic faith at first, but Janet helped me understand the importance of celebrating the holy Mass and why we believe what we believe,” Artie, Sr. said. “Forty-five years later, I know I discovered what true faith is like.”

Janet shared with Artie, Sr. her Catholic faith, and in the early 1980s, shortly after their marriage, he joined the Catholic Church. He and the couple’s three children, Staci, Ashleigh and Artie, Jr., say that Janet was instrumental in helping them understand Church doctrine. Ashleigh and Artie, Jr. affectionately credit their dad with showing them how participating in the Mass and becoming involved at church are important to being stewards of their faith. The Byrds gave their children a solid faith foundation from which to grow and prosper.

“Mom and Dad created a strong faith foundation for us

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growing up,” Artie, Jr. said. “Mom was our teacher and answered all of our questions. She made sure we understood why we attended Mass on holy days and never missed a Mass while on vacation. Dad made sure we sat in the front row, even when we didn’t want to, and participated in the holy Mass. That involvement made a big difference in our childhood and influenced how we raise our own children as adults.”

Artie, Sr. says it was necessary to show his children that it’s important for them to use their talents to help others and participate in church activities. He and Janet enrolled them in Catholic schools and encouraged them to become altar servers, extraordinary ministers of holy Communion and lectors at Mass. Over the years, his children and their spouses have been lectors at Mass, taught parish religious education classes, organized community service projects, planned church events and served on various parish councils throughout the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.

All three of the Byrd children are practicing Catholics and are raising their children in the Catholic Church. Artie, Jr. says he understands why it was important that his parents laid down a strong faith foundation for them growing up now that he’s a parent of four children, and a fifth one on the way. He uses the values his parents taught him to teach his own children about the Catholic faith. He says instilling a sense of purpose at a young age, like his parents did, makes a big difference. “[This generation of] kids now have a phone in their hand at all times,” said Artie, Jr. “They have a window to the world at their fingertips that we didn’t have. It’s more important now than ever to give them a strong foundation of faith and lead by example.”

Both Ashleigh and Jamie Byrd, Artie, Jr.’s wife, say they see the fruits of their labor through their own children. Ashleigh says her 10-year-old daughter always makes sure the family

“

It’s important to

know our faith and

grow in it. We need

it. The world is hard.

Knowing how to

live our faith is just

how we grew up. We learned from our

parents how to show our children what it means to be a good steward and be

active in our faith.”

prays before meals. Jamie says her 4-year-old carries a statue of Mary wherever she goes in the house to make sure Mary never misses a fun activity with the family.

The importance of our priests

Artie, Sr. and Janet married in 1979 and lived in Michigan and England during most of their marriage, but no matter where they lived, the two made sure to find a parish home for their family. While living in Michigan, the couple befriended the pastor at their local Catholic church. Artie, Sr. says that he played a pivotal role in his conversion to the Catholic Church.

“Father Consanti would often come over for dinner,” said Janet. “Besides being our pastor, he became our friend. He has a very engaging and fun-loving personality, and we all looked forward to his visits.”

Artie, Sr. says that Father Consanti was patient and answered his questions regarding the Catholic faith. Today, he is a longtime friend, and Artie, Sr. speaks with him by phone once a month.

“Our Catholic priests are crucial to our faith formation,” said Artie, Sr. “They can be a model for young people and can encourage them to use their talents for the Church. Locally, we’ve been blessed to know inspiring priests in our diocese such as Father Bill Parham, Father Ernie DeBlasio and Father Ben Bradshaw. They have helped develop our family’s faith and our desire to be active participants in the Mass.”

Artie, Jr. and Jamie stress how beneficial Catholic priests can be to married couples. The Rev. Ben Bradshaw, now pastor at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Memphis, was instrumental in their marriage preparation seven years ago.

“With the right priest, the Church becomes your second home,” said Jamie.

Strong family bond

The Byrds and their children agree that their strong family bond plays an integral role in both practicing and living out their Catholic faith. Artie, Jr. points out that leading by example can make a big impact and help a family grow spiritually together – even between married couples. He references an example when his children mentioned to him that his wife was a lector at Mass.

He admits that he became more involved at his church after his children pointed out that Jamie was active in the church.

Ashleigh says that the whole family makes sure to attend Mass together. Artie, Sr. and Janet will frequently attend Mass with their children and grandchildren on Saturday evenings. Additionally, Ashleigh says volunteering as a family is a great way to show the next generation that giving back is a tangible way of living out their faith.

“It’s important for us as parents to take our children to Mass, get involved in the parish and teach them how to give back,” said Ashleigh. “It’s not scary for them; it’s exciting!”

Last month, members of the Byrd family, along with family friends, volunteered at the soup kitchen at St. Patrick Catholic Church in downtown Memphis. Ashleigh says it’s imperative that her children learn to give back at a young age, so they will continue the tradition as adults and understand that it makes a direct impact on those in need.

Artie, Sr. recognizes that God has a hand in fostering both his faith and family. In 2003, all of his adult children moved from Michigan to Collierville in order to live closer to one another. As a result, his children and grandchildren are closer than ever attending Mass and volunteering together.

“We are blessed to have the Church and each other,” Artie, Sr. says. “Both make us stronger as individuals. God has gathered us all together, and we are very blessed.”

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Some may ask: What’s the point of penance? Doesn’t each person set his or her own standard of behavior? That is what the current culture and the media tell us. But that is not how we, as Catholics, are supposed to conduct our lives.

It is a given of Catholic life that there is a God, and it is not me — or you — or anyone on this earth. In other words, we don’t set the standards for our behavior.

Instead, we seek to align our lives with the standards of our Creator, outlined for us in the deposit of the faith. Specifically, we look at the Ten Commandments and the five precepts of the Church.

The sacrament of penance is a sacrament of healing and an experience of God’s great mercy. It also provides an increase in spiritual strength for the Christian battle, which is vital during a time when society continues to cast off traditional Christian beliefs and become more secular.

Seeing the line-up for confession on a recent Saturday gave me hope that a remnant of society still strives to live as God would have us because we are grateful for His many gifts — the most important of which is the gift of his Son in the Eucharist.

Everyone in that line had to examine his conscience and consider whether he had gossiped or coveted, cursed or lied, been impatient or angry, practiced chastity or given into lust. And the list goes on. With true contrition, we all had to list our sins for the priest, who was acting in persona Christi. Finally, we all had to make the act of contrition, receive absolution and do our penance.

That sounds like a tall order for a Saturday afternoon. But I am so glad it is part f you want to see something really countercultural, of Catholic life, because being willing to see ourselves in all our human frailty is stop by a Roman Catholic church some Saturday the beginning of wisdom because it is around 3 p.m. There, you will see people of all ages lined the beginning of humility.

The sacraments are available to help up to tell another human being all of their failings. And us grow in holiness and grow closer to they are interrupting a perfectly pleasant day off to do this. God. The rewards of the sacrament of penance are many: reconciliation with Of course, I am talking about the sacrament of penance.

God, reconciliation with the Church, remission of the eternal punishment for mortal sins and partial remission of temporal punishOne sunny Saturday, the last time I went to confesment from sin. sion, I saw people from all walks of life waiting patiently And don’t forget hope. Participating in the sacrament of for their turn in the confessional. There were about 10 penance is an act of hope because we make our confession of us, including a young couple, a college student, an in the hope of God’s mercy. It also brings hope because evelderly lady, a young man with some interesting tattoos, ery time you go to confession, you will see a line of people a middle-aged businessman and myself — a middle-aged who are trying, too. People who are trying to live by God’s lady in my Saturday grocery-getting clothes. Who knows light, rather than their own. People who are trying to clean what fun activities they delayed or interrupted for the up any harm they have caused and live better lives. People privilege of participating in the sacrament of penance? who love God and seek to do His will. We are not alone. We My preferred Saturday activities include a nice morning are all sinners striving to be saints in a fallen world. run, coffee with friends or getting a pedicure.

ONE CATHOLIC FAMILY 24/7

Penance, mercy and hope

I

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FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

LEIGH ANN ROMAN

is a professional writer, parishioner at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Memphis and avid reader of all things Catholic. She and her husband have two children.

PHOTOGRAPHY

BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

To all sponsors and contributors who have generously given to support our first-ever Eucharistic Congress, we extend our heartfelt gratitude. Your gifts will help a magnificent gathering of thousands of clergy, religious and community members to bear witness to the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. Without you, this momentous diocesan event would not have been possible.

Platinum Sponsor:

Lumen Civitatis

Gold Sponsors:

Christian Brothers University, Fishers of Men, Guidance in Giving

Silver Sponsors:

Catholic Charities of West Tennessee, Catholic Extension, Davene, Delta Materials Handling, First Horizon Bank, Legatus, Little Caesars, Pinnacle Financial Partners, Watkins Uiberall

Bronze Sponsors:

Ave Maria Home, Catholic Mutual, Ecoguard, EWTN, Frase Protection, Hord Architects, Lipscomb & Pitts, Madonna Circle, Notre Dame Seminary, Alan & Vail Gates, Robert & Maureen Hutton 19

FEATURE STORY

And the bodies all lay

where they fell “A large number of Catholic sisters came to Memphis from St Louis to care for the sick and, of course, the dying.“Among them was a sister

whose home was in Memphis, (her name has since been forgotten) and she had hoped to see them during her stay.

“Upon their arrival the nuns were hustled away immediately to begin their work. The unknown sister caught the fever and died six days later — without seeing her family — and perhaps without their even knowing that she had come home.”

— Richard Smith, former manager of Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Memphis

Smith was talking about the yellow fever epidemics of 1878 and 1879 (and which were preceded by an earlier one in 1873) that took the lives of 8,000 people, including an unknown number of Catholics.

Unlike all the 30,000 citizens of Pompeii – who were buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. – many of these souls’ names ARE known, and thankfully not only to God. Richard Smith is just one of a half-dozen people I interviewed for this piece; and his account of the unknown sister's tragic demise is just one of the many, deeply moving accounts this reporter learned.

He was also one of seven local historians and/or archivists who helped write a series 20

of memorial articles, published in the West Tennessee Catholic in 2003 that commemorated the 1878 epidemic's arrival in Memphis.

“A lot of incredible stories came out of that project, most of which were not even known to people living at that time,” said Smith.

“My time at Calvary spanned 18, perhaps 19 years; I had little knowledge of the epidemics when I first arrived there, until I put together this group of seven people and we began doing research on the 1878 epidemics,” said Smith.

“What I also learned about the epidemics during my time at Calvary was that nearly 60 percent of the people who died were Catholic, yet there was no name or date of death recorded,” said Smith.

FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

BY ROBERT ALAN GLOVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT

“We are drinking out of the bitter cup of sorrow, and we are doomed.”

— editor's comment in The Daily Memphis Avalanche, Friday Aug. 30, 1878.

Carole Bucy is the honorary county historian for Davidson County in the Nashville Diocese.

“I teach three sections of Tennessee history at Ball State College, have been there for 26 years and have a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Vanderbilt University,” said Bucy recently.

“The epidemics which hit our area in the early 1870s were smaller and caused by cholera and measles,” she said.

“We had outbreaks of cholera quite regularly, starting in 1849 and including two more after the Civil War and almost until the 20th century, and a measles epidemic,” said Bucy.

And, said Bucy, “While we did have three convents here during the 1870s, our Catholic nuns were not trained as nurses, but heroically went out into the field anyway – to some very poor neighborhoods with unclean drinking water.”

When it came to both the West Tennessee outbreaks and those in middle Tennessee,

Bucey was equally complimentary of the sacrifice made by lay Catholics and the religious during both crises.

“These people were very active in caring for the people, whether it was with yellow fever – which is contagious – or cholera; they all made a very significant effort and were out there on the front lines,” said Bucey.

“In the end, they all made quite a sacrifice, but this was their calling – it was the vow they had taken.”

“I got into (studying the epidemics) through my genealogy research and started back when there was no internet, using lots of different tools,” said Kern.

The retiree said his focus was on James and Mary Walsh, his great-great-grandparents, even though Kern's own family did not know much about them.

Indeed, no one living today – unless they have an “in” (an ancestor) who lived through the ordeals – has any firsthand, factual knowledge of what happened.

“I discovered they had migrated to Memphis from New York state and were of very strong Irish-Catholic stock,” said Kern.

When the 1878 epidemic struck, however, the character of that stock and its strength of heart were not enough.

According to Kern, “Bigotry, poverty and — Joseph W. Turner, 1864. disease were a bad mix; the Irish were really hated, and along with the poor whites These were the last words of Bishop of and (Blacks), they all bore the brunt of the New York City John Hughes ( 1797-1864), disease, with no one writing about it on which composer Joseph Turner put into a their behalf.” song shortly after Hughes' death.

While doing his research, Kern did Those words are also the title of Father discover the death of at least one direct anJohn Vidmar’s new book on our yellow cestor – his great-grandmother Mary Walsh fever epidemics.

– on Aug. 24, 1878.

Bury Me In The Sunshine: The Yellow Fe“Two cousins, Patrick Mackey and Pat ver Epidemics of Memphis was published last Ryan, died within days of each other, but fall, during another viral outbreak. as for anyone else, I simply can't be sure,” The book is available from Cluny Media said Kern. of Providence, R.I., and on Amazon.com.

Some relief was provided during both the “A total of 8,000 people died during the 1878 and 1879 outbreaks by Father Wilthree epidemics; 2,000 in 1873, 5,100 in liam Walsh (no relation), the associate pas1878 and the remainder in 1879. There tor at St. Patrick's Parish, located in south is no record or percentage of how many Memphis and near the epidemic's center.

Catholics died, and we had three “He was instrumental in writparishes in the center of Meming the federal government to phis and the outbreaks,” said get money for setting up tent citFather Vidmar. ies for people who were too poor The book, however, does list to leave the city, most of whom the names of the Catholic reliwere Irish,” said Kern. gious who died in each epidemic Father Walsh's program, it year, along with their Protestant — K

evin Kern, retired Memphis attorney and amateur genealogist should be noted, was so succounterparts. cessful that when the disease Several orders of Catholic The 328-page book took nearly six years returned in 1879, it was used as a model nuns ministered to the afflicted during the to complete. again. No marker exists to honor what crisis, with the majority of their dead being The arrival of COVID, however, forced Walsh and others did, and only a faded old Dominicans.

Vidmar to change his original introduction, photograph of the wheeled altar built for The book came about several years ago Masses at the camp exists. when Vidmar – looking, he said, “for some- “due to our lack of experience with a panFather Walsh went on to become wellthing to write about” – went to the archivist demic, something which changed, of course.

“In writing the book, I gained an appreci- known in Chattanooga, but the picture for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, ation for what these people did, and I hope who suggested the yellow fever epidemics. was far different where remembering the they will be remembered,” said Vidmar.

Vidmar told FAITH magazine that he Catholic departed is concerned.

Bury me in the sunshine, let its warm and gentle ray, shine forth upon my sepulchre on each bright coming day.”

found an old diary – which he used extensively – “that helps people understand (the outbreaks).”

He also noted – not surprisingly – “that a lot of what they experienced back then, we are going through right now; it all sounds very familiar,” said Vidmar.

Yet the sacrifice of eight Catholic priests, and nearly two dozen nuns from eight different orders, was barely spoken of at the time.

Several books are now in print, but the truth still remains, as Vidmar said, “that this was very under-reported outside of the South – or even Memphis for that matter.”

So much so, in fact, that when Bury Me In The Sunshine: The Yellow Fever Epidemics of Memphis was published, a reading group at St. Peter's Catholic Church chose it for their circle.

According to the author, “Many of the sisters who ministered and – lest we forget – DIED were teachers of the Franciscan and Dominican congregations.

“The Franciscans were assigned to St. Mary's, a German Catholic parish in the heart of downtown Memphis that is still there.”

One nun in particular – her name likewise also forgotten – drew a picture of the Crucifixion as she was dying. The picture still hangs on an attic wall at the church, a testimonial to the sisters' dedication and, ultimately, tragic destiny.

“Things got so bad, in terms of the mortality rate, that a reverend mother based in Memphis wrote the motherhouse of the Franciscan nuns in St. Louis, asking her not to send anyone else,” said Vidmar.

At one point, Memphis was averaging 100 burials a day, in mass graves; there was no large-scale flight from the city — only half of the population got out — if you could leave, you did.”

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following year.

“Many of the refugees who had left Memphis for the camps, in turn, left those camps and returned to town.

When the fever returned in 1879, they caught it then and died,” Kern said.

He also learned about a stigma which attached itself to another religious denomination.

daily, mass burials and mule-drawn wagons proceeding endlessly through town.”

The director emphasized that while no hard figures are available on the religious affiliation of victims, there is a section reserved for just yellow fever casualties.”

“Even the final figure of fever victims buried there is seriously under-reported because (a) many of them left, (b) a lot of others who stayed died and (c) priests who had left did not want to come back because doing so would have been their death warrant,” said Posey.

Thankfully, almost two decades ago, our late Bishop Terry Steib fixed that oversight.

“He and other residents of the city planted a tree on All Saints’ Day, 2003, beside an earlier monument erected to the dead of the epidemics.

“The monument is something which is designed to provide accuracy, because we don't have a good number of those — Patrick Posey, the current director of the who died, due 154-year-old Calvary Cemetery here in Memphis to the recordkeeping being so “There were poor,” said Posey. several ProtesIf any one fact is certain, it is that no one tant ministers in in Posey's family tree was a fatality of the Memphis who epidemics. had lost fam“None of my ancestors were directly ily members, affected by the outbreaks, as we were not and they were residents at that time, and I am glad that I horribly critiwas not around then,” said Posey. cized – perhaps Judge Jennie Latta has served as a federal unfairly – for bankruptcy judge in the Western District of leaving with Tennessee for 21 years. Latta, who became their surviving a Catholic in 1992, told FAITH that her loved ones,” interest in the epidemics was sparked by said Kern. something entirely different – slavery.

“Conditions in Memphis reached the “I was curious as to what had happened point where one could go out, and not to slave children who were baptized prior even those who wanted to help could go to their sale at auction, and learned from in. No one, it seems, was spared. baptismal records that not all of them were “The people living here chose St. Louis – children – but also adults,” said the judge. which lay upstream – because it was largely “In doing my research – and in reading Catholic, but also because it had good Father Vidmar's book – I discovered that runoff – gutters, curbs and such – while my great-grandfather had contributed to Memphis had none of these,” said Posey. the Howard Association, which helped raise He added, “The ultimate effect on Memmoney (for Memphis) and sent doctors to phis was just devastating, along with the our city to aid the victims,” said Latta.

“Towns on the river were affected the most, infection was widespread and thousands left for either Nashville or upstream St. Louis, Missouri.”

The first book on this subject, from a Catholic perspective, was Heroes and Heroines of Memphis, 1873, 1878, 1879.

It was not written until 1887, but fortunately, author Denis Alphonsus Quinn was a Catholic priest.

The photograph, Kern said, “is featured in Quinn's book; it shows survivors of the 1878 epidemic marching the wheeled altar triumphantly back to St. Brigid's church – not knowing what awaited everyone the 22

FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

The judge also leads a book club in her Catholic parish, for which someone had recommended Vidmar's title.

“My role was to facilitate the reading group, and during that time I was struck by the similarity of what we are going through now,” said Latta.

One fact that comes through loud and clear for anyone who reads Bury Me In the Sunshine is how totally unprepared people were – and lacking in knowledge of the disease.

“In 1867, during that outbreak, mosquitoes flocked to the nice, clean drinking water, which became a breeding ground for them,” said Latta.

The judge also noted that “by 1878-79, people believed that (yellow fever) could not come back, and it took them a while to prepare.”

Time, however, is something that thousands of residents simply did not have.

Law enforcement was another resource which was lacking: “There were very few policemen left in the city, because it had become too dangerous, and many were Irish immigrants who had never been exposed to yellow fever,” said Latta.

Her research, however, produced a mixture of tragedy and triumph as the story unfolded.

“People did not want to wear masks, so they spread it, and many who left the city never came back. Think of today's struggling job market – the more things change, the more they remain the same.” said Latta.

“One Catholic parish, St. Brigid's, was – as you know – in the heart of all three epidemics, and in fact it lost 600 people in one year (1873),” said Latta.

Black citizens like Samuel Henderson, a janitor, also stepped up; he accompanied Father Joseph Augustine Kelly on his sick calls, but did not catch the fever.

Henderson, who lived well into the 20th century, is buried at Calvary Cemetery.

Reflecting on the horrendous price paid by our religious volunteers, Latta said, “They were all amazing people, and many of them died almost right after they came here, wanting to help others.”

“I think that we are taught to see Christ in others – as it says in Matthew 25, ‘when I was thirsty, you gave me water to drink,

when I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, when I was a stranger, you invited me in,’” said Latta.

“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

— 1 Pt 5:7

Roberta “Bobbie” Rennie's only “anxiety” for the past 20 years – as the archivist for St. Peter's Catholic Church – has been keeping its records so that they can, indeed, speak volumes.

Rennie, who is also a member of St. Peter's, partly learned about the epidemics by inheriting a mess.

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ROBERT ALAN

writes for FAITH West Tennessee, Global Sisters REPORT, National Catholic Reporter, The Tennessee Register in the Nashville Diocese and Cross Roads in the Lexington, Ky., Diocese.

GLOVER

“When I first started here, there was no organization of the files; the records were just a mess of materials that I had to find a place for, including the land records,” said Rennie.

Her interest in the ’78-79 epidemics “stems from long-time family roots that include my maternal grandmother.

“She described to me how her father, John Norris, had died of yellow fever in the city, and the epidemic drove them to Camp Matthew, one of the tent cities, where they lived as refugees,” said Rennie The archivist humbly downplayed how she amassed the information that was fading into obscurity.

“I've been into ancestry for many years, spurred on by family members whose names I had, and people at our county library were able to help me locate my great-grandmother's census records – and the church records –

which were a great help,” said Rennie.

As she researched the epidemics, Rennie said, “I found it so shocking to hear about such a thing, and to learn that the priests and brothers – who were so dedicated – were also so overwhelmed.”

It should be noted too – as at the beginning of this article – (and in Father Vidmar's book) that many Catholic nuns came to Memphis to minister, and many died.

At least one group of Franciscan nuns from St. Louis who came here suffered no deaths among them, but, said Rennie,“most of the sisters who died were Dominican.”

So now we have reached the end of this story – or perhaps it is just beginning again.

Right now, a figure of 681,000 COVID-19 deaths is staring back at me from an MSNBC newscast.

Eucharistic Congress 2021 Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis

October 8 & 9, 2021 Renasant Convention Center Friday, Oct. 8, 6pm-9pm Doors Open, Opening Mass and Inspirational / Keynote Speaker Noelle Garcia

Saturday, Oct. 9, 9am-6pm Morning Prayer, Inspirational / Keynote Speakers, English, Hispanic & Youth Programs, Closing Mass and Procession to St. Peter with Final Blessing

Adoration and Confessions available to all attendees both days hosted by Catholic Diocese of Memphis cdom.org/eucharistic-congress Archbishop Joseph Kurtz

Dr. Scott Hahn

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FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

I ponder the fate of my kidney transplant from November of 2019.

I have also, in July, been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, the cause of which is one of my key anti-rejection medications, which I cannot stop taking.

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” — George Santayana, 1905.

As we continue to repeat the past – with the wearing (or not wearing) of masks, with mass burials and possibly even returning to lockdowns, there is one thing we can do: We can remember that sister who never got to see her family, but instead went straight to her death.

Her and so many others. The priests, the brothers, the sisters.

We can remember them.

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FAITH West Tennessee | EDICIÓN DE ANIVERSARIO 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

Un legado de fe

Transmitir la fe católica a la próxima generación POR BETH SIMKANIN | FOTOGRAFÍA DE KAREN PULFER FOCHT

BETH SIMKANIN

es una escritora independiente con 20 años de experiencia en periodismo y relaciones públicas. Ella es feligresa de la Iglesia del Espíritu Santo en Memphis.

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ara la familia Byrd, su fe católica es una forma de vida. Durante más de 40 años, el objetivo final de Artie y Janet Byrd ha sido enseñar a sus tres hijos cómo vivir una vida llena de fe, con la esperanza de que transmitieran esa misma forma de vida a sus propios hijos.

En presencia de las tres generaciones de la familia Byrd, no toma mucho tiempo darse cuenta de que lograron su objetivo.

Para ellos, la clave para transmitir su fe católica de generación en generación es construir una base sólida de fe, establecer relaciones significativas con sacerdotes católicos y fomentar un fuerte vínculo familiar.

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Los hijos de Byrd dan crédito a sus padres por inculcarles sus propios valores católicos que, a su vez, están transmitiendo a sus propios hijos.

“Ser católico es parte de lo que somos”, dijo Ashleigh Siddiqui, una de los tres hijos de Byrd. “Es importante conocer nuestra fe y crecer en ella. Lo necesitamos, el mundo es duro.

Saber cómo vivir nuestra fe es simplemente la forma cómo crecimos. Aprendimos de nuestros padres cómo mostrarles a nuestros hijos lo que significa ser un buen siervo y estar activos en nuestra fe. Mi objetivo ahora, como adulto, es transmitir eso a mis propios hijos”.

Un fundamento de fe

Ambos nativos de Memphis, Artie y Janet se conocieron en la década de 1970. Ella creció en la fe católica, asistiendo a escuelas católicas. Su madre era una estadounidense de ascendencia italiana de primera generación. Él, durante

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FAITH West Tennessee | EDICIÓN DE ANIVERSARIO 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG

su crecimiento, asistió a iglesias bautistas y metodistas en Memphis. Mientras ambos salían, él comenzó a asistir a Misa con ella, y admite que se sintió atraído por esta última, pero también intimidado.

“Al principio estaba asustado por la fe católica, pero Janet me ayudó a entender la importancia de celebrar la Santa Misa y por qué creemos lo que creemos”, dijo Artie “Cuarenta y cinco años después, sé que descubrí cómo es la verdadera fe”.

Janet compartió con Artie su fe católica, y a principios de la década de 1980, poco después de su matrimonio, se unió a la Iglesia Católica. Él y sus tres hijos: Staci, Ashleigh y Artie Jr. dicen que Janet fue fundamental para ayudarlos a comprender la doctrina de la Iglesia. Ashleigh y Artie Jr. agradecen afectuosamente a su padre por mostrarles cómo participar en la Misa e Iglesia, lo cual es muy importante para ser siervos de su fe. Los Byrd les dieron a sus hijos una sólida base de fe para que puedan crecer y prosperar.

“Mamá y papá crearon una sólida base de fe para que creciéramos”, dijo Artie Jr. “Mamá fue nuestra maestra y respondió a todas nuestras preguntas. Ella se aseguró de que entendiéramos por qué asistíamos a Misa en los días santos y nunca nos perdíamos una, durante las vacaciones.

Papá se aseguró de que nos sentáramos en la primera fila, incluso cuando no queríamos, y participó en la Santa Misa.

Esa participación marcó una gran diferencia en nuestra infancia e influyó en la forma en que criamos a nuestros propios hijos ya de adultos”.

Artie Sr. dice que era necesario mostrar a sus hijos la importancia de que usen sus talentos para ayudar a otros y participar en las actividades de la iglesia. Él y Janet los inscribieron en escuelas católicas y los alentaron a convertirse en monaguillos, ministros eucarísticos y lectores en la Misa.

A lo largo de los años, sus hijos y cónyuges han sido lectores en la Misa, impartieron clases de educación religiosa parroquial, organizaron proyectos de servicio comunitario en eventos de la iglesia y sirvieron en varios consejos parroquiales, en toda la Diócesis Católica de Memphis.

Los tres hijos de Byrd son católicos practicantes y están criando a sus hijos en la Iglesia Católica. Artie Jr. dice que entiende por qué fue importante que sus padres establecieran una base de fe sólida para que crecieran, ahora que es padre de cuatro hijos y tiene un quinto en camino. Utiliza los valores que le enseñaron sus padres para enseñar a sus propios hijos sobre la fe católica. Dice que inculcar un sentido de propósito a una edad temprana, como lo hicieron sus padres, hace una gran diferencia. “[Esta generación de] niños ahora tiene un teléfono en la mano, en todo momento”, dijo Artie Jr. “Tiene una ventana al mundo al alcance de la mano, que nosotros no teníamos.

Es más importante ahora que nunca darles una base sólida

“El padre Consanti solía venir a cenar”, dijo Janet. “Además de ser nuestro párroco, se convirtió en nuestro amigo. Tiene una personalidad muy atractiva y es amante de la diversión. Todos esperábamos con ansias sus visitas”.

Artie dice que fue paciente y respondió a sus preguntas sobre la fe católica. Hoy en día, es un viejo amigo con el cual Artie habla por teléfono una vez al mes.

“Nuestros sacerdotes católicos son cruciales para nuestra formación en la fe”, dijo Artie. “Pueden ser un modelo para los jóvenes y alentarlos a usar sus talentos para la Iglesia. A nivel local, hemos tenido la suerte de conocer sacerdotes inspiradores en nuestra diócesis, como el padre Bill Parham, el padre Ernie DeBlasio y el padre Ben Bradshaw. Han ayudado a desarrollar la fe de nuestra familia y nuestro deseo de ser participantes activos en la Misa”.

Artie Jr. y Jamie enfatizan lo beneficiosos que pueden ser los sacerdotes católicos para las parejas casadas. El padre Ben Bradshaw -ahora párroco de St. Michael, en Memphis- fue fundamental en la preparación de su matrimonio, hace siete años.

“Con el sacerdote adecuado, la iglesia se convierte en su segundo hogar”, dijo Jamie.

de fe y predicar con el ejemplo”.

Tanto Ashleigh como Jamie Byrd, la esposa de Artie Jr., dicen que ven los frutos de su trabajo a través de sus propios hijos. Ashleigh dice que su hija de 10 años siempre se asegura de que la familia ore antes de las comidas. Jamie dice que su hijo de cuatro años lleva una estatua de María dondequiera que vaya en la casa, para asegurarse de que María nunca se pierda una actividad divertida con la familia.

La importancia de nuestros sacerdotes

Artie Sr. y Janet se casaron en 1979 y vivieron en Michigan e Inglaterra durante la mayor parte de su matrimonio, pero sin importar dónde vivieran, los dos se aseguraron de encontrar un hogar parroquial para su familia. Mientras vivía en Michigan, la pareja se hizo amiga del pastor en su iglesia católica local. Artie Sr. dice que jugó un papel fundamental en su conversión a la Iglesia Católica.

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Fuerte vínculo familiar

Los Byrds y sus hijos están de acuerdo en que su fuerte vínculo familiar juega un papel integral, tanto en la práctica como en la vida de su fe católica. Artie Jr. señala que predicar con el ejemplo puede tener un gran impacto y ayudar a una familia a crecer espiritualmente unida, incluso entre parejas casadas. Él hace referencia a un ejemplo de cuando sus hijos le mencionaron que su esposa era lectora en la Misa. Él admite que se involucró más en su iglesia, después de que sus hijos señalaran que Jamie estaba activa en la iglesia.

Ashleigh dice que toda la familia se asegura de asistir a Misa juntos. Artie Sr. y Janet asisten con frecuencia, acompañados de sus hijos y nietos, los sábados por la noche.

Además, Ashleigh dice que el voluntariado en familia es una excelente manera de mostrar a la próxima generación que retribuir es una forma tangible de vivir su fe.

“Es importante para nosotros como padres llevar a nuestros hijos a Misa, involucrarnos en la parroquia y enseñarles cómo retribuir”, dijo Ashleigh. “No les da miedo; ¡es emocionante!”

El mes pasado, miembros de la familia Byrd, junto con amigos de la familia, se ofrecieron como voluntarios en el comedor de beneficencia de la iglesia St. Patrick, en el centro de Memphis. Ashleigh dice que es imperativo que sus hijos aprendan a retribuir a una edad temprana, para que continúen la tradición cuando sean adultos y comprendan que tiene un impacto directo en los necesitados.

Artie Sr. reconoce que Dios interviene en el fomento de su fe y la de su familia. En 2003, todos sus hijos adultos se mudaron de Michigan a Collierville para vivir más cerca unos de otros. Como resultado, sus hijos y nietos están más cerca que nunca para asistir a Misa y trabajar juntos como voluntarios.

“Tenemos la bendición de tener a la Iglesia y a los demás”, dice Artie padre. “Ambos nos hacen más fuertes como individuos. Dios nos ha reunido a todos y somos muy bendecidos”.

Congreso Eucaristico 2021 Patrocinado por la diocesis catolica de memphis

8 a 9 de Octubre de 2021

Centro de Convenciones Renasant Viernes 8 de Octubre: Se Abren las Puertas, Misa de Apertura y Orador Principal

Noelle Garcia

Sabado 9 de Octubre: Oracion de la manana, Oradores inspiradores Programas para jovenes y latinos y programas en ingles Misa de Clausura y Procesion a San Pedro con Bendicion Final Habra Adoracion y Confesiones disponibles para todos los asistentes ambos dias Archbishop Joseph Kurtz

Scott Haahn

UNA FAMILIA CATÓLICA 24/7

Penitencia, Misericordia y Esperanza POR LEIGH ANN ROMAN FOTOGRAFÍA DE KAREN PULFER FOCHT

S

i quieres ver algo realmente contracultural, pasa por una iglesia católica romana algún sábado alrededor de las 3:00 p.m. Allí, verá a personas de todas las edades haciendo fila para contarle a otro ser humano todas sus fallas. Y están interrumpiendo un día libre perfectamente agradable para hacer esto. Por supuesto, me refiero al sacramento de la penitencia.

Un sábado soleado, la ultima vez que me confesé, vi a personas de todos los ámbitos de la vida esperando pacientemente su turno en el confesionario. Éramos unos 10, incluidos una pareja joven, un estudiante universitario, una anciana, un joven con algunos tatuajes interesantes, un hombre de negocios de mediana edad y yo, una dama de mediana edad con mi ropa de compra de comestibles los sábados. ¿Quién sabe qué actividades divertidas retrasaron o interrumpieron por el privilegio de participar en el sacramento de la penitencia? Mis actividades preferidas de los sábados incluyen una buena carrera matutina, un café con amigos o un pedicure.

Algunos pueden preguntar: ¿Qué sentido tiene la penitencia? ¿No establece cada persona su propio estándar de comportamiento? Eso es lo que nos dicen la cultura actual y los medios de comunicación. Pero no es así como se supone que nosotros, como católicos, debemos conducir nuestras vidas.

Es un hecho de la vida católica que hay un Dios, y no soy yo, ni tú, ni nadie en esta tierra. En otras palabras, no establecemos los estándares de nuestro comportamiento.

En cambio, buscamos alinear nuestras vidas con los estándares de nuestro Creador, descritos para nosotros en el Depósito de la Fe. Específicamente, miramos los Diez Mandamientos y los Cinco Preceptos de la Iglesia.

El sacramento de la penitencia es un sacramento de curación y una experiencia de la gran misericordia de Dios. También proporciona un aumento de la fuerza espiritual para la batalla cristiana cristiana que es vital durante una época en la que la sociedad continua desechando las creencias cristianas tradicionales y se vuelve más secular.

Ver la fila para la confesión un sábado reciente me dio la esperanza de que un remanente de la sociedad todavía se esfuerza por vivir como Dios quiere de nosotros porque estamos agradecidos por Sus muchos dones, el más importante de los cuales es el regalo de su Hijo en el Eucarista.

Todos en esa línea tenían que examinar su conciencia y considerar si había chismeado o codiciado, maldecido o mentido estado impaciente o enojado, practicado la castidad o entregado a la lujuria. Y la lista continua. Con verdadera

contrición, todos tuvimos que enumerar nuestros pecados para el sacerdote, que actuaba en persona Christi. Finalmente, todos tuvimos que hacer el acto de contrición, recibir la absolución y hacer nuestra penitencia. Suena como una tarea di]cil para un sábado por la tarde. Pero me alegro mucho de que sea parte de la vida católica porque estar dispuestos a vernos a nosotros mismos en toda nuestra fragilidad humana es el comienzo de la sabiduría porque es el comienzo de la humildad.

Los sacramentos están disponibles para ayudarnos a crecer en santidad y acercarnos más a Dios. Las recompensas del sacramento de la penitencia son muchas: reconciliación con Dios, reconciliación con la Iglesia, remisión del castigo eterno por los pecados mortales y remisión parcial del castigo temporal del pecado.

Y no olvides la esperanza. Participar en el sacramento de la penitencia es un acto de esperanza porque hacemos nuestra confesión en la esperanza de la misericordia de Dios. También, trae esperanza porque cada vez que te confiesas verás una fila de personas que también lo están intentando. Personas que intentan vivir a la luz de Dios, en lugar de la suya propia. Personas que están tratando de reparar cualquier daño que han causado y viven una vida mejor.

Personas que aman a Dios y buscan hacer su voluntad. No estamos solos. Todos somos pecadores que luchamos por ser santos en un mundo caído.

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Una sola fe, una familia