We
welcome all of you to this special mass today. We
are so grateful to have Bishop Kopacz celebrating with us; so grateful to have
all of you here with us celebrating this special occasion as well. Not
only is this the weekend of the feast day of our parish’s patron saint – St
James the Greater – but we celebrate our parish’s 100 years here in Tupelo. It is
a very special occasion for us – one that helps us remember and honor the past,
one that helps us to look toward the future with hope, and one that helps us to
celebrate the community we have here in the present.
When
I was assigned here to St James about a year and a half ago, I received a
universal response from people when I told them I was going to move up here. Their response was: You are going to love St James. You are going to love Tupelo. In
fact, Monsignor Elvin Sunds, the Vicar General of our Diocese, told me that he
considered St James here in Tupelo one of the gems of our Diocese that a lot of
people don’t know much about. That
ties into the message of today’s Gospel, of a treasure that is hidden in a
field. We would give everything we had
to have that treasure. I
wonder if anyone could image how a parish would grow and develop here in Tupelo
one day? From
the priests who accompanied the Spanish and French who traveled here in this
area in the days of the explorers in the 16th century, to the
visiting priests who would come and visit the few Catholic families who resided
in this area in the 19th century. Our
parish of St James in Tupelo would become established a hundred years ago as a
small missionary parish served by the Benedictine priests from Culman, Alabama,
and would grow into the largest parish in Northeast Mississippi and one of the
largest parishes in our Diocese today. I
look out at our parish and see a great richness and a great treasure in our
diversity. Some
of you here at from families that have been in the parish for many generations,
who have many stories in your families from the early days of St James. We
also have a lot of families who came here from other parts of the country, to
work in jobs in manufacturing or at the medical center, who have added to the
diverse spirituality of our parish. And
then we have a large group of first generation immigrants to the United States,
who are raising their families here, and who have added their experiences,
their culture, and their languages to our community. We
see that reflected in the rich and diverse participation in our mass today.
In
these past few years, St James the Greater, our parish’s patron saint, has captured
the imagination of our parishioners. We
just celebrated the feast day of St James on Friday. His presence with us this weekend with our
Saturday morning hike modeled after the Camino of St James in Spain, and the St
James crosses and scallop shell that decorate our gathering space this morning,
show home important St James is to us as our patron saint. The
story of St James the Apostle is so fascinating, and in some ways reflects the
journey that our Catholic Church and our parish here in Tupelo have as
pilgrims. He
traveled to Spain as a missionary after Christ’s death and resurrection, but
did not make many converts to the faith, so he returned to Jerusalem feeling
very disappointed and very defeated. He
was the first apostle to die a martyr’s death.
After his death, his body was sent back to Spain to be buried, which at
that time still was not a Christian country, where his remains were forgotten
about for 8 centuries. In
the midst of Spain being occupied by the Moors, James’ remains were rediscovered
in the 9th century, where he brought inspiration to the Christians
to continue to practice their faith. In a
modern world where many have become complacent about practicing their faith,
the pilgrimage dedicated to St James, which has been in place for more than 13
centuries, calls out to people today from many different walks of life.
Just
as St James has guided millions of pilgrims to his holy city in northern Spain
on a pilgrimage journey of faith, so I feel that St James as our parish’s
patron saint has guided this parish throughout its 100 year history. And
we have a lot to be proud of in our parish. Today, we are very active in our community and involved in many social outreach
programs in Tupelo, which has reflected the leadership and wisdom of many of
the pastors we have had throughout the years. We
have become a leader in Hispanic ministry here in our diocese, trying many new
and innovative things. Yesterday, at the Saturday evening mass, we celebrated the LIMEX students that
we here in Tupelo have hosted for some years now, training lay people for
leadership roles in our parish and in our diocese. I
always brag to my fellow priests about how I have the best liturgy committee in
the diocese, another fruit of the lay leadership we have here in our parish. We do
have a lot to celebrate today. It is a
very joyful occasion for us. And
we are challenged not to just rest on our laurels and our accomplishments of
the past, but we are challenged to look to the future: to be the joy of the
Gospel that Pope Francis talks about. To
be a welcoming, committed community that helps its members be disciples, that
goes out and makes disciples. To truly
be the Body of Christ. As we
celebrate our mass today around the Lord’s table, as we enjoy a meal together
and fellowship with our fellow parishioners, let us give thanks to the Lord for
the blessings he has given our parish of St James in Tupelo.
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