The Franciscan Sisters and St. Francis of Assisi Faculty and students participated in Cancer Awareness this past week. During Wednesday’s school mass the students carried up candles in remembrance those who died of cancer, those who survived and their caregivers.  Survivors were mentioned by name in the prayers of petition.   Thursday, pink table cloths covered the cafeteria tables and pink lemonade was “on tap”. Come Friday the students came in with pledge sheets and monies for the cancer walk slated for the afternoon.  At 2:00 everyone poured out of their classrooms and headed for the field behind the school.  Mrs. Lewis gave a countdown and students and teachers began doing laps.  The aim was for everyone to do 5 laps.  Some did more and little ones did less, but it all averaged out to a worthwhile activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the students and faculty were off!

 

 

 

 

Sister Kathleen kept close track of her students. They are so precious at that age!

 

 

 

 

After the long walk a refreshing bottle of water or a snow cone hit the spot!

 

 

Ahhh! The pause that refreshes!

 

 

 

A week of remembrance, prayer, and fun.

The students raised $384 which was given to the American Cancer Society.

The Franciscan Sisters at St. Francis began the morning on Saturday by attending a “Regional Faith in Action Workshop” here in the cafeteria. It is always nice when you don’t have to travel for a meeting! The session was sponsored by the  Diocese of Jackson and dealt with  the topics of Catholic Social Teaching, Parish Social Ministry and Advocacy. The Diocese is encouraging parishes to form “Faith in Action Teams” which will build on the existing social ministry programs so that Catholics can more effectively live the Gospel.

 

 

Following the workshop, a group of our parishioners gathered at the grotto of Mary next to our convent to pray the rosary and commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions to the children at Fatima.

 

 

Midday here in Mississippi gets very hot so we opted to pray in the shade of a magnolia tree. This involved moving chairs to a position beside the grotto facing the highway.  Fr. Cam elevated this logistical move by remarking, “This is good as we are now praying with Mary and not to her”.  He added, that by facing highway 82 we would be “praying for the people of the world, and including the needs of all who passed by.”

 

 

 

Next on the day’s busy agenda was our Fall “Meet the Sisters” gathering.  As the young ladies arrived, snacks were served and games “relaxed” everyone! “Heads Up”, using a tablet was first. This has become a favorite activity for the group. Then our guests were challenged to use a spoon to transfer ping pong balls from a full bowl to an empty bowl. Finally, with a sandwich cookie on their brow the young ladies had to try and get the cookie into their mouth using only their facial muscles!

 

Now all were ready for a craft activity. Being October, Sister Kathleen led the group in making  a decade of a rosary using cord and beads in the same fashion as St. Theresa beads.

 

 

Sister Kathleen carried the theme of the rosary a little further. All were divided into five groups.   Each fivesome was given a bag of miscellaneous items. From a list of the mysteries of the rosary, each group had to act out the mystery of their choice using all the items in their bag. This took some thought and led to a lot of laughter as the audience figured out which mystery was being portrayed.

 

 

Please excuse the clotheslines!

Can you guess which mystery they each acted out?

 

 

After the Mysteries of the Rosary were enacted Sister Elena had the hot dogs ready for the hungry crew. From the hot dogs to Sister Judy’s s’mores, the young ladies were perfectly content.

 

Finally, it was time to come together in chapel for a prayer planned and led by Sister Judy.

 

 

Here we prayed for world peace through the intercession of Mary. A decade of the rosary was included in this prayer service. It was a perfect time to try out the new craft decade each young woman had made.

 

 

The day for the annual St. Francis of Assisi School Fall Festival turned out to be a beautiful day in the Delta. The weather was perfect for outdoor fun and games. Many volunteers had arrived early to grill the BBQ chicken, fry our traditional catfish and prepare many other foods for the hungry festival goers.

While the adults enjoyed bingo and kept an eye on the Silent Auction the younger ones easily migrated to the games and activies.

Each of the Friars and Sisters were eager to serve and do all they could to contribute to the success of the event.

 

 

 

Twenty years ago the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity answered the request of the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province to join them in ministry at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Greenwood, MS. On July 28, 1997 four sisters; Sister Natalie Binversie, Sister Rochelle Kerkhof, Sister Delores Vogt and Sister James Ellen Woolsey left the Motherhouse as the Community blessed them singing, “The Blessing of St. Francis”.

Many of our Sisters have served here since that day and have found the blessings of life and ministry at St. Francis to be as real for them as it was for those pioneer Sisters. In remembrance of these 20 years of presence and all the Sisters who have served here over the years, Fr. Jim Gannon, Provincial, and the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province gifted us with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  We are enjoying them with deep gratitude.