By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
All Souls Day Masses at cemeteries
Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Auxiliary Bishop Enrique Delgado will be celebrating Masses on All Souls Day, Nov. 2, at each of the archdiocese’s Catholic cemeteries. The Masses will begin at 10 a.m. at the parishes closest to the cemeteries.
Archbishop Wenski will preside at Our Lady of Guadalupe, 11691 N.W. 25 St., Doral, which is located next to Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery. Bishop Delgado will preside at Our Lady Queen of Heaven, 1400 South State Road 7, North Lauderdale, which is located next to Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
For more information call 305-592-0521 in Miami-Dade or 954-972-1234 in Broward.
Contribute to Baby Bottle Drive
From Oct. 15 through Nov. 15, the Respect Life Ministry is holding its annual Baby Bottle Drive, where parishioners are asked to take an empty baby bottle home and return it filled with money. The donations raise funds for the archdiocese’s Pregnancy Help Centers, while also raising awareness about the Gospel of Life and promoting a personal commitment to building a culture of life in South Florida.
The pastor-appointed Respect Life representative in each parish coordinates the drive, and the funds raised go to one of the three archdiocesan Pregnancy Help Centers assigned to each parish: South Dade, South Broward or Central Broward. The centers provide financial, spiritual and other support to women in crisis pregnancies.
To participate in your parish’s bottle drive by making an online donation, visit respectlifemiami.org/baby-bottledrive. For more information or to schedule a Baby Bottle Drive in your parish, contact [email protected].
Celebrate Black Catholic History Month
On July 24, 1990, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States designated November as Black Catholic History Month to celebrate the long history and proud heritage of Black Catholics. Two commemorative dates fall within this month: St. Augustine’s birthday, Nov. 13, and St. Martin de Porres’ feast day, Nov. 3. November is also when Catholics celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, an occasion to recall in a special way the saints and souls of Africa and the African Diaspora.
To mark these occasions, the archdiocese’s Office of Black Catholic Ministry invites the community to take part in a Mass on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 4:30 p.m. at St. Stephen Church, 6044 S.W. 19 St., Miramar, presided by Archbishop Thomas Wenski; and a Black Catholic History Month luncheon to take place Saturday, Nov. 19, at noon at St. Thomas University, 16401 N.W. 37 Ave., Miami Gardens. Donation for the lunch is $50/person or $500/table of 10.
A souvenir booklet also is being compiled to commemorate Black Catholic History Month. The Office of Black Catholics is looking for sponsors to advertise in the booklet. Those proceeds will help the office continue to provide leadership programs, workshops, and spiritual enhancements to the Black Catholic community. The deadline to advertise is Oct. 31, 2022.
To request an advertising form, buy luncheon tickets or get more information, contact Katrenia Reeves-Jackman, 305-762-1120 (office), 305-915-9039 (cell) or email [email protected].
Volunteers needed for prison ministry
The Office of Detention Ministry of the Archdiocese of Miami is looking for priests and lay volunteers for one of the 30 correctional facilities in Miami-Dade. For more information, please email Deacon Edgardo Farias at [email protected].
Local priest publishes book on human trafficking
Father Paul VI Karenga
Father Paul VI Karenga, parochial vicar at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in Southwest Ranches, has published a book, “A West African Model to Address Human Trafficking,” which is now available for purchase on Amazon, Springer Nature, and Barnes and Nobles.
The foreword, written by Archbishop Thomas Wenski, notes: “With discussion-provoking questions, this narrative is an eye-opening writing that will move readers from awareness to advocacy and action. The book awakens in readers a sense of moral responsibility in purchasing. I urge you therefore to use your consumer power by downloading an anti-trafficking app on your phone to scan the barcode of the items you buy. Our feedback on social media sites such as Yelp and Facebook can force unethical companies to take steps to ensure their supply chains are slavery-free. This would be your way to join in the fight. I hope this book is helpful in introducing this disturbing social issue.”
Legal Services COO named Citizenship Ambassador
Myriam Mézadieu, chief operating officer at Catholic Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Miami, has been chosen by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as one of eight new USCIS Citizenship Ambassadors from around the United States. She will serve as ambassador for South Florida.
Myriam Mezadieu, chief operating officer of Catholic Legal Services of the archdiocese, helps a client who is requesting asylum in this file photo from 2016.
Ambassadors are naturalized immigrants with extensive leadership experience who will serve as liaisons to promote citizenship among their communities. She is part of the first cohort of this initiative, which seeks to reach the approximately 9.1 million U.S. lawful permanent residents who are eligible to apply for citizenship but may lack the awareness or means to do so.
Mézadieu, a native of Haiti, began working for CLINIC — the Catholic Legal Immigration Network — after the 1991 coup d’état which sent Haitians fleeing to the Guantanamo Naval Base. She ran the daily operations of the Catholic Emergency Legal Aid project for Haitians and in 1994 co-founded, with her colleague Randy McGrorty, an organization that would become Catholic Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Miami.
“There are close to 1 million people eligible to naturalize in the state of Florida and over 600,000 in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area alone,” Mézadieu told CLINIC in a profile published on their website. She said a meaningful part of her new role will be “reaching out to isolated communities to explain the benefits of U.S. citizenship for applicants and their children, how U.S. citizenship can help strengthen and reunite families.”
Mezadieu is one of two immigrants affiliated with CLINIC to be selected as ambassadors. Read the complete interview with both at https://bit.ly/Ambassadors_Mezadieu_CLINIC.
