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Rhonda Bowden
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Director of Liturgyrbowdenstjudepearl.org"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you - plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope." --- Jeremiah 29:11
Every time I read or hear this scripture verse, I am reminded that God’s plans and my plans for my life are not always the same. I grew up in a Methodist family in rural northeast Mississippi with dreams of taking care of sick people. Growing up, I didn’t know anyone that was Catholic. It wasn’t until I went to Ole Miss that I met a guy named Mark, the first Catholic that I had ever known. I graduated from UMMC School of Nursing with a BSN-RN. A couple of years later I reconnected with Mark, and we were married in 1988.
Mark and I sporadically attended various churches our first years of marriage. However, when his father died in 1993, I was struck by the beauty and truth that I experienced in the Catholic funeral liturgy. I started RCIA that fall and was welcomed into the Catholic faith at St. Jude the following Easter vigil. Our family grew with the birth of Andrew in 1996 and Laura in 1997. I was able to “retire” from clinical nursing to stay at home with them. This also gave me more time to volunteer at St. Jude and to learn about and grow in my faith.
In 2008 I accepted the position of Director of Liturgy & Pastoral Care at St. Jude. I finished the Diocese of Jackson’s Pastoral Ministries Program and am a certified Parish Nurse through Spring Hill College. I also have completed course work toward certification for the Johnson Institute for Spiritual Gerontology and for Pastoral Care Specialist at Mississippi Baptist Health Systems.
What a blessing this job and ministry has been for me --- walking with families through the loss of a loved one, assisting couples with their wedding celebrations, coordinating the various aspects of our weekend liturgies, taking care of parishioners in need, or helping with RCIA. I’m not exactly doing what the 18 year-old me had planned, but God has proven again that His plan for me is much better than mine!
