In late July, along with Father Gerard Marable, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Galloway, and more than a dozen lay faithful from parishes around the Diocese, I was blest to attend the National Black Catholic Congress held outside Washington, D.C. An estimated 3,000 Black Catholics from 80 dioceses across the nation attended. It was a wonderful experience for all of us. To gather with so many Black Catholics, and men and women from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds from around the country, enriched my faith and my priesthood. The Congress provided me with an opportunity to witness and be a part of the wonderful diversity of our Catholic faith.
The theme of the Congress, “Write the Vision: A Prophetic Call to Thrive,” was developed from the Old Testament Book of Habakkuk 2:2-4. The prophet was called to proclaim a message from God, just as we are called by Baptism to witness and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the Congress, presentations were offered about how to create an ongoing agenda for evangelization. Topics included evangelizing youth, vocations, reaching out to fallen away Catholics, the challenges faced by merged communities, the reality of racism, Black Catholics on the road to sainthood and the Eucharistic Revival.
This year’s gathering was the 13th National Black Catholic Congress. The first was held in 1889 and was organized by prominent Black Catholic layman, Daniel Rudd. Rudd was born into slavery and raised Catholic. He founded the first African-American newspaper, the American Catholic Tribune. Just 20 years after the Civil War, Rudd believed that the Catholic Church was the one place of hope for Black people.
Congress highlights for me were the keynote address and opening Mass homily of Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington, D.C. Cardinal Gregory is the first Black cardinal in the United States. He weaved the theme of the Congress into the ongoing Eucharistic Revival in the United States. In his homily, the Cardinal stated that “the Eucharist unites us to live courageously and with unending hope that through prayer, planning and hard work, we will indeed thrive.” He encouraged all attendees to anchor themselves in the Eucharist, saying, “It is in the receiving of Christ in the Eucharist that we are transformed. The Eucharist gives us the energy and the impetus to continue to strive for justice.”
Frequent mention throughout the Congress was made to the six African-American Catholics on the road to sainthood, whose images were displayed on large banners in the convention center auditorium. Venerable Mother Mary Virginia Lange, the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence; Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, the first U.S. Catholic priest publicly known to be Black; Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, a charismatic singer and evangelizer; Venerable Pierre Toussaint of New York, renown for his charitable works; Servant of God Julia Greeley of Denver, known for her devout faith, works of charity and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and Venerable Sister Henriette Delille of New Orleans, the foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family.
It was noted that these six holy men and women being considered for sainthood were grounded in the Eucharist, the “source and summit of our Catholic Christian faith.” Cardinal Gregory emphasized that “the Eucharist strengthens us, soothes us and heals us so that we may build lives that radiate the love, the care and the peace that we so desperately need and desire.”
In conversations with the members of the diocesan Black Catholic Ministry Commission, we all agreed that this is precisely the message we need to convey to the faithful in the Camden Diocese. Fed and nourished by the Eucharist, we are called, all of us, to bring the saving message of Christ our Lord into our families and communities. Communities are in need of healing from the effects of the daily violence we see on the news, from the lingering sin of racism, from the pandemic of drug abuse, and from the consumerism and relativism that remove God from being the central and motivating force of our lives.
Attendees at the Congress were encouraged to live their baptismal call to be priests, prophets and kings. We will all thrive when we unite ourselves to the priesthood of Christ, and sacrifice, teach and lead as we are called to do. There was so much energy at the Congress, and at the closing Mass, Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, the superior general of the Josephites, encouraged attendees to be enlivened by the flame of the Holy Spirit, and to “bring that spirit of faith back to [your] homes, parishes, dioceses and to the African-American communities in their cities and towns.”
The Diocese of Camden attendees were overjoyed at their experience, but we also returned with the realization that work needs to be done. We pray for the grace to “thrive,” as the Congress calls us to do, and witness to the beauty and truth of our Catholic faith and spread the joy of the Gospel here in South Jersey.
To become involved in the Black Catholic Ministry Commission of the Camden Diocese, call Sacred Heart Parish at (856)-966-6700.
Father Guest is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Camden, and coordinator of the Black Catholic Ministry Commission and the diocesan Racial Justice Commission.
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