“I wanna be used for the building up of the kingdom of God,” voices from the ICA/African Mass Choir and diocesan Inspirational Choir proclaimed through song during the Black History Month Mass celebrated Feb. 25 at Saint Bridget University Parish in Glassboro.
Indeed, building up the Kingdom was the message heard as Bishop Dennis Sullivan spoke on the day’s readings from Genesis, Romans and the Gospel of Mark and how faith “is not just about a mountaintop experience but also about being aware of God’s presence in the ordinariness of everyday life.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Black History Month Mass
“For too many, [there is] suffering caused by systemic racism ingrained in our society. The challenge of faith is to know God’s presence even in the suffering … to follow Christ and allow him to enter into and transform our pains and sufferings so we can experience Christ’s healing love.”
Noting that “it is important that as a Catholic Church, we celebrate Black History Month,” Bishop Sullivan, who was joined at the Mass by 12 priests and deacons from around the Diocese, also spoke on Pope Francis’ message for Lent, “Through the desert, God leads us to freedom.”
“That iconic word ‘freedom’ should ring a bell in our hearts,” Bishop Sullivan said. “Freedom brings to mind the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. … He labored for justice and peace and freedom. Dr. King confronted the evils of racism and prejudice. Given the continuance in our society of those issues and the rise of many others – anti-immigration, anti-Semitism, religious discrimination, war, the collapse of the traditional family, the increasing culture of death – we need to heed Dr. King’s message.”
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