CAMDEN – L’Tanya Brooks admits that it can be a struggle at times to be Black and Catholic with the divisions that continue in today’s world.
“How do we handle that?” the parishioner of Sacred Heart, Camden, asked. “How does one evangelize in an unfriendly atmosphere?”
At the end of an evening presentation by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS, she found an answer: “Turn to the saints … study their stories.”
Such was the message of Brother Mickey’s slideshow presentation, “Tell them I’m a Child of God: Saints Who Did All Through Love, Nothing Through Fear,” on Nov. 15 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Held during Black Catholic History Month, Brother Mickey, an acclaimed artist, highlighted men and women who lived lives of courage, faith and love despite facing racism and prejudice.
“Art and beauty can bring us together,” he told the audience of laity and clergy, weaving together stories of holy women and men who held onto the Catholic faith despite discrimination, hate, oppression and abuse, as well as the mother of Jesus.
For example, he displayed a slide featuring two images of the Blessed Mother, one where she wore a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, and the other a keffiyeh, a Muslim prayer shawl. The images, shown side by side, portrayed a message of hope in divided times.
He also showed artwork of Venerable Augustus Tolton, who was born a slave in 19th century Missouri before escaping to the free state of Illinois. He wanted to serve God as a Catholic priest, but found rejection and discrimination as no U.S. seminary would accept him. So he studied in Rome, and returned to the United States as the first Black American priest. Soon, his homilies attracted thousands, never preaching the hatred he received, but instead the love of God. He is now on the path to sainthood.
There was Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, patron saint of the environment, of Algonquin and Mohawk heritage. After a smallpox outbreak left her disfigured and half-blind at age 4, she was given the Mohawk name Tekakwitha, “She who bumps into things.” Converting to Catholicism, she practiced chastity and fasting, and prayed for the conversion of other Mohawks. Dying at the age of 24 in 1680, her final words were, “Jesus, I love you!”
Servant of God Julia Greeley, also on the path to sainthood, is a favorite subject of Brother Mickey’s. A Black American born in 1833 into slavery in Missouri, she lost her sight in one eye from a slaveholder’s whip. After emancipation, she entered the Catholic Church, and famously became known as “Denver’s Angel of Mercy,” pulling a red wagon full of food, clothing and other goods through the city’s streets day and night to help the poor of all races.
These individuals, and others showcased during the presentation, “all had one thing in common – they suffered,” Brother Mickey said.
Through their struggles, however, “They found love, they found Christ … and learned to rise above” the pain and discrimination, he said, adding that they sought to share the Lord’s message of hope and dignity.
“God loves us equally, no matter who we are,” Brother Mickey continued. “We’re all made in God’s image, with our own gifts, colors, interests, talents and motivations.”
Attendees said they found the oblate’s work inspiring and thought-provoking.
“Every time I see Brother Mickey, I learn something new,” said Cheryl Wright, chairwoman of the Black Catholic Ministry Commission of the Diocese of Camden, which sponsored the event. “Tonight gave me a sense that there’s hope out there.”
Father Vincent Guest, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and coordinator of the Black Catholic Ministry Commission, said he was pleased with the evening that “incorporated Black Catholic History Month with the racial injustice that spreads across all cultures.”
To combat these divisions, he continued, “The world needs to emulate the Christ-like love, goodness and mercy” of holy women and men such as Saint Tekakwitha and Father Tolton.
Brooks said she felt renewed and empowered to hold fast to the faith, continue educating herself on the saints, and share them with her own community.
“I have a responsibility not to pull away from my faith, but to embrace it, and study what these women and men have gone through,” she said. “In difficult times, they continued to have the faith and walked the road to sainthood.”
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