Black Catholics Share Gifts, History with the Church

The Black Catholic community proclaimed “who we are” and “whose we are” in a liturgy overflowing with upbeat Gospel music, elegant liturgical dances, and dynamic preaching.

The Nov. 2 Mass, which commemorated Black Catholic History Month, was held at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Baton Rouge. Bishop Michael G. Duca presided at the Mass, which  was themed “Seeking Our Spiritual Home in the Catholic Church."

John Price, a member of the Office of Black Catholics Advisory Board and member of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Baton Rouge, greeted the assembly.

“This liturgy is not a novel event. In the 1980s, the ten African American Catholics Bishops assembled to dialogue on evangelization within the African American Catholic community,” Price stated. “Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the pastoral letter, ‘What We Have Seen and Heard’ was written in 1984.” 
Top right photo: The Diocesan Choir inspired the congregation in worship with their music.
Above photo: Bishop Michael G. Duca was joined at the altar by priests from the diocese. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator  
During this 40th anniversary year of the document, the Office of Black Catholics has sponsored formation sessions to engage Black Catholics and teach them from a Black perspective, according to Price.

He referred to the directive Pope St. Paul VI issued in a 1969 symposium to the peoples of Kampala, Uganda, Africa: “You must now give your gifts of Blackness to the whole church.”

The Diocesan Gospel Choir prompted people to clap their hands, sing, and dance in praise as they performed the processional hymn “Rise Among Us” by William Murphy. 

Homilist Father Anthony Bozeman SSJ of Cross Catholic Outreach said the country is dealing with the same issues as it did in 1954.

“Our country is divided; you might see one that will mix with the other, but we are racially divided, politically divided, struggling financially, struggling with our health. We’re still reeling as a country from the pandemic that killed thousands from our biological and our faith families,” Father Bozeman said.

While America claims to be a Christian country, it is not acting like one, according to Father Bozeman.

“America is not a melting pot, it’s a gumbo,” he said. “It’s all these different ingredients … some of us are smart enough to have a roux, and that roux is called Jesus Christ. And when you put him in the center great things are going to happen,” he said.

The Catholic Church is called to work together just as the nation is, Father Bozeman stated. 

The church must “regroup,” Bozeman stressed, because Black Catholics are seeking their spiritual home in the Catholic Church and want to be reminded of the good things going on in the church.                                                                                .
 Liturgical dancers expressed worship, thanks, and adoration of God.
That means bringing the lost home by telling the stories and sharing the proud culture and history of Black Catholics, noted Father Bozeman.

“We’re not stepchildren,” he said. “We’re going to tell the story when we’re fortified about ‘who we are’ and ‘whose we are’ and go about living our lives and moving in the direction God will have us to go.”

At the end of Mass, donations were presented for the Father Aubry Osborne Seminary Fund. Father Osborne was the first Black priest ordained at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans in 1961 and served in the Diocese of Baton Rouge. The Knights of Peter Claver Mary Immaculate Council 119 in Maringouin donated $200, and The Knights of Peter 119 Ladies Auxiliary donated $504. The Knights of Peter Claver District 2 donated $200.

The Mass concluded with the uplifting recessional song, "Going Up Yonder," by Tramaine Hawkins. 

Mass attendees emphasized the critical role Black Catholics played in the church in the past and will continue to play into the future.

Cassandra Will,  Office of Black Catholics consultant, pointed out that celebrating Black Catholic History Month is crucial because the early  The congregation was engaged with the liturgy.church community was comprised of North African people.

“Several accounts of them are featured in sacred scriptures. St. Simon of Cyrene who literally carried Jesus' cross and carried Christianity to his hometown of Cyrene in Libya,” Will said. “St. Simon of Niger was present in the upper room for the fires of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Acts of the Apostles cites the pilgrimage of the Ethiopian eunuch who was returning from Jerusalem in his chariot reflecting on the suffering servant from the prophet Isaiah. Early Christian martyrs St. Felicity and St. Perpetua who received the death penalty rather than giving up their Catholic faith.”

She added, “We hope our church will recognize, appreciate, accept, and value the God-given gifts of African American Catholics. Many of us who have responded to the church's calling have felt frustrated when our training, education, and credentials are ignored and/or undervalued. God creates every one of his children with unique gifts and talents. He expects that we utilize what he's blessed us with to serve his church and her members.”
Father Anthony Bozeman SJFather Josh JohnsonNatalie Jones, who serves as grand lady of KPC Ladies Auxiliary Court 65 in Lutcher and district 2 president, comes from a long line of Catholics,  said faith was the backbone of her life growing up. She attended Mass with her mother, grandmother, and great-
grandmother from an early age.

“I was looking at them and their faith, and they instilled that in my mom, me and my kids,” said Jones.

She added, “We’ve had a sense of family and community, a sense of togetherness and the ability to come together as a group. Even some members in my (extended) family, we’ve had some individuals convert to Catholicism. I think they said, ‘Wow look at this group of people.’ We come together, that’s what we do.”

For the church to thrive, people must build upon the values that they’ve been taught by their families and churches, according to Jones.

“No one knows what it’s going to look like in the future, but we do know that it takes us coming together and contributing to the growth of success of the Catholic Church,” said Jones.

She highlighted Father Bozeman’s homiletic point that to help the church grow they must “plant a seed” for those who are lukewarm or have left the church.

“It’s less about church as an obligation or chore than ‘I feel like I can make the church better and show that we as Catholics can move mountains,’” Jones said.