10th Congress impacts local black Catholics VIEW PHOTOS
By Fabvienen Taylor
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Most of the 20 Diocese of Jackson Catholics who attended the 10th National Black Catholic Congress said they experienced a new sense of enrichment and evangelization as black Catholics during the July 12 - 15 event at the Buffalo Convention Center.
“The liturgies brought me to my feet, brought me to tears,” said Maxine Ford, president of the board for the Office of Black Catholic Ministry in the Jackson diocese.
“You could feel the Holy Spirit, God’s spirit in there,” she said on Saturday, July 14. “That presence, that moving spirit is something I would like to see in my parish (Greenwood St. Francis of Assisi). I want to take back to my parish all that I have learned here these few days. I want them to feel what I felt.”
A young adult workshop on living a spiritual life “hit home” for Kristin Sheffield, 21, from Eupora St. John Neumann Church. “The presenter, Daniel Green, talked to us about living for Christ instead of doing things our way and fitting in with the crowd. I related to him as a college student,” said Sheffield, a sophomore at the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) in Columbus.
Edgar Miller, 37, of Ackerman St. Mark Mission, learned how to make living his life his ministry and find his place in his parish. “I learned more about being a black Catholic, about being a better husband, a better father. I learned how to let go of problems and turn them over to God. I learned how to have more faith in Christ and how to reach out to others who may be struggling.”
Nearly 2,500 people from 100 dioceses attended the congress which meets every five years and consisted of keynote addresses, workshops, liturgies and sightseeing in the Buffalo and Niagara Falls areas. The theme of the congress was “Christ Is With Us: Celebrating the Gifts of the Sacraments.” (See related story on page 9)
Participants from the Jackson diocese included Felicia Baber, Jeriko Cole, Jermaine Miller, Morrison Cistrunk, Kayla Miller and Asa Cistrunk of Ackerman St. Mark Mission, Sister Alies Therese and Lorenzo Aju, mission coordinator and pastoral minister respectively of Ackerman St. Mark and Eupora St. John Neumann missions; from Jackson, Donna Williams of Holy Ghost Parish, and Linda Smith and Gwendolyn McGill of Christ the King Parish; Juliet Miller of McComb St. Alphonsus Parish; Girtie Banks of Canton Holy Child Jesus Parish; Glara Martin of Greenwood St. Francis of Assisi Parish; Father Joe Dyer, pastor of Canton Holy Child Jesus and Sacred Heart parishes; Father Jeremy Tobin of Raymond St. Moses the Black Priory; William Jemison, director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministry; and Fabvienen Taylor of Mississippi Catholic.
Jemison said the congress was a good opportunity to meet other motivated black Catholics who are active in their parish communities.
“Every person I talked to attended the congress for a different reason,” he said. “Some people came seeking evangelization, some came strictly to grow spiritually, and some came to build on networks that could be useful back in their parishes.
“My hope is that the people who attended from our diocese will take their experiences back to their parish, back to our diocese, and do more outreach to the unchurched and the under-churched and to those from other cultures in our diocese,” said Jemison who was particularly infused with enthusiasm after attending a workshop around welcoming immigrants and immigration reform.
“That workshop was packed with people and centered on the Catholic response to immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean, who are primarily Catholic. They talked about how we should welcome them in our communities and what our response, as Catholics, should be regarding immigration reform. The church teaches that we should be proactive in promoting immigration reform that is good for those wanting to come here, or who are already here, seeking a better life,” he said.
“I don’t think we are doing a great job of that in Jackson,” Jemison said, who thinks offering parish bilingual Masses, instead of adding Masses in Spanish, where all Catholics can participate together would facilitate a more welcoming community toward immigrants.
“Immigrants need to be a part of our Catholic communities. They are leaving for other churches because they don’t feel welcome.
“A lot of people I’ve heard around Jackson and among other Catholics is that immigrants who are here illegally need to be deported, sent back home. But our Catholic faith teaches us that everyone is welcome. This country was built on immigration,” Jemison said.
He said Mississippi is becoming more and more diverse not only with immigrants from other countries but people from other states with new industries.
“I think it is a matter of we’re very complacent where we are and we don’t want to move out of our comfort zone,” said Jemison. “One of the things I learned from the congress is to be more welcoming to people coming from other places and to make them feel a part of my community.”
Baber, who brought her sons Asa and Morrison to the congress, said she learned a lot from talking to other participants.
“I’ve learned more about my Catholic beliefs, my faith, and I’ve been able to meet a lot of people from all over the world, who are my brothers and sisters. We talked to each other about how things are going in our different parishes and I’ve learned a lot from them.”
Banks learned that parishes could benefit from workshops centered on music for Catholic liturgies. “Some musicians are not trained about what music to play at certain times during Mass and why. Workshops would be wonderful,” she said.
McGill was particularly impressed with the workshops on centering prayer and liturgical music. “It has been so inspirational to meet so many people devoted to their faith and to God. It makes me want sit back and look at the people I meet every day who I never noticed who are doing the same thing. It’s like wow, how wonderful.”
Sister Therese, along with some of her parishioners attended the last congress held in Chicago. Her associate, Agu, also attended this year.“I think it is important for someone like myself, who works in highly defined ethnic communities, and not myself being African American or Latino, I think it is really important, over the years, to just keep learning, keep listening, keep watching and keep trying to be ever more sensitive and caring to the people I serve.
“While I know this is primarily for black Catholics, people who work in such highly defined ethnic communities need to be here to listen,” she said.
Agu said he was interested in the new activities, plans and ideas presented at the congress. “Also, I enjoyed all of the celebrations. The liturgies were very inspirational.”
Athlete Asa Cistrunk, 14, will be praying more on the football field. “I learned in one of my workshops (When Players are Prayers) to start praying more while playing football, really to pray all the time. You need to pray before you start things during the day and then afterwards too. I believe that will make more good things happen.”
(Photos by Fabvienen Taylor)
