Black Catholic History Mass
New All Saints
Baltimore, Maryland
November 28, 2023
Gathered here this evening for this Mass in which we celebrate Black Catholic History, the readings the Church offers do not seem to mesh with what we have come here to celebrate – we may think of them as stark and forboding. Yet, these very readings offer us insight into the history we celebrate precisely by focing on the end times, precisely by reminding us, amid the travails of history, to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Lord of History, as we await his coming again in glory.
In our first reading today from the Book of Daniel, we meet this man of God interpreting a dream of the powerful King Nebukannezer. Inspired God’s spirit, Daniel fortells the rise and fall of kingdom after kingdom. Each in succession seemed to be powerful, though less powerful than the one before, but, like all things of this world, eventually they fade away. In the midst of this, there is, however, one stone that will shatter all the kingdoms of the world. This is the Kingdom that the Lord himself will establish. This is the Kingdom does not seem mighty in the eyes of the world, yet it is this Kingdom alone remains, for it is filled with power on high.
In this vision we see the pattern of all history. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall. Power come and power goes. Riches are gained and riches are lost. All things on the face of the earth pass away. But one thing endures: the Lord God and his kingdom.
Similarly in the Gospel, we hear the Lord warning his disciples about what is to come: wars and insurrections, earthquakes, famines and plagues. Again, not exactly what we might want to think about on an evening like this. But looking at struggles of the past, challenges of the present and fears of the future, we can find consolation in these words of the Lord…but not in any superficial way. Jesus told us what would happen. He told us that in this world, fallen and yet redeemed, there would be hardship struggle and pain. Try as we might and try as we do to build a better world, focused as we are facing what we need to face and changing what we need to change, we are ever-conscious that troubles will always be with us, but like the Kingdoms we heard about our first reading, all these things are passing.
What, then, is there that remains? What endures? What does not fade away? Where can we find a sense of peace and security? St. Theresa of Avila tells us, “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes.”
God alone remains. What, then, should we seek in this passing world? What is to which we can dedicate our lives? In the end what remains? In a word: it is holiness. To be holy is to be close to God and to concern ourselves wholly about the things of God. This is the one thing that, in the end, is worth giving our lives for.
Tonight as we entered, we processed with the images of the Saintly Six, six African-American men and women who, despite the massive headwinds of injustice, despite the effects of the sin of racism, despite their own challenges in life, set their hearts on the one thing that endures and gave themselves to the one thing that really matters: holiness.
This doesn’t mean they were unconcerned with the problems and challenges of this world. Indeed we find few people more concerned with the needs of their brothers and sisters, few people more committed than they to building a better world, more dedicated to addressing the wrongs and working to build the right. But this was possible because they recognized that there is a power beyond, One who alone could fill them with the strength they needed. They were able to achieve great things in the midst of this troubled and passing world, because they had their eyes fixed on the world to come, the world that does not end.
In every age, in every place, in every people, God raises up women and men whom he has called to heroic lives of faith, hope, and love. The Saintly Six are among thosethe Lord has raised up in the Black Catholic Community in this land, as witnesses to the power that truly endures, the power of faith, as witnesses the power of hope and the power of love. These heroic men and women reflect God’s live and love in the amazing ways they lived their faith, the amazing ways they responded to their baptismal vocation, and the ways they live out their unique vocations in the face of discrimination, oppression, marginialization, and indifference. The forces of hate, the forces of divison, the forces of oppression, like all the Kingdoms of the world, will ultimately crumble and fall. Yet the Kindgom of the Lord remains. And the citizens of this Kingdom, the saints, will ever prosper.
So what is the lesson for us? Like the Saintly Six, we are men and women, ordained, vowed, religious and laity. We each have our own history and our own struggles, some more than others. But like them we are called, each and every one of us, to lead lives of heroic faith, hope, and charity. Each of us are called to be a saint.
In what do we place our hope? On what do we build our foundation? Our hearts are set not on a place or a building. Our hopes are founded not on wealth or power. Our faith is rooted not in an ideology or a party. Our love flows not from a program. Our faith, our hope, our love, the whole of our heart must be fixed on Christ Jesus and his Kingdom. This is one thing worth seeking, worth striving for, worthy of giving all that have and all that we are.
The saints are the true heroes, the true protagonists of history. The saints are those who have dedicated their lives to the one thing that remains. Kingdoms rise and fall, power comes and goes but only one thing remains, only one thing is worth dedicating our lives to, only one thing has the final word in all of history: God and God’s Kingdom.