Rejoice in the Lord always

Since my appointment as Director of the Office for Black Catholics, I have been blessed to travel to different parishes and celebrate Sunday Mass. These visits have given me an opportunity to offer the greatest gift I have, the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Preaching God’s word and celebrating the sacraments is indeed what animates me in my service to the Church.
What has been a special blessing has been experiencing the deep spirituality of the African American Catholic community. Coming home from a recent visit, the words of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philipians came to mind, “Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again rejoice!”
In spite of our struggles and challenges, African Americans always find a way to “rejoice in the Lord.” This is seen in our music, prayer and total approach to Sundays, as we lift up our hearts to the Lord.
In their pastoral letter, “What We Have Seen and Heard,” the Black Bishops of the United States wrote:
“The gift of joy is something we must share. If the message of evangelization is the ‘good news’ about Jesus, we must react with joy. If we do indeed feel a profound joy, we shall know that we have heard and that we have understood; and we are thus enabled to share our good news. One who is joyful is impelled to love and cannot hate. A joyful person seeks to reconcile and will not cause division. A joyful person is troubled by the sight of another’s sadness. A joyful person seeks to console, strives to encourage and brings to all true peace.”
May we bring that good news to all!

Father Stephen D. Thorne is the Archdiocesan Director of the Office for Black Catholics.

Upcoming events in the Black Catholic Community

Annual feast day Mass in honor of Saint Peter Claver
2:00 p.m., Sept. 12, Saint Peter Claver Center for Evangelization, 12th and Lombard Streets; Father Rayford Emmons, celebrant and homilist

Holy Hour for priests serving in the Black apostolate
4:00 p.m., Sept. 16, St. Cyprian Church, Cobbs Creek Parkway and Cedar Avenue.

Annual pilgrimage of Black Catholics to the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann
10:00 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 18, St. Peter the Apostle Church, 5th Street and Girard Msgr. Herbert Bevard, celebrant