Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
In many and varied ways we call upon the intercessions of the saints in our prayer, with a singular devotion through Mary, the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Earlier this week we released the names of priests, religious brothers and deacon who have been credibly accused of the sexual abuse of minors. At the same time three special saints, beacons of hope for our troubled times, converged on our liturgical calendar: Saint Patrick (March 17), Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (March 18) and Saint Joseph (March 19).
Saint Joseph is the patron saint of the Universal Church due to his singular vocation in God’s plan of salvation as the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. Saint John Paul II, nearly 30 years ago on August 15, 1989, blessed the universal church with his Apostolic Exhortation, Redemptoris Custos, a document on Saint Joseph as the Guardian of the Redeemer. We chose his feast day, March 19, to release the names of clerics credibly accused of the sexual abuse of minors with the special intention that this guardian of the Redeemer and patron of the Universal Church may renew us in our care for the members of the family of God, the Body of Christ.
In the words and thought of Saint John Paul II we read. “Saint Joseph was called by God to serve the person and mission of Jesus directly through the exercise of his fatherhood. It is precisely in this way that, as the Church’s Liturgy teaches, he cooperated in the fullness of time in the great mystery of salvation and is truly a “minister of salvation.” His fatherhood is expressed concretely in his having made his life a service, a sacrifice to the mystery of the Incarnation and to the redemptive mission connected with it.”
In this light we pray that all ordained for service in the church may dedicate their lives as a sacrifice to the mystery of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, the Redeemer.
Saint Joseph, ora pro nobis.
On March 18 we celebrated the feast of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, not well known in the canonized celestial cohort, but whom tradition knows as a great evangelizer and catechist. We entrust to him all catechumens and candidates who seek to be in full communion with the Catholic Church.
On the first Sunday in Lent throughout the Catholic world the Universal Church in the Rite of Election called by name those who are on this journey to full communion at the Easter Vigil. Joy and hope resounded throughout Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Madison two weeks ago when the names of the elect and the candidates were proclaimed. On the other hand, earlier this week we posted the names of all credibly accused clerics who served in the Diocese of Jackson going back to 1924.
Of course, this roll call evokes a range of negative feelings for the most part. Yet, not exclusively, because many are experiencing a sense of relief and pray that a new day is dawning that will allow the Church to move forward in truth and hope. This is not a punitive action on the part of the Church against those who have offended. Rather, the public statement is done for the sake of transparency, the restoration of trust and especially for the healing of victims, their families and the church.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, ora pro nobis.
On March 17, the Universal Church could not celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick because it landed on the second Sunday of Lent. (However, for the parade and party devotees Saturday the 16th was just fine.) All of the hoopla and festivities, a great way to mark the transition from winter to spring in the Northern Hemisphere, can too easily overshadow the astonishing spiritual and earth-bound accomplishments of this great saint. There is not enough space in a newspaper, let alone a column to log them all, but one in particular is outstanding as the Catholic Church labors to reconcile the wounds and overcome the scandal of the sexual abuse troubles.
Within the lifetime of Saint Patrick, the nascent Christian era in Ireland eradicated the barbaric human trafficking trade of the pagan Celtic people. They had developed the same system of human destruction that powered the African slave trade which is now featured in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The Church, in recent decades especially, has committed herself to eradicating the scourge of sexual abuse, and to date the tide is turning. With Saint Patrick as our guide, may we redouble our efforts to eradicate the barbaric sin of sexual abuse.
Saint Patrick, ora, pro nobis.
Although lamentation marks every corner of this edition of the Mississippi Catholic the seeds of truth, compassion, justice and healing are already planted and bringing about a new spring throughout our diocese. May the call of the Lord for conversion not fall upon deaf ears during this Lenten season and always.

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
The demand for conversion resounds throughout the Catholic Church this Lent as we dig even deeper to uproot the evil of child sexual abuse and its accompanying demon of abuse of power by Church leadership. Although conversion or metanoia can be painfully slow whether in the life of an individual or in an institution, truth and the demand for justice and mercy compel us in this historical moment to know that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1,37). The Good News of Jesus Christ cannot be a beacon of hope for the world unless the light of the Gospel transforms the Church.
During this Lent and always I give thanks to all who have a deep love for the Church, the Body of Christ, and who want to see a season of refreshment, but who understand that this is not a matter of cheap grace, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Saint Peter in the proclamation of the Kerygma on that first Pentecost points out the way for every generation. “Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment” (Acts 3,19). May we never grow weary of accompanying those who carry the unjust burden of sexual abuse experienced in our Church communities especially, but also encouraging hope and healing to those have are suffering from this scourge wherever its source.
On Ash Wednesday we were signed with the ashes of repentance, the path of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three pillars, set in the soil of the Word of God and the Eucharist, the body and blood of the Lord poured out for us, are the lamps for our feet during the sacred season of Lent, but truly, for every season of every year as a way of life. It is easy to compartmentalize these fundamentals of our faith, with a light meal on Friday, a quick prayer in the morning or a painless check made out on a Sunday. Let us thank God for those breakthrough moments in our lives that bring us to our knees, that create deep hungers, and force us to rely on the generosity of others.
When I traveled in India recently for two weeks, there were obvious signs of poverty and desperation, as you might imagine, as well as the selfless Gospel dedication of ordained, professed and lay disciples. In southern India one of the priests was recalling the immediate aftermath of the severe flooding last year. Rich and poor were washed out their homes and forced to find temporary housing, together. Some of the wealthy were ashamed of this sudden deprivation and hid behind the screens in the daily distribution of the bread hoping to go unnoticed. Gradually, they came out of isolation and today are some of the largest benefactors toward the ministry of serving the abandoned. Often, it takes a crisis to unshackle a deeper experience of our common humanity which the veneer of social strata too easily obscure.
Each of us have our favorite scripture passages that can keep us on the path for the spiritual marathon ahead. Two verses in particular speak to my heart as well as to the heart of the Church in our day. Saint Paul encourages us in our Lenten discipline as he encouraged Timothy. “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” (2Timothy 1,7-8). Each of us as individuals and families can apply the three pillars of prayer, fasting and almsgiving at work in Saint Paul’s words.
Also, as a Church, with Saint Paul, we know that we are at the service of God’s Kingdom in this world. “So do not let your good be reviled. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by others. Let us then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another.” (Romans 14, 16-19) In this spirit we can rebuild the household of God, the Church, in the midst of crisis, and for all godly reasons in order to remove the blindness of sin. I end with the words of Pope Francis from his 2017 Lenten message.
“Dear friends, Lent is the favorable season for renewing our encounter with Christ, living in his word, in the sacraments and in our neighbor. The Lord, who overcame the deceptions of the Tempter during the 40 days in the desert, shows us the path we must take. May the Holy Spirit lead us on a true journey of conversion, so that we can rediscover the gift of God’s word, be purified of the sin that blinds us, and serve Christ present in our brothers and sisters in need. I encourage all the faithful to express this spiritual renewal also by sharing in the Lenten Campaigns promoted by many Church organizations in different parts of the world, and thus to favor the culture of encounter in our one human family. Let us pray for one another so that, by sharing in the victory of Christ, we may open our doors to the weak and poor. Then we will be able to experience and share to the full the joy of Easter.”

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
On February 6, I quietly marked the fifth anniversary of my ordination and installation as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Jackson. As we know some days never end, but a decade can pass in the twinkling of an eye. (1Cor 15) For me the past five years are officially history, having moved at the speed of a weaver’s shuttle, (Job 7,6).
Many events and memories stand out vividly; some have to be recalled by scrolling through my i-Phone calendar; others surface when I revisit schools and parishes and, still others when someone recalls an event or encounter in conversation.
All of it is to say that the Lord has blessed me abundantly through the episcopal ministry he so graciously bestowed upon me five years ago.
Even the current troubles do not suppress the beauty, truth and goodness that have flowed from our Mission and renewed Vision. Each day we have the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel by the way we live our lives so that all can experience the crucified and risen Lord.
The engaging design of our diocesan Vision reminds me wherever I am in the diocese about our priorities of inspiring disciples, serving others and embracing diversity, as was on display at our just completed diocesan youth conference. (See page 7 for photos)
The Vision has been embraced and applied in creative ways throughout the diocese through the application of our Pastoral Priorities, especially to be inviting and reconciling communities and to teach our Catholic faith by being good scribes in the Kingdom of Heaven in many and varied ways. We recall the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel: “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old,, (13,52).
We can think of all of the channels for communication and evangelization at our fingertips, that which is new, as well as the proven time tested ways of witnessing, encountering and accompanying.
Our first Pastoral Priority to be inviting and reconciling communities recognizes the fundamental call of the Lord to repent and rebuild one’s life and Church on the demands of the Gospel. This call is ever ancient and ever new, and must be vigorously applied to the suffering of the sexual abuse crisis, and the targeted financial upheaval in our diocese.
Crucified with the Lord we can rise with him to new life.
On February 6, my anniversary (which by the way also happens to be my father’s birthday), I am set to take the long flight to India for my first pastoral visit to the land that is blessing us with dedicated priests and missionary disciples. Going to Saltillo, Mexico, each year to our mission of 50 years can be a stretch, but the Indian subcontinent will be unchartered waters for me.
I will be going with my trusty guide, Father Albeen Vatti, pastor of Saint Francis in Madison, of the Diocese of Warangal where we will spend time with Bishop Bala, visiting many pastoral settings as well as some of the families of the priests who are serving currently in the Diocese of Jackson. From there we will travel to other Indian States for pastoral visits, as well as for seeing countless points of interests along the way. The culture and way of life of this densely-populated nation will make for an up close and personal experience at every bend in the road. I am looking forward to this opportunity to visit the land where Saint Thomas the Apostle planted the seeds of the Gospel.
As I briefly pause to reflect upon this five year milestone in my life, although there will be 18 hours of flying time to India to do considerable reflection, I am deeply grateful to so many coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord who serve throughout the diocese. These are the ordained, religious and lay women and men who have responded as disciples to the demands of the Gospel.
For example, more than 500 were on hand for the Diocesan Professional Development Day this past Monday led by Monica Applewhite, a leading practitioner in the field of abuse prevention. It sounds like a biblical number of disciples to whom the Lord has appeared gathered in one place, (1Cor 15,6).
This event is merely a sampling of the countless coworkers in our diocese busy about the Lord’s designs that the mere mentioning of them would far exceed the available space in this edition of the Mississippi Catholic.
The beauty of prayer is that it reaches from one end of the earth to the other and pierces the heavens. During the two weeks that I will be in India I will remember all y’all and the needs of our diocese especially at the altar each day.
I know that your prayer will also reach across the miles asking the Lord’s blessings on this extraordinary pastoral visit as I represent you to the people of India.

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
During the Bishops’ Conference this past November it was a crowning moment to introduce Sister Thea’s Cause for Canonization following the overwhelming approval of the new Pastoral Letter against Racism: “Open Wide Our Hearts—The Enduring Call to Love.” Because of the legacy of racism in our nation against the Native American and the African American especially, but also the deep -rooted prejudice against many immigrant populations since our nation’s earliest days, each generation of Americans is challenged to labor toward liberty and justice for all.
One preeminent way to overcome the legacy of the racial divide and the lurking racism sustaining it, is through education. In celebrating Catholic Schools we proudly recognize that the Catholic Diocese of Jackson – through our schools – has lifted many out of the hopelessness of poverty and illiteracy. The Daughters of Charity, at the invitation of Bishop John Joseph Chanche, the first bishop of the then Diocese of Natchez, came in 1847 as missionary disciples to begin the legacy of Catholic School education in Mississippi. The great command of Jesus Christ to “go and teach all nations, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was the loving vitality of their mission.
Among their students were the children of slaves. The three pillars of our diocesan vision to embrace diversity — serve others — inspire disciples have been living stones in our Catholic School communities for these past 172 years evident in the many branches of the European and African-American populations. Remember that Sister Thea realized her God-given potential through the dedication of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. This Servant of God continues to inspire through her Cause for Canonization that disperses far and wide her passionate holiness and her hunger and thirst for justice and inclusion for her people and all marginalized populations. The proud legacy of Catholic School education continues today, and considerable effort currently is being applied for the recruitment of our Hispanic Catholic students.
As the Church in the United States studies and puts into action “Open Wide Our Hearts — The Enduring Call to Love,” we do so in light of the tragedies and triumphs in Mississippi and throughout our country. The Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, just over one year young, preserves the reality of hatred, violence and racism during the Civil Rights Era. It also recognizes and cherishes the sacrifices and commitment of people of all races and backgrounds to achieve our nation’s promise of liberty and justice for all. Finally, it sits like a bulwark that announces to all that the citizens of Mississippi will remain unmoved in the fight for racial justice for all peoples.
However, once again today the fault lines of racial, ethnic and sectional division and distrust have fractured civil discourse and constructive social action. “Open Our Hearts — The Enduring Call to Love” challenges Catholics, all Christians and citizens to intentionally step aside from the vitriol that has reared its ugly head in the mainstream media, on social media, and in our homes in order to recognize and work against the demons of racism and prejudice. Through study, reflection and dialogue we must reconcile the brutality of near genocide that overwhelmed our Native American populations, the inhumanity of chattel slavery that decimated the African American population and the prejudices and injustices that have afflicted many ethnic groups, in particular the Latino population in our day.
We are not called as Christians to wallow in the shame of our sinful history, but rather to reconcile it at a much deeper level so that we can move forward as a nation, freer and more united, truly ‘e pluribus unum.’
“We cannot, therefore, look upon the progress against racism in recent decades and conclude that our current situation meets the standard of justice. In fact, God demands what is right and just.” (Pastoral against racism)
“Open Our Hearts” asks the question, “how do we overcome the evil of rejecting a brother or sister’s humanity, the same evil that provoked Cain’s sin against his brother Abel? What are the necessary steps that would lead to this conversion?” The bishops point to the enduring words of the prophet Micah. “You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God (Mi 6,8).”
For Catholics genuine conversion requires that we live by the greatest commandment as taught by Jesus Christ. “Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22, 37-39).” “When we begin to separate people in our thoughts for unjust reasons, when we start to see some people as “them” and others as “us” we fail to love. The command to love requires us to make room for others in our hearts (Pastoral against Racism).”
With passion and eloquence the bishops invoke our commitment to Life in combating racism. “The injustice and harm racism causes are an attack on human life. The Church in the United States has spoken out consistently and forcefully against abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty and other forms of violence that threaten human life. It is not a secret that these attacks on human life have severely affected people of color, who are disproportionately affected by poverty, targeted for abortion, have less access to healthcare, have the greatest number on death row and are most likely to feel pressure to end their lives when facing serious illness. As bishops, we unequivocally state that racism is a life issue.”
Finally, as a people of hope in Jesus Christ, let us give thanks to all who labor to create communities of life, justice and peace, through education, service, empowerment and advocacy on many fronts, because their efforts bear fruit that will last. “Brothers and sisters, be on your guard, stand firm in faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love. (1Cor 16, 13-14)

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
(Editor’s note: Bishop Joseph Kopacz was traveling this week for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fall meeting. He sent the speech he presented at the conference asking for his fellow bishops to support the cause for canonization for Sister Thea Bowman as his column for this week. See related story in this issue. His regular column will resume in the next issue.)

We all share in the joy of this moment presenting the Cause for Canonization of Sister Thea Bowman, Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, from Canton, Mississippi. With one mind and one heart the faithful within and well beyond the Diocese of Jackson have asked that Sister Thea’s cause be undertaken. I would like to frame my words around her final six years. In 1984 Sister Thea, an only child, suffered the deaths of her beloved parents, Dr. Theon and Mary. In that same year she was diagnosed with cancer. With the press of mortality, and understanding the severity of her disease, she courageously proclaimed that “she would live until she died.” Indeed, she did, traveling, evangelizing, teaching, singing and inspiring to the very end.
Likewise in 1984, this Conference issued a Pastoral Letter on Evangelization: What We Have Seen and Heard, a labor of love from the African American Bishops of the time. This letter was issued five years before Sister Thea’s celebrated presentation to the Conference in June 1989 at Seton Hall University. Her witness in word and song testified to her joy-filled holiness, even as she embraced the Cross of terminal illness. (Pause: How many Bishops present today were on hand in June, 1989?)
The Bishops in What We Have Seen and Heard gave thanks for the early missionaries who planted the seed of the Gospel in the Afro-American families and communities. In her address to the Bishops Sister Thea offered her gratitude to the missionary disciples in her life.
“Catholic Christians came into my community, and they helped us with education, they helped us with health care, they helped us to find our self-respect and to realize our capabilities when the world told us for so long that we were nothing and would amount to nothing. And I wanted to be a part of that effort. That’s radical Christianity, that’s radical Catholicism.”
Throughout her life, the gift she received, she gave as a gift until her final breath.
What We Have Seen and Heard reflected movingly on the gift of reconciliation, rooted in suffering, liberation and justice, that which the African American experience can offer to the Church, to the nation and to the world. The Bishops wrote: “A people must safeguard their own cultural identity and their own cultural values. Likewise, they must respect the cultural values of others. On this foundation can be erected an authentic Christian love, “because we who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.’ (Ephesians 2, 13-14)” As an ambassador of Jesus Christ and a minister of reconciliation, Sr Thea tirelessly laid down her life for this Gospel vision, truly the essence of her holiness. With Biblical like eloquence she declared. “We unite ourselves with Christ’s redemptive work, when we reconcile, when we make peace, when we share the good news that God is in our lives, when we reflect to our brothers and sisters God’s healing, God’s forgiveness, God’s unconditional love.”
This is the power of the Gospel that is so urgently needed in the Church and in society today.
The Church embraced Sister Thea from her early years, yet there were times she felt deeply like a motherless child. She challenged the Bishops to provide a space at the table for collaboration and leadership for all of God’s children. Today, we are most mindful of the victims of sexual abuse who live in that dark void of homelessness in the Body of Christ, and we pray that Sister Thea’s witness will be a beacon of hope for all victims and their families. There is an urgency for Sister Thea’s sanctity to be a leaven in the bread of our Church and society.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis published his Apostolic Exhortation on holiness, Guadete et Exultate. In the words of Pope Francis “Christianity spreads through the joy of disciples who know that they are loved and saved.” What We Have Seen and Heard stirringly presented the gift of joy as essential for understanding African American spirituality. “Joy is first of all celebration. Celebration is movement and song, rhythm and feeling, color and sensation, exultation and thanksgiving. We celebrate the presence and the proclamation of the Word made Flesh. Joy is a sign of our faith and especially our hope. It is never an escape from reality.” Sister Thea manifested this radiance throughout her life, and valiantly lived it in her final years. If reconciliation toward a new creation for this world was Sister Thea’s daily passion, surely joy was the charism that nurtured her great soul and holiness. Sister Thea exhorts us. “Children, Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, go! There is a song that will never be sung unless you sing it. There is a story that will never be told unless you tell it. There is a joy that will never be shared unless you bear it. Go tell the world. Go preach the Gospel. Go teach the Good News. God is. God is love. God is with us. God is in our lives.”
Toward the end of her presentation to the Conference in 1989, Sister Thea counseled that all in the Church are charged with finding new ways to go forward together. What a moment of Providence to introduce and celebrate her cause at the very time that we are about to vote on “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love—A Pastoral Letter Against Racism,” which we pray will provide an added torch for our path as joyful missionary disciples in our fractured and wounded times. With Sister Thea’s smile upon us, and through the witness of her uncompromising spirit and joyful zeal, we do proclaim that our true citizenship is in heaven, and that we are about God’s Kingdom on earth, a Kingdom of Justice, Peace and the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for your prayerful support!

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

By Bishop Joseph Kopacz
During the month of November, we bask in the glow of the Feast of All Saints, and the Commemoration of All Souls. The great Cloud of Witnesses (Hebrews 12,1), some officially canonized, most not, remind us that our citizenship is in heaven with Jesus Christ, the way and truth, the resurrection and life. From the Feast of All Saints, the vision of Saint John in the book of Revelation affords us a glimpse of eternity in “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation, race, people and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb. (Revelations 7, 9-10)
On November 13, at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops annual meeting in Baltimore, I will formally introduce the Cause for Canonization for Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA, Servant of God, an African-American, from the town of Canton, in the bosom of the Diocese of Jackson, whom we declare in faith to be a member of the Cloud of Witnesses. Much is already known about her life, but I would like to shine the light on her final six years. In 1984 Sister Thea, an only child, grieved the deaths of her beloved parents, Dr. Theon and Mary, and in the same year she was diagnosed with cancer. With the press of mortality, and understanding the severity of her disease, she courageously proclaimed that she would “live until she died.”
Indeed she did, traveling, evangelizing, teaching, singing and inspiring to the very end. In 1984 on the national scene, the Black Catholic Bishops of the United States issued a Pastoral Letter on Evangelization: “What We Have Seen and Heard.” This letter was released five years after the 1979 publication by the entire Conference of Bishops of “Brothers and Sisters to Us: Pastoral Letter Against Racism.”
In June, 1989, 10 years after the first letter against racism, and five years after the second, Sister Thea was invited to speak to the conference of bishops at Seton Hall University. Her witness, words and song on that occasion embodied so much of what was written in the earlier Pastoral Letters.
“What We Have Seen and Heard” gave thanks for the early missionaries who planted the seed of the Gospel in the African-American families and communities. In her address to the bishops Sister Thea offered her gratitude to the missionary disciples in her life. “Catholic Christians came into my community, and they helped us with education, they helped us with health care, they helped us to find our self-respect and to realize our capabilities when the world told us for so long that we were nothing and would amount to nothing. And I wanted to be a part of that effort. That’s radical Christianity, that’s radical Catholicism… I was drawn to examine and accept the Catholic faith because of the day-to-day lived witness of Catholic Christians who first loved me, then shared with me their story, their values, their beliefs, who first loved me, then invited me to share with them in community, prayer and mission. As a child I did not recognize evangelization at work in my life. I did recognize love, service, community, prayer and faith”
“What We Have Seen and Heard” reflected movingly on the gift of reconciliation, rooted in suffering, liberation and justice, that which the African-American experience can offer to the Church, to the nation and to the world. “Without justice any meaningful reconciliation is impossible. Justice safeguards the rights and delineates the responsibilities for all. A people must safeguard their own cultural identity and their own cultural values. Likewise, they must respect the cultural values of others. For this reason, sincere reconciliation builds upon mutual recognition and mutual respect. On this foundation can be erected an authentic Christian love. The Scripture testifies: ‘But now you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.’ (Ephesians 2, 13-14)
We seek justice then, because we seek reconciliation, and we seek reconciliation because by the blood of Christ we are made one. The desire of reconciliation for us is a most precious gift, because reconciliation is the fruit of liberation. Our contribution to the building up of the Church is America and in the world is to be an agent of change for both.” Toward the end of her life Sister Thea echoed the words of her brother bishops. “We unite ourselves with Christ’s redemptive work, when we reconcile, when we make peace, when we share the good news that God is in our lives, when we reflect to our brothers and sisters God’s healing, God’s forgiveness, God’s unconditional love.”
Earlier this year, Pope Francis published the Apostolic Exhortation on holiness, “Guadete et Exultate,” translated, Rejoice and Be Glad, our Lord’s own words from the Beatitudes. It illuminates the Holy Father’s previous exhortations on the Joy of the Gospel, and the Joy of Love.
Sister Thea would have called for an “Amen” or two over these exhortations. “What We Have Seen and Heard” eloquently presented the gift of joy as essential for understanding African-American spirituality, and Sister Thea magnanimously lived it. “Joy is first of all celebration. Celebration is movement and song, rhythm and feeling, color and sensation, exultation and thanksgiving. We celebrate the presence and the proclamation of the Word made Flesh. Joy is a sign of our faith and especially our hope. It is never an escape from reality.” Forever a joyful missionary disciple Sister Thea exhorts us. “Children, Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, go! There is a song that will never be sung unless you sing it. There is a story that will never be told unless you tell it. There is a joy that will never be shared unless you bear it. Go tell the world. Go preach the Gospel. Go teach the Good News. God is. God is love. God is with us. God is in our lives.”