Not everyone is called to martyrdom, but all are called to show the reality of God’s love, Catholic school students heard at a Black History Month-themed Mass on Feb. 6.
“We should see, staring back at us, the image and likeness of God,” when we look in the mirror, said Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr., during his homily at the First Friday Mass at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
He emphasized that “if we are created in the image and likeness of God, we should see God in each other. It means you and I are brothers and sisters in the light of God.”
The bishop wore red vestments as he celebrated the Mass on the feast of St. Paul Miki and companions, Japanese martyrs from the 16th century who refused to renounce their faith during anti-Catholic persecutions and suffered crucifixions in Nagasaki.
During his homily to the students, staff, and parents of the 260-student school, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, the bishop said people don’t always treat their fellow humans with the dignity that God has bestowed on them. The enslavement of African American people in the United States and the racism and challenges that subsequent generations of African Americans have had to endure are examples of people not being treated with appropriate dignity, he said.
For example, Black Americans did not have full rights of citizenship in the United States for generations, Bishop Campbell said. He spoke about how civil rights activists Rosa Parks and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. helped improve the status of African Americans through the successful Montgomery bus boycott from 1955-1956.
“Every one of us has gifts from God,” Bishop Campbell said, after he spoke about Black Americans who had benefited humanity through inventions in areas such as the modern ironing board (Sarah Boone) and a precursor to modern dry cleaning (Thomas L. Jennings).
A key point of Black History Month in February, Bishop Campbell said, is that “you and I have gifts to share with each other.”
The bishop also serves as president of the National Black Catholic Congress in Baltimore, and he is the pastor at St. Joseph Parish in nearby Largo.
Walking beside portraits of the Black Americans who are candidates for sainthood that were placed on easels on the gym floor and using them as teaching guides. Bishop Campbell spoke about the “saintly seven.” They are:
- Venerable Mother Mary Lange, the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, the first Catholic order of African American women religious;
- Venerable Father Augustus Tolton from Chicago, the first Catholic priest in the United States known to be Black;
- Venerable Henriette Delille, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans;
- Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration from Mississippi who was a dynamic Catholic evangelist and educator;
- Venerable Pierre Toussaint from New York City and Servant of God Julie Greeley from Denver, who were known for their works of charity;
- and Servant of God Friar Martin Maria de Porres Ward, a Conventual Franciscan and Boston native who served the poor and the sick as a missionary priest in Brazil.
Bishop Campbell suggested that if the faithful were to pray intercessory prayers for a miracle, such as medical one, it would be beneficial to the seven’s candidacy if they prayed to one, rather than praying to them as a group.
The bishop explained that all souls in heaven are saints, but when the Catholic Church canonizes a person, that means the Church is testifying they are in heaven. One canonized modern saint is St. Josephine Bakhita, who was born in Sudan and later kidnapped and sold by Arab slave traders. She was eventually taken to Italy, where she was freed and converted to Catholicism, baptized and confirmed by Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto, who later became Pope Pius X and is also recognized as a saint.
The choir from St. Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, Maryland, conducted by Samuel “Eddie” Cromwell, longtime director of the St. Augustine Church Gospel Choir and Chorale, performed at the Mass.
Concelebrating the Mass with Bishop Campbell were Father Samuel Plummer, the pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption, and Father Louis McHale, a parochial vicar there.
The congregation sang “Happy Birthday” for a St. Mary’s student who is a family friend of Bishop Campbell, and he blessed a rosary for her during the Mass.
