A Celebration of Enrichment

To celebrate Black History Month and the Black members of the community, Ascension Parish held a special Black History Month liturgy at the 11 AM Mass, on Sunday, February 16.

Deacon Lendell Richardson was the homilist, and he spoke well on the occasion at hand as well as the themes of the readings for that Sunday.  God has given us His Law, and the choice to choose good or evil, life or death.  He gives us free will, which we can use to bring God's light into a world of darkness.  He laid out what that darkness is, describing the unfortunate circumstances of African-Americans in present-day US society.  Deacon Lendell also spoke to the dream that Dr. King had.  And by heeding our baptismal call, and abiding in God, He can turn the present nightmares into the realizing of our dreams for a better world.  Furthermore, we obey not the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law, which is its true essence for the making of that better world.

Deacon Lendell quoted pieces of Dr. King's "Mountaintop" speech, remarking that we have been to the mountaintop, having caught glimpses of God's glory in various moments in our life of worship and service as a Church, as God establishes His Kingdom through us.

The choir also sang some special songs with African tune influence.  When the soloist, Pat, started singing the song after communion, I was struck when I heard the lyrics speaking to how we can thank God for what He has done for us--"thanking God", which is what Eucharist means.

After Mass, in the Pine Room, there was a reception and brief presentation with remarks by various people who contributed to the celebration.  Lynn Allen, director of the District 97 Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) at Percy Julian Middle School, also gave a short presentation.  She had brought a large sampling of items from the MRC's collections (covering many cultural groups), including pieces from Africa, the era of slavery, and African-American history since Emancipation.  She spent a few minutes sharing highlights from the collections, which included items from traditional African villages (like furniture with intricate artistic carvings), instruments, slave shackles, cotton, and posters of people from the Civil Rights Movement.  It was all so fascinating.

So far as I know, this is the first time I've participated in this Black History Month celebration at Ascension.  I'm glad I had the opportunity this day, because it's a great celebration of Africans and African-Americans.  And it's not only about celebrating their history and culture, but the place they have in our own community, in Oak Park and at Ascension.  They bring their own sense of spirit and life, to enrich our sense of family in the community.