Quarterly Newsletter
2023
Volume: 1 Issue: 3
April
SPRING NEWSLETTER
The mission of the Office of Racial Harmony is to bring an awareness about the sin of racism, in all its forms, to the Catholic faithful by providing avenues that, through prayer and with gentleness and respect, facilitate conversations and build relationships across racial boundaries, while keeping the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the focus of all we do so that ultimately God will be glorified.
In this Issue:
- National Black Catholic Congress
- Recent Events
- Upcoming Events
- Did You Know
- A Focus on STL History
The National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) convenes a national congress every five years. Each one renews and develops our mission with a Pastoral Plan. The next congress will be held July 20-23, 2023 at the Gaylord National in National Harbor, Maryland.
Join with other Black Catholics and those who minister to Black Catholics in the United States for a celebration of our faith and culture.
Join with other Black Catholics and those who minister to Black Catholics in the United States for a celebration of our faith and culture.
The Main Celebrant for the Opening Eucharistic Liturgy and Friday's Keynote Speaker, will be His Eminence Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, DC
To find out more click HERE.
Want to ride the bus to DC? Fill out this form: BUS INTEREST FORM
Racial Unity Mass
Feb 2, 2023
Nineteen Parishes from the Archdiocese of St. Louis participated in the 2nd Annual Mass for Racial Unity at St. Catherine Laboure Parish in South County. Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski presided and priests from various parishes con-celebrated. To honor our rich diversity and to reflect the beauty, value and dignity of each parish, one special symbol was carried in a procession to represent those they serve. The celebration took place on Feb 2, 2023, the Feast of the Presentation, also known as Candlemas Day. Candles were lit, blessed and carried in the procession as the light, Jesus Christ, leading us in our ministries and evangelization work in our parishes and throughout the Archdiocese. The music of St. Augustine and St. Catherine Laboure Choirs rang throughout the church the entire evening.
A link to the live stream page is HERE.
(Go to 2/2/23 for the Mass)
Office of Racial Harmony
St. Louis African Catholic Community
Offered every month
MONTHLY MASS SCHEDULE:
1st Sunday - 12:30 Swahili Mass
3rd Sunday - 12:30 French Mass
4th Sunday - 11:00 Unity Mass
Saint Charles Lwanga Center - The Archdiocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries
the 39th Annual Testimonial Dinner and Auction
THEME: “Communion of Saints: Past, Present and Future.”
Sunday at 2:30
Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel
9801 Natural Bridge Road
Saint Louis, MO 63134
Individual tickets:$65.00
Tables of 8: $520.00
Testimonial Dinner Highlights
- The Testimonial Dinner which dates back to 1984 was started in an effort to bring people together to honor meritorious service of persons who had a notable wide impact within the African American Catholic Community.
- The dinner was initially held in The Bradley Center of Most Blessed Sacrament Parish which has since been closed.
- In 1987 the honoree list was expanded to include congratulatory presentations to adult parishioners of the then 15 sponsoring parishes of the Lwanga Center.
- In 1989 Youth Honorees were added to the roster.
- In 1998 the Meritorious Citation became the Trailblazer honorees, still maintaining the recognition of parish adults and youth.
- In 1998 Fr. Edward Feuerbacher, a founding organizer of the Lwanga Center received the adult Trailblazer honor.
- In 1999 the Lwanga Legends award was instituted to acknowledge extraordinary and continuous participation for youth who participated in the Center’s youth programs.
- The Prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award was first presented in 2002. The name of that was changed in 2003 to the Fr. Edward F. Feuerbacher Lifetime Achievement Award after Father’s passing.
Our roster now constitutes parish honorees in the categories of adult, young adult, and youth. The former Trailblazer has been renamed Torch Bearer; the change was inspired by the Center’s insignia flame. Although it remains a source of fund-raising, the Testimonial Dinner Auction is now imprinted into the activities of the Lwanga Center as a community builder and another way of gathering the faithful together to celebrate the talents and contributions of each other with the grace of God that implanted them and fuels people to cooperate in bearing the fruit of God’s gifts.
Office of Racial Harmony
Forgive Us Our Trespasses Prayer Service and Maafa procession
May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and are instrumental in its future success.
Since 1990, the U.S. government has designated the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, celebrating the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. The month of May was chosen to mark the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States on May 7, 1843, as well as the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.
By the 1980s, the U.S. Census Bureau grouped persons of Asian ancestry and created the category “Asian and Pacific Islander” (API). In 2000, the API category was separated into “Asian Americans” and “Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders” (NHOPI). The Federal Government defines “Asian American” to include persons having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” includes persons having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the two fastest-growing racial populations in the United States, projected to become the largest immigrant group in the country by 2055.
As of 2019, the largest United States Asian populations are of Chinese, Indian, and Filipino origin. However, the AAPI population represent over 30 countries and ethnic groups that speak over 100 different languages.
For more information visit: asianpacificheritage.gov
Ferrier-Harris Nursing Home
3636 Page Boulevard
Ferrier-Harris Home for the Aged, founded in 1902 as the Colored Old Folks Home, moved to this site in 1943. A group of black women known as the Women's Wednesday Sewing Club raised funds for the home, which continues to provide facilities for senior citizens in the African American community. The home is named for Rose Ferrier-Harris, the club's first president. In 2000, it had twenty-eight residents.
Manresa, Colored Laymen's Retreat House
8140 Scott Avenue
Manresa Retreat House opened in Kinloch in 1941 and made history by being the first retreat house in the world for black Catholic laymen. Retreats began on Thursdays with dinner at 7:00 P.M. and ended after a 6:15 A.M breakfast on Sunday. Participants paid a fee of $5 that was used to help cover the cost of private rooms, showers, meals, fuel, and lights. The retreat house grounds included a replica of a cave chapel found in Manresa, Spain, where St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus. Four to five feet of the cave's roof are above ground and are covered with large sponge rocks, shrubs, and flowers.
Dwindling participation and the integration of other Catholic centers forced the retreat house to close in the late 1940s.
Referenced from: Discovering African American St. Louis
A Guide to Historic Sites
John A. Wright
Second Edition
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