The Catholic Standard and Times

Celebrating the past,
collecting for the future

Cardinal Justin Rigali’s Homily, Saint Peter Claver
Center for Evangelization,
Tenth Anniversary
September 9, 2005

Bishop Maginnis, Bishop McFadden,

Dear brother Priests, dear Deacons,

Dear Religious women and men,

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

We gather this evening to celebrate the Holy Eucharist. We gather this evening in this holy place, the ‘Mother Church’ for Black Catholics in this Archdiocese on the feast of Saint Peter Claver to offer profound praise and worship to Almighty God. We gather this evening to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Saint Peter Claver Center for Evangelization and thank God for many blessings.

We also gather fully aware of the tremendous suffering and pain of so many people in the Gulf Coast of our country who have lost life and property in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We commend the souls of those who have died to Almighty God and ask Him to grant them eternal rest and peace. In addition to prayers, we also pledge our financial support this evening, because we are all one in the family of God.

In the Office of Readings for the feast of Saint Peter Claver, there is a letter written by the Saint that offers an account of his ministry to the African people who were brought from their homes through the evil of slavery. Saint Peter Claver describes how he ministered to the physical needs of the people who were broken, beaten and half-dead from their journey to a foreign land. He writes, “This is how we spoke to them, not with words but with our hands and our actions.” He further notes that after feeding and clothing the people, he offered them the Catholic Faith, thus instructing them in the sacraments and prayers of the Church, before baptizing them in the Name of the Holy Trinity.

For Saint Peter Claver, love was an action word. He understood so well the words spoken by Saint Paul that we heard this evening, “The love of Christ impels us!” (2 Cor. 5, 14). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the sign of God the Father’s intense, unconditional love for the world. It is this love that impels us as well to put our faith into action.

For ten years the Saint Peter Claver Center has served as a home for our African American brothers and sisters to know and love the Catholic Faith. Through the efforts of Mrs. Carolyn Jenkins, the staff and so many catechists, the True Faith has been strengthened and shared. Thousands of people have come to this Center and benefited from the catechesis and instruction received here. But this knowledge must always be used to serve others, to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to others, especially those most in need.

The Gospel we heard this evening is the Great Commissioning. Jesus commissions or sends His disciples into the whole world to preach His Good News. Our Lord also reminds them and, indeed reminds us, in the very last words of the Gospel of Matthew, “I am with you always until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).

Because Jesus is with us we must never be afraid to evangelize. We must never be ashamed of our Catholic Faith. And you, my brothers and sisters must always be proud to be Black and Catholic!

In one of the African-American spirituals, we hear:

Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus, you may have all this world, Just give me Jesus!

May we be inspired this evening as we receive Jesus — Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist — to evangelize and bring Him to others! Saint Peter Claver, pray for us.