Desolation
This was my third summer as a Master of Theology (ThM) Degree student at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. Continuing Education courses run concurrent with those in the Degree program. One of the brightest lights in that program was Fr. Norman Fischer, then serving as the President of the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. Fr. Norman passed away suddenly only days after completing his second CE course. This sent shockwaves through our community and gave way to a particularly moving, impromptu prayer service between Dr. Kim Harris’ Spirituals course and Dr. Craig Ford’s next door Moral Questions in the Black Community course. We prayed; we sang; we held one another and we remembered our brother, Father, and friend. My classmate, Ali Mumbach, wrote better about the “Fr. Norman Effect” than I ever could, and I encourage you to give it a read (and to also subscribe to BCM).
Consolation
While, as a musician, it was delightful to learn and perform the Spirituals in that class, their liturgical function became crystalized when we all found ourselves lifting up Fr. Norman in spirit and song. I hope we made him proud – he was one heck of a singer, and I cannot think of a day when we were on campus together and he was not singing, dancing, or a combination of the two. Such a consoling response to desolation as that spontaneous, heart-filled memorial was exactly the sort of thing that tends to happen at the Institute. I cannot think of a community I have been a part of that does not, in one way, shape, or form describe itself as “a family,” but the way we held one another that day (and the way more than one classmate held me when I received particularly difficult news about a family member) can only be described in those terms.
Our Ecclesiology course (pictured) challenged my classmates and I to define and model the Black Catholic Church in a variety of ways. One of my favorites of these included the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) who are invited to the Welcome Table – our ancestors, our elders, and all our neighbors “marked with the sign of faith” – who “know the will of God and act on it” (Mt 12:50) by going “into all the world” and serving as griots who “proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15b). One of the reasons everybody (yes, including you!) should attend the IBCS for at least a summer semester (only three weeks!) is the way we not only say that, but live that with a song on our lips and joy in our hearts. Anti-Racism work is often discouraging, uncomfortable, and fraught with tension – at least, it is for me. But the kind of encouragement I receive over those three weeks helps me hold space and time for that tension all year. Oh, and one more thing: Men in First Studies! Did you know you can complete two of your required Theology courses at the Institute in just one summer? Email (or text me) if you want to hear more about it, and I hope to see you there soon!
This month’s reflection was provided by Trevor Kelly, from Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey. If you would like to volunteer to provide an upcoming reflection, please contact Jason Downer, SJ: downerjg@lemoyne.edu.
The views and opinions expressed in this reflection do not necessarily reflect those of Jesuits USA East.
