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September 24, 2026Dear Parishioners,
This Sunday we will celebrate the African Joy Mass, and I want to say a word about what we hope this celebration will mean for St. Benedict the Moor Parish.
The African Joy Mass is not intended to be a cultural interruption in the ordinary life of the parish, but a glimpse of the Catholicity our parish represents.
The Catholic Church is universal, but universality does not mean uniformity. The Church is one, but she has never been colorless, placeless, or culturally weightless. The Gospel takes flesh in particular peoples, languages, histories, music, gestures, and ways of celebrating. At its best, inculturation is not about placing cultural decoration around the edges of the Mass. It is about allowing the faith to enter deeply into a people and, at the same time, allowing that people’s gifts to enrich the life of the wider Church.
This has special importance for St. Benedict the Moor. Our parish has a particular mission to Black Catholics and to the wider African diaspora. That means creating a community in which African Americans, African immigrants, Caribbean Catholics, and others can recognize that their histories and cultures belong fully within Catholic life.
At the same time, we should not pretend that the African diaspora is one undifferentiated culture. African Americans, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Cameroonians, Tanzanians, Kenyans, Caribbean Catholics, and others bring distinct histories and traditions. Part of the beauty of this celebration is that it creates a place of encounter across those differences rather than erasing them.
We are also grateful to welcome guests from other Christian traditions. They come not simply to observe us, but to share in our prayer as far as their own traditions allow and to experience the hospitality of the Catholic community. Hospitality is not an extra added to evangelization. Often, it is where evangelization begins.
The Mass will also remind us that worship involves the whole person. African and African-diasporan traditions often emphasize rhythm, movement, call-and-response, procession, communal participation, and joy. These are not merely stylistic features. They remind us that Christian worship is not a spectator activity and that the Eucharist gathers body, mind, memory, culture, and community into the praise of God.
Still, we cannot measure this Sunday's success by attendance, music, food, or atmosphere. Those things matter, but they are not the point.
The deeper question is what happens afterward.
Will new relationships continue? Will people looking for a spiritual home find one here? Will African musical ministry become more deeply rooted in parish life? Will our young people see more clearly that there is room for their culture and history in the Church? Will our parish become more confident in welcoming people whose backgrounds differ from our own? Will we become, not less ourselves, but more fully Catholic?
That is what I hope this Sunday will help us glimpse.
The African Joy Mass is not simply an event on the calendar. At its best, it is a sign of the culturally diverse parish God is calling us to become.
Fr. Matthew Hawkins