Celebrating Black History Month During a Season of Lent
Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the women and men whose gifts and talents, insights and wisdom have contributed to the world we live in.
While we celebrate the lives of the well-known, e.g., Martin Luther King, Jr. Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Katherine Johnson, think about those who were their mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, and those who might have held them back. No one goes to greatness alone. Everyone has challengers. Everyone has a story. Read the stories of these women and men and allow their words, their lives, to inspire you.
It is also an opportunity to mourn all those who were not able to live their full potential and respond to God’s call to be the people they were meant to be. Think of those who had no mentors but only detractors. Lament the nameless. Lament the loss, the personal loss, the loss to society. Pray a psalm or a prayer of lament.
I have heard the question asked, “Why is Black History Month celebrated in February”? My answer this year would be because Lent is celebrated in February. Lent is that time when Christians pause and take stock of their lives, reassess their priorities, and hear God’s call to come back to God with their whole hearts. It is a time to let go of all our false gods, our missteps and embrace the One who loves us best. It is a time to love all that God loves, no exceptions.
Martin Luther King had a dream and left us words to live by:
"If you want to be important, wonderful! If you want to be recognized, wonderful! If you want to be great, wonderful! But recognize this - that he who is great among you is a servant... This is a new definition of greatness… Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve... You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." (from The Drum Major Instinct)
Words that are beautiful and inspiring, challenging and demanding cannot not be left on the page. They need to come to life in our lives, for the life of others. This Lent, let’s make it personal. What in me needs to change so that the life of another may come to life?
Martin Luther King had a dream and left us words to reflect on and live by. His words remind us that dreams and service are important aspects along the spiritual path. Dreams help us to lift our heads high above the mundane and everyday and give us perspective, gift us with wisdom, and offer us hope. Service keeps us rooted in the ordinary and keeps us focused on what needs to be done so that we may one day live into the dream. There is much to do. It takes commitment, perseverance, hope and courage. Yet, we don’t do it alone. We raise our hearts in prayer and join our hands with those around us.
What is it that you are dreaming of these days?
How can you place yourself at the service of this dream?
Celebrate Black History Month.
Let your “soul be generated by love.”
Sr. Patricia Torre, DW