GARY – Ss. Monica and Luke celebrated its own parish expression for Black Catholic History Month with a Mass for and with Black Catholics in the Diocese of Gary on Nov. 2.
Since December 2024, after moving back to Northwest Indiana, Pearlette Springer, has helped to plan the music for Sunday liturgies as well as other important services. She said the main mission and goal of the celebration, which coincided with All Souls Day, was to recognize the 98 years of Black Catholic Ministry in Lake County, Indiana.
Springer shared that a traditional Black Catholic Mass is “basically the same as any other Catholic Mass – the difference would be the style of music and our way of being.”
“Sankofa is the word,” she said. “Sankofa, which is a Swahili word that basically means that you need to look back to go forward. In other words, it is always important to know where you start so you can move forward in the future.”
Springer explained while the Mass celebration was no different than any other Sunday Mass, more effort was placed in art and environment in the sacred space and reception afterwards. She added her hope for those who attended the Mass and reception afterwards was to walk away with “the hope for new beginnings and an appreciation of our history.”
The reception that immediately followed the liturgy featured guest speaker Irorobeje Crystal Owhoso-Maddox, coordinator of Black Catholic Ministry in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
Owhoso-Maddox holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice with a concentration in pre-law from Northern Kentucky University. With over 10 years of public service experience, she worked for the City of Indianapolis, Indiana Department of Child Services, charter schools, public health, and non-profit organizations supporting individuals and strengthening families.
During her talk, Owhoso-Maddox asked those gathered to think of some of their most fondest memories of being parishioners at Ss. Monica and Luke Church. Attendees shared times of participating in local baseball and traveling to Maryland to witness a clergyman become ordained into the priesthood.
Owhoso-Maddox explained that no matter what a person experiences in life, there will inevitably be some “growing pains.”
“Fulfilling your call and your role as a disciple of Christ will ultimately bring you some core suffering,” she said. “We know there is a transition for your beginning after this life. But, as we are here today, and as we recall during the homily, especially on All Souls Day, we remember that we do have some work to do in this life, and those who have gone before us.”
Owhoso-Maddox asked parishioners to reflect on the lives of St. Monica and St. Rita. In learning more about them, she said she was reconfirmed what it means “to start in one place and become holy in the end.” St. Monica is honored for her perseverance and steadfast prayer for her son's conversion. Born in what is now Algeria, she endured a difficult marriage and the spiritual struggles of her son before witnessing his conversion with the help of Saint Ambrose. St. Rita is the patron saint of impossible causes, impossible marriages, and abused wives. She was an Italian Augustinian nun known for her piety, charity, and enduring numerous hardships throughout her life, including the murder of her husband and the deaths of her two sons.
“Both of these women went through an incredible amount of suffering in their own distinct ways and on their own distinct paths,” Owhoso-Maddox said.
The Diocese of Gary will remember these saints and other men and women on Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary, with the support of the Intercultural Ministry and the Office of Worship, during a Mass in Honor of Black Catholic History Month. Following Mass there will be a potluck and presentation on “God’s Men of Color” by Deacon Martin Brown. All are welcome.
