Black Catholic Ministry
In November 2019 the Diocese of St. Petersburg Black Catholic Ministry hosted Fr. A. Gerard Jordan, O. Praem for his presentation on the six current Black sainthood candidates from the United States. After this activity, the ministry partnered with St. Peter Claver parish in Tampa and invited Fr. Jordan return to do a Lenten mission. The retreat began with Mass on Sunday, March 7, 2020, followed by a reconciliation service and evening presentation on Monday and evening presentation on Tuesday. Fr. Gerard’s theme for the mission was “Let’s Go Up to the Mountain”. During the mission presentations, Fr. Gerard encouraged the parishioners to look for and be open to those “mountaintop experiences” that call us to greater holiness, and to be open to the spirit that leads us to action in our community as Christians.
After the Sunday Mass, Fr. Gerard spent time with the youth of the parish and their parents and presented an overview of the sainthood candidates, and helped the youth make connections to their lives from the examples of the lives of the six Black sainthood candidates.
