Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church
The Religious Formation Program at Holy Name of Jesus joined with the African American Cultural Ministry at HNOJ of which many of the catechist are members to promote two significant events in our Black Catholic Community to help engage our youth and their families.
On September 17, 2023, we participated in the National Back to Church Sunday evangelization. Our Confirmation youth, CCD youth, families and committee members walked the surrounding church community inviting people to attend mass. We had a contest and the parishioner with the most family members at each mass received a prize. We had a celebration of fellowship in the hall. Proud to report that we did receive a few new members and home returns from former members.
During the month of November, we celebrated Black Catholic History Month with some Dynamic Black Catholic Priest and Deacons. We chose the theme, “We Rise as Priest, Prophet, and King”. We purchased six large posters of the six African Americans up for sainthood and displayed them in the church. We also had on loan a painting by the late Father Fernando Arizti, SJ depicting when Jesus was commissioning St Peter Claver.
After mass each Sunday during the November Black Catholic Month, we hosted an Umoja Karamu (Unity Feast) sponsored by our numerous ministries. The youth started us off with meatloaf, cabbage, and cornbread. The Brighter Day Junior Youth choir helped us conclude the month with their angelic voices of gospel praise. We also hosted health awareness fair where issues affecting the black community and people of color were effectively discussed, helpful materials shared, and vaccines offered and received.
