Great music, excellent food, warm fellowship and learning about the Catholic faith attracted more than 700 people of all ages to the African American Catholic Festival on Oct. 28 at Verbum Dei High School in Watts.
Hosted by the African American Catholic Center for Evangelization (AACCFE), the day was much more than enjoying the fun and festivities. Organizers worked to ensure that attendees would leave with a practical skill --- to learn how to create a sacred space for family worship and prayer in their own homes.
Anderson F. Shaw, AACCFE director, said the focus of the event this year was "whole family" and "whole community" catechesis.
"We are offering people an opportunity to become a lot more familiar with the riches and the rubrics of the church and what they can do as a family," Shaw said. "The church actually starts in the home and moves out into the larger church and the community."
The event's focus coincides with the increased emphasis on whole community catechesis throughout parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
"One of our major goals as a center is to support our local parishes and pastors," Shaw said, "and do what we can within our community to bring that about."
An outdoor Mass began the day with Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar of the San Pedro Region presiding and copy of the Cristo Negro crucifix set behind the altar. The crucifix --- a replica of that originally found in a church in Guatemala --- was lent by Pomona mayor Norma Torres, the only Guatemalan-born elected official in the United States, and the country presented her with the cross. Pitxo Hunt, a parishioner from Holy Name of Jesus Church, wrote and sang the festival's theme song and designed a poster from the Cristo Negro crucifix.
Children learned how to assemble rosaries and listened to storytelling with author Sheree Brown-Johnson, who read from her book, "Zhakanaka." Teenagers and young adults participated in "Teen Talk," a discussion group that encouraged fellowship and dialogue. Several adult mentors were also on hand to answer questions from the precocious youth.
Dancers performed and numerous choirs, including the youth choir from St. Bernadette School, performed throughout the day.
The main booth prominently displayed at the entrance to the grounds was set up with stations explaining seven different elements of the Catholic faith --- holy oil and water, candles, the crucifix, the Bible, angels and saints, the rosary, and stations of the cross. Each person who visited the display received a gift bag containing a rosary, a brown scapular, a plastic bottle for holy water and explanations of each, and each was encouraged to set up a special sacred area at home.
"There are so many people who have started this and have seen their families come close together," Shaw said. "It becomes a place to pray, a place to meditate and share your faith with a family member that may be going through a difficult time."
Virginia "Lydia" Daniels, a parishioner at St. Michael Church, volunteered in the sacred space workshop and helped visitors learn more about their faith.
"We impacted a lot of people," she said. "Many come in anxious, but once they understand, it is bringing them back to the church."
Shaw said that though there are approximately 50,000 African American Catholics in the archdiocese, one of the center's goals is to see more people attending Mass and to serve in the community.
"We have a lot of the older members who have been involved in the parishes for years who are in rest homes or are too ill to participate so we are losing some of our stalwarts --- those who opened parishes up. On the other end of that, our young people are not coming to the church and so we are sort of losing on both ends."
One of the reasons for the decline, Shaw said, is that not enough of the Catholic faith is demonstrated in the home. As schedules are shifting, people must find creative ways to work faith into their family life.
"We wanted to make it possible for people to understand the things that they can do," Shaw said --- for example, blessing and praying for each other and offering prayers in the name of patron saints.
During the day, the AACCFE honored men and women over 75 years of age with a program called "Diamonds in Our Midst." Each honoree received a gold stole and an ice cream sundae.
The hope, said Shaw, is to bring the program into churches where parishes can honor those in their community over 75 on the fifth Sunday of the month, which happens four times a year. "We hope it will bring back into the parish celebration those elders who served so well and recognize them for their service," he said
Youth from Holy Name of Jesus Church worked at a booth selling icy snow cones, popcorn and drinks to earn money for World Youth Day 2008 in Australia.
"We are determined to bring a lot of inner city youth to World Youth Day because most of them come from outside of the city," said Renita Lloyd-Smith, youth coordinator.
Josephite Father John Harfmann the first director of the AACCFE, said the festivals began in 1999 to "show the numbers of people as well as the vibrant faith of the people. It was always designed to touch as many people on an inter-generational level to allow people to express their faith and to show the vibrant faith of this African-American community which has continued over and over in these communities."
Loyola Marymount University and Harcourt Trade Publishers were event co-sponsors. |