One of my most cherished religious artifacts is this Cross that I sit before today. It was created for one of the parishes that I served in as a catechist many years ago. It was also the parish where I attended Mass while I was in elementary school. Sacred Heart Church of Jersey City was the Dominican Priory for the Order of Preachers.  Some years ago, when the Church closed, I was gifted this Cross for my children’s ministry at Christ the King Church my home parish. Christ the King is a historical Black Catholic Parish incorporated in 1930 (ninety-two years ago) in the Archdiocese of Newark. It was through the initiative of Black Catholic Lay Women and their families for the Apostolate to the African American community. My great grandparents, Carrie and Daniel Livingstone were among those original parishioners. The mission statement then and now was to seek the righteousness of the Lord that all might live in peace. A commitment to social justice was the mission of the parish then and now to confront racism and injustice. You see the righteousness of the Lord is justice.

The readings for this Good Friday are engraved on this Crucifix from the Gospel of John 19:37. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced. Yet it is not just the words but also the imagery of the Corpus, the broken and bruised body of our Savior Jesus Christ on the Cross that is a central theme for me, not just for today but throughout my life mission. You see this imagery is foundational and representative of the wisdom and life lessons taught to me by my ancestors of the African Diaspora here in the Americas. Anytime that I would complain or voice disapproval about the injustice shown to me because of my Black skin, my elders would quote the Scripture of Isaiah …there was no stately bearing to make us look at him, no appearance that would attract us to him, he was spurned and avoided by people…one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and held in no esteem… After quoting this Scripture my grandmothers, Fleta Lewis and Rachael Livingstone would say “Be thankful that you have not had to suffer death on a cross or a lynching tree.”

My grandparents and ancestors were all born and raised in the South, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. They knew the indignity of being spurned and hated because of the sin of racism. They experienced being unjustly accused; condemned to endure suffering and degradation. They were not accorded any opportunity to publicly voice a complaint or disapproval to the horrendous oppression. So many parallels to the experiences of the suffering servant spoken of in Isaiah. “Though he was harshly treated he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny?” Isaiah 53:7-8.

Whenever I would ask my grandparents and great-grandparents about their experiences in the Jim Crow south of segregation and the terror of the Ku Klux Klan, their response was “A burning cross has no power over the Cross of Calvary.” It was their abiding faith and trust in the Blood poured out that day on Calvary that allowed my ancestors and elders the confidence to believe and trust that their help cometh from the Lord. “So, they confidently approached the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” Hebrews 4:16

This reliance on the Word of God, rested in their awareness that Jesus knew all about their troubles. They knew that they had a Jesus who sympathized with their suffering because he had been tested in every way of suffering. My ancestors saw in their own suffering- as being linked with the sufferings of Christ on the Cross. They knew they would receive the redemptive healing by His Stripes and that their suffering would not be in vain.

Their guidance and wisdom of instruction for me journeying through this life of 65 years with macro and micro aggressions of racism and injustices was to “Take courage and be stouthearted and hope in the Lord.” Psalm 31:25. This Crucifix that I sit in front of today is a constant reminder, at what cost was my salvation and the salvation of the world gained.

Standing in the gap with Jesus to the very end were the women. Women who stood in solidarity – to witness the events so that they could proclaim to the world that a just man was persecuted and put to death for the life of the world.

Can you imagine the hammer – hammering?  Can you imagine the nails piercing through his flesh and bones? Can you imagine the pain exploding in his mind as the crown of thorns pierced through to his skull?  That day on Calvary!

Just like the last words “I Thirst”!  I thirst for the justice; I thirst for the healing of our world from all inequity that has severed the body of Christ – The Church. Yet I believe in the Promise of the Cross, and I cry out!

In you LORD, I take refuge; In your justice rescue me. Psalm 31:2

I walk in the Promise that by His Stripes we are healed. Let the Redeemed of the Lord, Say So!