Sacred Remedy: A Catholic Prayer Book To Atone For The Sin Of Racism

By Paige Courtney Barnes

As a black American Catholic, born and raised in the south, I am often asked, "How can you belong to a racist Church?" This prayer book is my deeply personal response to that persistent question. The Catholic church is not racist, but too many American Catholics have not yet repented of the sin of racism. This prayer book contains meditations and traditional Catholic prayers, as well as profiles on black Saints, in an effort to inspire individuals, groups and communities to prayerfully build a Culture of Fraternal Charity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paige Courtney Barnes
• Release date: Nov 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393775942

Paige Courtney Barnes

Paige Courtney Barnes is a writer and educator from Nashville, TN. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in philosophy and from Aquinas College with a M.A. in Teaching. She writes to foster education and fellowship.

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Preface

As the new millennium approaches, there remains another great challenge facing this community of St. Louis, east and west of the Mississippi, and not St. Louis alone, but the whole country: to put an end to every form of racism, a plague which your Bishops have called one of the most persistent and destructive evils of the nation.[1] -Pope St. John Paul II

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As a black American Catholic, born and raised in the south, people often ask me, How can you belong to a racist Church? This prayer book is my deeply personal response to that persistent question. Although the Catholic Church is not racist, I have observed that far too many conservative American Christians are ignorant about racism. In fact, so many American Catholics, in particular, are ignorant about racial justice that other cultures view the church as a whole as prejudiced. The church is not immune to sin. Like the human soul, the church is the mysterious battlefield where sin is not instantaneously eradicated, but slowly removed seed by seed. As is the case with an obese doctor, God often uses an imperfect instrument to dispense a sacred remedy. In fact, the imperfect instrument makes it that much more evident that God himself is the true physician.

A living instrument must strive for perfection or it hinders the efficacy of the cure. Yet in 21st century America, there are far too many church-goers who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge, repent and atone for the sin of racism. I have always viewed racism through the Catholic optic. I did not choose the Catholic faith, the Lord gave me the gift of the fullness of the faith through the devotion and instruction of my parents. Nonetheless, through the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, the faith took root deep in my soul and bore fruit in an ardent love of God and the Church- the Body of Christ, the visible sacrament of the incarnate word of God. Therefore this book is for Catholics and truly all Christians who are serious in their pursuit of love of God and neighbor and steadfast in their fidelity to worship as Jesus worshiped in one, holy, universal and apostolic church. We are over 20 years late in addressing Pope St. John Paul II's direct appeal to our nation. Let us repent today.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the love and support of my best friend and fellow author, Anna Nussbaum Keating who secured a grant for me to present my material to Colorado College in February of 2020, and encouraged me to complete the book. Anna also served as copy editor.

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Alfred Freddoso, PhD, my professor and advisor from the Philosophy department at the University of Notre Dame, not only agreed to provide the first review, but combed through the text to provide the final edits.

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Mother Mary of the Precious Blood, O.P. of the Dominican Nuns of Marbury provided a detailed account of the life of Sister Mary of the Rosary as well as pictures.

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Junemary Heard, one of Sister Mary’s nieces, provided additional information on their family history.

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My beloved, Eli Soto proofread the text, helped brainstorm and preview the illustrations and was my constant support throughout the entire process.

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My sister, Corinne, guided her daughter Haven through the rosary illustrations.

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Dhanya Lal who provided the Stations of the Cross illustrations and revised them according to my vision, in a very timely manner.

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My friend and co-worker in the vineyard, Joseph DiPaolo edited the cover.

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My brothers, George and Gordon who prayed this project to fruition from heaven.

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And last but not least, my parents Marilyn and Walter who lived through the civil rights movement, gave me the gift of Catholic faith from birth, taught me how