To Stand on the Rock: Meditations on Black Catholic Identity"If I could, I surely would stand on the rock where Moses stood." --from the Spiritual "Elijah Rock" Taking its theme from the pastoral letter of the Black Catholic bishops of the United States, which spoke of the challenge of being "authentically Black and truly Catholic," To Stand on the Rock invites us "to linger awhile in the garden of our imagination and try to see with the eyes of faith and art how the old ones . . . took a twisted version of Christianity and re-twisted it into a culture of liberation, transcendence, creativity and wholeness." Father Brown begins by recalling the religion and identity of those Africans who were brought to these shores in bondage: the original source in the quest for what it means to be "authentically Black." He then explores the style of Christianity they forged through the sufferings of slavery, which found expression in the Spirituals. Brown then reflects on the struggle of Black Catholics to claim their own style of faith and spirituality and to assert their distinctive gifts to the church universal. |
Other editions - View all
To Stand on the Rock: Meditations on Black Catholic Identity Joseph A. Brown No preview available - 1998 |
Common terms and phrases
aesthetic African American Catholic African American spirituality African and African African cultures ancestors authentically black Baby Suggs behavior black and truly black bishops Black Catholic Church black church black sacred song black theology brothers century Christian circle color concerning congregations dance dancers demon divine Douglass drum Elijah rock enslaved Equiano Esau European faith Fisk Fisk Jubilee Singers gifts healing heart heaven Higginson holy human hush Jacob James Weldon Johnson Jesus Kongo Library of America liturgy live Lord masks mystical Negro nkisi Olaudah Equiano prayer preaching present prophetic race racism Reagon religious response rican ring shout rituals River Robert Farris Thompson Roman Catholic sang sense sexual singers singing sisters slave slavery soul story Thea Bowman things tion Toni Morrison traditional truly Catholic understanding W. E. B. Du Bois women words worship York