Greeting parishioners at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 19, Josephite Father Michael Thompson, the pastor, noted that day’s Gospel reading from Luke was about Mary’s visitation with her cousin Elizabeth. The priest then noted another visitation, as he welcomed Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, who was the main celebrant at that morning’s Mass.
“We are overjoyed to welcome you, especially as our first African American cardinal,” Father Thompson said, as members of the predominantly African American parish offered loud applause to the archbishop, who in November 2020 was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis.
Cardinal Gregory – noting that the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from joining the parish as it celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2020 – had celebrated an Aug. 2 opening school year Mass at the church for the Washington School for Girls, a Catholic school that has one of its two campuses at the site of the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, and he stopped by the parish during a recent coat drive for people in need in the community.
“I’m here (now) with the family of God, God’s people, and it fills my heart with joy,” he said.
In his homily, Cardinal Gregory pointed out how Elizabeth’s humble reaction to Mary’s visitation showed “humility and deference (that) are so rare in our world.”
He noted that “humility is often a lost art” in a culture where celebrities in the world of sports, politics and media who display arrogance, and influential or wealthy people who avoid paying taxes or taking responsibility for their behavior, are often considered role models.
“The gentility of Elizabeth is a strange sounding response to ears that are more accustomed to hearing voices that assert privilege and rank, and that demand deference,” said the cardinal, who added that at one time people were taught “that modesty, humility and civility were virtues.”
At the beginning of the Mass, a woman lit the fourth candle on the Advent wreath near the altar for the fourth Sunday of Advent, and Father Thompson prayed that Christ’s light would “shine in our lives.”
Cardinal Gregory in his homily noted that as the season of Advent was drawing to a close and people were preparing to receive the gift of Christ, God’s own Son, at Christmas, “the message that we hear in today’s Scripture highlights humility.” He added, “God can do so much with a humble heart.”
The cardinal emphasized that even though “humility and gentleness of spirit are not virtues that are highly prized in our world, yet they are the very foundation of the Christmas mystery.”
“Christ is about to enter the world in the most vulnerable of all states. He comes as an infant who is poor, without a home in which to be born, surrounded by cattle and shepherds. God chooses to enter the world reducing divinity to sheer littleness,” he said.
Cardinal Gregory said Elizabeth and Mary’s words of humility, and the fact that Jesus entered the world not as a powerful figure but as a helpless baby, offer lessons to people today.
“Humility may never be a very popular virtue in our society, but it was the way that God chose to enter human history. Certainly, we ought to see something in that entry to take to heart,” the cardinal said.
After those gathered for the Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church recited the Creed together, Cardinal Gregory prayed, “No one is so small or so lowly or so young or so old that God would overlook them.”
The prayers of the faithful were then sung by a cantor, including a prayer “for all those in leadership positions, that they may uphold the dignity of all people that they serve, particularly those deemed insignificant or unimportant.”
A prayer was also offered “for those who have died, including the victims of violence in our community,” and another prayer asked that God will help them “bring Christ to all we encounter.”
The joyful hymns sung during the Mass included “I Say Yes” and “Go Out,” encouraging people to say “yes” to Jesus and bring His Good News to the world.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help’s website has a centennial section, honoring and listing the names of senior citizens in the parish as “Living Legends.” In another personal touch, the parish bulletin lists the names of homebound parishioners and those who are in the hospital or in a nursing home or rehabilitation facility, with the heading, “Homebound, in our hearts and prayers.”
The parish’s ministries also include a Tuesday evening online Bible study class led by Deacon Ira Chase.
During the pandemic, volunteers at Our Lady of Perpetual Help have continued serving at its parish food pantry, where food is distributed on Thursdays between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Adopting safety precautions and with community support, the pantry volunteers there have served an increasing number of people needing help.
Before he became pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in July 2019, Father Thompson served as superior general of the Josephites, a religious order that has an historic mission of serving the African American community. In an earlier interview, he said the pandemic was “a most critical time for us to serve people,” including those who had been sickened or lost their jobs as a result of the virus. He praised the pantry volunteers for reaching out and bringing Christ to others.
In a 2020 story on that outreach, Gladys Reid, who directs the food pantry at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, said, “We’ve done this for years… This is what we do, we feed people, anybody who comes… Nobody goes away hungry.”
She added, “It’s heartwarming to know you’re helping somebody… Everything’s given with love.”
