African American Catholics must reach out to young African American Catholics and others who have left the Church and encourage them to return to the faith, participants at the opening night of the 33rd annual East of the River Revival were told.
“We’ve got work to do getting our people back,” Msgr. Raymond East, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Church in Washington, said Oct. 3 to nearly 200 people who attended the opening of the revival. “Our young people have left the church. We have a problem. We have a crisis. We are in pain. So many of our young generation are not here tonight.”
The revival was held at St. Luke Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., and streamed over the Internet on various social media platforms. In addition to those who attended the first night of the revival in person, more than 400 people participated via the Internet.
This year’s revival – held Oct. 3, 4 and 5 – has the theme "We Have Come This Far Faith." Msgr. East was the guest preacher at the opening of the revival.
Msgr. East said that young people may have left the Church during the time when Mass attendance was not obligated due to COVID restrictions or because of anger at the Church’s rules and regulations or how they perceive the Church treats women and people of color.
“COVID has really messed up the Black Church, and it messed up in an extra special way Black Catholics. Many have not returned to the Church. Many are out there just wandering… people are losing faith,” Msgr. East said. “We have suffered a great step back, but a step back is a set up for a great comeback. God is going to do something. God will put us back.”
He said that African American Catholics are uniquely qualified to be effective evangelists.
“Nobody can tell us we aren’t Catholic, or how to be Catholic. In 1619, the first Africans brought over here in chains were not illiterate. They were literate and catechized Angolan Catholics with Catholic names,” Msgr. East said. “Black Catholics have a history. We can be teaching someone else how to be Catholic.”
Calling Africa “the cradle of humanity, of civilization,” Msgr. East stressed that Africans “were Catholic before the Gospel reached Europe.”
“We were Catholic when Jesus, Mary and Joseph were able to go down to Egypt to hide out without sticking out. We were Catholic when Simon the Cyrene took that old rugged cross and carried Jesus’s cross for Him,” the priest said.
Speaking of the traditional strong faith of African-Americans, Msgr. East lamented that “we (the Catholic Church) have lost so many … we make good Jehovah Witnesses. We make good Mormons. We make very good Muslims. We make excellent Pentecostals. We make amazing, wonderful Protestants.”
“The thing is when you lose the Catholic faith, you lose faith,” he said.
He added that “the two biggest things you lose” when leaving the Church are the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Eucharist.
“When you leave, you leave Mother Mary. You become a motherless child… if you leave the Catholic Church you are going to go where Mama Mary ain’t welcome, where her name will never be lifted up except on Christmas morning. You don’t have the rosary, you don’t have tradition, you don’t have heritage,” he said. “And you don’t have the Eucharist. Satan is defeated by the Eucharist, by the Body and Blood of Christ.”
Msgr. East said that young people who have left the Church “are a little confused – they were well catechized, but catechesis does not end when that oil is put on your head at Confirmation. That is when it begins. This is a Black Catholic moment, now is the time to reach out and get our children back. We need to share the power of the Eucharist. We have salvation work to do.”
“I am speaking to all the mothers: Mothers, get your children back. Mothers, call your children home. Your birthed them, you brought them into this world – get them back,” Msgr. East said. “And you grandparents: re-catechize and get back what the devil stole from you – your grandchildren.”
The parishes in the Southeast Deanery in the District of Columbia and several neighboring Maryland communities presented the annual event, which includes prayer and preaching, music and sacred dance.
Traditionally “east of the river” parishes in Washington, D.C. – Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church of the Incarnation, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady Queen of Peace, St. Francis Xavier, St. Luke, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Thomas More and St. Vincent de Paul – would alternate hosting the annual event. Over the decades, the revival has become so popular that several nearby suburban parishes have partnered with the District parishes to sponsor the event.
This year, participants came from the sponsoring parishes and Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian and St. Anthony of Padua parishes in the District and from the Maryland parishes of Holy Family in Hillcrest Heights, Mount Calvary in Forestville, St. Joseph in Largo, and St. Margaret of Scotland in Seat Pleasant.
In welcoming the faithful to his parish, Josephite Father Cornelius Kelechi Ejiogu, pastor of St. Luke Parish, reminded those at the revival that “We lean on Him (the Lord). My God never fails. Your God never fails. Our God never fails.”
He prayed that “our three days of fellowship, our three days of worship, our three days of singing, our three days of praising God will lead to eternal life.”
“Eternal and merciful God, we thank you for all those things around us that are sent from above,” Father Ejiogu prayed. “We gather to praise you. We gather to thank you because we know we have come this far because of no one but you, by learning on you and trusting in your holy will. Lord we ask that you order our steps, that you fill us with your warmth and your blessings.”
The East of the River Revival committee also organized a youth rally on Saturday Oct. 1 at Holy Family Catholic Church in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland. In addition to Msgr. East, this year’s East of the River Revival speakers included Father Patrick Smith, the pastor of St. Augustine Church in Washington, who spoke on Oct. 4; and Father Raymond Kemp, an adjunct professor in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University, who is the revival’s speaker for Oct. 5.
The East of the River Revival can be followed on social media by the links listed below.
Facebook: Southeast Deanery Revival
Instagram: @eastoftheriverrevival
Twitter: errc_dc
For the East of the River Revival livestream link, go to Facebook at:
