As we strive to be saints in the making, Father Dave welcomes Daryl Grigsby to highlight holy men and women from his new book, “Catholics for the Common Good: An Eternal Offering.”
Daryl explains how one line in the Eucharistic prayer inspired him. “When I heard those words, ‘Lord, make of us an eternal offering to you,’ I thought, what a powerful call to faith and service,” he says. “I became captured by that phrase, and at the same time, I was aware of so many lay Catholics or ordained Catholics who, in their own quiet way, were doing service to the larger community that was not that well-publicized.”
His book profiles 36 contemporary Catholics across different vocations and generations, and Daryl notes how their lives combine Catholic social teaching with the Eucharist. “The Eucharist fueled their faith commitment,” he says. “The whole idea of Jesus’ self-giving for our full humanity, so that we can have a relationship with God – that’s what opened them up to be of service to others.”
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One woman Daryl features is Sister Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso, CF, a Franciscan nun currently living as a missionary in Brazil. “She works with the indigenous people there to protect their land, their language, and their way of life — to give them some sense of dignity in the midst of some of the exploitation that happens in Brazil, both from corporations and from the government,” he says. “Her courage – in the face of death threats to her and her colleagues – is pretty profound.”
“She talks about how many people don’t know that they’re nuns, but all they know is when they come among them, they feel good,” Daryl continues. “To me, they embody what the Gospel is all about: the good news. Rather than just talking about it, their presence among the people [helps] people feel good about themselves, their life, and their relationship with God.”
Daryl is also a contributor for Black Catholic Messenger, a media organization that amplifies Black Catholic voices, and he shares the story of Father Augustus Tolton, the first African American priest in the United States. “He and his mother escaped slavery in Missouri,” Daryl begins. “They rode across the river while slave catchers were firing at them on her way to Illinois. Once they settled in Quincy, Illinois, he started going to a Catholic church, and a couple of priests befriended him. Because of what he saw, he wanted to become a priest, but there was no seminary that would accept an African American.”
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Father Augustus instead went to seminary in Rome and then was sent back to serve in the United States. “He became pastor of St Monica’s Catholic Church, which was a Black Catholic parish in the South Side of Chicago,” Daryl continues. “He spent much of his time in the tenements and streets, helping and talking with the poor. He described [the poor] as people who were holding a bag that was open on two ends, so they had nothing to hold on to.”
“To stay devoted to the Catholic faith despite those kinds of obstacles that [Father Augustus] faced on a racial basis, and still give himself to others is an example of a pretty uncommon faithfulness in the Church,” Daryl says. “He is evidence of what faith in Christ can do in terms of your own inner transformation.”