I Confess

The Catholic Church describes the liturgical celebration of the Mass as its greatest prayer. The Confiteor is the penitential rite that occurs within the context of the service after the celebrant processes into the sanctuary and offers a greeting of welcome. The words of penitence are offered together by the celebrant and the faithful. For those familiar with the practices of the Church, the Confiteor brings to mind the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which one confesses ones sin with the intention of abandoning the behavior. The clergy has the authority to then absolve the person through God's grace and mercy.

Speaking the words of the Confiteor from the heart is an act of humility. 

I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done
and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault,
through my fault,
through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,

to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Identifying as a Black Catholic woman who has practiced the faith for more than 50 years, the Church, especially the leadership of the American church, is shamefully inadequate in responding to white supremacy and calling for racial justice. For example, it is inconceivable to me that any person ordained for ministry would not have a clear understanding of the difference between prejudice and racism. Unfortunately, I have heard both my bishop and a deacon in my parish conflate the two terms. Sadly, some are not willing to learn. Apologies and reconciliation are needed, but they must include a commitment to abandon racism.

In light of this, it is affirming to hear a layperson, who identifies as white, when he/she has done their own work on the construct of race, and recognizes how he/she is complicit in the corrupt system that privileges them at the expense of other lives. This recently happened when Rob McCann, the director of a Catholic charitable organization, recorded a video message to his staff that was nothing less than a Confiteor. It was more heartfelt than any penitential rite I have ever heard. As a woman of color, it was an expression of God's grace and mercy as it was also a balm for my weary soul in these difficult days.

Whether ordained or not, I encourage more of my Catholic brothers and sisters who identify as white to embrace their baptismal call and exercise intellectual curiosity to do the deep soul searching required. History, whether national or faith-based, has been whitewashed to ensure the perpetuation of white supremacy. Many blindly accept images of Jesus as a white person but find images of him as a person of color problematic The Gospel of Christ was grotesquely distorted to justify the genocide of the people of the First Nations, the enslavement of kidnapped Africans, the Trail of Tears, Jim Crow, etc. It has taken 400 years for those of majority European ancestry to dig us into this hole, and only God knows how long it will take for them to recognize the corrupt and sinful nature of white privilege/supremacy. These systems will not dismantle themselves. 

The year 2020 is proving to be a kairos moment for those with the moral courage and vision to stretch themselves beyond the status quo even when it is uncomfortable. Everything will change for those who do. I pray that the moment is leading the American church to confidently speak against white supremacy, and faithfully call for racial reconciliation and justice. The first two words must be "I confess."