Black Catholic men embrace ‘We Were Made for More’ theme of conference
Seeking to grow in their faith and their relationship, Jason Smith and his 15-year-old son Trenton shared time together at the National Black Catholic Men’s Conference in Indianapolis on Oct. 13-16. They posed for a photo by an image of Venerable Pierre Toussaint, a former slave who went on to serve the Church and the poor and who is now up for sainthood. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)
By John Shaughnessy
When Jason Smith brought his
15-year-old son Trenton to the National Black Catholic Men’s Conference (NBCMC) in Indianapolis recently, he viewed their time together there as the fulfillment of Christ’s parable of the talents.
“I wanted to take the faith that I have and multiply it with my son,” Jason said during the conference that was held on Oct. 13-16 at the JW Marriott and St. Rita Church. “It’s important to grow myself, but also to give those around me, especially my children, the opportunity for growth.”
In taking that approach, the Catholic from the Archdiocese of Detroit is trying to do what the older generations of his family did for him.
“I was fortunate to be born into a Catholic home,” said Jason, the father of three sons. “I feel this is what I was born for. My grandfather passed the faith to my mother, and my mother passed it down to me. To me, my Catholic faith means Jesus wants to have an encounter with me, a continuous encounter.”
His oldest son Trenton has embraced that same goal: “I have a lot of faith in God. I want to do what it takes to get to heaven.” He also embraced being at the conference.
“I’m having fun with it,” he said. “I’m meeting some new people. The speeches they give and the testimony they give are very powerful to me.”
The experiences of the father and son reflected the theme of this year’s conference, “We Were Made for More.”
While the Smiths attended the conference for the first time, Dennis Sigur came for the 16th time as part of a group from the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
It’s the one time of year that the 63-year-old Sigur takes a break from his hectic schedule as an elevator technician.
“This is my vacation,” he says. “It’s always been a good time of reflection on life and fellowship with other Catholic gentlemen from across the country.”
He started coming to the conference after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, causing more than 1,800 deaths and $125 billion in damages.
“After Katrina, we really had to rely on our faith to get through each day. It was a low time in my life. I picked up the Bible, and it turned to the Book of Job. From that day on, I’ve had something concrete. It brought it all into focus.”
That focus on his faith in God now guides his life.
“You can’t throw up your hands and think something is going to happen. With prayer and meditation, something good always happens,” Sigur said. “There are a lot of obstacles you go through in life. For me, it’s not relying on what I can do. Every day, I wake up and say, ‘God, what do you want to do today?’ ”
That same reliance on God led Gerard Marable to continue his streak of being a part of every NBCMC since it began in 2004.
“I come here to be renewed, revitalized and empowered,” said Marable, who lives in the Diocese of Camden, N.J. “My Catholic faith is my life. It gives me purpose, meaning, hope, determination.”
He particularly relied on his faith in God during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when churches were closed.
“I had to draw closer to Christ to live through that whole thing,” he said.
At the same time, those two years changed his vision of the Church in a way that surprised him. The change came as he participated in the national conference online during those years and as he tapped into online Masses being celebrated around the country and the world.
“I came to a better understanding of what it means to be Catholic, of what it means that the Church is universal. It’s universal across geography and time.”
With that new perspective, Marable enjoyed even more the opportunity to have in-person connections with other Catholic men at the conference.
“I want to grow in my faith as a Black Catholic in community,” he said.
Grant Jones also saw the importance of the NBCMC in another light.
“I’ll even take ‘Black’ out of this and say it’s very rare where you get Catholic men doing this together,” said Jones, the executive director of the national Knights of Peter Claver, a Black Catholic fraternal service order. “This is an opportunity to have Catholic men come together to worship, but also in the workshops to openly express their thoughts and feelings. This conference is much needed.”
So is the theme of the conference, he said. He viewed “We Were Made for More” as a call to all Catholics, no matter what gender, race, background or age.
“It’s very fitting because there is always more we can do in every aspect of life in the context of our Catholic faith and Catholic teaching,” Jones said.
“There is always more we can do for the poor, there’s more we can do for evangelization. There’s more we can do to reclaim those who have left the faith. In corporal works of mercy, there’s always more we can do. In turn, that improves us as individuals and it also helps us to grow in our faith.” †
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