My Spiritual Journey ~ by Ronnie Archer

I have been attending Mass all of my life, originally at St. Joseph Church, and attended Van de Vyver Catholic school for all of my elementary years. I never gave much thought to spirituality, until I became a member of St. Elizabeth's Parish after the closure of St. Joseph Parish, which was heart breaking for the African American Community.

It could have been that I was not as receptive as I have since"matured" to be, but the community at St. Elizabeth's and the many opportunities that were offered to help develop the spiritual side of its members, contributed to my personal spirituality.

Under the pastorate and guidance of then, Fr. Mike Schmied and Sr. Miriam LaVelle, then pastoral associate, and through our Christian Education committee, and later, the St. Elizabeth Women's Group, retreats were offered, such as I had not experienced before. I had memories of only silent retreats, lasting all day without a word until lunch time, then back for more silent individual prayer, until closing. I found out that retreats could be informative, inspiring, uplifting, and opportunities for sharing with others.

At our parish, we had Christian Formation sessions before Mass, often with a lay person, either from our own parish or a non-member who came to share something valuable with us about a life changing experience. We had opportunities to ask questions, during the discussions, which were most informative and inspirational.

I've learned, and am much more aware now, that "we are not ONLY human beings" but, as we were once told by Fr. Pat Apuzzo, when he was our celebrant, that we are also"spiritual beings". That has also had a great impact on my personal spirituality. God made us in His image and when Jesus ascended to His Father, He left us a Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.

For the past twenty-nine years that I've been a member at St. Elizabeth, our parish has continued to offer many opportunities to help us walk our spiritual journey. Christian Formation programs during Advent and Lent, a special summertime session, and the annual Women's Group retreat, all of which have been a blessing to those who attended.

Because of our spirituality, St. Elizabeth parish has been empowered to reach out to the larger community by participating in Caritas, Freedom House, and Aids Ministry. We have also reached out globally by sponsoring several refugee families in the early 80's.

When I joined the parish, it was more diverse than it is now. As an African American, I appreciated the fact that our pastors had the insight to incorporate the music that has been endearing to the African American culture for years, into the Mass. This was done first, by inviting Holy Rosary’s Gospel Choir to celebrate with us until our own gospel choir was formed under the direction of Brenda and Ed Foster. Our current choir is directed by Rev. Rita Newson, and assisted by Kim Ford. Some of the original members are still in the choir. Since scripture is very important to us, many of the gospel songs come from the Old and New Testament stories, some speak of deliverance and comfort, which is a great part of the African American experience.

We have always been encouraged to participate in scripture sharing groups, not only in the Highland Park community where most of our members live, but also in the surrounding counties, where others of us live. I look forward to these scripture sharing times. They are interesting, informative, and sometimes even amazing, to hear another's interpretation of a particular scripture.

For the past year we’ve been blessed to have as our "shepherd", Fr. Andrew Sagayam, from India, who has shared a few of his liturgical customs with us. We have already implemented some of them at our Mass.

We began weekly Wednesday Liturgies before our ceiling collapsed; during Lent, the weekly Liturgies resumed, followed by Stations of the Cross. We are continuing our weekly Wednesday Liturgies, with very good attendance.

On Palm Sunday, after the reading of the passion, Fr. Andrew asked us to think about the characters in the passion. He called each of them by name, then asked us to reflect on which character we would consider ourselves to be, making Our Lord's Passion very personal for us.

The Triduum this year, was beautiful and symbolic. On Holy Thursday, the scriptures were brought to life by twelve "apostles", who were previously chosen to participate in the foot washing ceremony. The participants were given the names of the "apostles" and will serve in other ways throughout the coming year. After the Liturgy, Fr. Andrew also referred to the scripture in Matthew 26:v 38, by inviting the congregation to "visit" with Jesus, for awhile, and many people accepted that invitation to visit and spend sometime in silent prayer.

On Good Friday, Fr. Andrew explained the three crosses, saying one is the cross of rebellion, one is the cross of repentance, and one, the cross of redemption, and as we walked up to venerate the cross, we were asked to genuflect three times and reflect on each cross and accept the cross of redemption. I felt this forced us to look into the depth of our own souls. I believe that when we can relate personally to the scriptures, we bring them to life for us, and by identifying with Jesus, we further our own spirituality.

The Easter vigil began by processing from the church to the outside for the lighting of the new fire. We were given twigs to throw into the fire, symbolizing the burning of our old nature. During the vigil, Fr. Andrew baptized three: one adult and two children; three adults were confirmed and four children received their First Eucharist. We are looking forward to helping a couple celebrate the sacrament of matrimony at St. Elizabeth’s in the fall.

The attendance had already been on an increase before the ceiling fell; then during that challenge, and with the spiritual encouragement of our pastor and parishioners, our faith was strengthened. Determination was rewarded by GOD moving through others to assist us in our efforts to restore our sanctuary.

All during the restoration process, attendance continued to rise as some old members returned. We have since added new members, growing from 65 households, to a current 104 households.

To summarize, my testimony is that God has truly been working on my spiritual journey through St. Elizabeth parish; and equally confident that the presence of the Holy Spirit will continue to strive to make a Catholic presence in Richmond’s Highland Park.