THE SACRED HEART LEGACY

Over the years, on various occasions, I have had the opportunity to introduce people at public events or to introduce a book to the reading public.

To introduce this book, The Sacred Heart Legacy, I consider a truly unique privilege.  I am honored by the invitation and only hope that I can do justice to the task.

Perhaps you have read books in the past detailing the history of a parish or a diocese.  There are many of them in circulation.  I assure you, most of them are so lacking in conveying a Spirit-life that they can make a reader conclude that history is always going to be dry and boring.  Most histories of parish churches or dioceses are filled with details about the clergy, bishops or priests, who have been part of the Church life over the span of time covered by the historical record.  Often, the major achievements detailed in the book will be the succession of buildings that were constructed under the guidance of the pastor or bishop.  Or, you might find a lot of numbers – baptisms, first communions, marriages and funerals and so on.

This book is different.  It sets forth in an honest, even critical way, the dynamic life of a “community of disciples of Jesus.”  You will not find out a lot about when the cornerstone was laid for this building.  Nor will you get a long list of pastors who put up buildings or were chaplains to the ladies’ guild or guided the ushers’ club and the like.

Instead, you will read the personal stories of the individual people who have come to be Sacred Heart Parish.

I suppose that it is only fair to alert prospective readers that the history of this community is the history of an African-American Catholic community.  For this reason it is inevitably a tiny piece of the history of racism in the Catholic Church in the United States.  As you get to know the people of Sacred Heart Church, you will feel indignation and sorrow, I hope, at the ugly sin of white racism in the Catholic Church.  Those who witness in this book to the suffering and humiliations they have experienced at the hands of white people and especially white leadership at every level in the Church, do so without bitterness or hatred.  Their ability to follow the way of Jesus in returning love for hate and good for evil is one of the most inspiring elements of their story.

And even though the racism in the Church goes on, they manifest a commitment to the Catholic tradition as theirs, a commitment nothing will shake or weaken.  These are people who can sing with greater authenticity than most, “We’ve come this far by faith…” and that faith will be forever the real cornerstone of this community as it moves on into new phases of their life as a parish.

One final reason why I am pleased to introduce this book and urge many people to read it is the timeliness of its publication.  In the Archdiocese of Detroit we have already gone through a very painful period of closing churches and suppressing parishes.  We are currently in the process of developing a so-called strategic plan for the diocese.  Anyone with eyes to see recognizes immediately that the plan’s development and implementation will result in the closing of many more churches, especially in the City of Detroit.  An honest look at what has happened and what will happen leads to a tremendous sadness in the soul of anyone who loves the Church and wants it to be the kind of community Jesus founded – a community that reaches out in love to all, regardless of race or economic situation.  In fact, to be genuinely true to the vision of Jesus, it would be a Church which made a preferential option for those oppressed by the sin of racism or the sin of economic oppression.  Instead, we have a situation where the Catholic Church in Detroit is abandoning the city.  The message is clear:  We really do not care much about an African-American presence in the Catholic Church, nor do we care very much about the poor.

When you read this book detailing the history and legacy of this beautiful community of Jesus’ disciples located in the heart