An adaptation of the homily Father Chisholm delivered at the Black History Month Mass celebrated at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Feb. 7, 2021.

“Science has made my faith stronger,” she said. “The DNA structure is amazing. It is beautiful and is evidence of what God can do and has done.”

This is the South Central Los Angeles church where 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, grew up singing in the youth choir, taking her sacraments and reciting her poetry.

“We are a community; everyone here is important,” said St. Brigid’s pastor, Josephite Father Kenneth Keke. “Whatever belongs to the parish belongs to everyone; in our parish, the success of anyone is the success of all.”

Williams came to write “Mary Lou’s Mass” to capture her feeling of suffering—and its apotheosis.

None of the saints associated with the United States are of African descent. The Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University intends to change that, and here are six possibilities for sainthood.