Black Catholic Convert I am,
Grandchild of the Baptist choir’s deepest tenor
yes, anomaly,
sliver of a sliver of a sliver.
I learn to praise with an
ancient hymn.
its words forming me
within.
Ave Maria, Gratia plena,
I learn to pray
first in my mother tongue,
then in Latin sung.
At my nearby parish,
I ask to add
“Prayers for racial healing”
to the prayers of the faithful.
I’m told “It’s not relevant for our community”
so I ask the pastor—he never gets back to me.
Is the only healing needed here for me?
Or
is there an indifference,
a sin of love’s omission—a choosing of a more comfortable solidarity?
I found another Catholic community
that could see me.
Now the bishops
create a template of prayer for our nation’s 250th
to honor the “many journeys that shaped America,”
its invitation mentions “the voices, sufferings, and enduring contributions of those who were forcibly brought to this land,”
but the document, the prayers, even the prayers of the faithful
mention nothing more.
And what do we do with the history we ignore?
Repeat
after me:
Ave Maria, Gratia plena, see these
ignored, skipped from the bishops’ prayers and national plea—repeating history.
Mary, pray for us, banished, too oft-ignored children.
Ave Maria, Gratia plena, see the stories unspoken please,
the darker children of America, the indigenous too.
We’re not all immigrants and refugees.
Some were already here, and some came chained and chatteled but never chose to.
Mary is this what you saw and knew
when you appeared indigenous to
Cuauhtlatoatzin (Coo-ault-la-too-aught-sin), “the Talking Eagle,”
Saint Juan Diego,
though first ignored, dismissed even,
eventually heard, a miracle—
the conversion of almost an entire people,
not by force, nor law,
nor man-built construction,
repetition of words and instruction, but by
being seen.
Mary knows the miracle
and what it means.
I, too, sing Ave Maria.
And I am seen and heard
by a full-of-grace Mary & my Maker,
whether my nation’s church
chooses to see in deed or word.
Zye E. Seema is a poet, writer, and illustrator. A Catholic convert by way of the East, she comes from a non-denominational Protestant background. In her words she “became Catholic to belong more deeply to Jesus through the Eucharist.” She writes about tech, embodiment, spiritual life, and current events. You can learn more about her work at her author site.
