To Stand on the Rock

""If I could, I surely would stand on the rock where Moses stood."" --from the Spiritual ""Elijah Rock"" Taking its theme from the pastoral letter of the Black Catholic bishops of the United States, which spoke of the challenge of being ""authentically Black and truly Catholic,"" To Stand on the Rock invites us ""to linger awhile in the garden of our imagination and try to see with the eyes of faith and art how the old ones . . . took a twisted version of Christianity and re-twisted it into a culture of liberation, transcendence, creativity and wholeness."" Father Brown begins by recalling the religion and identity of those Africans who were brought to these shores in bondage: the original source in the quest for what it means to be ""authentically Black."" He then explores the style of Christianity they forged through the sufferings of slavery, which found expression in the Spirituals. Brown then reflects on the struggle of Black Catholics to claim their own style of faith and spirituality and to assert their distinctive gifts to the church universal. ""If I could, I surely would Stand on the Rock where Moses stood."" from the Spiritual, Elijah Rock Taking its theme from the pastoral letter of the Black Catholic bishops of the United States which spoke of the challenge of being ""authentically Black and truly Catholic"" To Stand on the Rock invites us ""to linger awhile in the garden of our imagination and try to see with the eyes of faith and art how the old ones . . . took a twisted version of Christianity and re-twisted it into a culture of liberation, transcendence, creativity and wholeness:' Father Brown begins by recalling the religion and identity of those Africans who were brought to these shores in bondage: the original source in the quest for what it means to be ""authentically Black."" He then explores the style of Christianity they forged through the sufferings of slavery, which found expression in the Spirituals. Brown then reflects on the struggle of Black Catholics to claim their own style of faith and spirituality and to assert their distinctive gifts to the church universal. ""Father Brown has written a fundamental work on African American culture and Catholicism that everyone who shares in our heritage and/or Faith should read . . . Engaging and informative!"" Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory, SLD, Bishop of Belleville, Illinois ""A cultural kaleidoscope which refracts the dark hues of pain along with the brilliant colors of semi-triumphs that have been part of our struggle to be authentically Catholic and truly Black."" Giles Conwill, Morehouse College ""Father Joseph Brown writes as priest, poet, prophet, and praise singer. He offers us all a reflection and a song: a reflection on the Black Catholic community and a song for those who would be both Black and Catholic."" Cyprian Davis, OSB Joseph A. Brown, SJ, is Director of Black American Studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He has served as Director of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans. He is author of a volume of poetry as well as A Retreat with Thea Bowman and Bede Abram.