Responding to the Call of What We Have Seen and Heard

By Kanobia Russell-Blackmon | The Catholic Compass | July/August 2024

This year, the Memorial of St. Peter Claver marks the 40th anniversary of What We Have Seen and Heard: A Pastoral Letter on Evangelization from the Black Bishops of the United States. The pastoral letter — which was co-authored by our own Bishop Emeritus John H. Ricard, S.S.J. of Pensacola-Tallahassee — urged Black Catholics “to share the gift of our Blackness with the Church in the United States.” As the Church within Northwest Florida commemorates this pastoral letter, we walk with Rosetta Durant as she not only shares her own life experiences and faith, but also demonstrates her witness to our risen Lord through conversion, renewal, and building up the Kingdom. 

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Born in Washington County, Alabama (just north of Mobile), Rosetta Durant was the second of six children of Methodist and Baptist parents. After having moved to Mobile at 8 years of age, her parents decided to convert to Catholicism as a family. She recalls that a priest provided catechetical instruction in their home. While baptized when she was 12 at St. Vincent's Parish — which is the present-day Prince of Peace Parish — she grew up in the faith at St. James Major Parish in Prichard.  

After earning a degree in business administration from Alabama State University, Durant returned home to work at the Mobile Mental Health Center and, subsequently, St. Mary’s Group Home, which was then the oldest child-welfare agency in Alabama. It was during her tenure at St. Mary’s that she studied education at the University of South Alabama. She epitomized the “family” from an authentic African-American context to mean “extended family,” where caring for each other means more than mere kinship. She fell in love with caring for the children at St. Mary’s, and worked there until she received the call from the Santa Rosa County School System, where she worked for 36 years.

EVANGELIZATION

Durant, who came to Florida just before Pope St. Paul VI established Pensacola-Tallahassee, explains that while she initially participated in the sacramental life of the church through St. Rose of Lima Parish and Cathedral Parish, she found in St. Anthony of Padua Parish the stable community where she has been nourished by the sacraments for over forty years, and currently serves as a lector and pastoral council chairperson. 

More specifically, as Durant reflected on the importance of evangelization within the Black apostolate, she reminds us “of the struggles and injustices Black people have endured down throughout the centuries and how important the family has been during that time.” She agrees with What We Have Seen and Heard that the “heart of the human community is the family.” It is for this reason that, animated by communion and community, evangelization among the Black apostolate is a revitalization of the family by welcoming all people into the “family of faith.” What We Have Seen and Heard encourages the Black apostolate to re-commit itself to be active participants in the mission of the Church not only by reason of its possession of the wonderful gift of faith, but also by reflecting the richness of its history, heritage and gifts of Blackness. 

Durant’s perspective of evangelization echoes the sentiments of the Black bishops in the pastoral letter and Pope St. John Paul II, who all revealed that the words of Christ remain true, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” (Mt 9:37). Durant believes that people of every race and culture must live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by word and example. While people are at various stages of their respective faith experiences, the Christian faithful are called to actively participate in the mission of the Church by accompanying one another as companions on the journey and coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord without regard to cultural distinction. 

STEWARDING GIFTS AND TALENTS

Of the many gifts Durant brings to the Church — whether within her parochial community or otherwise — she believes she has been graced with the capacity to humbly serve and strengthen the community of disciples by assisting others to meet their spiritual and human needs; the capacity to catechize in a manner that helps others to grow in wisdom, knowledge and understanding; the capacity to counsel, encourage, and inspire the human family to accomplish their full potential as followers of Jesus Christ by living lives of holiness to build a just society amidst the many challenges of modern society; the capacity to steward her time, talent, and treasure to equip communities with the means to effect apostolic work and Catholic action; the capacity to ensure that there is a place around God’s welcoming table for all people without regard for race, ethnicity, class, or gender; and the capacity to exercise mercy, kindness, care, and compassion. Durant’s virtues and gifts reflect the unfeigned love, spirit, and fortitude of Black women throughout history and their contributions to the Black apostolate and the universal church. What Durant brings to the Church — particularly in Northwest Florida — are gifts that are neither subjugated nor subordinate to men. Rather, her virtues and gifts reflect the “irreplaceable support and source of spiritual strength for other people” of which Pope St. John Paul II spoke concerning the dignity and vocation of women. (Mulieris Dignitatem, 30) 

LITURGICAL EXPRESSION: AUTHENTICALLY BLACK AND TRULY CATHOLIC

Considering the liturgical experience of Black Catholic heritage, communal worship has always been not only an opportunity for praise and glorification, but also an opportunity for the sanctification of the people of God. The Black apostolate can say that “we are Black and beautiful … do not stare at us because we are Black.” (cf. Song of Songs 1:5-6) This scriptural endorsement of Black humanity empowers the Black apostolate to participate in liturgies in a manner that evokes emotion: hand clapping, shouting, foot-stomping, standing to express our assent to the Word of God proclaimed through song, etc.  

Durant explains, “We must do things our way. If we want to stand up at the end of Mass and testify, we are allowed to do just that.” Durant believes that, even in 2024, “the Catholic Church as a whole has to be receptive of the gifts of our Blackness,” as these gifts should not be relegated simply to “the small Black parishes … but as a whole.” Durant affirms the spirit of What We Have Seen and Heard when the bishops point out that liturgical celebrations should express not only Black cultural heritage, but also our Catholic faith. This is an important distinction because the Sunday celebration for Black Catholics is about word and sacrament, unlike other Black Christian communities. While music is a significant element of Black Catholic worship, music should serve liturgical action. 

VOCATIONS

In view of the diminished number of Black priests in the Church throughout the United States, Durant encourages the laity, particularly families, to foster vocations. She says, “We can encourage vocations from the pews by talking to the children and encouraging parents to talk with their own children. We must ensure children participate in the [social, liturgical, and sacramental] life of the Church.” She explained that parents and families should never discourage young people from discerning a call to any vocation, whether it is to holy orders, consecrated religious life, or marriage. As throughout the history of this stateside Church, people, owing to racist postures and mind-sets, had blocked many Black men and women from vocations. Durant explained how inexcusable it is for parents and families to discourage young people from discerning a call to any vocation, whether it is to holy orders, consecrated religious life, or marriage. Now, more than ever, it is everyone’s responsibility to foster vocations. 

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Durant, a retired educator, serves on the Sacred Heart Cathedral School Advisory Council. Durant believes that each of us has a part to play in ensuring access to Catholic education, and corroborates the testimony of What We Have Seen and Heard that expresses succinctly that “the Catholic school still represents for many in the Black community, especially in the urban areas, an opportunity for quality education and character development” and that it “has been and remains one of the chief vehicles of evangelization within the Black community.”  

SOCIAL OUTREACH

Prioritizing her faith over all other aspects of life, Durant, a devotee of Matthew 25:40, advocates for the totality of the Gospel of Life. Amplifying how the love of God is meant for everyone, she explains when we truly live the evangelical beatitudes “by participating in community outreach programs, feeding the homeless, helping the poor through Catholic Charities, walking with pregnant mothers in need through Majella House and serving the community through the various projects of the Knights of Peter Claver,” we are welcoming the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, prisoner, leper, and paralytic. 
(cf. Mt 25:34-37)  

Durant’s life has responded to the call of What We Have Seen and Heard in that she is an exemplar of what it means to be an active participant in the mission of the Church, stewarding back to the Lord the great gifts she has received for the common good. While her participation in the work of building a civilization of love is expressed in so many ways, it is notable to reference her volunteerism and work with Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida, particularly organizing the annual Christmas program, which serves many families in the Pensacola area. Durant’s work of social ministry alone for the last 13 years at Catholic Charities is a visible sign of God’s care and concern for the destitute, the disadvantaged, and the needy in our communities by the Catholic Church in Northwest Florida. 

1. Durant is married to William, her husband of 44 years. They have four 
   adult children.

2. Note: Of the 10 Black bishops who authored What We Have Seen and Heard, only Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, Bishop Emeritus J. Terry Steib S.V.D. of Memphis and Bishop Emeritus John H. Ricard S.S.J. of Pensacola-Tallahassee are still living.