Bringing the Wounds of Racism to the Altar: Denver Catholics Gather for Special Mass

Faithful from across the archdiocese unite the nation’s divisions with Christ’s sacrifice in the Eucharist at the Archdiocese's annual Mass for Healing and Reconciliation.

Denver Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodríguez celebrated the annual Mass for Healing and Reconciliation, sponsored by the Archdiocesan Committee for Racial Equality and Justice. (Photo by Ryan Brady/Denver Catholic)

By Ryan Brady

Catholics from across the archdiocese gathered Sunday at Curé d’Ars Parish in Denver for a Mass dedicated to healing and reconciliation of racism. Organized by the Archdiocesan Committee for Racial Equality and Justice (ACREJ), the intent was to bring the community, Church and the country’s struggles with racism to the sacrifice of the Mass.

The fourth such Mass organized by the committee, Sunday’s liturgy was well attended, including Cure d’Ars parishioners, seminarians in their spirituality year at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver and other archdiocesan faithful.

Uniting Wounds with Jesus’

Before the liturgy began, a statement from the committee framed the Mass' intention and invited the faithful to unite the nation’s wounds — from slavery to Jim Crow and segregation to other forms of injustice that continue to shape aspects of American life — with Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, made present anew in the Mass.

“As Christians, we are given a unique opportunity to participate in the healing of our nation’s sins by uniting them to the Blood of the Lamb, poured out for us,” the statement read.

Worshippers were invited to bring before God “all racist attitudes and thoughts; any pride and ignorance that deny the ongoing reality of racism; our pain, daily struggles, anger, exhaustion and disappointment; and our hope for a future marked by justice, equality and peace.”

The statement concluded: “Formed by truth and guided by conscience, we bring all that burdens our nation to this sacrifice of the Mass.”

For longtime Cure d’Ars parishioners Robbyn and Bernard Celestin, the morning reflected the deep sense of community that has long characterized the parish.

“This parish is a beautiful family,” said Bernard Celestin, noting that sense of stability and commitment continues to define the parish today. “We’ll be here to the end.”

For Luke Yanoshak, a Denver seminarian in his spirituality year, the parish’s beauty and faith were clear.

“This is a beautiful, vibrant community,” Yanoshak said. “People love the Lord and are united in prayer,” he reflected, noting various spiritual themes reflected throughout the liturgy, namely prayer, longing and solidarity.

Bishop Rodríguez prostrated himself before the altar at the start of Mass, a powerful gesture.

Dozens of faithful from around the archdiocese came together for the annual Mass.

Wanda McDavid and Kateri Williams, ACREJ members, address those gathered.

Tienne McKenzie, ACREJ member, addresses those gathered.

Deacon Clarence Braud reads during the annual Mass.

Bishop Rodríguez encouraged those gathered to pray for healing, unity and peace.

Massgoers were invited to bring all their concerns to the altar at the annual Mass.

Only in and through the Eucharist is healing and unity possible, McKenzie explained.

The annual Mass encouraged faithful from across the archdiocese to come together in unity and faith.

Seminarians in the spirituality year at St. John Vianney joined to pray with those gathered.

In his homily, Bishop Rodríguez emphasized encounter as the means to break down division.

Dozens of faithful from around the archdiocese came together for the annual Mass.

(Photos by Ryan Brady/Denver Catholic)

The Eucharist: Source of Unity and Healing

Tienne McKenzie sees her work with the ACREJ as part of her vocation, speaking of it as a deeply personal mission. A missionary priest from Nigeria opened her eyes to the diversity of the Church when she was young, and this work has been on her heart ever since.

In her view, efforts to address racism often take one of two approaches: “either try and fix specific problems, or let the Lord bring us together to heal,” she said.

McKenzie believes the Church has a distinctive role in this process because of its spiritual foundation.

“The Church is in the world but not of the world,” she said, understanding the Church as the only institution truly beyond race (see Galatians 3).

At the same time, she acknowledged there have been problems in the Church, but said that its universality allows people from different backgrounds to remain united in faith despite their differences.

“Only the Church can unite and still preserve diversity,” McKenzie said, pointing to Jesus as the source of that unity and of healing. “The blood of Christ heals everything. … It’s the same Mass, the same Christ in the Eucharist that binds us together.”

Encounter: A Healing Salve

Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodríguez celebrated the Mass and delivered the homily, reflecting on social division and the path to healing found in the Gospel.

“Our country, as beautiful and as strong as it is, is wounded,” he said. “The wounds of division, hate, discrimination, inequality, rejection are symptoms of a sickness of the soul.”

Bishop Rodríguez said the divisions seen in society today often create hostility where unity should exist.

“The soul of America is hurting,” he said.

The bishop connected this reality with the Gospel reading proclaimed at the Mass, which recounts Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. In the historical context of the passage, Jews and Samaritans had deep religious and cultural divisions. Despite that separation, Jesus initiates the encounter.

“He breaks the barrier and talks to her,” Bishop Rodríguez said, noting that Jesus begins the conversation with a simple request: “Give me a drink.” In the bishop’s reflection, that moment reveals the shared humanity between the two.

“He was thirsty. She was thirsty,” he said. “They were thirsting hearts.”

“To heal and reconcile, we need to begin by encountering the other person,” Bishop Rodríguez explained, drawing from the Gospel, adding that reconciliation requires “dialoguing and discovering that this person has a heart like you or me.”

Jesus’ approach in the Gospel shows a deeper way of seeing the other, the bishop said.

“Jesus didn’t look at the color of the skin of the Samaritan woman,” Bishop Rodríguez said. “Jesus looked at her heart. Jesus saw her as God’s child.”

At the core of it all, the bishop concluded, is a recognition of one’s dignity as a child of God and a reception of the healing that God wants to bestow on his children.

“Yes, the soul of America is wounded,” he said. “But to heal those wounds, we need to begin by healing our own heart.”