Living the Gospels with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sr. Dr. Thea Bowman

by Michelle Sherman
Pax Christi USA staff

From February to March, 12 students – including seven sponsored by Pax Christi USA – gathered over Zoom with evangelist and professor Michael Howard for Living the Gospels with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sr. Dr. Thea Bowman, a course offered online through Loyola Marymount University as part of Black History Month. Prof. Howard and his wife Charlene are the founders of Eat the Scroll Ministry; Charlene is chair of Pax Christi USA’s National Council.

The students came from across the US from locations such as Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dayton, and Maryland. They included members and ministers within Catholic parishes, a deacon, Knights of St. Peter Claver, an Anglican and Secular Franciscan, Kingian Nonviolence trainers, and Pax Christi USA members. Some held additional roles in their parishes such as: liturgical ministries, deaf ministries, and social action committees. With our varied backgrounds and perspectives, we all came together with the hope of learning more about the Scriptures and the lives and spirituality of Sr. Dr. Thea Bowman, FSPA, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The learning was not only academic, however. That was a great gift of the course and learning community—it was academic while also compelling us to take up the call to conversion and justice-making in personal and prophetic ways. The first class, Prof. Howard encouraged us to “be honest about yourself and how you feel. Be open to all emotions.” The education of the mind and heart – and SOUL and SPIRIT – during this course was possible because of how Prof. Howard structured the homework, journals, and each class period.

Each class began with prayer and lectio divina on the Scriptures or words of Sr. Thea or MLK and continued through the hour and a half with lecture, faith sharing, historical-setting, social analysis, and singing. Within this community of 12 students, there was prayer, communal sharing, and a deep encounter with the writings, recordings, and videos of Sr. Thea and Dr. King. These included the written word, news clips, and debates from MLK and articles and video recordings of speeches and retreat presentations of Sr. Thea, many of which exemplified the Black oral tradition and the theology and messages in the African-American spirituals. The lectio divina contemplatively centered us at the start of each class, inviting the Holy Spirit to move within our prayer and conversation to lead us to social action.

Prior to each class period, Prof. Howard invited students to respond to questions ranging from reflection questions from our lived experience (“Recount when a luminousness Spirit transformed you, making you wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove”), to liturgical justice-making, to authentic Black spirituality, to the deep questions of “unmerited suffering” and just vs. unjust laws according to MLK and Augustine. These reflections were meant to be brief – only a paragraph or two, to prepare us for the discussion while also not being overwhelming to read – each student was to read all the journals from the other students and comment on at least two.

One of the crucial readings at the start of the course included this quotation from Sr. Jamie T. Phelps: “The absolute criterion of authentic black spirituality is its impact on the quality of the believer’s life. It assumes that the true nature of our faith is reflected in the way in which we relate to other human beings and the created order, and that our concern for others will naturally generate witness and actions directed toward the realization of freedom for all human beings to live a liberated and joyful life, energized by the power of the Spirit. Authentic black spirituality leads to prophetic action on the behalf of justice, a justice that requires liberation from sin and its effects… a person imbued with the life-force at the center for black spirituality – with the Spirit of God – is willing to struggle for this liberation.” (from Dr. Diana Hayes’s book, Forged in the Fiery Furnace, Orbis Books, page 123.)

Both MLK and Sr. Thea embodied this boldly, concretely, and passionately, bringing their sacred Black selves to the work of communal liberation. King helped dramatize what was happening in the United States, exposing the triple evils of poverty, racism, and militarism. Sr. Thea spoke of him in one of her speeches that we listened to in the class, referencing the anti-poverty marches that brought together “Blacks, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, poor whites, Native Americans, Asian and East Asian refugees – not to provide handouts, but to provide DIGNITY to the poor.” She continues, “MLK is gone and we are here and there is still war, there is still violence, unemployment, underemployment, inequality in hiring and paying, and housing, still hunger, still oppression and fear. […] I’m laying this on you because this is your business.” 

As another example of the African-American spirituals and justice-making, we prayed with Mary Don’t You Weep, sung by Aretha Franklin. This song embodies the Theology of Freedom and Self-Worth and the Tearful Epiphany that Yolanda Smith writes about in the article The Bible in Song: Reclaiming African American Spirituals. The freedom of the Israelites in the Exodus story, escaping from Pharaoh and soldiers through the Red Sea, Noah and God’s promise after the Great Flood, and sisters Mary and Martha mourning the death of Lazarus—only for Lazarus to be raised by Jesus – all show the self-worth of the oppressed communities and people. The tearful epiphany is that God will not abandon us even in the most dire of circumstances – there is always a sense of hope and blessed assurance for justice and right relationship to prevail. Additionally, members of the community are singing, “Mary, don’t you weep” because it takes a community of support to dry tears and re-commit ourselves to the work of justice, led by God. That this song was popular during the civil rights movement deepens the justice-making connection: Pharaoh’s army with the system of white supremacy and all who upheld it in power, and that righteousness will prevail because they cannot kill the truth that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and that the Lazaruses, Marys, and Marthas will prevail in the end because Jesus will continue to raise up more Lazaruses, Marys and Marthas in the movement.

I’m so grateful to have been able to participate in this course, and profoundly grateful for Prof. Howard for his way of teaching, preaching, singing, and supporting our learning along the way. I know that taking this class and being in relationship with my classmates even for a brief two-month period deepened my own commitment to peace with justice through the lens of anti-racism in Pax Christi. Thank you to my fellow students in the class, for creating a space of learning, vulnerability, and open and honest sharing.

I highly recommend this experience to all in Pax Christi USA. To sign up for a course that Prof. Howard teaches online through Loyola Marymount University, use this link. 

Use this link to learn more about Charlene and Michael Howard’s Eat the Scroll Ministry.