Episode 24: Wonderfully Made with Brenda Christian

Listen as a Podcast.

Synopsis:

Meet Brenda Christian. She grew up Protestant living in a housing project in downtown Montgomery. For the past 25 years, she has served in several capacities at St. Dominic Parish in Mobile. Hear how this grace-filled journey took place. Share in Brenda’s conviction that the words of the prophet Jeremiah ring strong with her story—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

Dig In Further:

Who in your life let you know that you are “wonderfully made?” Has God used you as his instrument to let another know they are such? What is involved in showing others their worth in God’s eyes?

How can Brenda’s conviction to see everyone in the Body of Christ as equals challenge the way you tend to “label” or “talk about” others?

How have you seen the hand of God in your life? As you look back, can you see some of the ways he has engineered your circumstances to help bring you to where you are? Even the circumstances surrounding your very birth, can you see God’s presence there with you?

There is great diversity in the Body of Christ. On one hand, Brenda shared that she wants to just be known as a “Catholic” and not a “Black Catholic.” However, on the other hand, she resonates with Sr. Thea Bowman’s statement—“What does it mean to be black and Catholic? It means that I come to my church fully functioning…I bring myself, my black self, all that I am, all that I have, all that I’m worth, all I hope to become. I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African-American song, and dance and gesture, and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility as a gift to the church.” How should we approach “diversity” in the Catholic… “universal” Church? How do we at once affirm our unity in Christ and in the Eucharist but also not just allow but celebrate the different gifts, talents, and expressions of our faith from different cultures in the Body of Christ?