St. Aloysius parish hosted an annual gathering this weekend called the Central Harlem Catholic Revival. The event theme was “Stay Woke: Finding Our Way Back” and featured guest speaker Deacon Lawrence Houston of St. Peter Claver parish in New Orleans.
The revival was held Saturday evening for four hours, and Sunday afternoon for three hours. St. Aloysius is located on West 132nd Street.
“They were using the word (woke), but they don’t understand what it truly means,” Deacon Houston said during the Central Harlem revival, noting how people he’s come to know in Louisiana have been misusing the term.
“We have a lot of politicians who want to use it, but they don’t truly understand the significance of the term; how it was born out of the black experience. You see they don’t understand that if we really look at the definition of woke, it is defined as being alert to injustice and discrimination in society, especially racism.”
The deacon went on to talk about the importance of “how we can stay woke (awakened), not just in a political context, but also in a social and spiritual context.” He spoke of Christ overcoming temptation in the desert, citing Matthew 4: 1-11.
“For we are in the deserts of our lives, and we are trying to find our way back; find our way back to God, find our way back to Jesus, find our way back to Mary, find our way back to justice, find our way back to the true Church, and find our way back to wherever we need to get to,” the deacon asserted.
“We gotta lean on Jesus…We gotta call out that name; we have salvation, it is in Jesus. It is in Jesus that we are brought out of the deserts that we are walking in. It is in the name of Jesus that there is salvation...Come out of your deserts; stay woke tonight, church, find your way back. Stay woke tonight, church, find your way back. Stay woke tonight, church, find your way back!” Deacon Houston noted, speaking passionately about the importance of the Lenten season.
This was greeted with loud applause.
“He was outstanding; he really appealed to the people. They were very much energized by him…This is a difficult time; with racism, violence, polarization. People need to find support in their faith, to be nurtured; and the Church has a crucial role in that,” Father Willem Klaver, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in Harlem, told The Good Newsroom on March 13.
Father Klaver is also the coordinator of the archdiocese's Central Harlem Cluster.
Deacon Houston was ordained a permanent deacon in 2010, He is a former principal of St. Joan of Arc School in New Orleans. The weekend revival was live-streamed via the St. Aloysius parish YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/@churchofst.aloysiusgonzaga5025
Part two of the Central Harlem Catholic Revival 2023 will be held this coming weekend, Saturday, March 18 (6 p.m.) and Sunday, March 19 (3 p.m.) at St. Charles Borromeo parish, 211 W. 141st St. Conducted in Spanish, the theme will be, “La Fe en la Eucaristía,” (Faith in the Eucharist). The guest speaker will be Father Nelson Pichardo, parochial vicar of St. Mary-St. Peter parish in Kingston. For more information, call (212) 281-2100.