back to the National Black Catholic Congress : Home Page THE NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC CONGRESS
The Black Catholic Monthly | African Americans | Catholic News Black Catholic Congress: "We hold ourselves accountable to our baptismal 
    commitment to witness and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ"
NBCC
Calendar Of Events Calendar Congress X Media Center  Congress X Congress X   Subscribe to "The Black Catholic Monthly" Newsletter News      NBCC Forum Forum Contact Us Contact Us
NBCC
NBCC
To Black Catholic Monthly Home Page

Featured Article:
Dressed in Black: African Americans and End of Life Care

With the advent of certain pain medicines like morphine, or medical equipment like respirators or ventilators, or procedures like kidney dialysis, medical physicians and other health care professionals have the ability to prolong life or prolong death. Persons with certain debilitating and/or terminal diseases or injuries, especially, to the central nervous system, may be able to live longer today. Read Full Story | Print Version

Site Search
NBCC STRUCTURE
 African American Catholic Bishops
 Congress Directory
 Board of Trustees
 NBCC Staff
The Black Catholic Monthly
 Dressed in Black: African Americans and End of Life Care
 Forgiveness
 Abortion Changes You™
 We Are Our Brothers’ Keepers
 Archdiocese of New Orleans's IMANI Team
 The Impact Movement
 Down Home Cooking The Healthy Way
Publications
 Book Of The Month:
The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation (Wit Lectures.)
 Author Of The Month:
Pope Benedict XVI
NBCC Spotlight
 National Catholic Community Foundation
Upcoming Events
 St. Charles Lwanga Center's Ecumenical Liturgical Workshop
May 31, 2008
 St. Charles Lwanga Center's Patronal Saints Celebration of the Holy Eucharist
June 3, 2008
 The Florida Conference of Offices of Black Catholic Ministry
June 6-8, 2008
 Men Gathering In The Spirit
June 14, 2008
 Caribbean Catholic Of North America (CCNA) Caribbean Mass
June 15, 2008
 African American Men's Health Conference 2008
June 21,2008
 Institute for Black Catholic Studies Summer Session-2008
June 22-July19, 2008
 4th Annual North Carolina Black Catholic Conference
June 27-29, 2008
Job Announcement
 Chief Development Officer, The Society of St. Edmund, Edmundite Southern Missions
In The News
 Pope Benedict's Apostolic Journey to the United States
 Institute for Black Catholic Studies Summer Session 2008
 Call for Proposals
 Knights of Peter Claver Junior Knights and Junior Daughters, 2007-2009
NBCC Media
  Visit the NBCC Media Center
  Listen Live to Vatican Radio
requires Real Audio)
RECOMMENDED SITES
 Site Links

 Black Catholic Young Adults

LENTEN POEM
By Katie Torrence
(Age 14, Grade 8)
Huntington Beach, California

Comment on Featured Articles in the forum

Quietly I sat atop my hill
When suddenly, the roads began to fill.
The silence was so harshly shattered
as a man who looked so terribly battered,
Carried a splintered tree upon his back
And fell upon His treacherous track.
A guard stepped forward and cracked his whip
On the skin of His back which could not but rip.
Staggering to His feet, He carried on and on,
Even though His strength declined, almost gone.
I watched in horror as he fell twice again
And out from the crowd, the guards pulled a man.
They pushed him out onto the road
And for Him, he carried the load.
Feet, feet, I felt climbing my slope
And all that I could do was hope,
That the blood of this spectacular man would no more spill,
And that His fate would not come at the top of my hill.
But He and two thieves were stripped of their clothes
While the people gathered to here watch in rows.
The guards threw the cross down on me with hate.
Oh how could this man have carried such weight?

I was crushed beneath the splintered wood
While above me, He silently stood.
Awaiting His death,
He took a deep breath,
As they lay Him upon the tree.
I felt His pain inside of me,
And then, beyond anything I could not know.
But then came the shock of that merciless blow
And I heard the clank of a hammer on nails
Amid His cries and painful wails.
Then suddenly, the weight was shifted on me
The cross was raised up so everyone could see.
As the base of the cross was pounded into my surface
I could feel His hung body, plan for escape, worthless
He begged the Father above to forgive
All of the people who did not want him to live.
This man was different from any other I've ever known of
He wished to forgive these wretched people and show them true love.
At the request of a thief to His right,
He forgave him, and then all of the light
Was dimmed and the noon sky was clouded
As the land became shadowed and shrouded

Another agonizing cry broke out
And I knew then beyond any doubt
That this was to be the end of this man when he said
He was going into the Father's hands and bowed His head.
A guard came up and pulled out his lance
And stabbed Him just in case there was any chance
That His heart may still have been going,
And from His gash, blood and water came flowing.
Down, down it fell towards me like a water fall
There was no stopping it, I felt it all
The cold mixture of His given blood
And water that turned my surface to mud.
Is this what I'd be remembered for?
I asked my self as His family and friends bore
His limp body towards His lifeless tomb
Would I be remembered as a place of gloom
Where the King of the Jews was crucified and killed,
Where His divine blood had been so cruelly spilled?
They tore down His cross and carried it away.
I saw it all, all that happened that day.
I sat there and watched and then turned into stained mud.
I was there, for I was the dirt that soaked up His blood.

Katie Torrence Grade 8

Subscribe to the Black Catholic Newsletter

to top of page

 
NBCC
NBCC

Web Design : Web Marketing : Web Management : Baltimore Maryland - SLEEPER Technologies
 
An STI Site
Copyright © 2003 www.nbccongress.org | All Rights Reserved | Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without the expressed written permission of www.nbccongress.org is prohibited.