Mother to Son

Dear All Souls,

There are some weeks when, rather than offering a letter filled with of my own words, I want to set before you the good and needed words of others.

The first is a poem by Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance poet whose work gave voice to the sorrow, resilience, humor, and hope of Black life in the twentieth century. His poem Mother to Son has long been a companion to those learning how to keep climbing when the way is rough. This Sunday’s litany is the Magnificat, and as I sat with Hughes’ poem, I was struck by how these two songs hum together. Both rise from women who know the world as it is and still speak courage into those they love. You can read a fuller reflection on this poem here. Below is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reciting the poem.

The second offering comes from someone much closer to home. Nicole Flores, a member of our community, recently preached for the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe in her fourth homily for Catholic Women Preach. In her own words, she writes, “I was struggling to express the fullness of Guadalupe’s love for those who are suffering during these bleak times, especially migrants, their families, and their communities. My grappling led me back to the homiletical reflection that concludes my first book, The Aesthetics of Solidarity; I adapted it a bit from its published form. Sometimes poetry is the only answer.”

Two voices. Two songs. Two women speaking mercy into a weary world. May their words steady us as we listen for God’s nearness in this season.

Peace and all goodness to you this Wednesday,

Bliss +