One Black priest's Catholic outlook on faith & the world. #JesusIsLord #StJosephPrayForUs #VenerableFrToltonPrayForUs #ChristIsRisen Views my own/Follow≠Endorse
Nashville, TN
Joined March 2018
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What up. My name is Fr. Justin, and I'm Black, Catholic, and proud. Here you will find one man's experience & expression of being an African American Catholic, Latin Rite. I'm down with @Pontifex, the Magisterium & spreading the Faith of the Church. I'm a Catholic priest as well.
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
To all of you going to the Beatification of Ven. Fulton Sheen, please say a prayer for all of us who would like to be there, but can’t. We will join you in spirit.
His beatification is a significant moment for the Church, a sign of hope for us all in these challenging times.
Fulton, pray for us!
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
We are delighted to announce the birth of our beloved daughter: Perpetua Mary Rose Hahn. Born on September 18th, 2026.
As many of you know she had a very difficult start to life due to severe oxygen deprivation at birth. She was born via emergency c-section and there was a great deal of difficulty getting her out.
She had to be transferred to a specialist hospital for therapeutic cooling - a process through which they sedate her and bring her temperature right down to try and reduce swelling in her brain and subsequent lasting damage. We spent the first days of her life with her sedated and ventilated, unable to hold her or care for her.
This is where our families put out calls for prayer and support and people have responded with astounding love and generosity. Thank you all so much, we are forever indebted to everyone who prayed for us, asked their children to pray for us, had masses said for us, and provided food and gift cards for us.
By way of update, Perpetua seems to be thriving. As of the last twenty four hours she has made remarkable progress; coming off sedation and the ventilator, infection markers are down, learning to breastfeed well and keeping her blood sugars up.
As of today we are being transferred out of the specialist hospital and out of NICU altogether to finish her antibiotic treatment at our local hospital.
We really cannot stress enough how we much we attribute this swift recovery to the power of prayer. Again, thank you 🙏!
Please enjoy some photos of the journey we have been on. We think she is the cutest baby in town, but we are admittedly biased.
We would appreciate your prayers going forwards, as with brain injuries, often things aren’t evident until later down the line. So we will watch and wait and pray that she continues to thrive.
Our Lady of Walsingham and Saint Perpetua, Ora Pro Nobis!
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
A baby was born without a heartbeat.
For 61 minutes, James Fulton Engstrom had no pulse and was not breathing.
A rare knot in his umbilical cord had cut off his oxygen supply during delivery.
His parents had already been praying for the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen throughout the pregnancy.
Now, as doctors fought to save their son, they prayed to Sheen again.
After 61 minutes, when the medical team was preparing to stop, James’ heart suddenly began beating.
He began breathing.
And despite predictions of devastating neurological damage, James survived and developed normally.
The Diocese of Peoria investigated the case, gathering testimony from doctors, nurses, first responders, and others involved.
The miracle was then examined by the Vatican.
In 2019, Pope Francis authorized the decree recognizing the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen.
Venerable Fulton Sheen will now be beatified on Thursday, September 24th.
Blessed Fulton Sheen, pray for us.
A #BlackCatholic Life:
Catholic Fun Fact: James Earl Jones was a devout Roman Catholic, having converted to the faith in the 1950s during his service in the U.S. Army.
Jones grew up curious about Catholicism because many of his high school classmates practiced it. While serving as an Army Ranger in Colorado, he met a Jesuit chaplain who, as Jones wrote in his autobiography Voices and Silences, "helped me understand who God really was".
While discerning his future career path in the military, Jones famously noted that the only elements of his life "not geared toward the art of killing" were his Catholic faith and the complete works of Shakespeare. In a 1986 television interview, Jones admitted that he briefly considered becoming a Catholic priest during his conversion period, before ultimately dedicating his life to acting.
Before achieving Hollywood fame, Jones utilized his skills in masonry to help physically build a Catholic church in Irons, Michigan. Despite keeping his personal faith mostly private, the EGOT-winning actor regarded his voice recording of the King James version of the New Testament as his "greatest honor". (Would have been better if it had been a Catholic Bible)
Jones passed away at the age of 93 on September 9, 2024. According to reports from the National Catholic Reporter, his death coincided with the Catholic Feast of St. Peter Claver, the patron saint of Black Catholics.
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
Please pray for one of our parish priests who was severely injured in a car accident. 🙏🙏🙏
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
Ave, Regina caelorum,
Ave, Domina Angelorum:
Salve, radix, salve, porta
Ex qua mundo lux est orta:
Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa,
Vale, o valde decora,
Et pro nobis Christum exora.
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
Today is the Feast of Blessed Isidore Bakanja, Congolese convert who was tortured because he wore the Brown Scapular. “Tell them I am dying because I am a Christian", after six months of suffering, he died, rosary in hand and scapular around his neck, on Assumption Day in 1909.
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
'It was successful beyond anything I could have imagined'
Father Ryan Truss set up for Confession at a local fair and was amazed at how many came for confession or looked visibly moved by the sight of others receiving the sacrament
Happy Assumption Day!
"Hence, the august Mother of God, mysteriously united from all eternity with Jesus Christ, [was] carried up body and soul to the exalted glory of heaven, there to sit in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the ages." - Pius 12
On this day 1 year ago I became a Priest of Jesus Christ forever. Today is my very first anniversary in the priesthood. Crazy, it has really been a year. A year of Holy Masses, confessions, anointings, a couple of confirmations and marriages, baptisms, blessings and more.
A year of simply being Father - and that sums it up. I love being Father for the People of God near and far. Words can't capture it. Thanks be to God that He made me a priest of His for the sanctification and salvation of souls in His Mystical Body, the Catholic Church.
BLACKCATHOLIC retweeted
Today, I blessed 112 weddings during one Mass. There were no formal suits or wedding gowns - only the sincere faith and love of the couples who presented themselves before the Lord. In the same celebration, 111 received into the Church as catechumens after catechetical instruction, and 73 of the faithful returned to the sacraments.
The Church is growing and bearing abundant fruit in our newly established parish of St. Martin de Porres. Please pray for the three groups.
Just received my copy of a children's saint book on St. Moses the Black that I was asked to write a forward for! The book is: Our Friend, Saint Moses the Black. It tells his story from his rough beginnings to his holy end though a brief account and colorful pictures.
Great for teaching the littles about one of the Church's #BlackCatholic saints.
This book is part of the "Our Friend" series from Amici Sancti meant to bring the lives of the saints to little ones though fun stories. Big shout out to them for allowing me to contribute.