- February 14, 2020
Association Spotlight: Kate Springs (Denver, CO)
By: Associate Kate Springs
My ministry of working toward racial justice sprang from a talk I heard in 1955 when I was 13 years old in Wichita, Kansas. The speaker, Louis J. Twomey, SJ, was a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, who lectured on ethics, jurisprudence and racial justice in the law school. He lectured in the Sodality Summer School of Catholic Action. He described life in New Orleans as being very different from my life in Wichita. New Orleans' water fountains and restrooms were designated separately by race, and that wasn't the only sign of hatred and inequality Fr. Twomey described. I couldn't believe it. The blessing I received that day was that I became "woke" to the suffering and inhuman treatment people of color received in my country.
I continued to be called to "the More," the charism of the Great Love of God and the dear neighbor by: stories of Dorothy Day, as told by my mother (also a CSJ associate) who heard her speak at Webster College in 1933; the encyclicals Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno; and my work with Msgr. John Shocklee in St. Louis and Fr. Geno Baroni in Washington D.C.
These experiences form my work and family life. My husband and I have a large multi-ethnic family with African, Middle Eastern, Asian and African-American children and spouses. We work in our Family Medicine Clinic, focusing on predominately Spanish-speaking families, many of whom are uninsured or are underinsured. Putting one foot in front of the other leads me to great adventures in accompanying patients through the trials of chemotherapy and follow-up appointments related to cancer treatment.
I am so blessed to belong to a predominately African-American parish, Cure 'd'Ars, where there is a very active social justice committee. We went on a life-changing pilgrimage this past summer to Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, visiting many sacred sites involved in the Civil Rights Movement, including the Legacy Museum, Lynching Memorial and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
I am greatly fed and nurtured by singing in the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music's Spirituals Project Choir. The choir was formed by Dr. Arthur Jones, a fellow parishioner. The mission of the choir is to "preserve and revitalize the music and teachings of the sacred songs called 'spirituals' ... created by enslaved Africans in America in the 18th and 19th centuries."
The richness and blessing of my life today comes from the call of Jesus through the CSJ charism to love one another without distinction. There isn't a meeting on racial and social justice I don't feel impelled to attend. We all are needed to show up and stand for justice.