Valerie D.
Valerie D.
Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
This my beloved Son, Listen to Him
At the Lord’s Command, By God’s Mercy, According to God’s Power, with Eyes Fixed on Jesus, the Community of Believers were transformed.
The readings of today’s Lenten journey- call me to reflect and scrutinize my own encounters of being in the desert, in the valley and those personal mountaintop experiences.
This previous summer, I had several encounters of finding crosses “crucifix.” Initially I laughed it off and said oh no, I do not need another cross to bear in my life. They were in various forms. Those small crosses that you can mount to your car dashboard. One particular cross was given to me, while I was attending a retreat at the Redemptorist Renewal Center in the desert of the Tucson Mountains of Arizona. The desert is surrounded by five distinct mountain ranges.
The week stay in the desert and mountains was proceeded by the September 14th Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. I was no longer laughing off, these mystical encounters of these crosses. In faith I knew that the revelation of these encounters would manifest according to God’s time and for God’s purpose all for the Glory of God.
God’s calling: The revelation of how God manifest Self within my social location and condition is always through the lens of who I am and whose I am, as a Black Catholic Lay Woman. The great reveal of God for me is that although the world may see my human conditions as scandalous, superstitious, and sacrilegious, because I dare to preach and teach and bless through my context of gender, culture and faith tradition- God has called me to this mission. God-Creator lifts me up from that desert of despair that has so restricted the boundaries and the landscape of how I enter and function in ministry.
My relationship with the Creator allows me to stand firmly on the promise of that Holy Mountain of faith- following the mandates to bless those who seek the Word of the living God. It is this trust in the Promise that heals, strengthens and calls the elect to a deeper conversion and transformation. I go because God has commanded that I go from my place of comfort into a world and surroundings where I am a true sojourner- confident that I as a beloved daughter of the Most High God, can place my trust in the God who reveals Self as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus- who pours out the mercy from the Cross, the blood and the water of the fulfillment of the Transfigured Christ in our midst. It is this Mercy song in Psalm 33; Lord let your mercy be on us- that I hear in the songs of my ancestors and culture and kinfolk when they sing Kumbaya My Lord… Lord Have Mercy on your people. Through suffering and the travail- Oh Lord Kumbaya.
It is the Hope upon hope passed down as a mantle from generation to generation, that has allowed for the trust that our suffering as a people is linked to the suffering of Christ on the Cross. That suffering becomes transformed into an awareness of redemptive grace. That our suffering will not be in vain. That Christ whose own suffering on the Cross transformed humanity from sinners to the forgiven, and it is by His stripes that we are healed and Transfigured. It is this transfigurement that is promised in these little crosses that we bear all for the glory of God. I see myself being transfigured and transformed when like the spiritual African Ancestor Simon of Cyrene- I bear and share in the sufferings of this earthly life not with a hardened heart but with a fervor for the love of Christ a love of the Gospel. It is that love that transforms my spirit to go on even in the midst of suffering and exclusion.
Singing take this cross Simon, Simon and help your Jesus up the road.
It is this willingness to embrace the cross, the Mount Calvary experience that provides the ultimate transfiguration of our souls and spirits in the Resurrection.
Jesus passes the mantle of commitment of faith- to Peter, James and John:
Rock solid foundation of faith, rooted hope in action and healing, and spiritual agape love.
Just as the mantle was passed from God to Moses to Joshua and from Elijah, to Elisha,
The Mountain top experiences are faith encounters for all of God’s beloved daughters as well.
Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA
Doctor of Ministry: Healer, Scholar, Pastoral Theologian and Social Justice Advocate
Dr. Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley is an alumna of Boston College School of Nursing (BSN 1979), Seton Hall University School of Law (MSJ - Health Law 2006), Seton Hall University School of Theology – Immaculate Conception Seminary (MAPM -Christian Spirituality/Spiritual Direction 2011) and Drew Theological School (Doctor of Ministry - Practicing Healing Mind Body Spirit 2015). Valerie has graduate studies in Nursing Leadership from New York University. She is also a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana-Institute for Black Catholic Studies (2002) with a certification as a Master Catechist in the Catholic Church. She also has doctrinal certification from the Archdiocese of Newark where she has served in ministry for over thirty years. She serves the Archdiocese of Newark on the Advisory Board for the African-American African and Caribbean Apostolate. As well she has presented lectures at the Deanery on racism and the Pastoral Letter Open Wide Our Hearts.
She is the retired Director of Religious Education at the Church of Christ the King - Jersey City, New Jersey, a historical Black Catholic Parish an Apostolate for Evangelization in the African American community. She serves in various capacities across the nation as a mentor to youth and young adults; evangelist, retreat leader and revivalist and public speaker, life coach and Spiritual Director. Catechesis to children and youth and women’s spirituality and empowerment are a major component of her ministry as a pastoral associate. She is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Theology at Caldwell University, Caldwell, New Jersey, and Xavier University of Louisiana Institute for Black Catholic Studies. Valerie is a member of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium. She belongs to various International Honor Societies and is a Silver Life member of the NAACP. She is a Lady of the Confraternity of the Knights of St. Peter Claver.
Valerie is retired from clinical practice at the New York Hospital-Weill Cornell University Medical Center. Her specialty area was in High Risk/Tertiary Care Obstetrics- Women and Children’s Health where she served as the Senior Staff Clinical Nurse, Unit Preceptor, and Quality Assurance Committee Representative, and Interim Administrative Nurse Recruiter.
She is an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and a Lector. She has served as a minister on the Pre-Cana team preparing couples for the Sacrament of Matrimony. She serves the Church as a Lay Associate Order of Preachers (OPA) The Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, New Jersey. It is her mission” To Praise, To Bless, To Preach” the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her life models the spirituality of the Dominican and Jesuit charism. Black Catholic Spirituality and Catholic Social Justice Teaching are premiere in her use of culture and faith to authentically evangelize. She is the recipient of the Caldwell Dominican Peace Award for 2022.
Valerie has contributed several articles in various Liturgical Magazines and Scripture reflections in Ministry Publications. She is a consultant and contributing writer for The Hallelujah People: Eat the Scroll Ministry. She is an Aquinas Institute of Theology- Delaplane Preaching Scholar of the 2022 Writing Cohort - Preaching Racial Justice: Challenge and Journey. The project is funded by the Lilly Foundation and will be published by Orbis Books. She is a contributing writer in Religion, Women of Color, and the Suffrage Movement: The Journey to Holistic Freedom, Does Christian Catechesis Have a Gender Problem? Toward a Catechesis of Wholeness (2022) Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
October 17 at 7pm ET: Join Catholic Women Preach, FutureChurch, contributors to the Year C book, and co-editors Elizabeth Donnelly and Russ Petrus as we celebrate the release of the third and final volume of this ground-breaking, award winning series.
"Catholic Women Preach is one of the more inspiring collection of homilies available today. Based on the deep spirituality and insights of the various women authors, the homilies are solidly based on the scriptures and offer refreshing and engaging insights for homilists and listeners. The feminine perspective has long been absent in the preached word, and its inclusion in this work offers a long overdue and pastorally necessary resource for the liturgical life of the Church." - Catholic Media Association
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