On Day 18 of the virtual Advent pilgrimage, we are in Memphis to recall the witness of Servant of God Thea Bowman who is buried in the city’s Elmwood Cemetery.
Thea Bowman was born the grand-daughter of a slave in the Mississippi Black Belt. She led a most remarkable life, abandoning her Methodist upbringing at the tender age of nine and informing her parents of her desire to convert to Catholicism. This was based on her exposure to Franciscan nuns at the Catholic school she was attending. It is truly incredible that at such a young age, she had the conviction and Holy Spirit stirring within her to make this most unlikely conversion for a Black southern girl. Even more remarkably, when she was in her mid teens, she obtained her parents’ permission to travel north to LaCrosse and join the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Thea was the only Black woman in this congregation.
Thea eventually returned to Canton Mississippi to care for her elderly parents and take on the role of the Director for Intercultural Affairs for the Diocese of Jackson. This was no local assignment and she quickly gained a national platform, extolling the virtues of being fully Black and fully Catholic in the American Church. She was a much sought after speaker and even appeared in 1984 on 60 Minutes. She was diagnosed with an incurable cancer, but this did not slow her down and she would still travel the country in her wheelchair right up to her death to preach unceasing charity, and to encourage greater conversion of African Americans and their engagement within the Church. This earned her the affectionate title of “Mother Theresa with a soul.” When asked how she made sense of suffering, her beautiful and simple response was: ““I don’t make sense of suffering. I try to make sense of life…I try each day to see God’s will…” The epitaph on her gravestone in Memphis, at her request, simply says: “She tried.”
With only days to go until the coming of Christ at Christmas, may we reflect on Thea’s deep and unyielding commitment to the faith and to modeling Christ in her life and giving such effective public witness.
Discover more of Catholic Memphis
To learn more about the sights of Catholic Memphis, read the Catholic travel guide to Memphis here.
Concluding Psalm
Let us conclude with a reflection from Psalm 17:
“Hear, Lord, my plea for justice; pay heed to my cry; Listen to my prayer from lips without guile. From you let my vindication come; your eyes see what is right. You have tested my heart, searched it in the night. You have tried me by fire, but find no malice in me. My mouth has not transgressed as others often do. As your lips have instructed me, I have kept from the way of the lawless. My steps have kept to your paths; my feet have not faltered.” (Psalm 17: 1-5)
Previous days of the pilgrimage:
Day 1 – Rapid City, South Dakota
Day 2 – Montana
Day 3 – Sacramento
Day 4 – Los Angeles
Day 5 – Tucson
Day 6 – Santa Fe
Day 7 – Denver
Day 8 – San Antonio
Day 9 – Chicago
Day 10 – LaCrosse
Day 11 – Oklahoma City
Day 12 – Omaha
Day 13 – Wichita
Day 14 – St. Louis
Day 15 – Kansas City
Day 16 – Green Bay
Day 17 – Detroit
CATHOLIC CONCIERGE 
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