Black Catholic Spirituality Article ~ { Print Version }
The National Black Catholic Congress
www.nbccongress.org

A Tribute to the Celebrated Life of Rita McKnight
By Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, MSJ
Master Catechist
Director of Catechetics and Youth Ministry
Christ the King Church Jersey City, New Jersey

The life of Rita McKnight is also the reflection of her life in Christ Jesus. Her steps were ordered in the Word of God. Her faith walk was "Follow Me as I Follow Christ". So walk with me as I take a short sojourn into the celebrated life of Rita McKnight.

Christ the King parish of Jersey City, New Jersey affectionately called her "the Deaconess". Just like Phoebe, she was on the road with Christ; teaching supporting, imploring, beseeching, and carrying Christ to all who would receive Him. Rita served as the director for Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults.

She carried Christ to the sick and the infirmed as a Eucharistic Minister. She prepared other lay ministers to be Extraordinary Ministers of Communion. She instructed couples in Pre-Cana for the preparation of the sacrament of Matrimony, setting the example for sacramental marriage by the witness of her forty-one years as a devoted and virtuous wife to Deacon Keith.

Rita studied with, supported and stood beside her spouse Keith in his preparation as an ordained minister of the Permanent Deaconate of the Catholic Church. Rita was always faithful to the ministry and to the mission of Jesus through the Deaconate and through her service to the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

She was authentically Black and truly Catholic as proven by her witness in faith and her encouragement. She challenged the Black Catholics of the Archdiocese of Newark to get involved in the National Black Catholic Congress. She was the fire that set our souls ablaze and propelled our participation not only in the National Black Catholic Congress but as well in the annual parishing workshops for ministry in the African American Community. She was the impetus in the youth participating in the Rites of Passage in 2000 and 2001. Rita was the coordinator for the New Jersey Gathering of Black Catholic Women that was held at Seton Hall University: A call for the women to gather in prayer and praise.

Rita was always there for those who were sick and in need of the Presbyter and prayer and anointing. She was an evangelist preparing the way of the Lord. She was an evangelist carrying the message that help was on the way for those in need of help and that the help was Jesus.

The calls of condolences have come from near and from far, Europe, Mexico, all across the United States, Canada and from Africa and Asia. A universal response for one whose mission was universal for that is what it means to be truly Catholic. Rita was Catholic in every sense of her being. She was not what I call a supermarket Catholic like those who pick and chose which teachings of the church they will put into their shopping cart and which teachings and beliefs they will leave on the shelf.

My sister in Christ took on the full mantle of the One, True, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; the First Christian Church of Jesus Christ and she was not ashamed to preach and teach the authentic unadulterated scripture of Jesus Christ! It was like a fire burning in her bones! She could not help but to believe, to preach and to teach. Her love was Jesus and He was the center of her Life. Everything she did was through him, with him and in him. She was a witness for Jesus Christ!

The commissioning at the close of the mass is to go and make disciples. Rita was in the disciple making business. She prepared acolytes and altar servers, Eucharistic Ministers. She developed the ministry of hospitality and bereavement to serve others truly adhering to Jesus' call to be of service.

She was a prayer warrior even on her own sick bed and she would call others and pray with them and for them. She worked as a support leader for others battling breast cancer encouraging them every step of the way, even doing the breast cancer camp out and walk when her own body was wracked with pain. She never stopped talking about Jesus. She challenged, confronted, and corrected all to walk uprightly with the Lord.

Rita along with her husband Deacon Keith coordinated the evangelization team of the parish of Christ the King. She was instrumental in the 1998 revival led by Eat the Scroll Ministry. She believed in the benefits of daily prayer through scripture, lectio divino, liturgy of the hours and the holy rosary. All which she did faithfully everyday. She stood in support of God's holy anointed and ordained.

She was a liaison to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Rita has been acknowledged by her ministry with a Pontifical Citation. She was a good and faithful servant. Our sister left no stone unturned when it came to being a livingstone for the cornerstone of her faith, Jesus. She was just and righteous to the law of God.

In this walk of hers even in her suffering she stood upright. She was with the full mantle of Christ, linking her sufferings with that of Jesus. She did not complain, did not challenge God, did not falter in faith but she kept on walking with Christ. She did not waiver. She did not grow faint of heart but soared up on eagles' wings. She waited on the Lord. She PUSHed on.That is she kept on,
Praying
Until
Something
Happened.

That something was being received into the arms of Glory. Even in suffering and death she was faithful to God, church, faith, family and friends. She served God to her last breath. Praising Him by her witness.

She believed in prayer, she prayed unceasingly. She never stopped calling on the sweet name of Jesus. Even in her sickness she came faithfully to Mass daily praising God. Like Anna the prophetess she could be found always in the temple praising God. This past Lent she formulated weekly song and devotion for the Divine Mercy, teaching others about the unending mercy of God. She was a praying sister leaning on the everlasting Arms. It was her body that was sick and afflicted not her spirit and not her soul.

Rita even showed us how to die in Christ. Her steps were ordered in the word of God. The night that she passed into Glory I slipped off her socks from her feet. I marveled at how tiny her feet were. "So tiny a foot for such giant footprints, footsteps so large that few would be able to fill them". The scripture says beautiful are the feet that carry the word of God.

She was a mother and grandmother. A mother whose greatest prayer was for her son and grandchildren that they remember their faith for they knew from whom you were taught! She presented her children to the temple of God encouraging them and raising them in the ways of the Lord.

Rita possessed a holy boldness, to follow her is to follow Christ. She was my sister in Christ, my friend, my confidante, my spiritual mentor, my prayer partner on my own sick bed.

The last months of her life she referred to me and her angel when we came together to read daily scripture and to pray. Little did she know that she was the wind beneath my wings, an example of true discipleship a virtuous women and good and faithful servant. Always praying and always praising "My being Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord, My Spirit Finds Joy In God My Savior."Let us follow her as she follows Christ. For she truly loved the Lord and the Name of Jesus was sweetness to her lips!

Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia. All Praise and Glory Be to God in the name of Jesus! Rest in Peace my sister until we meet again. Amen

Rita McKnight was instrumental in attending the National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) of 1997. At that Congress I was commissioned with so many others by Bishop Ricard to be an evangelizer an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Shortly thereafter Rita again was instrumental in my attendance at the NBCC Parishing Workshop Spring of 1999. The faculty of the Institute of Black Catholic Studies of Xavier University was in attendance as the speakers. I owe my certification as a graduate and Master Catechist from the Institute to Rita. She was the wind and the fire inspiring me in my ministry as catechist, revivalist and contributing writer for the Hallelujah People Gospel Reflections.

Respectfully submitted,
Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, MSJ
Master Catechist
Director of Catechetics and Youth Ministry
Christ the King Church Jersey City, New Jersey