Native son returns to lead annual St. Martin de Porres Revival

He retired earlier this year from service in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. His evangelical experience includes serving as a guest chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. He has worked tirelessly in advocacy for racial and social justice.

But before all that began, Father Arthur Cavitt grew up in Buffalo. Father Cavitt returned home to be the keynote speaker and preacher at St. Martin de Porres Parish’s annual Revival, held Oct. 26-27.

“Keep in your heart and in your mind, if we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need Him now,” Father Cavitt said at the opening of Mass Sunday, Oct. 27, the second day of the Revival. 

“There are blessings to be had, if you but look around you and look inside of you and maybe look in the mirror to see how God is blessing you and your household and your family,” he said in his homily.

Father Cavitt acknowledged the changes that have come to the Diocese of Buffalo, currently in its Road to Renewal, but noted that the Archdiocese of St. Louis is undergoing similar struggles of dwindling congregations, of many losing faith. He shifted into song to continue on his point, singing “the Spirit of the Lord is here,” holding a note for nearly 20 seconds mid-sentence.

Sunday’s theme was “New Sight: Jesus Heals the Blind Man.” Father Cavitt told the congregation that like the blind man, we must ask Him for what we need, to help us to see.

Speaking again of renewal and the angst that often comes with it, he recalled the origin of St. Martin de Porres Parish, formed in 1993 when four existing Buffalo parishes – St. Matthew, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Benedict the Moor, and St. Boniface – petitioned Bishop Edward Head to allow them to merge into one. It was a courageous vision, he explained, to strengthen the local Catholic community.

“The decision came at the conclusion of almost two years of prayer, reflection, study and frank, sometimes painful discussion,” Father Cavitt said. “Parishes came to the conclusion that in order to find a renewed and stronger faith community, they must first lose their individual territorial parish identities.”

St. Martin de Porres now has perhaps Buffalo’s most multi-ethnic parish population, having an African-American majority but many other backgrounds represented among its people.

The previous day, the theme was “Get Ready! Spiritual Awakening.” His address on Oct. 26 was split into two parts. In the morning, he urged the congregation that “the time is now,” while in the afternoon, following lunch and group faith sharing, the discussion focused on answering God’s call.

“He brought that spirit of what his topic was, spiritual awakening, and engaging us in how the Lord is walking with us all the time, and even when we don’t know it, the Lord is in our midst,” said Sister Roberta Fulton, SSMN, director of the Office of Cultural Diversity for the Diocese of Buffalo. “He just broke open what that means in terms of practical daily living, that we have to be looking, listening, and awake. The time is now.”

During his talk Saturday, Father Cavitt intertwined spoken words and musical praise. He would drop down to a knee to symbolize being down, and then return to standing to symbolize rising up again. He repeated the same gesture at Sunday Mass, leading the congregation in the praying of Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be while kneeling and then rising again, alternating with each line of prayer. 

Saturday’s program included group faith sharing among attendees. 

“One of the ladies testified about how she’s been missing for months here at the church, and she just needed some time away. But when she was away, she took the church with her, and she had to get in the right mind before God,” Sister Roberta told WNY Catholic. “Another young lady spoke about how she had invited a good friend of hers to come, and he said to her, ‘Why should I?’ And she said she was disheartened, because she was at a point in her life when she couldn’t walk, she couldn’t do things physically. And she said she was thinking, can’t he see what the Lord’s done for me? And she said, ’I’m distraught about it.’ (Father Cavitt) so beautifully told her, you had an opportunity to not just say the Lord helped me to walk again, but to say you should come because let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you about what Jesus can do for us, even when we don’t know.’”