“Spiritually Resilient” IBCS 研究生 Completes Master of 神学 Degree After Heart Attack

路易斯安那e世博esball大学’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) is a program for those who want to grow more in their faith and learn more about the history and identity of Black Catholicism. 每年夏天, IBCS holds a three-week session where students can be in community with one another while earning their Master of 神学 degree through the Institute. After six sessions, students in the master’s program are celebrated with a commencement. 奥布里奥斯本, 2023届IBCS毕业生之一, has displayed remarkable resilience in the presence of adversity and is an example of how the perseverance and strength at the core of Black Catholicism can help those with troubles overcome them.

Osborn was set to attend his final summer session and celebrate his graduation in achievement of the degree he strived for the past six summers; however, as 奥布里 flew from his home in California to New Orleans, 他在机场心脏病发作. 编码两次之后, he was brought to the hospital and spent the next four weeks in the intensive care unit. 在医院的时候, Osborn was encouraged by the IBCS faculty to rest and focus on recovering, but Osborn wanted to complete the mission that brought him to New Orleans in the first place.

“I wanted a sense of completion and accomplishment,奥斯本说. “我想完成它. It was six summers of work and progress, and I wanted to share what I experienced in those summers. I wanted the validation that I finished what I started.”

Osborn’s well-researched thesis was on his own uncle, Fr. 奥布里奥斯本. 在他的调查中, Osborn learned that his uncle was the first Black student to be accepted into Notre Dame Seminary and would also become the first Black priest to be ordained for a southern archdiocese on May 30, 1953. 以前, Black priests were given assignments in the Caribbean or elsewhere and not typically in the southern states they were from. 经过一个识别过程，Fr. Osborn wrote to then-New Orleans Archbishop Joseph Rummel, requesting his priestship and assignment to practice and lead the faith in the community he grew up in. Bishop Rummel would grant his request, though Fr. Osborn had to face racial discrimination and mistreatment from his peers. Fr. 奥斯本的侄子就是

“My uncle asked my mom, ‘Can you name him after me? Because I would like to have an angel to pray to.’ I would sometimes wonder how did it fall to me to tell his story, 就像他会说的, “你是我的侄儿. 你带着我的名字. 我不想让别人来做这件事,奥斯本说, recounting how he has admired and been inspired by his uncle since he was born and throughout his ordeal. “我是以他的名字命名的. I feel like God and the angels were [in the] midst of this.”

During his stay in the hospital, Osborn invited his research advisory board, IBCS director Dr. 凯瑟琳·贝娄，他的研究顾问. Cecilia Moore, and the Master of 神学 program associate director, Dr. Vanessa White, to visit him so he could complete his comprehensive exam. He had been exempted from the exam in light of the circumstances and due to  the strength and quality of the work he had turned in, 但是奥斯本并没有被安抚. He wanted to complete his master’s on his terms.

“When [the comprehensive exam committee] came to my room to give the exam, 他们问起我的研究, 哪些部分我还有疑问, 我还有什么问题呢. 他们离开房间去商议, 当他们回来的时候, 他们说, “恭喜你, 奥布里, 你已获得神学硕士学位.’

Commencement day was the same day that Osborn had his procedure to get five stints. 躺在病床上, he wore his graduation cap and watched the graduation on a laptop in the presence of his family. 当他的名字被叫到时，他的家人欢呼起来. Osborn was one of the five 2023 IBCS Master of 神学 graduates.

奥斯本说:“这关乎精神上的韧性。. “这就是使我们成为坚强的民族. 我们就是这样把它发扬光大的. This was for all the people who nurtured me in faith who didn’t get the same opportunity.”

那天晚上，IBCS教授Dr. Ernest Gibson went to Osborn’s hospital room and delivered Osborn his Master of 神学 degree. For Osborn, it was about more than just receiving the degree or finishing the program. Completing his studies at the IBCS  was a way for him to grow in his faith for himself andhis community; it was a way to share his story and testimony. 面对障碍和逆境, he tapped into a spiritual resilience and perseverance he has long fostered and maintained. Osborn credits Xavier with playing a foundational role in allowing him to continue to grow in that faith.

e世博esball大学就是这样...它的家. e世博esball对我来说意味着我永远不会孤单. I have [a] community where the Black identity is centered,奥斯本说. “I am loved and encouraged that I am more than capable. 这来自于信仰和社区. 我很高兴能说我是e世博esball大学的毕业生.”