Detroit — It’s not often you see a Hammond organ, a jazz drum kit and singers belting out Gospel-style music from the choir of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The music of the “Mass of the Sacred Heart,” composed by Detroiter Keir Ward, isn’t what you’d usually hear surrounded by the aesthetics of the Gothic revival cathedral’s pointed arches and stained-glass windows.

But the afro-spiritual style of the Gloria mixed well with the traditional chant as Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron celebrated the Mass for Peace on Jan. 28, creating a harmony that can only be described in one word: Catholic.

Harmony was the key theme of the night, which featured the debut of Ward’s “Mass of the Sacred Heart” in a deep context of prayer to lift a city that has historically struggled with violence.

“How outstanding it is to be here now, praising the Father for His solemnity,” Archbishop Vigneron said at the start of Mass, “especially today, to sing His blessing in this church — a song in all voices, whether they be white or black, praising God with joy.”

The Mass for Peace originally sprang from a conversation between the archbishop and Leon Dixon, coordinator of black Catholic ministries for the Archdiocese of Detroit, last September.

Against the backdrop of the news of the death of Detroit Police Officer Glenn Doss Jr., who was critically shot Jan. 24 while answering a call about a barricaded gunman on the 5500 block of McDougall Street, the Mass was a chance for Catholics to plead with God for peace in their city.

“When you start talking about the black Catholic community, peace is an important part of our community because the news is everywhere; so many of us live in communities that have been neglected,” Dixon told The Michigan Catholic.

“Even though there has been a rebirth in Detroit, it hasn’t spread everywhere to every corner of Detroit,” Dixon added. “So doing a Mass like this is still important.”

Reflecting on a reading from the Gospel according to St. Mark, in which Jesus casts out unclean spirits from a man in the synagogue, Fr. J.J. Mech said in his homily that praying for those who cause violence isn’t always easy.

“We’re here today, praying for peace in our archdiocese, in our city, praying for an end to violence, and we should,” said Fr. Mech, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament and pastor of St. Moses the Black Parish on Oakland Boulevard. “We pray for ‘those people’ who stir things up, who cause violence.”

Fr. Mech said it’s important to recognize that unclean spirits not only affect those who commit violence, but they also cause people to stop following the way of Jesus Christ.

“Look at what happens in the Gospel: the spirits says, ‘What will you do, Jesus?’” Fr. Mech said. “Jesus rebukes them, saying ‘be quiet,’ and there is calm, that peace.

“And then Jesus says, ‘Forgive everyone, no matter what they do,’” Fr. Mech continued. “Well, that’s a little uncomfortable. To turn the other check, that’s not a fun thing. Pray for your enemies? This Gospel message is supposed to make us squirm in our pew.”

The importance of the Mass for Peace for the city of Detroit, and the black Catholic community in particular, was amplified by the presence of Ward’s music, Dixon said.



While Ward wasn’t originally aware his music would debut during the Mass for Peace, he wrote his “Mass of the Sacred Heart” in an effort to bring people together.

“I was first approached by Joe Balistreri (archdiocesan director of music and conductor of the Archdiocesan Chorus) earlier last year, and I finally met with the archbishop in June and worked out all the details over the summer,” Ward told The Michigan Catholic. “At first, I didn’t know it was going to be the Mass for Peace; I knew the archbishop was planning to do a Mass and it was supposed to bring all the churches in the archdiocese together.”

Ward has been involved in the Detroit church music scene for decades, getting his start playing piano at St. Cecilia Parish in Detroit.

By the time he was 16, he became the youngest music minister in the Archdiocese of Detroit, accepting a position at Epiphany Parish. Since then, Ward has been all over Detroit, including St. Leo Parish, where he composed another Mass, the “Mass of Praise,” in 1990.

While “Gospel-style” singing is more historically associated with the black Protestant community, Ward contends it fits naturally within the Catholic context.

“(Gospel music) and the Church have always been together,” Ward said. “As far as I can remember, I’ve been Catholic. And as far as I can remember, I’ve been black. So it’s a natural marriage to me. It’s a blessing to have this style of Mass at the cathedral, and it’s a blessing for Archbishop Vigneron to give us the opportunity for us to share the gift with the Church at large.”

After Mass, Archbishop Vigneron thanked Ward and the choir. Echoing sentiments from the Mass for Pardon at the cathedral in October 2016, the archbishop acknowledged the times the Archdiocese of Detroit has failed to bring the Gospel message to the African-American community, and asked for forgiveness.

“Let me again make the apology I made on the occasion of our Mass for Pardon, acknowledging and asking for forgiveness and for God to forgive all of us, and any of us in the archdiocese, who by our acts of racism, have impeded the advance of the Gospel message in the lives of our community,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “This is wrong, we regret it, and we apologize to God for it. And we vow not by my human ability, but through the strength of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who makes possible all things, that we will overcome this sin and heal.”



Dixon said the archbishop’s words, along with inviting a local black Catholic musician to compose a Mass to be celebrated in the cathedral, goes a long way to healing past wounds.

“To have a Mass at the cathedral with the archbishop present, it gives our style of worship, our voice in the Church, more credence,” Dixon said. “We’ve been fighting for years to make sure all voices are heard; not just ours, but all voices. This Mass, having Kier recognized by the archbishop himself, shows we’re here, we’re part of this archdiocese’s history, and we have a voice to bring as we go forward, sharing the Gospel of peace in our community.”

Mass of the Sacred Heart

To hear a sample of Kier Ward’s “Mass of the Sacred Heart,” visit the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Facebook page and click on “videos.”