Umoja - Unity in the Family, Community, and Nation

The Black Catholic Ministry of the Diocese of Sacramento invites you to join us in celebrating the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa over a seven-year period. Beginning in August 2026 and continuing through August 2027, we will celebrate Umoja. Umoja means “unity” in Swahili. 

We begin our Year of Umoja with Mass. The Mass will be celebrated by Most Reverend Rey Bersabal on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at 10:00 am at St. Anthony Parish, Sacramento. Immediately following Mass, all are welcome to join us in fellowship. There will be food for purchase provided by local vendors, entertainment, and a drum circle. Bring your percussion instruments and join the fun!

Our theme for this year of Umoja is “Maintaining Unity in the Family, Community, and Nation.” This theme is beautifully echoed in the words of Pope Leo XIV, shared during his homily concluding the January 2026 Week of Prayer. Reflecting on the Letter to the Ephesians, he reminds us:

“In the passage from the Letter to the Ephesians chosen as the theme for this year’s Week of Prayer, we repeatedly hear the adjective ‘one’: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (cf. Eph 4:4–6).

Dear brothers and sisters, how can these inspired words not touch us deeply? How can our hearts not burn within us when we hear them?

Yes, ‘we share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel’ (Apostolic Letter In Unitate Fidei, 23 November 2025, 12).

We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it, and make it visible!”

As we enter this year of Umoja, may we embrace this call to unity in our families, our communities, and our nation.