06 May 2023

Homily at the Grave of Father Tolton

The Fifth Sunday of Easter (A)

Homily at the Grave of the Venerable Servant of God

Augustine Tolton

Dear brothers and sisters,

Standing here as we are at the grave of Father Gus, I cannot help but wonder how often he reflected on the words of Jesus we have just heard: “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1).


His life was one seemingly marked by troubles at every turn. There was first his being born into slavery and the later flight to freedom. There was the racial discrimination he faced from his fellow students and later in life from one who should have treated him as a brother in the priesthood of Christ Jesus. There was the discrimination he faced from the Black Protestant clergy because of his Catholic faith. There was also the exhaustion he endured from the weight of his pastoral duties. How is it Father Gus did not collapse under the heaviness of so many difficulties? How could these not trouble his heart?

Despite having very little himself, Father Gus’ hospitality was generous. He opened his simple home, which he shared with his mother, to a priest of the Diocese of Dubuque - Father Theodore Warner - for two months. Father Warner, who was studying in Chicago, later said of his time with the Toltons,

As soon as the evening meal was over, Father Tolton would rise and take the [rosary] beads from the nail [in the wall]. He kissed the large crucifix reverently. We all knelt on the bare floor while the Negro priest, in a low voice, led the prayers with deliberate slowness and unmistakable fervor.[1]

How many hours he spent meditating on the life of the Savior through the eyes of the Virgin Mother is difficult to guess.

What is certain, though, is this: he knew the sorrowful mysteries of Jesus’ life led to the glorious mysteries of his life. It was this confidence that allowed him to put his faith in God and in his Son even in the midst of his own many troubles (cf. John 14:11). And because he knew the way, he knew the destination. He kept the home of the Father ever before him throughout his life and “let himself be built into a spiritual house” (cf. John 14:2; I Peter 2:5).

It is not enough for us to stand outside this metaphorical edifice of Father Tolton’s life gazing upon its externals. No, we must enter into it to learn how it was built, to learn from him how to keep our hearts calm regardless of the troubles of this life. If we enter into the house of Father Gus, he will teach us that “faith in Jesus entails following him daily, in the simple actions that make up our day,” not only when things are pleasant, but especially when they are not.[2]


The Divine Architect used the daily troubles of Father Gus’ life to make of his spiritual house a “living stone;” he used them to more perfectly shape that stone until it was ready to be fitted into the place prepared for it in the Father’s house (I Peter 2:5; John 14:2, 3). May this Venerable Servant of God teach us to allow the Lord to do the same with us until the day comes when he will look upon the Face of God (cf. John 14:8). Amen.



[1] In Roy Bauer, “Part Twenty-seven: Poverty and Holiness,” They Called Him Father Gus. Accessed 6 May 2023. Available at https://adams-ilgw.genealogyvillage.com/letters/they-called-him-father-gus.html.

[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Regina Coeli Address, 22 May 2011.

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