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S i d e b a r
A Parish Transformed
By Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda
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At a parish meeting in my home state a few years ago, Hispanic leaders were told that the "whites" in the parish were tired of carrying the Hispanic load. The amount of money in the collection basket at the Spanish Mass, the pastor said, was not even enough to cover the cost of the hosts used for their Communion.
As the stunned men and women pointed out the numerous ministries that Hispanic members served within the parish, the priest simply responded that those ministries were to Spanish-speaking parishioners, not to the "regular" parish. The parish, the pastor emphasized, could not continue having two different churches and that, obviously, when the guest priest from Mexico returned home, there would be no priest to celebrate for the approximately 400 people attending the Sunday Spanish Mass.
Later that year, the Hispanic community decided to invite the entire parish to a fiesta for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Following the festive bilingual Mass in honor of la Virgencita, the Hispanic community cooked and served for the whole parish a free, sit down, authentic Mexican dinner in the parish hall—complete with music and dancing. They may not be able to give a lot in tithing, they explained to the pastor, but they could cook and share food with their brothers and sisters.
That was the turning point.
A couple of years later, that same pastor chose to spend a month of his summer attending an intensive Spanish language program in Mexico. The parish bulletin now has notices and announcements in both Spanish and English. And Hispanic leaders serve on major parish committees. The Spanish Mass is standing-room only, and religious education classes in Spanish outnumber the ones in English.
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