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Thursday, May 4,2000 Faattla Allvd The Southern Cross, Page 9 Welcome to the international fair By Dan Luby Catholic News Service X he church is packed. In the foyer, along the back wall, whispered conversations and intense huddles give voice and shape to the anticipa tion filling the sacred space like invis ible incense. On silent cue, the Viet namese choir rises to sing. The International Fair Mass at St. Rita Church in Fort Worth, Texas, has begun. A highlight of this parish’s life, it climaxes an annual day-long celebration of multicultural richness in this mid-size urban parish. The fair’s blend of sights and sounds and smells — guitars and drums, bag pipes and horns, mouth-watering aromas of savory egg rolls, crispy fried chicken, spicy enchiladas, sweet kolaches — all contribute to a kind of patchwork quilt of harmony in diversity. Father Richard Flores, St. Rita’s pastor, finds the challenge of “making everyone feel a part” in such a varied community especially demanding be cause, he says, new people often are shy about offering their talents. Parishioner and catechist Joe Rodriguez cites the practical difficulties of meeting the language, space and scheduling needs of different ethnic groups. But the effort is worth it. In the many cultural groups present in a typi cal Sunday congregation, Flores sees “the universal church more embodied” FOODFORTHOUGHT In these times of the new immigration in the United States, the church’s many cultural groups reflect the fact that the nation as a whole has many new ethnic groups, among whom can be found some of the nation’s poorest people and those most “vulnerable to exploitation,” said Bishop Joseph Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference. “A multiethnic, multiracial church must have a heightened awareness of the problems that many ethnic and racial groups face, ” Bishop Fiorenza said in an article about multicultural parishes (America magazine, Nov. 20, 1999). “This impels us to fight racism, which not only is on the increase against African-Americans but also has expanded to include Hispanics, Asians and people of other ethnic groups,” said the bishop. He encouraged Catholics to work in nonpartisan ways “for legislation and candidates who will uphold the right to life and dignity of all, including the economically poor, people of color and new immigrants.” We need to realize that “it is our own family members who are forced to live in substandard housing and to choose between milk and meat or vaccinations and vitamins,” Bishop Fiorenza wrote. David Gibson 20 Editor, Faith Alive! than in a homogeneous parish. The parish of St. Matthew in Ar lington, Texas, also is made up of var ied ethnic and language groups. This suburban parish of 4,000 families at tracted its first Vietnamese parishio ners through refugee resettlement. Father Joe Schumacher, the pas tor, explains that, as families came and found a welcoming atmosphere, word spread among the immigrant community. Soon a sizable Vietnam ese presence made itself felt. Today the parish also has a signifi cant number of parishioners from Ni geria and other African countries, and its always-large Hispanic member ship now comprises more than 50 per cent of the parish. Creating a sense of welcome is con sidered essential in both parishes in terms of managing the difficulties of a multicultural reality and cultivating its benefits. Father Schumacher notes the im portance of flexibility in hospitality. “You’ve got to be able to bend a little bit” to meet the needs of a varied parish population, he says. Knowing a little of the language helps too. Father Schumacher, who is com fortable in Spanish, says he only knows a handful of Vietnamese phrases, but that’s enough to dem onstrate his respect for their lan guage and customs. Father Flores says that new pa rishioners, different in language, cul ture, ethnicity or experience, invite a settled community to “evaluate what we’re doing” and go beyond doing things one way just because they’ve always been done that way. Father Flores quotes 1 Corinthians 12:5 when talking about the blessings of serving a multicultural parish. In today’s increasingly globalized church, St. Paul’s insight is especially important: “We, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.” When the St. Rita’s International Fair Mass concludes, prayers will have been said and songs sung and a five' All contents copyright©2000 by CNS Scripture proclaimed in Spanish, Vietnamese and English. Communion will have been received by people dressed in traditional costumes repre senting African, European, Asian and Latin-American heritages. The inter cession not only of St. Rita, but of the sainted Vietnamese and Ugandan martyrs will have been invoked. Though it will have lasted twice as long as an ordinary Sunday celebra tion, though it will have included words and gestures outside everyone's comfort zone, and though it will have been costly in time and planning and effort, all will leave with grateful hearts, mindful of the blessings of cul tural richness. (Luby is director of the Division of Christian Formation for the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas.) Invisible Catholics in need of welcome By Father David K. O’Rourke, OP Catholic News Service 0 utsiders to parish life become insiders only when the insiders make a conscious effort to welcome them. There is a large part of our popula tion, including many Catholics, who are usually not visible in the course of Sunday worship. Their daily battles to survive keep them on the margins of our communities. They come to church to say a prayer or light a candle during weekdays when no one is around. Welcoming them presents possibly the greatest of challenges. I work with an old friend who col lects, refurbishes and then donates infants’ and children’s clothes to local CNS photo by Les Fetchko agencies that help poor families in crisis. That usually means families living with terrible poverty,-drug and alco hol addictions, physical abuse, homelessness, physical and mental illnesses or just long-term unemploy ment. Recently we delivered several car loads of infants’ clothing to local agen- 44 Welcome takes place on their turf. It means things like letting them know that they are not nobodies, that someone cares, that their welfare matters.” cies, running from the county hospital’s wing for newborn infants, one-third HIV positive, to a shelter for battered women, to a “clothes closet” that dis tributes clothing free. I never had visited this clothes closet. But to my shock it was next door to my work. I pass by the door several times a day. Next we went to a shel ter for battered and abused women, my first visit there. Again, it is a place I drive by every day. Inside were a dozen women, some with little children and all looking frightened when we entered. How do we in our par ishes welcome these folks? First, let me redefine “wel come.” Welcome takes place on their turf. It means things like letting them know that they are not nobodies, that someone cares, that their welfare matters. How do we do this? Let me offer a suggestion. Find out what local groups provide assistance to people living with daily crises. Then make an effort to visit the staffs who run the centers. And do not be put off by a mistrust of “do-gooders,” or the fact that a staff may not have time for you, given its overcrowded daily schedule. Let the staff people know you want to help. If your offer and their moment’s need happen to mesh, you might make a connection. If not, try again later or try elsewhere. But keep trying. People living on the margins of society aren’t sure that they’re really welcome in life. Thus, they often are depressed and defen sive. Any humane way of saying to them that they belong and count is needed. (Dominican Father O’Rourke is a senior fellow at Santa Fe Institute, Berkeley, Calif.) I ln 0 Nutshell Twenty percent of U.S. Catholic parishes cel ebrate the Eucharist regularly in a language other than English. What can we learn about God from cultural groups in the church with which we are unfamiliar? In today’s increasingly globalized church, St. Paul’s insight is important: “We, though many, are one body in Christ and indi vidually members one of another.”