As we come to the end of the month of September, we should be mindful of the fact that we are celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15). It is a month in which special events and days are set apart to remember the great gifts, contributions, and joy the Latino community has brought to the United States. Their migration here, like the migrations of the past Irish, Italian, Polish etc., have enriched our community, city, and nation. While some decry any recent immigration as an “invasion”, the Latino migrations, born out of similar circumstances that prompted other European and Asian migrations, primarily seek more opportunities and a better life. My experience in my own family is that some came knowing that there was no going back, others came hoping to one day return, but all have wanted to remember in some part, culture, food, and music.
My own experience with the Latino community began in Peru. As part of my work on the faculty at the Seminary, I was tasked with bringing seminarians to countries where the archdiocese of Boston had missionary priests who were part of the St. James Society. The missionary arm of the archdiocese was founded in 1959 by then-Cardinal Richard Cushing. The Society serves the countries of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru and now receives priests for the mission from around the world. My task was to plant the missionary seed in the seminarians so that one day they might sense a call within their call. When I returned home, I decided to learn Spanish to be better prepared for future trips and to be more helpful to the seminarians and the people we were meeting. That caused the archbishop to send me to Guatemala and then eventually to serve this community and two others where there are Latino immigrants (the Cathedral in Boston and St. James in Haverhill). The great gift that the Latino community brings mirrors the gifts of any of the immigration periods. There are chances to enrich our own knowledge of people and how their wisdom, insights, and formation contribute to our society. Whether it is through learning, music, specific cultural practices, etc., the richness of the Latino experience adds to the melting pot of the United States to add a new richness and expanded experience.
The expression of faith across the world is also always on display here in the United States and we can now see, rather than build new buildings, it is worth it to think about how we can best receive new people in our present structures to aid new people as they come to this country. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
I hope that you will also join me in praying for our New Archbishop. Archbishop Richard Henning is our new spiritual leader and we hope to welcome him at some point to celebrate Mass with us. He is fluent in Spanish and Italian in addition to English and has a desire to share that gift with people around the Archdiocese. As part of the formal reception of his office, he is offering evenings of prayer around the Archdiocese in Spanish. For our Spanish Community, Tuesday, October 30 is the day that he will be at St. Anthony’s in Revere to celebrate his arrival. The prayers will primarily be in Spanish.
I hope you pray that God will continue to strengthen him as he begins this important time with us. With this bulletin message, I am pleased to announce that shortly we hope to have more information contained in the Bulletin. I have always wanted it to be a tool for catechesis (a teaching tool). We hope that these next efforts will help those who are seeking answers to find them and then also encourage others to share their newfound knowledge with others.