Bishop McKnight is asking parishes to review the pastoral plans that were submitted a year ago. I have been reviewing the plan that Monsignor Cox left for me and will in the coming weeks explore that plan and begin conversations about its promulgation, implementation, and refinement. This week I would like to address one objective of the plan “Improve ministry to the African and Hispanic populations.” I am just getting familiar with outreach to immigrants at Mary Immaculate, but I do have some personal experience in this ministry and will share something I learned along the way.

 About five years ago during the summer, Our Lady of the Lake, Lake Ozark made a concerted effort to reach out to Spanish-speaking families at the Lake and invite them to participate in religious education. The invitations were well-received and soon we had 11 more students than the previous year from families who had not participated in religious education before.
The first step having been taken—bringing these children into religion classes—we were ready for the next step, ensuring that they had received all the sacraments that were appropriate for their ages. Another round of contacts were made and after a few more weeks, 10 more students were engaged in religious education.

Up to that time I had only celebrated the Eucharist and Confessions in Spanish. Soon I would be learning how to do Spanish baptisms, and attend to all the special aspects that the Latino Church brings to their celebrations. We did not have a Spanish Mass each Sunday at that time, so upon consultation with the Worship Commission and the Religious Education Commission, we decided that we would celebrate these sacraments in Spanish but in the context of a regular Sunday Mass in English.

It was an amazing year as I had never before celebrated so many sacraments for young people apart from the second graders. Our Lady of the Lake was accustomed to celebrating Baptisms of infants and First Communions during Sunday Masses, so it wasn’t much of a change to incorporate these “make-up” sacramental celebrations. We even celebrated the complete Sacraments of Initiation for some of the older children who had not even been baptized.

It was a joyful experience and with every celebration, there seemed to be a new family of friends and relatives who would see what was happening and then call the next week to get their own children ready for the Sacraments.

The parishioners were well-prepared and ready for these celebrations. Not so much were some of the many visitors who came to Mass while on vacation or staying at their Lake houses. Most of the people shared in the joy, but I did receive a few very pointed letters complaining about having to sit through these liturgies. Mind you, some of the letters weren’t even about the extra length of the special celebrations. They were just mad that Mass went longer than 45 minutes!

We were not deterred from our practice, but I did take note of these letters and have reflected on their significance in the years since. Two comments were most common. The first being, “they should just learn English,” and the second being, “Baptism is a private celebration for a family. It doesn’t belong at a Sunday Mass.” 

As someone who has studied foreign languages for many years and has lived in a foreign country, attending classes in another language after only a month of study, I can attest that it isn’t easy to learn another language. Believe me, if immigrants could take a pill at night and wake up the next morning speaking the language of their host country, they certainly would. Learning a new language is difficult. It’s a lesson in humility and frustration. No one brings that upon themselves if they can help it. And no matter how much you study or how well you speak it, it never is going to be enough to avoid miscommunication and humiliation.
Celebrating something as essential as a sacrament in one’s mother tongue is one of the kindest and affirming things we can do. I keep at hand the prayer of absolution in five different languages. I may not understand all that is said in the confessional, but at least the penitent can hear God’s forgiveness in a language they understand.

The second comment provoked in me the strongest response. It seemed that everything that I had been studying and striving for in the last fifty years since I first went into the seminary was for naught. Are there really people who think that baptism is a private rite that is only between a family and God? Wow. There is definitely some catechesis required to teach people what the grace of baptism brings. 

Here are the effects of baptismal grace as the Catechism states: 
· “The different effects of Baptism are signified by the perceptible elements of the sacramental rite. Immersion in water symbolizes not only death and purification, but also regeneration and renewal. Thus the two principal effects are purification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit (#1262).” 
 
· “Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte ‘a new creature,’ an adopted son of God, who has become a ‘partaker of the divine nature,’ member of Christ and coheir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit (#1265).’”
 
· “Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: ‘Therefore . . . we are members one of another.’ Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: ‘For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (#1267 ).’"
 
· Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: ‘For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.’ ‘Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn(#1271).’”
 
· “Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated (#1272).”  “Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship. The baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in the holy liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness of holy lives and practical charity (# 1273).”
 
In the coming weeks, I will offer some more observations and points to consider regarding this experience. I believe that how we welcome strangers into our community is the best indicator of who we are as a Catholic parish. I welcomed the opportunity to come to Kirksville because the people of Mary Immaculate understand hospitality. It’s really in our makeup because we are so used to the constant flow of new students and faculty coming in and out Kirksville. Since the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church, how we celebrate the sacraments with those who speak a different language is one of the best metrics for outreach to immigrants. I’m still in an observing phase and welcome the opportunity to discuss outreach to the immigrant community and shape where we need to go from here.