Multicultural Parishes

The church I attend, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Pompano Beach, is not a bi-lingual parish. It is a tri-lingual one. The parish includes members who speak English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. A surprising number of people are disaffected by this, especially when the issue of trilingual masses arieses. One dear friend is an immigrant from an Eastern European country who worked hard to learn English as a second language. He feels overwhelmed trying to worship in his second language and at the same time, follow along in Spanish and Creole.

Because I don't like missing two-thirds of a service, I had planned to attend the Maundy Thursday service at St. Coleman's in Pompano Beach. This church, by the way, has a profoundly moving service on that night. I especially like the use of the clapper, which I think is more formally called a crotalus, to signal the arrest and impending death of Jesus. At the end of the service, a large crucifix is processed through the church as an altar server uses the clapper. Thud. Thud. Thud. This sound makes the death of Jesus seem heartbreakingly and heart-stoppingly immediate.

In any case, I got a late start that night and ended up going to St. E's. They didn't use the crotalus, which disappointed me, but they did incense the host as it was brought to the chapel. The clank of the chain as the censor swung was doleful also.

The important point is, though, that this was a tri-lingual mass. Instead of being frustrated by it, I was in awe of the way our new pastor, Father Steven O'Hala, had worked out the details. It was inclusive without being alienating. The gospel was in English, one of the OT readings was in Spanish, and the Psalm was read in all three languages. It was a simple matter to follow along in the missalette.

Father O'Hala, who spoke English and Spanish before he came here, is working hard to learn Haitian Creole. He repeated parts of his homily in all three languages.

In the hands of the wrong pastor, a tri-lingual parish could be a disaster. Because Father O'Hala has approached his task in a spirit of good will--and has worked very hard to include everyone--this is actually working.