A Sunday Well Spent

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

What a joy and pleasure it was to make a visitation to La Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia (Church of the Holy Family) in Newton Grove this past Sunday and to join in the celebration of the rich and vibrant life of that congregation. As you might have surmised, Sagrada Familia is an Hispanic congregation and the language most often heard is Spanish.

By attendance, Sagrada Familia is the second largest parish in our diocese with an average Sunday attendance of 450. The congregation meets outside under a large shed with no walls and is so large that many must sit on the ground outside the perimeter of the shed.

Sagrada Familia is served faithfully by Fr. Tony Rojas and his wife, Lucia. Fr. Tony and Lucia minister not only to the communicants of the parish, but also go out during the week and on Sundays into the farm worker camps to minister to “los migrantes” (migrant workers).

Sagrada Familia is in the process of purchasing 17 acres of land and preparing to construct a church that will seat 1000 worshipers. As part of the vision for Sagrada Familia, Fr. Tony intends to build an educational center along with the church. The educational center will be for clergy and lay people to learn about Hispanic culture and to learn Spanish, all as a means of increasing the effectiveness of our diocesan Hispanic ministry.

Hispanic ministry is, to my thinking, the great evangelistic challenge of our day. I want our diocese to be in the forefront of mission and ministry among Hispanics and intentional in our parish’s welcome to these newcomers in our midst.