Hispanic Heritage School Mass
Archbishop Borders
Sacred Heart, Highlandtown
September 26, 2024
Good morning!
I am really happy to be with all you today to celebrate Hispanic heritage month. And we have a lot to celebrate – a lot to be proud of. Let’s start with this: The schools represented here this morning help you develop your language skills. By learning both English and Spanish, you honor your heritage, and you have the benefit of knowing two languages, not just one. Language is one way to honor your heritage and to preserve it. But it’s also important to know about your heritage – where you came from and the gifts you and your family brought to the United States.
You and your families are a blessing to our country – it is OUR country – and you are a blessing to the Church, especially the Archdiocese of Baltimore! You and your families may have come here only recently but your heritage goes back a long, long way – something like 500 years. Many of your come from Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, or South America…but your families have been in the Americas a lot longer than my family has! I thank God that you and your families are here, right here in Baltimore. You are an important part of the family of faith, the Catholic Church of Baltimore.
It isn’t easy going to a new country, as some of you know. Not everyone welcomes you. The language and culture is new. The future is uncertain. But your families are hardworking and determined to succeed. Your parents want to provide a good life for you here. They are like many people who came to the United States over the years, including my ancestors who came from Germany and Italy – your families see great opportunity in the United States. And guess what? The United States IS a country of immigrants! That’s who we are!
And you and your families bring great gifts to the country we share. First is your Catholic faith. That’s something we share. The fullness of the faith, a faith that is found everywhere, all over the world. A beautiful faith that expresses what we believe by works of charity.
Second, are you beautiful popular devotions – like Our Lady of Guadalupe or Nuestra Senora de los Milagros. Third, your family life and your community life . . . And a lot more!
And what about your talent, your hard work, your language, your songs, and all the things that make up the culture that is yours. The reason we have this school – Archbishop Borders – is to help you preserve your Hispanic heritage, grow in your faith, and develop your potential. We are counting on you to be leaders in the Church and in society and in that way to honor the heritage that is yours.
Thanks to you and thanks to your parents and your teachers! Yours is the challenging vocation to hand of the faith and to preserve culture. As we heard in today’s Scripture reading: “One generation passes and another comes” – but the gift of God remains.
And now, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to try a few words in Spanish:
A las familias hispanas de nuestra Arquidiocesis de Baltimore y aquellas presentes en nuestras escuelas catolicas, quiero decirles que estoy muy agradecido por la presencia de la communidad hispana en nuestras parroquias, instituciones, y communidades. Ustedes han dado a sus hijos el major regalo que un padre puede dar a sus hijos: el regalo de la fe.
La presencia hispana/Latina es, sin lugar a duda, un bendicion divina para la Iglesia y para nuestro pais. Su rica herencia ha permeado nuestras tierras durante mas de cinco siglos, y su presencia ha crecido en las ultimas decadas. Hemos sido testigos de como nuestra communidad hispana/latina ha revitalizado la vida y la mission de innumerables parroquias y otras instituciones y organizaciones catolicas, como las Escuelas Catolicas de la Arquidiocesis de Baltimore A traves de formas misteriosas, Dios ha llamado a los hispanos/latinos a abrazar su llamado como discipulos gozosos y misinoeros en la Iglesia en los Estados Unidos … que Dios los bendiga!