Many Glenmary parishes have become signs of the Universal Church, as people of different cultures come together. Here Clarisa Chavarría (r) supports a parishioner in Grainger County, Tenn. Photo by Ashley Hensley for Glenmary Home Missioners
Glenmary’s mission population has been changing. There are the “half-backs”—retirees who moved to Florida from the north, then moved “halfway back,” to Tennessee. And there is a dramatic increase in Latinos, immigrants from the south, who have found family stability in areas where Glenmary serves. Well aware of that, Glenmarians are doing what they’ve always done: adapting to serve the needs of the people. But Glenmary has gone a step farther, recognizing that sometimes a more effective way to minister to Latinos can be to partner with Catholic Latino lay missioners.
Clarisa Chavarría, pastoral associate at St. John Paul II mission in Grainger County, Tennessee, is one of several Hispanic employees working in ministry with Glenmary. According to Clarisa, hard-toiling farm jobs are bringing more Hispanics to the rural United States. Having native Spanish speakers in ministry to reach them is imperative.
“Rural America is becoming more and more Hispanic,” Clarisa says. “Populations are turning up in numbers because that’s where they’re tilling the land, farming.” She adds that the trend is likely to continue, making Glenmary’s outreach efforts more important.
Hiring qualified ministry professionals who are native Spanish-speakers is just one of the ways Glenmary makes Hispanic parishioners feel welcome. Missioners also embrace multicultural celebrations.
Holy Trinity mission in Martin County, North Carolina, has celebrated El Señor de los Milagros (the Lord of Miracles), a Peruvian feast. Several missions have celebrated Las Posadas, a prayerful, festive reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem.
Just about every Glenmary mission with a Hispanic community has a special celebration December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady’s famous appearance to St. Juan Diego took place in Mexico. Clarisa explains it is most celebrated by those of Mexican origin. She notes that Pope St. John Paul II called Our Lady of Guadalupe the “Mother of the Americas,” and that the devotion has spread to other Hispanic cultures too.
“It’s a Mexican story, but there is a devotion elsewhere of course,” Clarisa says. “Each Latin American country has their own lady. But Our Lady of Guadalupe is many Hispanics’ only connection to Catholicism. She’s a door to Jesus.”
Clarisa points out that some Hispanics may not be regular churchgoers, but they celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe or other cultural feasts. Having parish staff like Clarisa who understand their culture helps turn these touchstones into opportunities of evangelization.
—John Stegeman
This story first appeared in Glenmary’s Cultivate newsletter.