STUDENTS UNITE THROUGH PRAYERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Not only do our students live in an increasingly multicultural world—they are representatives of that multicultural world. The term ‘Catholic’ means ‘universal’ because “the Holy Catholic Church is made up of faithful who are organically united in the Holy Spirit by the same faith, the same sacraments and the same government” (Orientalium Ecclesiarum, promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI in 1964) but who come from places across the globe with different languages, different worldviews and different cultures.

Years ago, those different cultures were more distant and separated. Today, we have students who are from other countries themselves as well as students who experience the culture of their immigrant parents or grandparents within their household. That culture is deeply embedded in the way that their faith is manifested. What better way to fully understand the “Catholic is universal” concept than to experience the way that different cultures pray? Our students are excited and eager to share their experience of Catholicism in different languages with the greater student body so that others can also hear for themselves how a prayer might be in a different language, but the spirituality and concepts (such as Care for the Common Home) are the same.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, we learn about the special devotion across Latin America to La Virgen de Guadalupe and make promises to her by lighting up candles or making pilgrimages and Mandas to visit her at the Basilica in Mexico. Our students show us how they call upon her motherly role by praying to our Lady of Guadalupe to open our hearts to love and include everyone.

Dios de salve María, señora de todos los colores, muéstranos cómo amar a todas las personas, desafiando el racismo y la discriminación. Dios te salve María, madre de nuestro mundo, haznos ciudadanos del mundo. Trabajando por la justicia y el bienestar en todo el mundo. Amén.

Hail Mary, lady of all colors, show us how to love all people, challenging racism and discrimination. Hail Mary, Mother of our world, make us citizens of the world, working for justice and well-being throughout the world.

Celebrating the Chinese Moon Festival allows us to see the universal concepts of love of family and thanksgiving for our common home. Also known as the Mid-Autum Festival, this Chinese holiday is often considered the second most important holiday of the year behind Chinese New Year. It has themes of thanksgiving (for a fruitful harvest and a bountiful earth), giving and generosity (as individuals freely offer gifts in appreciation for one another), goodness (where people desire fairness and justice), love (in which couples and families come together to honor one another), and joy and happiness (that there is much good in this world) all of which can point us to the Greatest Good: Jesus.

上帝啊，我感谢您珍贵的礼物，你的话语。 让我的内心仍然为这个奇妙的礼物而感恩。 每一份好的礼物，包括你的话，都是对我的礼物。 感谢您提供的智慧。 感谢您对我的爱与怜悯。 阿们

O God, I give you thanks for the good gift of your word. Let my heart and mind be still in thanksgiving for this amazing gift. Every good gift, including your word, is a gift to me. I thank you for the wisdom you provide. I give you thanks for your love and mercy towards me. Amen. 

_________________________________

“The Holy Catholic Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, is made up of the faithful who are organically united in the Holy Spirit by the same faith, the same sacraments and the same government and who, combining together into various groups which are held together by a hierarchy, form separate Churches or Rites. Between these there exists an admirable bond of union, such that the variety within the Church in no way harms its unity; rather it manifests it, for it is the mind of the Catholic Church that each individual Church or Rite should retain its traditions whole and entire and likewise that it should adapt its way of life to the different needs of time and place.”

Orientalium Ecclesiarum, promulgated by Pope St. Paul VI in 1964