As a people of faith, we know our core gospel/missiological task is to "call neighbor" those in the context in which we live. We also know that we have a significant percentage of Spanish speaking people in our context, that is, throughout the Central Valley. And this lovely cultural diversity makes for a rich neighborhood. I encourage us all to consider the ways we are acknowledging, responding to and honoring our Spanish speaking sisters and brothers in our respective neighborhoods. I would suggest that one of the simplest ways to acknowledge, respond and honor is through language.
I invite us to start learning portions of our Eucharistic Liturgy in Spanish. And this is perhaps the best way to start. Here is the Lord's Prayer in Spanish. During our Diocesan Convention we will use this prayer thus I invite you to begin to learn it. I trust there is someone in each parish/mission who has skills in Spanish, thus I encourage you to ask that person to lead your community in this process. I do hope we will be able to say this prayer together with confidence as we gather at ECCO in October for Diocesan Convention.
Padre nuestro que estas en el cielo,
sanctificado sea tu Nombre,
venga tu reino,
hagase tu voluntad,
en la tierra combo en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada dia.
Perdona nuestras ofensas,
como tambien nosotros perdonamos
a los que nos ofenden.
No nos dejes caer en tentacion
y libranos del mal.
Porque tuyo es el reino,
tuyo es el poder,
y tuya es la gloria,
ahora y por siempre. Amen
Sacrifica a Dios alabanza, y paga tus votos al Altisimo.
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and make good your vows to the Most High.
+David
