Florida Catholic | ‘We’ll stick together’

‘We’ll stick together’

Mass for racial unity at St. Clement in Plant City promotes tolerance and diversity.

CARLOS BRICENO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC ST.PETERSBURG BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 02.01.08

Christopher Ramirez, 4, one of the students from St. Clement Parish's Early Childhood Center, sings a song during the parish’s Jan. 20 Mass for racial unity.
CARLOS BRICENO | FC

PLANT CITY | Father Tom Anastasia, pastor of St. Clement Parish here, wanted to do something that would top last year’s Mass for racial unity, the first the parish ever held.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch presided at the Mass last year. It is not easy to top the diocese’s chief shepherd, Father Anastasia told his parishioners at the Jan. 20 Mass, but he was going to try. Based on the reaction of his parishioners, he may have succeeded.

Father Anastasia’s homily included a multimedia presentation. He talked about the influence Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had on the civil rights movement and his gift for preaching. Father Anastasia quoted former first lady Barbara Bush, who wrote the following about King: “He taught by example that change must come with each of us and begins with each of us and that love, not violence, is the most powerful force for social change. Dr. King was surrounded by bigotry and hate, and yet he never stopped believing in the enduring power of love.”

Father Anastasia referred to an African-American priest he once heard speak, who said he experienced racism as a child. He went home crying and his mom told him, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names won’t hurt you.” Father Anastasia’s reaction was that he imagined the child’s young soul screamed out, “No, that’s wrong!”

“Words do matter,” Father Anastasia said to his parishioners. “They do make a difference. What we say can change people’s lives. Words can be healing and helpful, but they can be … harmful.”

His homily included a slide-show presentation of various photos of past parish events, which showed how diverse the cultures at the parish are. There was also an audio clip of King speaking. But the real highlight of the Mass — the one that Father Anastasia hoped would be more than comparable to the bishop’s visit last year — involved children from the parish’s Early Childhood Center.

The children stood in a line in front of the altar and sang a song called “Friends” by Mary Lu Walker. The song is the story of three butterflies that are caught in a storm and start searching for shelter. Everywhere they go, someone wants to exclude the others because they are a different color, but the three choose to stay together.

“We’ll stick together because that’s what friends always do through the dark and stormy weather,” the children sang. “You’re with me and I’m with you.”

After the Mass, several parishioners said they thought the message the children sang about was appropriate, especially for the kids.

“We are together,” said Ella Dowd, an African-American, expressing what the lyrics meant to her. “We are one. It doesn’t make a difference what color you are. You’re teaching (the children) if they sing this all the time, they would believe we are one. They wouldn’t be separating themselves from other people.”

Part of the liturgy of the Mass included parishioners speaking in Spanish and in Tagalog. The Filipino community was recognized during this year’s celebration, which also included a mini procession of the Santo Niño (Holy Infant) of Cebu. The feast day, which is part of the Catholic tradition in the Philippines, traditionally falls on the third Sunday in January, the same day the racial unity Mass was celebrated.

“It was a good experience for our community to see the different cultures in Plant City,” said Dolores Digamon, who is originally from the Philippines.

The parish is very aware of its cultural diversity; many of the parishioners are Hispanics. As part of “Envision,” the future planning process, the parish has identified “cultural and racial appreciation” as one of three priority areas.

Father Carlos Rojas, a parochial vicar at the parish, spoke after the Mass about his hopes for all the cultures within the parish. First of all, he viewed the Mass for racial harmony as a way to plant seeds toward the dream that King had of all races coming together in peace and in love. He said it was appropriate that the name of the town in which the Mass was held is called Plant City.

“The name is so symbolic,” Father Rojas said. “So powerful. It’s fertile ground.”

He said there is still a long way to go to achieve racial harmony, but much has been accomplished at the parish.

“Ultimately, the dream will be fulfilled in the Second Coming when we will be eating in the heavenly banquet of Our Lord, eating one bread and one wine, the same body and blood of Christ,” he said. “And we need to continue to plant the seeds here in the eucharistic table (at Mass), where we are becoming one. And we need to recognize there’s a long way to go, and recognizing the long walk we have already done thanks to the example and to the contributions and the great seeds planted by Martin Luther King Jr.”

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