I got home from work at about 7:15pm tonight and I had... energy left! It was such a surprise. Work has been really stressful and draining this past month, yet also very rewarding. It reminds me that it ain't all about the money, money, money.
On Saturday evening we had the Spanish First Communion Mass. Our parish has a very large Hispanic population (mostly Mexican) and for at least the past three years we've given the families a choice: their children (who are completely bilingual and bicultural) can make their First Communion in English with Anglo/U.S. traditions or in Spanish with Mexican traditions. This year our class was split almost 50/50- 27 at the Spanish Mass and 29 at the English (almost 60 total! That's a huge number for us). While I'm so happy for the children that they got to receive Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time, it was a very trying time for me at both Masses, although for this post I'm going to focus on the Spanish Mass.
You see my first year in the parish someone else totally took care of the Spanish First Communion Mass and I wasn't even able to attend because it was at the exact same time as the English. Then last year a wonderful, generous woman who had her two sons making their First Communion organized most of the Mass for me and led the parent meeting and all the rehearsals. This year that same wonderful, generous woman led the parent meeting and then showed up for the first rehearsal but I led it and then I did the second one on my own and also the day of I was on my own to get the children and families ready and lined-up. Let me tell you, that was really difficult because I'm not Mexican! It's a surprise, I know, but I'm cien por ciento (100%) gringa.
Last year I did not pay attention enough to the different traditions and customs the Mexicans have (because I did not think I would be going it solo) so this year I didn't know what the padrinos (godparents) were supposed to do, what the candle was for and when it was supposed to be lit, and what different things the children needed to bring and carry (Bible, rosary, possible armband for the boys). And to be honest, on Saturday after all was said and done, I was a bit frustrated and disappointed by the lack of help from the parents and padrinos. They all acted like they didn't know what was going on when all I wanted to do was say- These are your traditions! You should know and be able to guide the children way more than I should! Now that it's been a couple of days I'm able to see that yes, some of them should have helped more (and others from the community besides that one wonderful, generous woman), but also that many of them probably didn't know what was going on because it's been years since their First Communion.
But this led me to thinking (now I'm getting around to the purpose of this post and the reason behind the title) about how this seems like it would only happen in our country. The U.S. was founded by immigrants from different countries who brought their own traditions, including religious ones, and I'm sure they practiced them like they did in the Old Country when they first arrived here. We were like a salad bowl. But now a lot of those traditions have melted and melded together (and now I'm speaking specifically about Catholic religious traditions) and we pretty much have the same ones, even if my background is German and Polish and yours is Italian and Irish. But with this new wave of immigrants (which isn't so new) it seems they're keeping their customs more and more and it seems to me that it is both good and bad. Good because their customs can be beautiful and also I can understand that when you're in a foreign place it makes you feel more at home to get to keep old traditions and not have to lose everything from where you were from. It is bad in that sometimes I feel like it makes us divided. I mean just the fact that we have a "hispanic" and an "anglo" community in our parish doesn't seem totally right- shouldn't we all just be parishioners in one community? And that our kids who have been together in class together for nine months have to be split up to receive the Sacrament. And also it's not so good when they want to keep their traditions but expect someone not part of them or privy to them to lead them in it.
And this gets me to thinking, is this only in the U.S.? Take Chile for example. They are also made of immigrants- mainly Spanish at first but because they have many ports they were also settled by many other Europeans. I often see a lot of German influence in names and structures in the parts of Chile I visit. It is not too common but also not extremely odd to see a blonde or red headed Chilean, and it is common to see blue- green- and hazel-eyed Chileans. And say a bunch of us gringos relocated to the town of Concon where I will be. Maybe the parish would start offering a Mass for us in English (I know of at least one that does so in Santiago) but I highly doubt they would start doing the Sacraments according to our U.S. traditions and I doubt that they lead us in it- if they did it they would have us form a committee or something to be in charge of it (from what Andres says, the parish seems to be really good at forming committees, hehe).
This post has been a little difficult to write. In the back of my mind is the worry that I will offend someone. I hope I haven't because I try not to be prejudiced and I am proponent of looser immigration laws in the U.S. I also realized that I talk about how both the U.S. and Chile were settled by immigrants and don't mention the Native Americans who were definitely here first with their own traditions. I want you to know that I recognize all this. Yet these difficult questions arise: what can rightfully be expected of people who immigrate to a new country? What should they keep of their old culture, their roots, and what should they assimilate to their new culture? Is it different between the public/political life and the private/religious life? I mean, faith can be a very personal aspect and so shouldn't people be able to celebrate it how they feel most comfortable? Yet as a Catholic catechist I know that it's not "Jesus and me" but "Jesus and we" and we will be saved as the Body of Christ and so shouldn't we adapt to the community we are with? I'm not sure of the answers at all. I can see both viewpoints and this is also all brought to a new light because I will soon be experiencing in person the other viewpoint.
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