Bishop's Mass invigorates Utah's Catholic Filipinos

Friday, Aug. 15, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — The Filipino community came to the annual Misang Bayan Bishop’s Mass excited and dressed in their Sunday best as they gathered at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Salt Lake City Aug. 3, where they meet on a monthly basis. The Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, celebrated the Mass. 

“He’s the best,” said one gentleman as he entered the church. 

“Bishop Wester is special,” said Chendryx Reyes, 13, who is an altar server during the monthly Filipino Mass with his niece Jessica Joo, 10, who agreed she was excited to see the bishop. 

“Everybody is excited to see the bishop,” said Nikon Omero, Misang Bayan coordinator. “The bishop’s Mass brings the attendance of our monthly Mass up; Filipinos come from Logan, Park City, Ogden, Orem and Provo to hear the bishop speak; more people come from these locations to this Mass.”

Agnes Casundo, the Filipino choir director, planned special music for the Mass, including the Filipino “Holy Holy” and the “Lamb of God” in Tagalog. 

Dr. Rey Roa served as the guest conductor for the Filipino choir. “We came today to hear the bishop’s homily because it is always so spiritual,” said Roa.

Many said they came to hear the bishop’s homily. 

The Gospel reading, Matthew 14:13-21, was about the miracle of the loaves and fishes. “This meal of two loaves of bread and five fish is the first Eucharist,” said Bishop Wester in his homily. “It is the meal that breaks through time and space and marks the fact that Jesus is one with us. Jesus invites us to see our whole lives completely renewed.” 

Many people know what it’s like to live with something that comes to an end, the bishop continued. “Sometimes we don’t have enough time or enough money to pay bills, or we think we’re immortal when we’re young, but Jesus is saying ‘I am life,’” Bishop Wester said. “Jesus feeding the 5,000 is giving us the Eucharist, and this is good news; this is what we celebrate every time we come to Mass. … Our lives still include pain and suffering, but because of the resurrection, we know what it is to carry the cross, but we carry it with hope.”

Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines was a terrible tragedy, Bishop Wester said, “but look at all the good that came from it. The Filipino people make that easy because they are a loving and nurturing people,” he said. 

Bishop Wester was born and raised in San Francisco, where there are many, many Filipino people, he said. “I am very familiar with the Simbang Gabi Masses, Misang Bayan Masses, the Filipino food, the culture and the spirituality, and I find it very rich. The Filipino people are very giving, it is part of their culture; they are very warm, very inviting, very accepting, which in some ways historically has caused problems for them, but they are very good people.” 

It is important for the Catholic Church to preserve the spiritual traditions of the Filipino people, Bishop Wester said. “The way that the Filipino people pray, their saints and traditions are why I enjoy this Mass personally and why I think it is important for our diocese. I would like to see more of the Filipino presence in the diocese.”

The Bishop’s Mass is special because it “revives our culture and brings a lot of Filipino people together,” said Eleinor Ramirez, adding that she also enjoys the social gathering that follows. “Eating Filipino delicacies and Filipino food is wonderful; we get to speak our language and meet with old friends.”