By Victoria Bustillos
For The Visitor

As a Hispanic child I grew up knowing only Hispanic culture. That culture was a full part of me. 

Some people may think that because I am Hispanic and have a different heritage, I don’t celebrate or practice Christianity the same. But it’s really the opposite — celebrating the Mass in Spanish is almost the same as celebrating in English. 

Being at a Spanish Mass isn’t much different than a Mass in English — there may be differences but not many and I believe more is the same. We all go to church to hear and speak to God and give him thanks for everything. We plead with him to forgive our sins and ask him to make us better people. We come to Mass to dine at the banquet of our God.

It’s important to celebrate Mass in Spanish because it’s a part of who we are. It teaches us to see the Lord doesn’t only care about one group of people — he is looking out for everyone in this world that he created. The Lord knows if you come to him, he will be there for you, no matter who you are. 

Mass a big part of our heritage

Celebrating Mass is a big part of celebrating our heritage. We have different stories that are passed down from generation to generation, but the truth behind them is the same. The stories tell us Jesus was here and eventually will come back to us, which is similar to the way other cultures pass on their heritage. The stories may be similar but the flavor is a little different. 

Another reason for Spanish Masses is that it’s important to come together as community to celebrate our faith and traditions in a language familiar to us. At Mass we celebrate traditions our ancestors left us, and the meaning of Jesus in the lives of Hispanics. We remember the story of St. Juan Diego and the message of God given through his mother, the Virgin Mary. 

Spanish Mass is a way for us to come together as families to be a part of the family of God. We come there as a Hispanic family to be in God’s presence and see him every Sunday. We know all types of people look to God for hope, happiness and care about God in our lives. 

So you can see now that celebrating a Mass in Spanish, coming together to share stories left to us by our Hispanic heritage and culture, is very important to us. The things that inspire us may not be the same, but they all bind us together to the very same Being. 

Victoria Bustillos, a sophomore at Technical High School in St. Cloud, attends St. Joseph Parish in Waite Park. Centro Hispano, an outreach ministry for the St. Cloud area under the auspices of St. Joseph Parish in Waite Park, celebrated its 10-year anniversary Oct. 15 with a bilingual Mass and a dinner. Hispanic Masses are celebrated at St. Joseph every Sunday at 11 a.m.