Have a mass in Spanish and they will come, in droves. Why? The language of the mass is a step towards becoming a place that suits the culture. Spanish immigrants see church as much more than mass. The church setting and surroundings is their coffee Klatch, their clubhouse. In nicer weather people will stand around outside the church and visit. The grassy area around the church, the parking lot are the playgrounds for the children. Boys meet girls in this atmosphere, or at least identify someone they might want to meet. People dress up. It is a festive time. They sing in church. It is mass and a lot more.
Have a mass in English and people will come, if the time is convenient. Then they rush off to shop, play golf, hike, bike, soccer, watch American football, or go out to eat and spend money. Mass is a part of a much larger agenda away from the church. It is on the "too do" list for Sunday. It can be skipped for other things. By the third generation of the immigrant Latino, it has become like the English. The popular term is "secularization."
It is a nice pat answer to the reason Rome wants to evangelize America. Yet, I have seem places where the mass is in English and the place is packed and people hang around afterwards and are happy to be with one another. Be careful about "blaming the people." Some became secularized because their wasn't much of an alternative that they found attractive. People are hungry for spiritual food. If they don't get it one place, well, they go out and eat.
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Yes, be careful about blaming the people. You are being pretty harsh and judgemental on us English don't you think? This seems to happen a lot to us. I know they come in groves on non-holy days, but on holy days you look around in disbelief that the church is empty. The English culture seems to be the old wineskins to the church. In our area they show up late, walk around versus focusing on the mass, are dressed for a night club, yes the church we love and respect becomes a mega clubhouse with snacks,food, drinks in church, children running wild, steal items from church (rosaries, cd's, prayer cards, prayer books...), as mass is in progress they are busy putting holy water into plastic bottles and yes pocketing the Eucharist. A good example is the Feast of Baby Jesus during mass, many walk in with decorated babies and several children and interrupt mass to have the Priest stop and bless the decorated babies, but when it comes time to go to Communion none of their children receive the sacrament of the Eucharist. Sing they do, but to us English we worship in a different way, we can not help that this is our culture and we have different hungers. If we are seularized I am not sure what describes their actions, but they do see it as more than mass. But, I do feel this is where the biggest variance is cultures is our interpretations of Mass. Which to many of us should be reverent, respectful and solemn worship.
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