Spanish Mass

I went to Houston this past weekend to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Spanish mass that I began in my first Paulist parish, as a newby priest.  I did not know much Spanish, taking lessons from my teacher each week at her kitchen table.  She was a good teacher.  I was not too good a student.  She had great patience.  My homilies were about three minutes long.  Up to then, we had only English masses and many people thought we did not need a Spanish mass.  Turned out, there were many people living in the parish area who spoke only Spanish.  They spoke very fast and I understood very slowly, so I was not all that pastoral.  But when I moved on to my next parish assignment, the Paulists sent a Spanish speaking priest to continue with that once-a-week Spanish mass.  The Paulists continued this ministry until they left the parish in 1993.  Today, the Scalabrini Fathers have the parish and there are five Spanish masses each weekend.  A Thousand children attend religion classes and most are taught in Spanish.  There are several more buildings added to the complex and St. Leo the Great is now probably the largest Spanish mass parish in the huge Archdiocese of Houston.  Not bad for a dummy like me.  Probably the best thing I ever did as a priest.  And they 💖 me in Houston!