Students and faculty gathered on May 3 at St. Columba Church in Oxon Hill, Maryland, to celebrate Mass in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a time dedicated to appreciating the contributions Asian Americans have made in the United States.
“We gather in prayer this morning to remind each other to recognize and value the great gifts that our Asian Americans and Pacific Islander brothers and sisters possess and are for the Church and for our entire world,” said Washington Cardinal Gregory, the main celebrant at the Mass.
Father Manaj Menen, a guest priest from Forestville, concelebrated the Mass, and Deacon Robert Villanueva from St. Columba Parish assisted at the Mass.
The Mass also celebrated the feast day of the apostles, St. Philip and St. James. In his homily, Cardinal Gregory said that in the reading from that day’s Gospel, Jesus told Philip to recognize the gifts and opportunities within his reach.
The cardinal went on to explain how these gifts are meant to be shared and reflected in how people treat one another. He noted how Jesus asked Philip to be more aware of his surroundings.
“It is my pleasure to invite all those who assemble at St. Columba to be equally observant of the world around you. See how desperately we need you to reflect only the highest principles in all that you do and say,” Cardinal Gregory said. “We are all called to greatness. I invite all of you to reject any way of living that would bring dishonor to you, your family, your heritage, or our Catholic faith.”
In an interview after the Mass, Jennifer Whelan, the principal of St. Columba School, shared how intrinsic faith and culture are to one another, especially at their school which has a diverse student population.
“Faith and culture for a lot of our communities go hand in hand, and it’s really important for children to be able to be themselves. That’s what being a Catholic is all about, [it] is being able to talk about our faith, we can talk about ourselves, and we can be open to people,” Whelan said.
St. Columba School and Parish have a large Filipino American population, in addition to the other cultures that learn and pray there. At the special Mass for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, many St. Columba students wore native dress representing the countries where their families have roots.
