ROCKFORD—Several different ethnic groups joined together for Pentecost Mass on May 24 at St. James Church here. The multicultural celebration included parishioners from Burma, Tanzania, Mexico, India, Ukraine and Poland who presented parts of the Mass in their native languages.
The multicultural Masses are held five times a year on the Church feast days of Christmas, Epiphany, Palm Sunday, Pentecost and Corpus Christi.
St. James pastor, Father Jhonatan Sarmiento explained how the tradition began, “While on a pilgrimage to Verona, Italy, I noticed how many different ethnic groups like Sri Lankans, East Indians, Hispanics, Brazilians and Africans came together for Mass, and I thought we should have this at St. James since our parish has many different
cultures, too.”
“Our first multicultural Mass was on Epiphany of 2025,” Father Sarmiento said. “As the nature of our parish is so diverse, we wanted to recognize the many ethnic groups at St. James. People obviously feel welcomed and accepted here, and we want to celebrate that. As a foreigner myself, I understand how nice it is to bring some of your native culture to your parish and have that honored.”
Since 2010, the Burmese community has represented one of the parish’s largest ethnic groups. Many Burmese parishioners sing in the St. James choir, do readings at Mass and send many of their children to All Saints Catholic Academy. Additionally, Hispanic and African parishioners serve as lectors and singers at multicultural Masses.
In his homily, Father Sarmiento compared the multicultural Mass to the Church’s apostolic commission to make disciples of all nations: “Our patron saint, St. James, is the patron of pilgrims, and that reminds us that we all come from different places,” he said. “Though we are different, we are all united in our Catholic faith, and we are called as disciples of Christ to go out and spread the
Gospel message.”
A dinner reception followed the multicultural Mass.
