Many Cultures, One Faith

IT WAS LIKE UNITED NATIONS at the first Multicultural Youth Conference at Christ the King Church in Jacksonville on Oct. 29. The Multicultural Youth Ministry coordinated an event for Catholic young people between the ages of 12 and 17 where their ethnic and cultural backgrounds could be celebrated. It was an opportunity for them to meet new friends and share their unique traditions.

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More than 70 young people representing Burmese, Haitian, Brazilian, Vietnamese, Hispanic, Filipino and other cultural backgrounds participated in the daylong conference. Through interactive talks, games and prayer time they learned what it means to be united in Christ while still recognizing their distinct cultural identities.

One of the talks was given by Brenda Noriega, the U.S. representative for the International Youth Advisory Body for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life at the Vatican.

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“When I came to the U.S. from Mexico at 17, I stayed within my Spanish community,” Brenda said in her talk. “My high school was very diverse but very tribal. It was literally divided by ethnic groups. So, I also became tribal. I would only speak to the people who looked like me and spoke like me. And I started gathering some stereotypes about other people.”

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It wasn’t until she took a college course on cultural competency that Brenda realized that she wasn’t as inclusive as she thought she was.

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“I started praying and told the Holy Spirit, I’m pretty sure I’m very inclusive. But if not, I need you to show me. Little by little the Holy Spirit began to reveal to my heart attitudes and times when I felt uncomfortable around others. The Spirit then invited me to accept that I had biases, to bring it out to reality and then change it. And when I broadened my group of friends, I started seeing God’s creativity and how he manifests and interacts in ways that are different and also the same in our communities.”

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The youth also participated in cultural presentations at the conference. The Burmese explained Catholicism in Burma-Myanmar and danced in traditional outfits called longyi. The Brazilians told the story of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida and sang a song in the Virgin Mary’s honor. And members of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement wore áo bà ba and performed a traditional dance called Hào Khí Việt Nam.

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Phát Phường was one of the emcees for the day. He immigrated from Vietnam when he was 14 years old and said he had trouble integrating into the American culture and church.

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“I’m Vietnamese in my blood so, it was hard for me to adapt,” Phát said. “It wasn’t until I found the Viet community at Christ the King Parish and joined Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement that I was able to be myself again. Now I get to teach Viet kids our language and culture. And I’ve made a lot of Viet friends my age who have introduced me to their American friends, so now I have American friends too.”

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Phát said that he relates to Brenda’s story and sees how events like this conference can help people like him branch out of the comfort zones of their own communities.

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“It does make an impact when we come together at these multicultural events,” Brenda said. “When we start interacting with others, we realize that we are more similar than different. We also realize that God loves absolutely everyone. And we start humanizing issues that the media or political narrative tries to blame on those different from us.”

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To learn more about the different cultural communities in the diocese and ways young people can get involved, visit www.dosafl.com/ministries/mult... or contact Norma Garcia at ngarcia@dosafl.com or Alba Orozco at aorozco@ccbjax.org.