2,000 people celebrate 5th Annual Pentecost

A crowd of people gathered led by Cardinal-designate Robert McElroy to celebrate the 5th Annual Pentecost Mass for All people. (Photo taken from The Southern Cross website)

In celebration of faith and culture, an estimated 2,000 individuals joined the Fifth Annual Pentecost Mass for All Peoples at the Cathedral Catholic High School on June 04.

The Southern Cross website reported many ethnic and cultural communities, including the Diocese of San Diego, gathered at the event. It is a multilingual Mass led by Cardinal-designate Robert McElroy.

They also had an outdoor festival where different cultural communities showed off samples of their traditional cuisine.

McElroy expressed his joy at being with those people to celebrate communities of faith. These people enriched their Catholic faith and developed the society in which they lived. As posted in the said news, this event was one of the first public events of McElroy since Pope Francis announced that he would be leveling up to the College of Cardinals.

In his message, he emphasized why the pope had chosen him. He said that it was because San Diego is the U.S. city nearest to having the weather of Heaven, then the crowd applauded him. The Cardinal-designate also expressed his thanksgiving that he would be able to stay and serve in San Diego.

Celebration for All People

The same website revealed that the Pentecost Mass for All Peoples is commemorated with a procession of about 25 cultural communities. These groups include Filipino, African, Laotian, Panamanian, and Samoan.

They also celebrate the Pakistani, Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, African American, and Chamorro. Tongan, German, Mexican, Korean, Vietnamese, Brazilian, Irish, and Italian Catholics are also included in their celebration.

Another highlight of the said gathering is the Ukrainian Catholic Community.

As the members entered the venue, the mass attendees gave them applause, as posted on the report. They also noted that they delivered the first and second readings in Tamil, Ukrainian and Indian languages.

They had an English translation on their screen.

Meanwhile, the Prayer of the Faithful was proclaimed in multilingual. They used Luisenio, Samoan, German, Gaelic, Spanish, Tagalog, and Swahili. They also used both English and Spanish in the Eucharistic Prayer.

More importantly, the Cardinal designate remembers the 2010 Chilean mining accident. In this incident, he said 33 miners were trapped underground for almost 70 days.

He noted how the whole world worked together to rescue them. McElroy stated that the miners said they were sustained by the love of their families and the belief that God had been with them.

Celebration of Beginning of Church

Another article from the Diocese of San Diego website noted that Pentecost ends the Easter season. It is also the start of the church's celebration.

They noted that it marks the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples while they hid following Jesus’ resurrection. The apostles received the strength and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then they shared the Gospel with everyone, even those speaking different languages.

Diocese of San Diego would mark this feast day with a Mass celebrated by Bishop McElroy and Auxiliary Bishop John Dolan. Vicar General, Very Rev. Michael Pham, was also present at the event. The website added that families from the cultures that developed in their diocese would meet at the gathering. They would share their faith in this third yearly Mass.