‘Beauty in faith’: Asian Mass set for Oct. 29
October 24, 2023
Asian Mass offers a glimpse into the life of the Catholic Church in Asia. The annual Asian Mass is set for 2 p.m. on Oct. 29 at Christ the Incarnate Word Catholic Church in Houston. (Herald file photo)
HOUSTON — The annual Asian Mass celebrates the diversity of Asian Catholics in the Archdiocese. Seven Asian cultures — Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Korean and Vietnamese — will gather together to worship and give thanks to God for the blessing of faith.
Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, will celebrate the Mass at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 29, at Christ the Incarnate Word Catholic Church, located at 8503 S. Kirkwood Rd. in Houston.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Harmony in Diversity Through Christ,” taken from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Conference 2018 document titled “Encountering Christ in Harmony: A Pastoral Response to Our Asian and Pacific Island Brothers and Sisters.”
In its 27th year, the Mass reflects the languages of the many Asian cultures in the Archdiocese, with participants encouraged to wear their traditional garb for the festivities. A reception featuring samples of Asian food along with performances of traditional music and dance will follow.
While an auxiliary bishop in Houston, Bishop Curtis Guillory, now bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Beaumont, originally proposed the annual Asian Mass to express unity in Christ by Asian Catholics in the Archdiocese, according to past reports. Today, Bishop Dell’Oro continues the tradition carried by his predecessors, late Auxiliary Bishops Vincent Rizzotto and George Sheltz.
Bishop Dell’Oro said he finds the annual Mass to be an enriching experience that inspires a “beauty in faith.”
“It’s a very beautiful Mass to see them all as members of the Archdiocese, that they feel at home,” he said. “It is an opportunity to see the beauty of the Church.”
Ahead of the Oct. 29 Asian Mass, Bishop Dell’Oro, who is on the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs, regularly met with a group of diverse leaders from the seven Asian ethnic groups from parishes around the Archdiocese. At the meetings, he led the leaders through a reflection of the U.S. bishops’ pastoral document, offering the Catholics time to set aside and reflect on what it means to be an Asian Catholic living in the Archdiocese.
The document, according to it’s introduction, reflects on “the cultural, social, and ethnic diversity found in many Asian and Pacific Island communities while recognizing and celebrating the range of gifts and values common to most of these communities.”
Participants shared positive reflections, noting that they appreciated having the opportunity to meet with Catholics from other ethnicities who share the same beliefs. Several of them said that because they are heavily involved in their ministries, they find it difficult to get to know other Catholics from other parishes and ministries, let alone others from another Asian country.
They said they were motivated by hearing the testimonies of faith from other Catholics who come from other Asian countries. One remarked how, though they may speak different languages, they had similar experiences in immigration and faith as part of the Asian diaspora.
Bishop Dell’Oro said he found meeting with the leaders from Galveston-Houston’s Asian community to be inspiring and a direct reflection of the reality of the Archdiocese.
With many immigrants and their descendants making their homes in the Archdiocese in the 1970s and 80s, today, more than 590,000 people in the Houston – The Woodlands – Sugar Land metropolitan area are identified as Asian, according to data from the 2020 Census. Of that roughly half-million, more than 150,000 were reported as Vietnamese, comprising the largest Vietnamese community in the nation outside of California.
In the Archdiocese, more than 90,000 Asians identify as Catholic, according to estimates from the several Asian ethnic ministries that serve Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Indonesian Catholics.
Bishop Dell’Oro was invited to join the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs by current committee chairman Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu, Hawaii. Also in the group is Bishop Oscar Solis, the past Subcommittee chairman and bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah, who is also the first Filipino bishop in the U.S..
27th annual Asian Mass with Catholics from Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Korean and Vietnamese communities
Attendees are encouraged to wear cultural attire. A reception with cultural entertainment and ethnic cuisine follows in the parish hall.