Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
March 6, 2002
Christ the King students celebrate world's cultures
Weeklong Festival of Nations program concludes with African Mass, bazaar
By Alwen Bledsoe
The lively beat of African drums accompanied Christ the King seventh-graders as they processed down the aisle in a slow African dance. They brought with them incense, an African crucifix and the oranges, greens and golds of African garb. Pine branches and water swept through the congregation, symbolizing the purification of the church for the presence of God. The March 1 Zairean Rite of Mass was the climax of the school's annual Festival of Nations, a celebration of missions work and the multicultural identity of the Church.
Father Simon Kalonga, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, celebrated the Mass.
"We have faith in Jesus Christ, but we express it in different ways," he told the congregation of students, teachers and parents.
Missionaries from Europe and America once evangelized Africa. Now African Christians wish to share the abundance of their faith, he said. Currently his home country is overflowing with vocations, he added.
Father Kalonga is himself a missionary to the United States. He arrived in 1996 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is in residence at St. Louis Parish in Englewood.
"Ask God to make you an instrument so you, too, can go on a journey and serve God," he urged the congregation.
He told students that even if they were not called to go to another country to share the Gospel, they could still support missionaries and seek to do God's work at home.
"All of us are called to do the work of God," he concluded.
Songs from South Africa, East Africa and West Africa sung in English and several African languages punctuated the liturgy. The call and response liturgy, though similar to American Masses, reflected the Zairean culture with its attention to nature and reverence for its ancestors.
"Holy Father we praise you through your Son Jesus Christ, our mediator," read the Eucharistic prayer. "He is your Word, Word that gives life. Through him you created heaven and earth; through him you created our mightiest rivers, the Zaire, the Amazon, the Mississippi. Through him you created our forests, our rivers and our lakes."
As swaying children brought forward the Eucharistic gifts, two carried between them a basket of fruit.
Tim Blesse, a middle school teacher who helped organize the Mass, said the fruit represented the African habit of bringing homegrown or homemade offerings to help the poor in lieu of hard-to-come-by cash. The fruit was donated to Samaritan House, a homeless shelter in Denver, after the Mass.
The prayers of the people also took on a multinational tone as students read and then translated prayers in Russian, German, Spanish, Korean and Nepalese, among other languages. They prayed for those who lacked food, water, clothing, shelter and freedom, and prayed for Americans who often ignore their blessings and over-consume.
After the Mass Olivia McLean, a seventh-grader, said, "It was fun. It was exciting."
Eighth-grader Andrew Clark called the Mass "really interesting."
"I just like how we can be praising the same God but doing it in different ways," he said.
The Zairean Rite of Mass emerged in the 1980's, a result of Vatican II's encouragement for different cultures to enliven the Mass with their own traditional symbols, language and rituals, said Father Kalonga.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Masses can run from two to five hours, he added. And Americans, he said, can learn much from the African Church's generosity.
"People take time with God because God gives us everything, all we need," he said. "We have six days in a week. When we go to church we want to sit with God for awhile. ... We like to use our time for God."
He added that the Church is growing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because Christians share all of their resources to spread the Gospel, often giving time, food, and clothing to those around them.
"We use everything that is on hand so that Jesus Christ may be known and people may accept him," he said. "This is our way of evangelization."
After the Mass students roamed through the school gym which teemed with the bright colors of the World Bazaar. Booths depicted the highlights of world cultures. Costumes and traditional foods and crafts taught about countries from Peru to Japan to Guyana.
The Festival of Nations also encompassed a Latin Rite Mass and presentations from natives of other cultures.
"I've learned a lot about different cultures and it helps me to understand some of the things they do," said Clark. "It's an eye-opener every time we do this. I think it's really important ... so kids can learn they shouldn't be racists just because of the color of someone's skin."
His friend Aaron French agreed.
"It helps you to understand cultures and ways you can help," he said.
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