‘We come together because of faith’ VIEW GALLERY (use keyboard arrow keys to navigate)
By Elsa Baughman
GREENWOOD — “Bienvenidos” reads a large sign posted at the entrance of the Leflore County Civic Center to welcome all to the seventh Encuentro Hispano Nov. 8.
The event was celebrated by over 400 youth and adult Hispanics, Bishop Joseph Latino and several priests and religious women working and serving in the Diocese of Jackson.
“The promise that Jesus is in our midst is the reason for this encuentro,” Bishop Latino told the crowd. “We come together because of our faith. We are all one in the same faith. We all believe in the same Savior, Jesus Christ. We are all blessed by the same Jesus Christ. We are all protected by the same Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. With Jesus and Mary with us, who can stand against us?”
Bishop Latino and other speakers — Father Lenin Vargas, associate pastor of Meridian St. Patrick and St. Joseph parishes, Brother Ted Dausch and Sister Gabriela Ramírez of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, homilist Father Mario Solorzano, associate pastor of Madison St. Francis of Assisi Parish; and Father Ricardo Phipps, pastor of the Catholic Community of St. Mary and Christ the King parishes — reminded all gathered to pass on their Catholic faith to their children by words and by action.
In his homily, Father Solorzano encouraged Hispanics not to forget their values and those they left in their home countries. Most importantly he reminded them not to waste the opportunity to be productive in their church.
“We are all living stones of this church, this holy temple,” he said. He invited them to use their talents, cultural gifts and faith in their communities and to pass them on to their children as they settle in a new society.
Music, food, personal testimonies, fellowship and a Mass were part of the celebration that ended at 5:30 p.m.
At the end of the event, Brother Dausch announced that early next year a youth encuentro will be held in the Diocese of Jackson.
