The ‘international’ Mass and Lunch at St Joseph’s, Castleford celebrates the faith – and the food – of this diverse parish. Parish Priest Fr John Aveyard tells the story:
‘It all began when a lady from the Philippines asked if she could make and sell some spring rolls at our summer fair. They were a real hit and a woman from Vietnam said she would make something for next time and an Indian guy said that he would be willing to make a curry as well. From that came the idea of having an international lunch one Sunday after morning Mass.
It was quite an exciting thought and we knew that other people would volunteer to make dishes from their own countries. Since this feast was going to be after Sunday Mass the idea developed into having an ‘International Mass’.
We regularly have parishioners at Mass who are originally from Poland, Nigeria, India, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Indonesia, Italy, Vietnam, Slovakia and, of course, Yorkshire. So why not celebrate the fact that there are people from all over the world who gather round the altar at St Joseph’s to worship God?
We also have Catholics who are of other rites: Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar. We truly are the Catholic – that is, ‘Universal’ – Church, so why not celebrate that? The readings at Mass were in Italian and Polish and Bidding Prayers were in French, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Malayalam and Bahasa with the Opening Prayer and Our Father (sung) in Latin. Translations were, of course, provided in a booklet.
In the hall afterwards food, both sweet and savoury, was available from Malaya, Indonesia, Poland, the Bahamas, India, Italy and Vietnam and each dish had a list of ingredients it contained just in case of any allergies. Realistic donations were requested and the parish benefited by well over £500 thanks to the generosity of the chefs who provided the ingredients.
“Can we do it again next year?” was the question on everybody’s lips. With such a positive verdict it looks as if this could be an annual event in International Castleford!’
Thanks to Fr John Aveyard for this positive and heart-warming story from his parish!
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