Denver Catholic

17 DENVER CATHOLIC | SEPTEMBER 14-27, 2019 Gala Beacon 2020 Hope of Saturday, January 25, 2020 Celebrate the Joy of Life 4:30 p.m. Mass 5:30 p.m. Cocktails, Marketplace 7:00 p.m. Dinner and Program For tickets, sponsorships or donations to the Marketplace please contact: Shelly Saeman at 720-799-9289 or ssaeman@ccdenver.org Register online at ccdenver.org/Beacon e Gaylord Rockies Resort & Conference Center Marisol Services 9th Annual Benefit Dinner 6700 North Gaylord Rockies Blvd. Aurora, CO 80019 NEW VENUE! KEYNOTE SPEAKER Patricia Sandoval International Pro-Life Speaker BEACON OF HOPE AWARD Larry Smith EVENING'S EMCEES JD & Kate Flynn Reserve Your Seat Now! Bishop Rodriguez to celebrate special Mass for World Day of Migrants and Refugees BY ROCIO MADERA I n celebration of the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the Archdiocese of Denver will join Pope Francis and our brothers and sis- ters from around the world in this inter- national celebration, hosting a special holy mass. The intent of this mass is to express concern, increase awareness, and pray for the many di£ erent vulner- able people on the move, making sure no one remains excluded from society. The celebration will take place Sept. 29 at the Queen of Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Parish at 3 p.m. with a Holy Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodriguez. The bilingual Mass will incorporate elements from various Catholic Cultures around the world. Mass will be followed by a festival with cultural dances, music, and food. The Catholic Church has been cele- brating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees since 1914, the fi rst being held shortly before the outbreak of WWI. This year, with the theme "It is not just about migrants," the Pope tells us that this celebration is not limited to migrants and refugees, it is about all of us, humanity, and our common desire to build a better world. "It's an opportunity to pray for our brothers and sisters that are going through this situation, migrants and refugees, and to raise awareness of the problem, said Bishop Jorge Rodriguez, who will be celebrating the Mass "We are a migrant community, Hispanics, Africans, Asians, and we want to pray for this reality, we want to ask the Lord for his blessing in this situation we're living and pray for the United States that is our host country. We all want to join the holy father on September 29." Bishop Rodriguez also took the opportunity to invite everyone to this Eucharistic celebration, emphasizing the importance of praying together as one community. "The invitation is for everyone. We will have the participation of the His- panic, African, Vietnamese, the Paki- stan-Catholic, Burmese communities, etc. and also the American community that must and will be present," he said. As far as the political side of the migrants and refugee issue, Bishop Rodriguez made it clear that this cele- bration is about the human side of the problem and coming together as one. "For us Catholics, when we talk about migration, migrants, or refugees, we are not talking about the sociological phenomenal of politics. For us, and this is the theme for this year's celebration, 'it's not only about migrants' it's about our fears, not only about migrants it's also about humanity and charity," the bishop explained. "I know there is a political side of the issue, but our per- spective is the Christian and the human side. People migrate because of di£ er- ent circumstances looking for a better future for them and their children, or they're fl eeing war, we see it all over the world, not just in the United States, and we want to be aware of it, pray for it, and approach it as humans, as Christians." PHOTO BY ANNALISA VANDELLI NEXUS MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES MASS Sunday, Sept. 29, 3 p.m. Queen of Vietnamese Martyrs, 4695 N. Harlan St., Wheat Ridge, CO i

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