Nearly 2,000 Celebrate First Multilingual Pentecost Mass at Walnut Parish

May 24, 2015  |  By: newsroom  |  Press Releases  |  

Nearly 2,000 people, many wearing red or native attire, filled the tented plaza at St. Lorenzo Ruiz Catholic Church in Walnut (747 Meadow Pass Rd.) today for the parish’s first multilingual Pentecost Mass.

The Mass, celebrated by Bishop Oscar Solis, recalled the story of the Church’s birth at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus and inspired them to preach in the languages of everyone listening.

During today’s Mass, the First Reading was proclaimed in more than a dozen of the following languages at the same time: Chinese, French, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, Greek, English, Bantu, Taiwanese, Indonesian and Italian.

The Mass, organized by Pastor Tony Astudillo, was followed by an international food festival and entertainment including Mexican mariachis, Chinese sword dancers and Spanish flamenco dancers.

The daylong event drew a diverse crowd of locals and dignitaries including Congressmember Edward R. Royce and his wife, Marie; Walnut Mayor Nancy Tragarz; Walnut City Councilmember Bob Pacheco and his wife Gayle; and Walnut City Councilmember Antonio Cartagena.

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