By Rocio Granados - La Voz Catolica

Photography: MONICA LAUZURIQUE | FC

LEISURE CITY | The entrance procession at the 25th anniversary Mass for St. Martin de Porres Parish provided a fitting prelude to the words spoken by Miami Auxiliary Bishop Peter Baldacchino during his homily.

“St. Martin de Porres is the patron of interracial reconciliation,” Bishop Baldacchino said.

The members of this Leisure City parish are certainly living up to their namesake’s example, as evidenced by the bilingual Mass, celebrated June 19, that brought together the entire parish community.

The predominantly Mexican and Puerto Rican parish is also home to people from South America, the Caribbean, the Philippines and South Korea, and all those nationalities were represented in the procession by about 20 children dressed in the typical clothes of their native countries.

The children were received at the altar by Bishop Baldacchino and concelebrating priests: Father Joaquin Rodriguez, current pastor; Father Carlos Vega, who served nine years as pastor; and Father Luis Rivera, who was assigned to the parish when it was founded, July 1, 1990.

The anniversary Mass took place two days after the shooting of nine parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., so Bishop Baldacchino asked parishioners to pray for those killed as well as for reconciliation among all people.

“May our prayers reach the hearts of every person so that they may destroy the walls that separate us from each other, and allow the spirit of God to win,” the bishop prayed. 

For his part, Father Rodriguez said the children in the procession “represented the world, the world of Christ.”

He thanked his parishioners for all the volunteer work they did to prepare for the celebration, a time for the community to look back at the early days of the parish. The occasion also reunited some of the church’s former employees.

One of them was Catherine Holfman, the first catechist and director of religious education, who began the program at Father Rivera’s request in 1990. Before construction of the parish began, she taught religious education in air-conditioned tents. Holfman worked for St. Martin de Porres Church for seven years, until she moved to Broward after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Still, she said she feels nostalgic for the time she spent in the parish. “It is a very faithful community. I cried when I had to move,” said Holfman, who is now retired after working 30 years for the Archdiocese of Miami.

“I remember it as if it were yesterday,” said Father Rivera, recalling the time when Archbishop Edward A. McCarty asked him to establish a parish between St. Ann Mission in Naranja and Sacred Heart Church in Homestead.

“Initially we started with a small group in St. Ann Mission,” Father Rivera said.

On Nov. 3, 1991, coinciding with the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, they moved from the St. Ann Mission property to a shopping center, where they began celebrating Sunday Mass. The current property of St. Martin de Porres had already been purchased and the rectory had been built.

The following year, on August 24, Hurricane Andrew pummeled southern Miami-Dade County, “and it took everything. That’s where the struggle came, because it took almost six years to re-establish the parish,” Father Rivera said.

During the reconstruction period, the National Guard used the parish property to distribute goods to hurricane victims. Mass resumed in the patio of the rectory. After watching the parishioners celebrate Mass under the scorching sun, Guard members gave them a tent which they placed behind the rectory.

The parish now owned two tents: one to celebrate Mass and another to distribute food.

“And that’s how we started again, little by little,” said Father Rivera. “The beginning was very difficult, but thanks be to God, after the soldiers left, we put up a large tent where we celebrated Mass and gave catechesis.”

“From there we moved to a school (Leisure City Elementary), and from there we moved to a tent on the church property, and then to some trailer homes where we celebrated Mass during the time of the construction,” said Enrique Dominguez, who, along with his wife, Eva, have been members of the parish since it was founded. They settled in the Homestead area after arriving from Puerto Rico.

In April 1998, ground was broken for the current church, and on May 9, 1999, Archbishop McCarthy’s successor, Archbishop John Favarola, blessed the building.

Father Rivera, who was the pastor of St. Martin de Porres from 1990 through 1996, said that what he remembers most about the community is “the fidelity. Good or bad, difficult or easy, we always had people cooperating, always the community made itself available.

“After Andrew we lost everything and the people lost everything, but here everyone united and the different groups supported each other and they all came to support the church. People wanted to persevere. After Andrew, I think there were 38 of us, but now you can see how much we have grown. It’s the perseverance,” continued Father Rivera, who is now pastor of a church further south: San Pablo Church in Marathon.

“The community has grown so much and there are so many nationalities that gather together,” said Eva Dominguez, who coordinated the work of the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion for 18 years.

“The Mexican community is the one with the strongest presence, although before there were a lot of Puerto Ricans. Many have left, but new people keep coming,” Dominguez added.

“This community has grown not only in number, but in apostolic spirit,” said Father Rodriguez, who was named pastor five years ago. He said the community is very much alive, with various apostolic groups meet every day of the week.Its growth is reflected, above everything else, in catechesis.

“We ended the year with almost 400 children, and 160 made their first Communion. It is a record number,” Father Rodriguez said.

“I like this parish because it is like a family, everyone helps one another,” said Yong Hui, a parishioner since 1994, and the only South Korean member of the church.

“It is a blessing to celebrate these 25 years with the parish,” said Father Vega, who served as administrator from 2001 to 2010.

Father Vega composed a hymn in honor of St. Martin de Porres for the parish’s 15-year anniversary, a hymn which parishioners still sing today.

“I was inspired by the history of St. Martin de Porres, the most venerated saint in South America. He is a saint to the poor. He is a saint who has done so much good that people follow his example,” Father Vega said.

“Twenty-five years is a festivity for the community and festivities must be celebrated. We have finished the festive part, but we have a commitment to keep growing apostolically,” Father Rodriguez said. “I don’t think we have to start anything new. Many times I need to slow the momentum. They (the parishioners) are the ones who are constantly inventing new ways to serve the Church more.”