“God has not forgotten about this community”: One of California’s poorest parishes finally gets a new church

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:11 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

“God has not forgotten about this community”: One of California’s poorest parishes finally gets a new church 2015-03-13T16:11:04-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

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Way back in 2008, I preached a homily about Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Mecca, California:

It ‘s the poorest parish in southern California – in fact, one of the poorest in the entire state. Two years ago, the average income in Mecca was just $6,000. 60% of the people live below the poverty line.

The congregation is made up largely of Latino farm workers who live in trailer parks.

They own almost nothing.

But they do have something beyond price.

They have faith.

They pray passionately to Our Lady. You will see them enter church and get down on their knees and – on their knees – crawl toward the altar to bring their petitions to God. The church is their guardian, and their hope.

But a couple of years ago, the old church where they worshipped was beginning to fall apart. For a while, they went to mass in a huge tent, but people were collapsing in 120-degree heat. They needed a new church, desperately. So the pastor, Fr. Lucas, launched an ambitious fundraising campaign – trusting and praying that somehow the money would eventually arrive. He traveled to other parishes, and stories about his struggling church appeared on the Internet and were carried around the country.

The faithful responded.

People in Mecca began giving him crumpled envelopes – some with just a dollar or two. One woman arrived at church with a bag of dates. “Fr. Lucas,” she said, “I have no money. Sell these dates and use the money to build a church.” And he took them, gratefully.

Families in the trailer parks began giving whatever they could spare – five, ten, twenty dollars. The fund grew. A reporter asked one woman why they sacrificed so much. She put it so beautifully. “If you give away more,” she explained, “you receive more back.”

Those who couldn’t work donated time. They sold tacos, ran garage sales and hosted fiestas to raise money.

After two years, the parish ended up collecting $300,000. Special collections were taken up in neighboring parishes. The Diocese of San Bernardino chipped in some more. And the people of Our Lady of Guadalupe finally, incredibly, raised enough to build themselves a new church. It is temporary, made of Kevlar stretched over aluminum, but it will last a few years, until a more permanent structure can be built. It was dedicated a few weeks ago.

Reading about that, I was reminded of all the churches we see in Brooklyn and Queens that were built by poor immigrants at the turn of the last century. All those families from Ireland and Italy and Germany and Poland, who came here with nothing.

Nothing but faith.

Well, a priest in the diocese wanted to give me an update. Today, I got the following email from Msgr. Gerry Lopez, Vicar General in the Diocese of San Bernardino:

We are happy to say that (thanks to the generosity of local families with great resources) and the hard work of the people in Mecca, the community has a brand new 1200-seat church building. Please see the attached YouTube presentation. It is a great way to see God’s plan at work in spite of the greatest odds.

The Desert Sun has more details:

The sand-colored building, 19,000 square-feet, has been under construction since January 2014 but is the realization of years of dreams, struggles and donations for the church. Operating out of a much smaller temporary church for more than four years and outdoor tents before that — parishioners have faced challenges and setbacks. The church, in existence for the burgeoning community of mainly farmworkers since it began as an offshoot of a Coachella church in 1976, was forced outside after a 2006 storm collapsed its rooftop. And in 2015 the temporary church “would have to be removed in the year 2015… by the county orders,” according to parish history cited at the dedication.

“God has not forgotten about this community of Mecca,” said Bishop Gerald Barnes at the service. “He’s been walking with you since the beginning.”

After worship songs of “Alleluia” and many prayers, he called the dedication a “big day” that was the result of many who had helped — despite difficulties in both construction and for the community.

But this new building — which will be a part of key milestones from weddings to communions and funerals — symbolized a new opportunity to look at the lives they were living and recommit to being a part of the Christian community in this corner of the Coachella Valley, bringing the Gospel to the world from its walls, he said.

“It’s a new temple and new chapter in this church and in Mecca,” he said

This is something truly great. Check out the video below.

What a great testament to the good people of Mecca, and a faith that can move mountains—or, at least, build a church. God love ’em. And congratulations to one and all.

Photo from Diocese of San Bernardino

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