BRISBANE’s newest church welcomed 1500 people from 20 cultural communities to worship God as one people last Sunday.
Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge celebrated the Multicultural Mass at Queen of the Vietnamese Martyrs Church, Inala, with dozens of priests concelebrating, including Vietnamese community chaplain Fr Joseph Vu, and Deacon Ernesto Villalba assisting.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge said God was a bringer of freedom and peace.
He said the reason they gathered was because “that better life, that fulness of life… is found not in worshipping the false gods – they’re everywhere – but in coming to worship and serve the true God”.
“We do that by coming to Jesus and saying with Peter, ‘Lord to whom would we go, you have the words of eternal life’, he said.
“We come together, out of our tribal corners, not to worship the gods of the tribes, but to worship the God who has gathered us with all our differences into a single people.
“Look at us – this is the Church, Catholic.”
Evangelisation Brisbane Inclusion team project officer Liliana Ortiz said the atmosphere of faith “was amazing, to me there was a sense of friendship and community”.
“I was so happy to see a mixture of people from different age groups, nationalities, speaking a variety of languages, but united to worship and celebrate our faith,” she said.
“It was special to see so many children laughing and having a good time in the children’s space, enjoying face painting, the petting farm and other activities.”
She said it was fantastic to have the Mass hosted with a cultural community.
“We had nine choirs singing hymns at Mass, 14 altar servers and 19 chaplains, priests and deacons representing their communities,” she said.
“The venue was perfect for what we wanted to achieve…”
She said the church grounds had extensive parking and room for a larger, festival-like atmosphere.
“We had plenty of room for the communities to have their own food stalls and share traditional dishes and delicacies from around the world,” she said.
“The venue also has ample space in front of the main entrance, which was used as the stage for performances.
“The program on the day included more than 15 presentations showcasing the folklore, traditions and culture from abroad.”
Mrs Ortiz said she was grateful to the Vietnamese Catholic Community for the hard work they put in to host the Mass.
