Our Global Parish

Rev. Desmond Drummer

As a seminarian, Father Desmond Drummer participated in the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation in 2010.

Overcoming the impulse of religious and ethnic exclusivity, Jesus Christ communicates God’s solidarity with all people (Ephesians 2: 11-22). We are to do likewise. As Martin Luther King Jr. said in a Christmas sermon forty-nine years ago:

If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.

Christians must adopt a “world perspective” if we are to fully participate in continuing the work of Jesus Christ in the world today.

The Second Vatican Council describes the Church as a sacrament of unity in the human family (Lumen Gentium/Light of the Nations #1). I am a firm believer that the Catholic Church in the United States—an extraordinarily diverse community of faith—is uniquely situated to become a creative and faith-filled example of intercultural unity and cooperation. This particular form of Christian witness is needed today in our country.

Parishes can bring people together from many nations to get to know one another, worship God and serve their community. This doesn’t happen automatically, however. Parish communities must be intentional about the way cultural diversity is embraced. Epiphany Sunday (January 8) and National Migration Week (January 8-14) remind us to acknowledge the global diversity that already exists within our parish.

At Most Blessed Sacrament we are a community composed of people with roots in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas (including Latin America, North America and the Caribbean). Yes, there is far more going on at Most Blessed Sacrament than what is usually perceived by visitors and even ourselves: we are a global parish! 

Moving forward, we must make every effort to ensure that our global diversity is reflected in everything that we do as a local faith community—because global diversity is who we are.