First Spanish mass for Padre Juan Carlos, ss.cc.
Fr. Juan Carlos presided at his first Spanish mass today July 13 at Holy Name of Mary Parish, his home parish for the last twenty years.
Dansantes aztecas processed in just before mass with compelling drumming and energetic movements. They danced for 15 minutes pausing to genuflect and signing with the sign of the cross- reflecting both their Aztec heritage and their Catholic faith. 
There were many smiles faces expressing wonderment and joy.
Padre Juan Carlos preached in Spanish with confidence, skill, humor and great joy. He started by expressing gratitude to his forebears. “Somos productos de antepasados (those who have gone before us).”
He focused on the question asked by the scholar of the law. “Quien es nuestro projimo?/ Who is my neighbor?”
He probably did not want to include some people. “No incluyemos otras personas/ we don’t include other people”.
We often leave out the last part of the commandment of loving neighbor: “as yourself”. We can have difficulty loving others. What are the obstacles?
Fr. Juan Carlos reminded us that we are beloved children of God. When we are able to recognize our beloved-ness and love ourselves, then we are able to see the beloved-ness of the other. We are able to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we don’t love ourselves, we aren’t able to love others. We can be destructive rather than reparative in relationships. We can look at the homeless person and think “no importa/ he is not important”. We must recognize that he or she is a child of God.
At the end of his homily, Padre Juan Carlos told us to keep turning to Jesus as our “Modelo, ejemplo, y Salvador (model, example and savior).
