Farmworkers were celebrated early Thursday morning with a Roman Catholic Mass in San Luis, Ariz.
The Diocese of Tucson holds the service annually in Yuma County, going back at least a decade with then-Bishop Gerald Kicanas when the Mass was celebrated in a field owned by the Pasquinelli Produce Company.
The Farmworker Mass has been held in recent years in the parking lot of the closed Del Sol Market on Main Street in San Luis, with farmworker buses passing by before the workers go out to the fields while it is still dark and cold out.
This year's Mass was presided by Bishop Enrique Sanchez Martinez of Mexicali and concelebrated by Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger. Priests and deacons from Yuma County parishes attended as did some diocesan officials from Tucson, including Sister Gladys Echenique, O.P., the Hispanic ministry coordinator for the Diocese, which includes Yuma and La Paz counties.
"I chuckle to myself because I don't like getting up at 2 a.m. for a Mass (which began at 3 a.m.)," Bishop Weisenburger said as burritos and the Mexican beverage champurrado were served by members of local parish communities. "But this is probably one of the most important Masses I celebrate because the people who work in the fields to bring food to our tables get up this early 5, 6, maybe even 7 days a week."
Diocesan leaders stand in solidarity with farmworkers, the bishop said. He cited several ministries that serve the community, including ministry for Latinos and border ministry, including the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, run by the Jesuit order and lay (non-ordained) officials.
About half of the Catholic population in the Diocese of Tucson is Spanish-speaking, Bishop Weisenburger said, so there are ministries for all ages in spiritual formation.
He said he and other bishops in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have written statements in support of migrants' rights and against family separation that many expect with the next presidential administration.
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Stay tuned to KAWC to hear from Tucson Bishop Edward Weisenburger about the diocese's annual Farmworker Mass in San Luis and the Dia Del Campesino (Day of the Farmworker) health and community fair held this past Friday in the early morning by Campesinos Sin Fronteras and other Yuma County social services agencies.
