Laotian Mass to be celebrated in Storm Lake

By KENNY KEANE, Globe staff reporter
September 4, 2003

STORM LAKE - Laotian parishioners from St. Mary Church in Storm Lake are being offered an opportunity to celebrate the Eucharist in their native language.

St. Mary's will host a Catholic Mass in Lao at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6. A Lao-speaking priest from the Minneapolis, Minn., area will be traveling to Storm Lake to provide this Mass for the Laotian Catholics in the area.

Father Bruce Lawler, St. Mary's pastor, said the Laotian priest called him out of the blue requesting to offer this Mass.

"He called from Minneapolis and said that he or someone else had been down sometime in the past - long before I got here," he said. "It's been a while since they were here, but they wanted to come back and touch base with the community."

The pastor said neither he nor the priest from Minneapolis is sure of the number of Laotians in the community.

"They have a list, but they don't know that it is relevant anymore," Father Lawler said. "It's been so long since anyone's gotten here to touch base with them."

St. Mary's offers weekly Masses in Spanish at noon on Sundays, but it has been several years since the parish has been able to host a Mass in Lao.

Father Eriberto da Costa, a minority outreach worker who resides in Storm Lake, said this Mass is an important opportunity for the Laotian community.

"It's kind of calling them back to church because I don't see a lot of Laotians," he said. "When Sister Carol Hawkins was here, she worked with some (Laotian) kids. She had an arrangement with Father Daniel from Minneapolis, who came once a year, I think for two years. I don't know who is coming this time."

The situation is a difficult one for the Laotian community, according to Father Eriberto, because he doesn't know of any people from the Catholic Church in Storm Lake who could help them due to the language barrier.

"I haven't had any contact with them, so I don't know of any Laotians who are Catholic or not," he said. "It will be a good opportunity for the pastor to check with them as far as what they want from the church."

Father Lawler said this Mass is open to anyone who wishes to attend.

"They can obviously celebrate in their own language, which for some is probably a necessity," he said. "Even for those who could celebrate in English, they probably enjoy the experience of their native tongue. There very well may be some who don't speak English, and so it's the only way they can celebrate the sacraments well."