Flint’s own Guadalupe
Flint’s own Guadalupe
This photo was taken at the old Church on Carpenter Road. My parents are in the upper left, my dad being the tall man with my mother to his front and right. This was before I was born.
I only have a few memories of the Church on Carpenter Road. I remember the fiesta one year and the stuffed animals they were giving away as prizes.
As the community grew and they outgrew the little church, a new one was built where it remains today, on Coldwater Road. My story Weeping Woman speaks of an experience at this new Church when I was seven years old.
It was the first Catholic Church built and eventually payed for by Mexican-Americans in the State of Michigan.
Its founders were strong Mexican-American families, many who worked in the car factories in Flint, jobs that were plenty back in the day.
Many of the men were American G.I.s My own father was a combat veteran of the second world war who battled the Nazis in the Ardennes. After the war he spent time back home in Texas before landing a job in Flint with General Motors in 1952. A few years later in 1957 he married a beautiful Mexican woman from northern Mexico. They would settle and raise their four children in Flint.
Our Lady of Guadalupe was their second home. There they would forge friendships that would last generations. They could worship God in their own language, with their own music and style. They would gather weekly after Mass on Sunday in the hall for the best Mexican breakfast and lunch anywhere in the city.
It was here that I made my first communion, where I was confirmed, where I celebrated my graduation from high school, where I celebrated my first Mass, and where I presided at the funeral of my parents and sister.
It was my first home, and it became my last, where I served as pastor from 2011–2013. Those were good years, but difficult as well. My sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I was discerning a personal leave to consider marriage. There were many nights when I was alone in the darkness of the Church crying out to God for direction and strength.
While other priests served the community prior to 1966, Fr. Lorenzo is the one who built it and sustained it with his deep faith and life steeped in prayer.
As a Cuban, Fr. Lorenzo knew the pulse and beat of the Mexican people. Masses on feast days were especially vibrant with amazing music and liturgies that gave worship to God with joy that forged the community in faith.
The yearly fiestas celebrated the Mexican culture and faith and shared it with the community in an array of great music, food, colorful folk dances, and plenty of fun that graced the city for years.
Fr. Lorenzo retired a number of years ago. At 88 he is still able to attend Mass on Sundays but no longer con-celebrates. He served the community faithfully for over forty years. If you get a chance stop in and visit. I am sure he would love to see you.
Today the community celebrates two Sunday Masses and no longer has Mass on Saturday. Many of the founding members are gone but a few remain. Over the years as General Motors diminished in strength and numbers, so did the community.
Mexican Nationals began to rival the numbers of the original Mexican-American families that founded the parish. It was a blessing to have this new group of people become a part of the community.
Families that have been a part of the Church for many years remain loyal in their support and service to the community. There numbers have diminished but they remain.
But it is different.
There is no longer a resident priest that lives on the property and gone are the weekday Masses that graced the community for years.
The music has changed too. I guess some of the beautiful music that was sung and celebrated at Mass all those years is no longer proper.
The priests alone is not fully responsible for all the changes that have happened over the years, but they do determine the course and direction of the parish, and this influences the mood and spirit of the community.
Does the priest allow for a dialogue with the people in order to receive input on how the parish is being led? Is this something the people in the community have asked for?
It is the nature of the Church that a priest can have near total control of a parish community. This is not always bad but it can be.
I am grateful to see that the community remains and grateful to the priest that continues to serve the people.
I was there recently for Mass and it felt good to return to the community that holds such a special place in my heart.
It is my hope that the community will not continue to diminish but that it will move forward with even greater strength and vitality.