In the 70 years of RECongress, the event has hosted several Masses and liturgies featuring an array of languages and cultures.
But for the first time in its history, RECongress hosted an Arabic Mass put on by the Arab American Catholic Community (AACC), based out of St. Joseph Church in Pomona. Started in 1989, the community comprises an estimated 6,000 families with backgrounds mostly from six countries: Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt.
“I want to thank RECongress for giving us this opportunity to show our faith because sometimes, unfortunately, when we think of Arabs, what do we think about?” said Father Ala Musharbash, a Jordanian Catholic priest who’s now the chaplain for the AACC.
“So our intention is to show our beautiful Arabic culture and Catholic and Christian culture. We have a very nice, beautiful culture. Maybe it’s messed up a little bit with social media and the news. But if you go more deeply, you will find a beautiful culture.”
Flourishes of the culture were present in the Mass in several ways. The liturgy was bilingual, with the Gospel proclaimed in English, but several parts of the Mass — the Confiteor, the first reading, the consecration — were spoken in Arabic.
Many of the songs and prayers were displayed on video screens, with the words in English and Arabic, along with a guide on how to pronounce the Arabic phrases. Musharbash also told the crowd that the Arabic language is a close cousin of Aramaic.
“So when we pray the Our Father, it’s the closest to Jesus’ language,” Musharbash said.
The icon on the altar, Our Lady of the Holy Land — also displayed on prayer cards handed out to Mass-goers — featured a customized image of Mary dressed as a Palestinian woman and Jesus wearing a keffiyeh, Musharbash said. The image was blessed by Archbishop José H. Gomez in 2025.
In his homily to the hundreds who packed the large conference room, Musharbash said that sometimes we hesitate to follow the Lord, or feel we are not worthy, but that Jesus calls us still.
“Something in every human heart is a desire to see the Lord,” he said. “Many of us carry heavy struggles.
“Sometimes we feel misunderstood or judged. But the Lord sees us completely and still calls us today. He is not scandalized by our weakness and he sees beyond it. He sees our heart.”
At the end of the Mass, Musharbash called for those attending to pray for “peace for the whole world, especially for the Middle East, and to end wars and wars and wars because I think the political agreements will not do anything. Believe me, not any president will do anything. Don’t trust in any political case, just trust in God.”
The Arab American Catholic Community hosts Masses at 7 p.m. Saturdays at St. Joseph Church in Pomona, and at 1 p.m. Sundays at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Redlands.
Learn more about AACC at stjosephaacc.org.
