“Building Life Affirming Bridges between life and death, culture and faith”
Collaboration between Leslie O’Connell and Ann Mulgrew, Campus Ministry Team.
The next few days of October and November offer significant honoring of those who died including Día de Los Muertos — November 1–2, the Feast of All Saints — November 1, and the Feast of All Souls — November 2. What do these very different, culturally rich days, have in common? They build life affirming bridges between life and death and between culture and Catholic. Whether it is the cultural, ancestral family or those who died a saintly death, we are affirmed and encouraged to live more fully each day knowing that we are loved, like those who have gone before us. These November days hold their own culturally specific celebrations as well as contain some “blurred lines” between what is a Catholic tradition and what is a culturally Mexican/Hispanic or LatinX tradition.
Within the Catholic tradition, we honor the Saints and the Souls of the dead that has been observed for over 1000 years. What has developed within this post-modern area of Catholicism is the enculturation of Catholic traditions. These November feast days are great examples of this. The Jesuits have specifically addressed this nature of enculturation within their global gatherings. According to the General Congregation 32 (1995), decree 4: “Our Mission and Culture,” the Jesuits, led by the Superior General of the time, Pedro Arrupe, S.J., were identifying the need to maintain the insistence on the importance of the Gospel and the inclusion of culture. They referenced Pope John Paul II as he “points to the mutuality between the Gospel and the cultures it engages… The Christian message is to be open to all cultures, bound to no single culture and made accessible to every human person … by which the Gospel introduces something new into the culture and the culture brings something new to the richness of the Gospel.” How did this value of culture come about for the Jesuits? Maybe it was the experience after the cannonball hit St. Ignatius of Loyola and the kindness/respect of foreigners who offered him help while he recuperated. Maybe it comes from the founders of the Society of Jesus as they were missioned to areas far away and they only found success by listening, learning, and enculturation of the Gospel message into the life and values of the community they served. The value of “walking with” others became core to Ignatian Spirituality and supports the idea that “culture can bring something new to the Gospel.”
For several years now, Campus Ministry, along with LASO the Latin American Student Organization, has built an ofrenda or “altar” that is set up in the rotunda on the 2nd floor of the Alumni Memorial Union. It has included food, photos, and offerings to honor the dead. This blend of culture and Catholicism that celebrates the days honoring the dead, reflects the mission of Marquette as a Catholic, Jesuit University and it’s inclusion of diverse cultures. Each year’s ofrenda is vibrant, awe inspired, and personal to our Marquette community. Many faces from many cultures, including the image of my German Irish father, has been honored on this altar.
All of Marquette University is invited to place a photo or a memento on the altar, once it is built on Thursday afternoon, October 28. Stop by the AMU rotunda to help build this year’s ofrenda or pause and pray with the altar. It will remain in the rotunda until Tuesday evening, November 2, 2021.
Marquette University is classified as an “Emerging HSI” (Hispanic Serving Institution) with our undergrad population of Hispanic/LatinX at 15% and our Graduate Student population of Hispanic/LatinX at 24.97%. The gifts, talents, stories and cultures of our Hispanic/LatinX students, comes forth on days like these and we are blessed to be able to celebrate as one community. Día de Los Muertos is important to many of our Hispanic/LatinX students as mentioned by America Garcia, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences who calls these days a “very special time.” Yes it is and yes, we all can find value in honoring those ancestors who have gone before us.
To learn more about Día de Los Muertos and to gain several student and staff perspectives, please link to the following Medium articles
