Canal Park Stadium in downtown Akron was filled with more than 900 people on June 24, who gathered for a special ballpark Mass at the home of the Akron Rubber Ducks.
“Tonight was a great reminder that Church is truly universal, young and old, men and women, clergy and laity, Spanish and English, a beautiful ballpark and a gorgeous church. And Jesus was at the center of it all, bringing us together,” said Father Damian Ference, vicar for evangelization.
(See photo gallery above. Select photos provided by DM Productions - Catholic Video Production)
The ballpark Mass, part of the diocesan celebration of the National Eucharistic Revival, was the fifth Mass held at ballparks throughout Northeast Ohio over the past year.
The bilingual Mass was celebrated by Bishop Edward C. Malesic, with national Eucharistic preacher, Father Rafael Capó, from the Archdiocese of Miami, giving the homily. Fr. Capó is the vice president for mission and ministry and dean of theology at St. Thomas University in Miami Florida. Fr. Capó, an accomplished body builder, emphasizes a calling to fitness of body, mind, and spirit in his ministry. He often tells young people, “Be fit for God!”
Father Capó encouraged all to listen to God’s calling. He shared that when he was in high school, he was selected by his parish to go to World Youth Day in Rome. Father Capó admitted his main interest in going to Rome was “because my girlfriend at the time, was also going!” But while there, the words of Pope John Paul II, “Open wide the doors to Christ,” spoke to his heart. During that high school trip in Italy, he said one of his teachers got her purse stolen. Jokingly, Father Capó told God in prayer as they waited for the police in the church, “If they find the purse, I will be a priest. Well, they are still looking for that purse. But here I am anyway! Because God was working on me, and I began to let him into my heart.”
The diverse congregation included a number of parishioners from many of the Hispanic parishes of the diocese. The solemnity of the nativity of Saint John the Baptist or “Juan Bautista” is an important feast in the Puerto Rican community.
Following the Mass, hundreds participated in a Eucharistic procession from the ballpark to nearby St. Bernard Church for a holy hour, also referred to as an XLT, that included adoration with praise and worship music.