Latino siblings join Church at fourth grader’s request

Our schools are becoming more and more diverse every year. In fact, this year marks the highest number of Latino students enrolled in our Catholic high schools (more than 330!)

We aren’t just welcoming more culturally diverse students into our schools, we’re seeing many of them join the Church. The following is a story written by one such family. Five members of this family were baptized this Fall at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. (And they’re one of seven Latino families in the last six months who have initiated sacraments at their parishes after attending the Catholic school)!

“My name is Macedonio Perez and my wife is Gerarda Hernandez. We have seven children. We live very close to St. Thomas More, and for a long time we have wanted to bring our children to that school. But we thought that it was too expensive and we would not be able to enroll them there.

Finally, with the help of the Catholic Schools Office last year, we enrolled three of our children at STM. We applied for financial aid for our children in 1st, 4th and 6th grades. We are very thankful because they have helped us a lot and our children love the school.

My daughter Lorena is in 4th grade. She told me over and over that in the Catholic school they went to Mass twice a week. She wanted to receive the Eucharist. I told her that she couldn’t because she was not baptized. However, she insisted, filled with emotion each time she said she wanted to receive the Eucharist. For many years, I thought I was too busy working and I never put much importance in the sacraments that my children should have received. After Lorena’s insistence that she wanted to receive the Eucharist, I visited the parish office at St. Thomas More to ask that my daughter be baptized. I spoke with Fr. Baumert, who was very accessible and kind, and who listened to us and helped us. Fr. Baumert told me that we could baptize our five youngest children all at once and that is what we did. They still need to be prepared for First Communion, but we are already working on that so to do as soon as possible.

I am glad that my children can attend Catholic school. I am very happy and cannot fully express my happiness; I never thought I would be able to receive all this great support.”

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We’re proud to partner with families in all we do.

The Archdiocese of Omaha recently opened a new pastoral center to help the Hispanic community encounter Jesus. View photos from Centro Pastoral Tepeyac.

The Latino Enrollment Office can be reached at 402-557-5570. Spanish-speaking staff can set up school tours and assist with paperwork for families interested in our Catholic schools.