Mass Recalls The Many Lives Lost To AIDS

ERIKA ANDERSON, Staff Writer

Published: December 9, 2004

Serving as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion during the World AIDS Day Mass of Remembrance, Irene Miranda, right, archdiocesan HIV/AIDS ministry coordinator, extends the blood of Christ to Jim Goodwyne of Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta. (Photos by Michael Alexander)

ATLANTA—Those who attended the first archdiocesan Mass in remembrance of World AIDS Day had an opportunity to reflect and mourn, but ultimately the event was one of hope.

Red ribbons, the international sybol of AIDS’ awareness, were everywhere at the first Mass of Remembrance held Dec. 1 at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. A red ribbon was pinned to the center of a simple wooden cross; participants were given ribbons as they walked into the church; and Msgr. Henry Gracz, pastor of the Shrine and the Mass celebrant, wore a stole with two ribbons embroidered on either side.

The Mass was one of simplicity. Attendees placed candles into sand-filled pots in the sanctuary to remember loved ones who had died from the disease. In his homily, Msgr. Gracz spoke of the disease that had touched the lives of nearly everyone who attended the Mass.

“This is a night where strange emotions are stirred within us,” he said. “I daresay that no one in this room has not had someone they know touched by this disease. So the stirring of remembrance is incredible.”

AIDS, he said, has affected men and women of every orientation.

“Tonight, we remember fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, and those whose names we don’t know and may never know,” he said. “As we move from the past, we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us and we use their life to carry on in the future.”

But there are many who fought against condemnation and fought for those with AIDS who have given up the fight, Msgr. Gracz said.

“In the present, there is much work to be done,” he said. “There are some in the past that have burned out. But for whatever they gave we are grateful. Our role tonight is to use that—to say what can we give so we can go forward, so we can move people?”

Msgr. Gracz said that celebrating the Mass of Remembrance was an important step toward bringing people together.

“May this gathering tonight be a sign of love to share, to be given to those who suffer pain, given to those with a shock of new discovery of infection, and given to those families who are caring and nurturing,” he said.

During the prayers of the faithful, the members of the congregation spoke aloud the names of those they had lost to AIDS. But perhaps the most moving moment of the Mass came when Irene Miranda, HIV/AIDS ministry coordinator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, asked the congregation to stand and mention the number of people they were remembering that evening. One by one, people stood up, some knowing only one person, others mentioning six, one man who works with AIDS patients, over 1,000.

Miranda said she estimated that the Mass was attended by about 70 people and said she was pleased with the result as it was the first archdiocesan AIDS Mass.

“This is something that has been long overdue in the diocese, that the archdiocese gives a blessing on the AIDS ministries,” she said. “I think sometimes the AIDS ministries in the parishes don’t get the sense that the larger church is on a journey with them. One of our biggest goals is to connect the little networks of ministries throughout the archdiocese.”

Joan Moore, a parishioner at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Atlanta and a member of the archdiocesan HIV/AIDS advisory board, began working with people with AIDS in the ‘80s when little was known about the disease.

“I worked in the medical field … I remember seeing one (caregiver) who just looked so ragged. She told me, ‘I’m just so tired.’ I told her, ‘When you get too tired, give me a call,’ and she did. I’d go over for just a few hours, and I’d take my kids,” she said.

Moore believes that it is a ministry to which God has called her.

“Sometimes I just really feel that the Lord has gotten me to do this,” she said. “It’s because of Him that I have compassion, that I’m not judgmental. I don’t burn out. It’s the Lord keeping me going.”

Miranda, who began serving in the archdiocese a little over a year ago, hopes that others will avoid that “burnout” that Msgr. Gracz referred to in his homily, and that others will begin to see the need.

“I hope as we grow and have more participation, it will encourage other people to get involved in AIDS ministry,” she said. “As people begin to realize that this is a mainstream ministry, parishes need to ask themselves if it is time to create their own ministry ... As ministries become more visible, we will really begin to see the overwhelming amount of people who are in need.”

For more information about the HIV/AIDS ministry in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, call Irene Miranda at (404) 885-7207 or visit the Web site at www.atlantaaidsministry.org.