By Jose Luis Aguirre
El Heraldo Católico

The song performed by the youth group at the festive church gathering was about familiar themes — a virgin birth in a stable, a child laying in a manger, a little boy playing his drum.

This was not a Christmas pageant, however, nor was it the traditional yuletide tune of “The Little Drummer Boy.” It was early May, and the song was a modern “rap music” rendition that bore little lyrical resemblance to the original aside from the obligatory “pah-rum-pum-pum-pum.”

      The people just laughed, “Why did you come?
      Is that all you’ve got is that little old drum?”
      But the madre del hijo said, “Let him play,
      this is his day to play for my son.”

Father Masseo Gonzales, a Conventual Franciscan priest better known to many as El Padrecito, performs with Hiz-Kidz during a celebration at St. Paul Parish in San Pablo. JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE PHOTO

Presented during a Cinco de Mayo celebration at St. Paul Parish in San Pablo, the performance by the parish’s “Hiz-Kidz” rap youth group was an interpretation of “Drummer Boy,” the newest rap tune composed and directed by Father Masseo Gonzales, a Conventual Franciscan priest better known to many as El Padrecito.
The Mexican-American celebration also marked the anniversary of the founding of Hiz-Kidz one year ago. It is a ministry so close to Father Gonzales’ heart that the former associate pastor of St. Paul’s returns to San Pablo every other week to work with the group even though his present parish assignment is at St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno, Nevada. Assisting him since the founding of the Catholic rap group is Arturo Cruz, a professional rap artist from Richmond, which also happens to be Father Gonzales’ hometown.

It is part of El Padrecito’s larger ministry that reaches out to inner-city youths to help them avoid or break out of the culture of gangs, drugs and violence that afflicts so many young people today.

“I have seen many changes in the kids,” said Father Gonzales regarding the fruits of Hiz-Kidz. “Their self-esteem has improved a lot. They have fun singing and learning the lyrics, which all have positive messages. We would not know where they would be today if they were not involved with El Padrecito ministries and Hiz-Kidz.”
The success of this work can be verified in part by examining the improved academic achievement of the young people he reaches.

“Some of them have graduated from high school, a good achievement considering that many young people drop out of school and many others cannot overcome the difficulties of the language,” Father Gonzales said.

Like a considerable proportion of modern rap — a musical style characterized by spoken rhyming and rhythmic lyrics, usually with persistent but sparse musical accompaniment — El Padrecito’s “Drummer Boy” includes semi-autobiographical elements. Within its lyrics Father Gonzales also tells of his own near-tragic involvement with gangs as a youth, a self-reference meant to demonstrate that he understands the inner-city gang culture because he’s been there.

      I wasn’t born a priest
      I was raised in the ’hood
      and I know it ain’t good…
      What I preach in the form of a flow
      I learned it from the streets, it’s coming from my soul…

“Sometimes people think that because I am priest, I was born a priest. Then the young people do not connect themselves with the Father because they think he does not understand their reality,” said Father Gonzales.

“In my song, I explain that I was born and raised in Richmond and that I am one of them, one of the neighborhood,” he said

Born into a large family, young Robert Gonzales had to overcome many obstacles, not the least of which was his own stubbornness, defiance and anger. He said he dropped out of school, hung around the streets of Richmond a lot, did a lot of “partying” and “cruising,” and landed himself in jail. Involved with gangs, he lost his lower right leg when it was crushed between two vehicles during an altercation. He was just 19 years old.

Father Gonzales eventually turned himself around, earned a college degree in Mexican-American studies, and traveled abroad to immerse himself in the Spanish language. He said he felt the call to the priesthood in the mid-1980s and finally was ordained a Conventual Franciscan priest in San Pablo in 1996, taking Masseo as his religious name. Since that time, he has been in demand for retreats and youth conferences in addition to his parish work.

Father Gonzales is also known as the “El Padrecito” figure in the “Homies” collection of small figurines that depict ordinary Hispanic characters and other racial and ethnic minorities. The “Homies” collection was the brainchild of Father Gonzales’ brother, David, and has been a commercial success. That character led to Father Gonzales’ online ministry, www.elpadrecito.com, where he offers counseling, support and networking for young people everywhere.

Already 30 young people who are part of Hiz-Kidz are developing into leaders and models for their peers. Armando Padilla, 17, said he was looking for a group like Hiz-Kidz because he is weary of the violence he sees in the streets.

“Many of my friends have been shot and it is very sad,” Padilla said. “I would like to encourage other young people to look for different alternatives.”

He compared the group to a family. “We spent time together singing and giving others a positive message, instead of spending time in the streets,” said Padilla, who has lost seven friends to violent acts in Richmond.

Gabriela Alonso, 18, said Hiz-Kidz provides a great opportunity for young people to stop violence.

“I would say to all the young people to fight for a better future, not to give up because otherwise everything is lost,” Alonso said.

For Jair Sandoval, 11, being part of Hiz-Kidz is an amazing experience because he can rap without using the profanity and negative messages that pepper many popular rap songs.

“Thanks to this group, I realized that we can do good things and help other young people to do the same,” Sandoval said.

Father Gonzales said he would like to tell every young person to consecrate his or her life to the Blessed Mother, “but I know that they would not listen to me.” So he offers a simpler message: Have enough self-esteem to live as brothers and sisters of Christ and to seek the plan that God has in mind for your life.

Hiz-Kidz is designed to encourage that outlook — an outlook El Padrecito wishes to share with many more young people, and not just on Cinco de Mayo.

“I would like to have our own recording studio, to do more live presentations, to appear in TV programs,” Father Gonzales said. “That’s why we continue fighting to reach our dreams.”

Readers who wish to donate to Hiz-Kidz may contact Father Masseo Gonzales at (805) 291-6771 or visit www.elpadrecito.org.

(Voice correspondent Gerald Korson contributed to this story.)

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