Ecuador August 2017
Meeting Cardinal Reinhard Marx and the Outdoor Mass
Here it is the last message from Ecuador before leaving.
Today we were blessed with the visit of Cardinal Reinhard Marx who wanted to visit personally the places devastated by the earthquake and know the ongoing aid plan. Among these I had the opportunity to talk about St Columba Parish and our contribution as a parish community of the Northampton Diocese. The Cardinal prays for us and addresses to you his thanks with my bishop’s one, too.
And at the end I celebrated an outdoor Mass (see the pictures below), where I prayed for you all. Especially, this Sunday this is an invitation for us according with the daily Gospel to be always merciful, kind and affectionate with our neighbor, and to practice the forgiveness that comes from the heart.
Happy to see you again, my dear brothers and sisters!
In fiducia cordis,
Fr Alessandro Renò
The Final Voice from Ecuador (4)
Dear Brother and Sisters,
My time here in Ecuador is coming to the end.
After a few days of rest visiting some of the places of the country still unknow to me, I'm organizing with Fr Geovanny the first helps through the distribution of the material we are buying thanks our monthly donation (see the pictures below).
I'm already seeing how much our donation can do to help people to recover after the earthquake.
How nice and touching is to see the people here who thank you, St Columba's Community. They are trying to immagine the faces of you all, the people that are donating with generous heart, embracing them by giving hope, helping them bring the Cross, eliminating from it the suffering, transforming it into a sign of Love.
"Gracias de corazón" is the expression that I'm listening every day and that I 'm echoing till you.
Thank you by the deep part of my heart, dear St Columba's, dear son and daughter of God.
¡Nos vemos el proximo domingo!
In fiducia cordis,
Fr Alessandro Renò
Voice from Ecuador (3)
Dear Brothers and Sisters of St Columba,
The Youth Archdiocesan Meeting is over. The reflection theme was:
"The Almighty has done great things in me"
Being sure of the great gift that God gives to all, has made reflect more than 1500 young people from all corners of the archdiocese and to identify its being and its mission.
It has been a miracle to see so many young people gather together, praying, laughing, reflecting, singing... (see the pictures below)
How do I manifest my commitment to be a collaborator in the construction of the Kingdom? A question that these young people of 16/24 year old, asked themself, but that is a current question for all of us.
We pray that the Father, allow us to recognize in Jesus, the Messiah who overcomes the forces of evil and, with his message builds the Kingdom of love. Amen!
Hasta la proxima semana!
In fiducia cordis,
Fr Alessandro Renò
Voice from Ecuador (2)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We are almost ready to start the meeting of the young people. How much hope there is in those little Children of God, the future generation of Christians. And that reinforces in me the conviction that it is necessary to continue encouraging young people to be healthy “virus” of joy, enthusiasm and simplicity to infect us in our tiredness.
I also had the possibility to visit some poor families of the parish and they welcomed me with a big heart. I keep you in my prayers, so that the Lord Jesus may give us courage and persistence to feel His call and to anounce and welcome in our parish community even those who are not like us but who carry within them the image of the living God.
By the way, yesterday (Thursday 10 Aug) Fr Geovanny spoke during the homily about the experience in St Columba and the generosity of the Parish to help people here. There was a lot of excitement and gratitude.
I had my first meeting with the group coordinator of the Youth meeting and after they decided to record a video for our parish...
They were so happy knowing about a possibility to receive a visit from some of you next year with Bishop Peter...
Today I'm going to visit a place where the young can stay during the meeting...It is called "youth village " it is a place for retreat and meeting for young people in a kind of western style...
¡Hasta la proxima semana!
In fiducia cordis,
Fr Alessandro Renò
Voice from Ecuador (1)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
After a long (13hrs by flight and 2 and 1/2hrs by car) but very calm journey, here I am in Ecuador in my diocese. Fr Geovanny was at the airport to welcome me and it was a lovely surprise to receive a very good welcome from my bishop and the other vicars too. It seems they were waiting for my arrival. After good jokes about my age according with my behaviour, we planned the work for next days.
In the coming days, I will meet the youth and the families... see the pictures below.
Keep praying for me as I'll do for you with these words: Strengthen our faith, Lord, which shakes itself during the uncertainties of the world. Keep your hand in our moments of doubt. Amen"
¡Hasta pronto!
Fr Alessandro
