«Convert the heart, rekindle the baptismal light and illuminate the darkest situations in our life and life in the world», involving the family and parish communities in Lenten activities that put into practice the Pastoral Program of the Diocese»: this is the invitation made by D. Manuel Neto Quintas, Bishop of the Algarve , in the message he sent to all parishes and all Algarve Christians.
"Lent," says the Algarvian prelate, is "a favorable time for us to accept, with a more available heart, the calls of the Word of God and to be ready to progress, in a more intense way, in personal conversion."
For this reason, Christians must, in this particular time of preparation for Easter, “welcome Christ alive and risen into their own lives, or allow themselves to be welcomed by him (...). And proclaiming him and witnessing to him is, for this very reason, our joy and our happiness».
In this sense, and following up on the proposals that make up the Pastoral Program, the Bishop of Algarve stresses the need to announce the Gospel in the family, since the Word and the figure of Christ are the foundations for the construction of the house on the rock (cf. Mt 7,24, central theme of this year's Pastoral Program), that is, of Christian life where “a “missionary action capable of transforming everything”» is the mark of those who make «the decision to embark on a path of pastoral and missionary conversion , “who cannot leave things as they are”».
One of the strongest signs of the Lenten spirit for Christians is fraternal sharing, the result of “Lent renunciation”, which unites all Algarve Catholics annually in an expression of solidarity with those most in need.
This year, D. Manuel Neto Quintas announces that this Lenten resignation will be aimed at supporting the community of Rogil (Aljezur). "This community has long been committed to having its own space that meets its most basic needs, at the level of catechesis and deepening of the faith, celebration of worship, personal welcome and the promotion of charity," explained the Bishop and asks everyone to commit themselves, as happened in 2017, when around 18 euros were gathered to help the community of the Vicariate of Pedra Mourinha to be closer to the completion of its project to build a pastoral complex, which it does part the parish church.
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