While the world media are once again aiming their cameras at the situation in the Middle East, the Franciscans of the Custody wanted to remember the victims of the two earthquakes that hit Haiti and Chile.
Friar Sergio Olmedo, of Chilean nationality, presided over the Sunday Mass on March 21; he was assisted by Friar Raúl Fernando Dinamarca, also a Chilean, and many South Americans had joined the assembly.
For Friar Sergio, who resides at the convent of Saint John in the Desert in Ein Karem, is the spiritual counselor for the Spanish-speaking diplomats. He took the initiative for this commemoration, to which the faithful of Saint John in the Desert and the convent’s benefactors were invited. Friar Sergio was supported in his undertaking by the custodial vicar, Artemio Vitores, and the commemoration took place at Saint Savior’s in Jerusalem, where those assisting were welcomed by the guardian, Father Antoni Szlachta.
In the first rows of those assisting, the presence of Chile’s ambassador to Israel, Ms. Irene Broffman, could be noted, as well as the ambassador who represents Chile with the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Jose Miguel de la Cruz, the ambassadors representing Argentina and Brazil with the Palestinian Authority, the ambassadors of Ecuador and Peru to Israel, the consul of Chile, Francisco Carvajal, and the consular minister for Chile, Jorge Ossa, the consul general for Spain, and the military attachés of Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
In his homily, Friar Sergio called to mind the importance of nature in the spirituality of Saint Francis. “Today’s gospel shows us a merciful Jesus who forgives, but who also invites to sin no more. This gesture of Jesus must lead us to a true conversion of the heart. We are called to keep our hearts pure and to protect what God has asked us to administer, which is to say, the creation that is God’s work. The planet is suffering, the earth is suffering because we are ill, we have become infected with a virus that has damaged the most precious thing we have: this world that God has created.
We must realize the message that God is giving us through these disasters and calamities. It is time to care for the wounds that are becoming worse every day because of our indifference. Let us pray that the Lord will redeem all the pain that we deserve because of our own faults.”
At the end of the commemorative celebration, the family of South America took time to meet one another and to exchange news in the courtyard of Saint Savior’s, that was bathed in sunlight.
Mab
Friar Sergio Olmedo, of Chilean nationality, presided over the Sunday Mass on March 21; he was assisted by Friar Raúl Fernando Dinamarca, also a Chilean, and many South Americans had joined the assembly.
For Friar Sergio, who resides at the convent of Saint John in the Desert in Ein Karem, is the spiritual counselor for the Spanish-speaking diplomats. He took the initiative for this commemoration, to which the faithful of Saint John in the Desert and the convent’s benefactors were invited. Friar Sergio was supported in his undertaking by the custodial vicar, Artemio Vitores, and the commemoration took place at Saint Savior’s in Jerusalem, where those assisting were welcomed by the guardian, Father Antoni Szlachta.
In the first rows of those assisting, the presence of Chile’s ambassador to Israel, Ms. Irene Broffman, could be noted, as well as the ambassador who represents Chile with the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Jose Miguel de la Cruz, the ambassadors representing Argentina and Brazil with the Palestinian Authority, the ambassadors of Ecuador and Peru to Israel, the consul of Chile, Francisco Carvajal, and the consular minister for Chile, Jorge Ossa, the consul general for Spain, and the military attachés of Argentina, Mexico and Chile.
In his homily, Friar Sergio called to mind the importance of nature in the spirituality of Saint Francis. “Today’s gospel shows us a merciful Jesus who forgives, but who also invites to sin no more. This gesture of Jesus must lead us to a true conversion of the heart. We are called to keep our hearts pure and to protect what God has asked us to administer, which is to say, the creation that is God’s work. The planet is suffering, the earth is suffering because we are ill, we have become infected with a virus that has damaged the most precious thing we have: this world that God has created.
We must realize the message that God is giving us through these disasters and calamities. It is time to care for the wounds that are becoming worse every day because of our indifference. Let us pray that the Lord will redeem all the pain that we deserve because of our own faults.”
At the end of the commemorative celebration, the family of South America took time to meet one another and to exchange news in the courtyard of Saint Savior’s, that was bathed in sunlight.
Mab