Mi ero illuso che fosse facile pregare insieme con i nostri fratelli e sorelle protestanti della Chiesa Evangelica (presenti in Guinea dal 1940). Mi ero fatto l'idea di una Chiesa aperta al mondo, pronta a dialogare con le altre denominazioni cristiane. Ho dovuto ricredermi. Incontrandomi con il loro presidente, il pastore José Paulo (di professione avvocato), mi sono sentito rispondere: "Nòs nao partilhamos a vossa ideologia ecumenica" (=Noi non condividiamo la vostra ideologia ecumenica). Ho avuto l'impressione che non stessimo nella stessa lunghezza d'onda, che il linguaggio non fosse lo stesso. Insomma, che il fratello evangelico avesse paura di qualche cosa. Pazienza, è un'occasione perduta. L'ecumenismo, per il momento, lo faremo soltanto noi cattolici, aspettando momenti migliori.
Ma l'idea della settimana di preghiera per l'unità dei cristiani non era nata da un protestante, lo scozzese Paul Watson?
segunda-feira, 24 de janeiro de 2011
domingo, 23 de janeiro de 2011
Mrs. Olympia, an exemple to follow
The story of Olympia
Sometimes you discover wonderful people near you, in your area. They are doing marvelous things without making noise, simply trying to put in practice the Gospel in everyday life. One of these people is Olympia.
She lives in my parish and I regularly meet her at mass, on Sundays. But I didn’t know about her private life until this year. Here is her story.
She grew up in an orphanage for girls, run by the Franciscan Sisters, at Bor, a little village near Cumura. She studied to become a teacher. At the end of her studies, she started immediately teaching (in primary school) and is still doing so. In the meantime, she got married to an army officer, who would later become general and be appointed Chief of the Army Staff in Guinea-Bissau. His name was Verissimo Correia Seabra. He was killed in 2004, during a rebellion within the army. They had a girl, who is presently living in France and is already married with three children.
She was deeply shocked by the death of her husband, whom she loved, but refused to give up. She had already started receiving motherless children in her home and she stubbornly continued to do so. They were giving her the force to believe in life and in God’s love.
She is presently living with thirteen children, all of them orphans coming from different families. She saved them from starvation, sickness and, probably, death. The oldest one is 20, the youngest is 3. They are all attending school, except for the little ones (who are five), because she hasn’t got the money to pay kindergarten for them.
Sometimes you discover wonderful people near you, in your area. They are doing marvelous things without making noise, simply trying to put in practice the Gospel in everyday life. One of these people is Olympia.
She lives in my parish and I regularly meet her at mass, on Sundays. But I didn’t know about her private life until this year. Here is her story.
She grew up in an orphanage for girls, run by the Franciscan Sisters, at Bor, a little village near Cumura. She studied to become a teacher. At the end of her studies, she started immediately teaching (in primary school) and is still doing so. In the meantime, she got married to an army officer, who would later become general and be appointed Chief of the Army Staff in Guinea-Bissau. His name was Verissimo Correia Seabra. He was killed in 2004, during a rebellion within the army. They had a girl, who is presently living in France and is already married with three children.
She was deeply shocked by the death of her husband, whom she loved, but refused to give up. She had already started receiving motherless children in her home and she stubbornly continued to do so. They were giving her the force to believe in life and in God’s love.
She is presently living with thirteen children, all of them orphans coming from different families. She saved them from starvation, sickness and, probably, death. The oldest one is 20, the youngest is 3. They are all attending school, except for the little ones (who are five), because she hasn’t got the money to pay kindergarten for them.
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