On July 19-22, 2018, about forty young people from the youth ministry program at our Jesús de Nazaret parish in Curicó, Chile, gathered for the second consecutive year to do missionary work in the village of Pencahue, Chile.
On July 19, the young people began their journey towards a new faith experience with the motto: “Eucharist: Center of Fraternity and Communion”.
The young people were accompanied by Friars Tullio PASTORELLI, Ramón ZÁS GARCÍA, Augusto Esteban URZÚA GONZÁLES and a postulant, Eduardo BARRERA, from the Provincial Delegation in Chile of the Italian Province of St. Anthony of Padua. The group took part in various activities: doing door to door missionary work, spending afternoons with children, praying the Rosary with the community and building a house for a family in the village. It all concluded on July 22 with Mass at the Inmaculada Concepción church in Pencahue. The Pastor, Father Cristian AVENDAÑO presided, with the community in attendance.
The young people of our parish spent time doing missionary work and interior formation based on the theme of the Eucharistic Congress that we as the Chilean Church are carrying out. There was plenty of fraternity between the missionaries and the people of the village, it was a joyful experience filled with the energy typical of young people, transmitting the spirit of work among each other, to build the Church we desire and to which God calls us. The young people returned to their homes very motivated to live their lives as Eucharist.
Of course, it is not always easy to maintain a Eucharistic spirit in one’s heart; we must learn to thank God for the little things in life and the big things, too. We must learn to celebrate and rejoice with simplicity for what we have, to share bread with the poorest, to love without expecting anything in return. This is the work that the young missionaries hope to keep doing after they complete their mission. We know it is not easy, but we are comforted by the certain knowledge that Jesus is always with us. With him, everything is possible!
Friar Jack GINTING