YBYCUÍ. The devotees of the servant of God Father Julio César Ortellado celebrated in the San José parish, in this district, the 79th anniversary of his death. During the homily, Bishop Celestino Ocampo asked the authorities in power to try to imitate the life of the servant of God seeking the common good, building bridges in companies, repairing roads, and not only seek their personal, sectoral or supporters.
Bishop Ocampo referred to the Father Ortellado Duarte as an exemplary priest who has tried to live his faith with great spirituality, very concentrated and attached to prayer, the Eucharist and to God. He urged the authorities, especially those who are in charge of the institutions, to seek seek above all the common goodjust as Father Julio did, who cared about and took care of the common good of the companies, building roads and bridges.
Read More: They form a Historical Commission that will study the background of Father Julio César Duarte Ortellado
In this sense, he asked the authorities to think more about “our fellow brothers who have bad times, and to put aside personal, sectarian or partisan interests and let us worry about our people, so that our society, church, Paraguay and the world”.
Read More: They seek sanctification of Father Duarte Ortellado
He stated that Father Duarte Ortellado was an active religious, he carried out so many activities that he did not get tired, he kept his concentration. That is the secret, to maintain spirituality and cultivate faith in the inner life.
He said that today many priests are also active, but then they lose strength, some even gave up the priesthood, because if one does not cultivate the interior life little by little one weakens, loses enthusiasm, gets tired and falls by the wayside. .
This did not happen to father Julio because he always cultivated his inner life, he never neglected his spirituality and that is the driving force behind all his activities, because he united his heart and arms and stayed active and if he neglects that, he will feel exhausted. if you are not spiritually well.
He commented that he lived in union with God. This permanent state with God is the most admirable and meritorious because it is the most difficult in the case of a priest who lives in a world, walks with the world, although not like the world.
He stressed that as priests and Christians “we are called to live in the world, that is inevitable; external works, daily concerns, continuous failures, impertinence, sometimes of the faithful, frequent contact with worldly people, easily lead to the dispersion of meaning and the loss of interior life and often leads to final failure ”.
Multiple activities without a solid interior life have spoiled more than one priestly life. Father Julio built his works on the firm foundation of solid piety and on an unshakable foundation.
Father Ortellado, who died at the age of 37, devotedly lived the protocol of mercy, practiced the beatitudes to be an authentic follower of Jesus and set out on the path as a future holy priest, which he had dreamed of being since childhood. In his short life he did a lot spiritually and materially, church, hospital school, took care of the sick, looked for a dignified life for the families, Bishop Ocampo pointed out.