The tourist and Catholic population of La Puerta, entrance to the Andean mountains, was the place chosen by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (RCC) of Venezuela to carry out the National Retreat for priests.
More than fifty priests, accompanied by Monsignor Ramón Aponte, Bishop of Valle de La Pascua and National Advisor of this apostolic movement, were from Tuesday June 22 to Thursday June 23 dedicated to prayer, reflection and fraternal coexistence. The guiding theme of the meeting was about spirituality in synodality. In addition to the Archbishop of Cumaná and president of the Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Jesús González de Zárate, the reflections were given by Monsignor Roberto Sipols and Father Badoglio Durán.
The participants arrived on Monday the 20th early in the morning from the following archdioceses and dioceses: Maracaibo, San Felipe, Cabimas, Calabozo, Ciudad Bolívar, Maracay, San Carlos, Barinas, Guarenas, Valle de La Pascua, Caracas, Mérida, Carora, Guanare, Los Teques, Ciudad Guayana, Barquisimeto, Barcelona, Valencia, San Cristóbal, Cumaná and Trujillo. The coordinator of the event was the priest José Gregorio Ángel, parish priest of San Juan Bosco in Valera and diocesan advisor to the permanent diaconate. He was accompanied in organizing the retreat by a team of delegates from the Charismatic Renewal at the national level and from the diocese of Trujillo.
Spirituality in Synodality
On Monday, the priests and His Excellency Mons. Ramón José Aponte Fernández arrived, who accompanied the entire event and presided over several Eucharists. The first day was to locate the priests and rest from the trip. The program of the retreat included the common recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, guided reflections, times of silence for personal prayer and confessions, songs of animation and praise together with group prayers, the Eucharist with the local community and a community pilgrimage to the Shrine. Infant Jesus of Blessed José Gregorio Hernández in the town of Isnotú.
“It was truly a wonderful day in which we not only enjoyed being and sharing together as brother priests and resting a bit from pastoral work, but also experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit who has anointed and consecrated us as ministers of the Lord to serve with true charism of charity to the people of God. All the moments during the retreat, from the small spaces to share in conversations to the most intense activities, we live in a warm atmosphere of spirituality and priestly fraternity”, said Father José Gregorio Ángel, coordinator of the event.
The events formally began on Tuesday 21 at seven in the morning. During the intense day, the Hon. Bishop Jesús González de Zárate, archbishop of Cumaná and president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference. In the three teachings of the day and during the homily of the Holy Mass, the prelate spoke about the challenges of building a synodal Church that lives in permanent communion, participation and mission”.
In the evening of that day, the participants made a pilgrimage to the Niño Jesús Sanctuary of Blessed Dr. José Gregorio Hernández in Isnotú. They arrived from La Puerta at 5:30 and were greeted with the ringing of bells and greetings by the priests and parishioners of the place. After the welcome, they toured the oratory where Dr. Hernández was born, the temple dedicated to the Divine Child that belonged to the Blessed, and the museum of Dr. José Gregorio Hernández. Bishops and priests concelebrated the Holy Mass, prayed and received details from the parish where they also shared dinner and had time to tour the facilities of the place.
Wednesday’s central theme was “The challenges of charismatic renewal in the light of Sacred Scripture. In the afternoon the theme was about the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit”. Both the talks and the colloquium were directed by the well-known priest from Barquisimeto Badoglio Duran. The Eucharist was celebrated with the Catholic community of La Puerta who attended their parish church in large numbers to accompany and share with the distinguished guests.
For the last day of the priestly retreat, Monsignor Roberto Sipols was invited as a preacher who had a pleasant conversation with the priests about “how we train people, especially those who have important responsibilities in the ecclesial community.” The two teachings of the day and that of the Holy Mass were given by the well-known preacher. Monsignor Sipols was also present in the San Juan Bosco de Valera parish and visited the Isnotú Sanctuary on pilgrimage.
The retreat ended after lunch on Thursday the 23rd. The next national retreat for priests organized by the RCC will be in the sixteenth of Maracay.
The coordinating father, José Gregorio Ángel, expressed his satisfaction with the event and took the opportunity to thank the support of the Bishop of Trujillo, Monsignor José Trinidad Fernández; he highlighted the availability of the bishops and priests who facilitate the reflections; the kindness and solidarity of the parish priest of La Puerta Gildardo Villareal and his pastoral team, the laity who dedicated themselves to intercessory prayer and who collaborated with the logistics, to the inns of La Puerta where the priests stayed, to the animation team , to the national committee and council of the RCC, to Father Digner González and the diocesan council of the RCC, to the advisory bishops, to the media who helped with publicity, to the priests of the diocese who supported the event, to the San Juan Bosco de Valera parish and the residents of La Puerta who collaborated to carry out the retreat.
Diocese of Trujillo Press
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