This past weekend, January 17, 18 and 19, the provincial retreat of the permanent deacons was held in the parish of the Holy Spirit, in San Nicolás de los Garza, attended by representatives of the dioceses of Saltillo. , Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Victoria, Piedras Negras, Matamoros, Linares and Tampico.
The retreat was led by Fray José Gabriel Mesa, Dominican Friar of Colombia, who is a student of the permanent diaconate, a tireless collaborator in multiple training processes on this ministry throughout Latin America. He has collaborated in continental meetings of the diaconate, and also with the International Center of the diaconate
In an interview for Pastoral Siglo XXI, Fray Gabriel shared with us about this meeting with the permanent deacons, with those who are preparing in formation and their respective wives.
“We have just lived a wonderful experience, a spiritual retreat meeting with the deacons and students of the Archdiocese of Monterrey, also from some other dioceses of this ecclesiastical province, we have had the opportunity to share in a very warm, also very profound way, some central themes of diaconal spirituality.”
“We have had the opportunity to recognize how the diakonia of Christ is above all humility and service, we have also been able to see how family life, marital life is a privileged place to know and deepen the diaconal ministry within the Church.”
“We also had the opportunity to work on diaconal spirituality, a fascinating topic, which helps us recognize that all this humble service also requires formation, preparation and a disposition of life to truly be joyful witnesses of the Good. News of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.”
“We have also had the opportunity to look at an ancient profile, but one that projects us a little into the future, which is a saint from the fourth century, Saint Ephrem the Cirio, who narrates to us in a poetic, symbolic way, everything which means the theology of hope sung in hymns.”
“The best thing has been the experience of fraternity, the experience of encounter, the possibility of feeling that we are church, that we walk together, that we are focused on the service of the people of God, in this Jubilee year of Hope, that Hope does not let us down, that we can truly continue following the path of the Church.”
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