A Vacation of Tragedy and Faith

During these vacation months our country has lived through sad tragedies that have brought mourning to many Venezuelan homes. While crime continues unchecked, taking many lives, we see that the “hell” of the prisons goes on. This year we again had problems with the rains: more bridges collapsed, more roads gave way and so on, cutting off several regions of the country. Many people who planned to enjoy their vacation here saw their plans ruined, not to mention the endless hours of traffic on the way to and from their destinations. As if that weren’t enough, last week we had the terrible tragedy at Amuay. When you live through all this and feel great pain at seeing our people suffer and the country we live in falling to pieces, you can lose hope. But we must never lose hope!

Just as we have lived through terrible things this vacation, we have also seen, once again!, how many Venezuelans are volunteering to help the victims of the Amuay tragedy through collection centers.

Something else that gives us great hope is the expressions of faith that have filled the vacations of many young Venezuelans. Last July, in Valencia, almost 10,000 young people gathered for the National Youth Meeting, ENAJÓ 2012, despite one of the rainiest weekends of the year. They used their free time to share experiences with young people from every corner of the country who are practicing and deepening their faith in their parishes and helping their neighbors. It was a gathering where they were filled with great strength and hope to keep going in a country with many problems, and to keep laying the firm foundations, rooted in Christ, that will lead us to live in a country with Justice and Peace for EVERYONE.

Now that September is coming, many young people will continue to spend their vacation serving others and taking part in more expressions of faith. The Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Guanare is inviting them to the First Youth Meeting with Our Mother, the Virgin of Coromoto. This September marks 360 years since her apparition and 60 years since her canonical coronation as Patroness of Venezuela. It is worth remembering that Pope Pius XII declared the Virgin of Coromoto “Patroness of Venezuela” on October 7, 1944.

For this 360th anniversary of the Virgin’s appearance to the Indian Coromoto, the Diocese of Guanare is organizing a great Vigil from 6:00 p.m. on September 7 to 6:00 a.m. on September 8, near the National Shrine of Our Lady of Coromoto in Guanare, where young people from all over the country will join in one voice and one message of Peace and Love to celebrate the bond between our mother Mary and ALL the people of Venezuela. At dawn on September 8 the Holy Eucharist will be celebrated to give thanks to God and joyfully mark the occasion.

To attend, you only need to let the organizers know in advance so that the event’s volunteers can welcome you. From Caracas, the Youth Ministry of Antímano is organizing a group to attend; anyone who needs information can write to me.

And the expressions of faith this month don’t end there. Here in Caracas we will celebrate the first anniversary of the enthronement of the Virgin of Coromoto as “Patroness of Caracas,” and young people from the different parishes, movements and schools are being invited to the Solemn Masses that will be celebrated in the capital on September 11 in honor of Our Lady of Coromoto.

As you can see, this vacation has been full of problems, of hard work and of many expressions of faith. We Venezuelan Catholics know that amid so many shadows we can be signs of light and hope in our beloved Homeland. We know that today, more than ever, we must work and pray insistently for PEACE in our country, so that God, through the Virgin of Coromoto, may grant us to live with dignity, in fraternity, solidarity, respect and unity at all times, and very especially this coming October 7 (the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary), when the presidential elections will be held. God and the Virgin will protect our nation! Let us ask them earnestly, as good children of God in need; He will hear us, fill ALL of us with abundant graces and blessings, and protect us from all evil.