Mission in Portugal

Last week the school flew to Lisbon for the third annual International Congress for the New Evangelization. The theme of the week was "Cristo Vivo" - Christ is Alive - and the purpose of the congress was to bring together Catholics from all over Europe and the world and to set about proclaiming the light of Christ to the people of the city of Lisbon. In the mornings everyone taking part in the congress, I think it was about 2000 people, met at the Monastery of Jeronimos, a gorgeous 16th century church. We listened to various people talk about the ways in which the living Christ can and does bring about healing and fullness of life to each person and to all areas of society. We also celebrated mass with the the bishops of each of the five cities which have hosted or will host this congress - Vienna (2003), Paris (2004), Lisbon, Brussels (2006), and Budapest (2007).

Then in the afternoons during the week, our school did a mission at Vasco de Gama, in what is essentially a large outdoor shopping center and a hub for trains and buses. We had a tent with adoration of our Lord in the Eucharist, with a sign outside that said "Jesus is here!" and we invited people to pray there, or we just simply talked to them and gave them fliers for the procession that Saturday with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. This statue would be leaving Fatima for only the third time ever, so it was a really big deal. The procession was amazing, there was somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million people out there in the cold, praying the rosary, peacefully walking along with their candles (or their umbrellas, as the Lord sent us two short, symbolic rain showers during the procession). The cardinal of Lisbon consecrated the city to Our Lady and said some beautiful prayers for families and young women. Then he said for us to listen to what Mary said at the wedding at Cana - "Do whatever He tells you"! It was wonderful to be there.

All of us stayed with host families from a parish in Portela, an hour long bus ride from downtown. It was amazing, they treated us like their own children. The Portuguese people are really lovely, extremely generous and welcoming. I can't wait to go back for a longer visit.