AMERICA/VENEZUELA -
Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - "Yes to life and no to death!" is the call launched by Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas (Venezuela) in his Lenten message published on March 9. Cardinal Urosa reminds the faithful that Lent this year coincides with the initial stage of the Continental Mission, "which is a great project of personal and community renewal for the entire Church in Latin America and the Caribbean." The theme in Caracas is "Open your heart to Jesus Christ!," words of Servant of God John Paul II, with which "he encouraged us to truly live our faith in Jesus, the eternal Son of God, made man for our salvation."
Opening our hearts, the Prelate said, "first of all, means believing in Him, just as He has presented Himself to us." Therefore, "we should not reduce Him to simply another famous person out of history, or use Him in the name of a certain political system." In this sense, he recalls that "identification with any socio-political system, lacks scientific basis, distortions the historic and religious reality of the Lord Jesus and is unacceptable for our faith. No political or economic system can present Jesus as its justification, model, or leader."
Opening hearts also means "living in accord with his Word, which is Word of Eternal Life, and walking towards true happiness."
He then continued by making a special invitation in this Lent, to reject all that has to do with violence: hate, anger, aggressiveness, discord, greed, injustice, etc. "In the face of the uncontrolled violence that has brought tears and mourning to so many Venezuelan homes...as Catholics, we reaffirm the sacredness of human life and the respect due each person." Thus, he invites all the faithful to strengthen their profound convictions on this point and recalls that these crimes "should be sanctioned with the firmness that corresponds to the Constitution and laws." The consummation and trafficking of drugs should also be fought against, as it is the root cause of many of these crimes. In this regards, "the Government...has a serious obligation to protect the life and patrimony of the entire country." The Archbishop encourages those who have followed a path of crime and delinquency to "change their lives, have a heartfelt conversion, and reintegrate themselves into society with respect for the right to life and the property of all citizens." "Let us all join in saying: 'Yes to life and no to death!'" the Cardinal said.
He concluded his exhortation with an invitation to the faithful to take full advantage of Lent to return to the Sacraments, sources of life and salvation, and to be generous in the special collection for the "Share" Campaign, which this year will go towards the refugees who have come to Venezuela seeking protection. In Caracas, "we will send the proceeds to the Refugee Offices of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference, as well as those of the Jesuit Fathers."
(RG) (Agenzia Fides 10/03/2009)
