Marcos Vilariño
On Sunday, July 30, 2023, the Oblate Youth of the Mediterranean Province, still in Pozuelo preparing for WYD in Lisbon, had a morning full of small workshops to deepen their understanding of the charism. Marcos gives us the highlights of their last day in Pozuelo.
We broke out into small groups, and for an hour and a half, we discussed six major themes: vocations, the care for our common home, the community, youth for youth, evangelization and the poor, and the question of who are the young Oblates.
Afterward, we gathered with the rest of the community in front of the monument to our martyrs and celebrated the Holy Eucharist presided by none other than Fr. Chicho, our Superior General.
In his beautiful homily, he stressed three main points based on the readings of the XVII Sunday in Ordinary Time:
1) We must recognize that the hidden treasure and the precious pearl Jesus mentions in the Gospel is Himself and to see how, when one discovers it, one leaves everything to place it at the center of one’s life, just like the Martyrs did.
2) We must always ask the Lord, like Solomon, for a docile heart and the gift of discernment of good and evil.
3) As Christians, we should not forget, as St. Paul tells us, that for those whom God loves, everything works for good because we are called by baptism to be the image of Jesus for each other.
After this beautiful family meeting, we had a free afternoon for whoever wanted to visit Madrid. Our meeting ended in the evening, with our hearts already looking towards Lisbon, with a moment of celebration. We are now ready for what awaits us next week!
We will set out for the Portuguese capital, keeping in our hearts those words that echoed in the recent Oblate General Chapter, which Fr. Chicho passionately reminds us: “We are pilgrims of hope in communion.”
Marcos is a young man from the parish of San Leandro (Madrid), a nursing student and animator of Oblate youth groups.
Click here for the video of the homily of the Superior General, in Italian and Spanish
