Bishops encourage prayer and reflection during Holy Week

Lima, Peru, Apr 20, 2011 / 16:03 pm

Numerous bishops in Latin America are calling on Catholics to spend Holy Week in prayer and reflection.
 
Archbishop Javier del Rio of Arequipa, Peru recalled in his message for Holy Week: “Our lives originate in the death of Christ; our healing, in his wounds; our elevation to heaven, in his descent into hell.

“Our existence as Christians is founded and built upon this certainty,” he said.
 
“God will pass on this Holy Week in order to save us. Let us be prepared. Let us deeply experience the liturgies of these days so that we can experience in the deepest part of our being that Christ has overcome death and allows us to share in his immortal life,” the archbishop continued.
 
Bishop Jorge Lozano of Gualeguaychu, Argentina exhorted Catholics to shun the distractions of ads promoting tourism and consumerism.  He said Catholics should take advantage of these “days for prayer, reflection, to see and to listen, to celebrate the faith, to renew their joy of being children of God.”
 
In the April 16 edition of his program “Keys to a Better World, “Archbishop Hector Aguer of La Plata, Argentina said Christ came and established a kingdom “not through the force of arms” or though the decision of democratic parliament, but rather “through the simple force of faith and love.”
 
“So it is Christians who are called, through the very exercise of their lives of faith, to begin transforming society so that it becomes the Kingdom of Christ,” he said.