ASIA/VIETNAM - ‘Make Lent a time of prayer, sharing and evangelisation’ say Vietnamese Bishops

Wednesday, 10 March 2004

Ho Chi Minh City (Fides Service) - A call to live the Season of Lent as a good time for evangelisation has been issued by Bishops in Vietnam after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference declared 2004 the Year of Evangelisation”.
In a Lenten Pastoral Letter Cardinal Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man, Archbishop of Ho Chi Min City, told his people that prayer, fasting and acts of charity help find peace with self, communion with God and build good relations with neighbour.
The Cardinal said that living the Season of Lent as it should be lived is a way to proclaim the Good News: Catholics cannot proclaim the Gospel message effectively unless they pray and do the works that Jesus did. He urged Catholics to tend to their spiritual health by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, giving more time to prayer and meditating frequently on the Word of God.
“To fast - the letter says - is not only a question of eating or drinking less, or spending less. Fasting helps us overcome the temptation to be egoistic and uncharitable and it makes us able to follow Jesus in a mission of love and service ”.
The Cardinal encourages his people to give generously for the restoration of the diocesan minor seminary recently returned to the Church by the government. Once restored, besides serving for the pastoral formation of priests, religious and laity, the building will also be a centre of documentation on the Catholic Church and host cultural events.
Evangelisation was also the theme of a pastoral letter issued by Bishop Paul Bui Van Doc, Bishop My Tho, who said. “We must strive to use our words and our lives to proclaim the Good News of the Lord’s love and his Resurrection”, and he warned that very often words can be used to judge and calumniate neighbour.
Referring to abuse of alcohol and smoking, widespread in Vietnam, the Bishop recalled the Christian virtue of temperance which is a source of inner harmony, psychological and spiritual.
Lastly Bishop Paul Bui Van Doc urges his people to share what they have with the poor, including the farmers whose livelihood has been damaged by the recent outbreak of bird flu. It is estimated that because of bird flu 15% of Vietnam’s national production of poultry was destroyed with a loss of more than 700 million dollars and serious economic consequences for many families.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides, 10/3/2004 lines 43 words 435)


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