ASIA/CHINA - Evangelization is the Lenten theme for the small Catholic community of Gui Lin, who have no parish church or priest, but continue growing in the faith

Gui Lin (Agenzia Fides) – Some 90 Catholics of the tiny village located at 70 km from the city of Gui Lin, in the Autonomous Region of Guang Xi Zhuangzu, in the southern portion of the continent, was able to celebrate the First Sunday of Lent with a priest, a seminarian, and several laymen active in the evangelization effort. Fr. Li Chang Guo, Pastor of the Parish in Gui Lin, thought of the far-off faithful, without a church or a priest in residence, and was moved to visit them. Thus, on the First Sunday of Lent, he set off to visit the “little flock,” to celebrate Mass, administer the Sacraments, and bring them spiritual materials on religious themes such as “What is evangelization?”, “How to pray”, “How to live the faith,” “Why participate in Mass”...
Along with a seminarian and 3 lay faithful, he set off for the town in spite of the cold and rain. They prayed along with the 40 faithful and 6 catechumens present, praying that the Lord would grant them a Church, no matter how small, where the Lord could dwell among them. In his homily during the Mass, Fr. Li told the faithful not to give up hope in the face of difficulties. On the contrary: “you should pray more, evangelize more. It is a great joy to see 6 catechumens. We should pray more frequently together, fast, make sacrifices, charity, and authentic conversion. Let us invoke the Lord, asking that soon the day may come that we can welcome all the Lord's sheep into the true temple of God and that the work of evangelization may continue on, with ever greater intensity.” (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 13/03/2009)