Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
AA
Gode (Agenzia Fides) - "Everything here is a mystery difficult to understand", says Father Angelo Antonlini, "What does the Lord want? Much remains incomprehensible, but he wants us to be there".
"This month that I am spending here in Gode, in the Somali desert, is important to live the challenge of first evangelization in silence, in work and in intimate communion with the Lord", writes Fr. Angelo Antolini, ofm cap., Apostolic Prefect of Robe, regarding this period spent in the mission in Gode, Somali area of the Prefecture.
"I experience more and more intensely the feeling of being there, of being present, in the midst of the small community with two friars and one Sister. The smoking lamp was kept burning by the gentle breath of the Holy Spirit".
"A few weeks ago a girl came to the mission, she was HIV-positive, an orphan, she grew up with the Missionaries of Charity in Addis Ababa. Bethleem helps us with so much zeal and simplicity," explains Father Antolini. "She teaches the children and I have entrusted her with full responsibility for the house, which she runs with seriousness and discretion. She is assisted by Tesemma and Abdella, my three missionaries… who are happy to be on the front lines of the gospel here. They do not receive aid, but a salary for their work. But they are not professional missionaries at work".
"I too have to imagine the mission differently, not so much with priests, religious, congregations, but with lay people: the simple believers, unprepared, without much study, but rooted in the culture because they are children of this land", concludes the Apostolic Prefect. (AA) (Agenzia Fides, 4/11/2022)
