Holy Week: Viae crucis and resurrection!

 Holy Week: Viae crucis and resurrection!

Wednesday I left for the East: From Bangassou to Obo is 500 km, of bad roads. An average of 25 km per hour, and that's more than 20 hours of driving....

I leave together with Fr. Jerome, a Polish Franciscan. Fifty kilometers from Bangassou he asks me a favor: if we can stop by and say hello to a sick woman. I gladly agree. The woman, Marie, has been bedridden for almost 4 years, with an unknown disease that is paralyzing her lower limbs and partly her hands. Brother Jerome tells me that when he passes by, he asks her if she needs anything, and Marie always replies, "bring me the blessing," or "bring me the Eucharist." She is young, and has 10 children.

When we get to the village, her children arrive, greeting me with a joy full of dignity and love (I can't define it any better!).

We enter the house, and Marie greets us with a big smile: the kota bwa (bishop) has come to bring me a blessing! We chat for a while, and then I bless her and her children, who surround her beaming!

I leave-almost mortified for so much faith and so much love and so much joy! I take Marie with me on this journey, and on Holy Saturday, at the vigil, I speak about her to the Christians of Obo: a woman who allows herself to be resurrected by the Risen Christ!

On Friday we leave Zemio at 5:15 a.m. The first stop is Mboki, 130 km away. We arrive there at 10:15. With me is Abbé Brice, who returns here after two years. He had left in 2023, wounded in the arm by rebels who shot to kill him!

He returns to Mboki today for the first time!

And for the people of Mboki it is a moment of great joy and emotion.

This village has suffered violence and killings, and they have been carrying a heavy cross for years!

The rectory and the church were occupied by the blue helmets and the army military (FACA), and only now the church has been liberated.

I had sent a lot of cement, and the community repaired the altar and some pieces of the floor. And people cleaned up the church, and even gave a coat of lime (I didn't dare ask how they bought it!).

Abbé Brice is staying here for the triduum, and in view of the celebrations people have asked to bless and rededicate the church.

On Friday we do the blessing (and I will reconsecrate it on Tuesday when I return here to celebrate baptisms).

There are altar boys with the cross. And before blessing the church I ask those present to pass by, touch the cross and enter the church. It is a very intense moment: the Cross has remained the only hope that has sustained them during these very hard years, an example but also a companion of so many days and nights. And it is a lesson of Love and faith!

I leave Mboki moved and touched deeply.

Today is Good Friday, and I spend it in the car, but I am in good company!

I arrive at 2:30 p.m. in Obo, the furthest parish in the diocese.

And at 4 p.m. I celebrate the Good Friday service, in a church full of people.

And I watch as children jostle each other, young people, adults and the elderly proceed to the Cross, touch it, kiss it. It is a small cross of 25 cm... but it is so big! The greatest Sign of God's Love for us.

Among the last, comes dragging on his knees a woman who cannot walk. And last is a blind woman.

For everyone, the Christ on the Cross is a brother, a companion in Life.

Who did not go to the Cross by accident, but willed it for each of us.

On Saturday night, Holy Saturday, I celebrate the Great Vigil in the parish of Obo. And on Sunday morning I give baptism to more than 70 boys and girls, and 30 First Communions.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Unfortunately I can't post the photos, because of the very slow connection, but also because of a problem with Mr. Google...

Last week I left for Bangui on Tuesday, to return on Thursday. I urgently needed to see some of our priests.

On Friday I left for Gambo, a parish 75 km away. With the road repaired instead of taking 4 hours we got there in just 2!

I arrived with a priest, who is going to follow the parish for a few months, while we wait to find a new parish priest.

For this occasion, about thirty children from the Maman Tongolo Center, our orphan center, also came with us. The older ones came, under the guidance of Sister Yolande, and some older girls. They were a great addition to the expedition!

In the afternoon we participated in the Via Crucis, on the main road of the village.

On Saturday afternoon I presented the Jubilee of Hope, which was the purpose of my visit to this parish.

The next morning we celebrated Palm Sunday, with the blessing and the small procession to the parish.

After Mass I went to see a village 5 km away, where a small church is to be built.

We returned to Bangassou in the afternoon.

Today, Tuesday of Holy Week, we celebrated the Chrism Mass: it is a unique moment of the liturgy! The priests of the diocese gather around the Bishop, and renew their promises made on the day of ordination.  During the Mass I blessed the oils that will be used for the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, the one for catechumens, and the chrism (which is used for confirmations and priestly ordinations).

There were 21 priests present: all those who could came!

At the end of Mass I bleseds the new tabernacle, which the Carmelite community of Loano had offered for the cathedral of Bangassou.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16th, I will be leaving for the East. I will celebrate Holy Thursday in Zemio, and Good Friday in Mboki, to arrive in Obo for the Easter Vigil. I will then continue to other villages (Dembia, Derbissaka, Rafai, Aguomar and Mandabazouma), rebels and roads permitting.

I will be away from home for a couple of weeks ... and I am going to take this opportunity to wish everyone the best for a Holy Easter. The Lord loves us, and saves us, with his passion, death and resurrection!

P.S.: I hope to publish some photos on my Facebook page soon

Jubilees and coffee

Jubilees and coffee

At this time we wanted to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope in two very different places: the parish of Lanome, 37 km from Bangassou, and in the prison.

On Friday, March 28, I go to Lanome, where many faithful have gathered, from the center and the surrounding villages. In the early afternoon I meet them, and explain to them the meaning of the Jubilee.

Then, under a cloudy sky that threatens rain, we move to a neighborhood, and begin the Stations of the Cross, a time of prayer very much felt by the people.

In the evening I return to Bangassou, because I have a commitment on Saturday morning.

I return to Lanome, and arrive around 11:30. The other 2 priests have been confessing since 9 a.m., and I help them, and we confess continuously until 5 p.m.!

Sunday morning we start Mass around 7:30 a.m. with the blessing of water, a sign and reminder of Baptism. Quietly people pass by, mark themselves, as a sign of asking God for forgiveness, and we enter the space of the celebration. Today's beautiful Gospel is that of the Prodigal Son. And Truly we feel the need for God's Mercy, that God who stands watching from afar, waiting, and then runs to embrace that son of His who was gone -- and has returned!

During the Mass we also do the laying of the foundation stone of the new church, the foundations of which are completed.

The construction of the school is advancing faster, and by now the walls are already 1 meter everywhere.

This week I make a discovery: coffee from Bangassou!

In recent months I had been able to see numerous small coffee plantations. Unfortunately, the war and the state of the roads have discouraged many, who no longer tend the plantations.

And I found out that there was a Coffee Producers' Cooperative right here in town. I go to visit what's left (it was vandalized and looted during the war). There are still concrete silos there: 9 silos of 90 tons each! Until a dozen years ago, the Cooperative collected coffee, stored it, and then did initial processing (hulling). By 2001 it was exporting over 300 tons of coffee to France, while the rest was sold to Sudan, Congo, and the local market. Some years they processed up to 15,000 tons of coffee.

One of my dreams is to revive this reality, which would give respite to thousands of families....

Today, Saturday, April 5, I went to Bangassou Prison: there are more than 100 inmates here, almost all awaiting trial. We also celebrate with them the Good News of God's forgiveness and Jubilee. There is a lot of participation, and a lot of attention, when I talk to them about the parable of the Prodigal Son.

People from various movements also came, bringing food for the prisoners. During the offertory procession, I see with surprise and emotion that some prisoners get up, and they also bring something. We will then leave it with the prisoners, along with lunch.

Jubilees and coffee

 Jubilees and coffee

At this time we wanted to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope in two very different places: the parish of Lanome, 37 km from Bangassou, and in the prison.

On Friday, March 28, I go to Lanome, where many faithful have gathered, from the center and the surrounding villages. In the early afternoon I meet them, and explain to them the meaning of the Jubilee.

Then, under a cloudy sky that threatens rain, we move to a neighborhood, and begin the Stations of the Cross, a time of prayer very much felt by the people.

In the evening I return to Bangassou, because I have a commitment on Saturday morning.

I return to Lanome, and arrive around 11:30. The other 2 priests have been confessing since 9 a.m., and I help them, and we confess continuously until 5 p.m.!

Sunday morning we start Mass around 7:30 a.m. with the blessing of water, a sign and reminder of Baptism. Quietly people pass by, mark themselves, as a sign of asking God for forgiveness, and we enter the space of the celebration. Today's beautiful Gospel is that of the Prodigal Son. And Truly we feel the need for God's Mercy, that God who stands watching from afar, waiting, and then runs to embrace that son of His who was gone -- and has returned!

During the Mass we also do the laying of the foundation stone of the new church, the foundations of which are completed.

The construction of the school is advancing faster, and by now the walls are already 1 meter everywhere.

This week I make a discovery: coffee from Bangassou!

In recent months I had been able to see numerous small coffee plantations. Unfortunately, the war and the state of the roads have discouraged many, who no longer tend the plantations.

And I found out that there was a Coffee Producers' Cooperative right here in town. I go to visit what's left (it was vandalized and looted during the war). There are still concrete silos there: 9 silos of 90 tons each! Until a dozen years ago, the Cooperative collected coffee, stored it, and then did initial processing (hulling). By 2001 it was exporting over 300 tons of coffee to France, while the rest was sold to Sudan, Congo, and the local market. Some years they processed up to 15,000 tons of coffee.

One of my dreams is to revive this reality, which would give respite to thousands of families....

Today, Saturday, April 5, I went to Bangassou Prison: there are more than 100 inmates here, almost all awaiting trial. We also celebrate with them the Good News of God's forgiveness and Jubilee. There is a lot of participation, and a lot of attention, when I talk to them about the parable of the Prodigal Son.

People from various movements also came, bringing food for the prisoners. During the offertory procession, I see with surprise and emotion that some prisoners get up, and they also bring something. We will then leave it with the prisoners, along with lunch.