Consolidate the offer of life for the Church is the Pope’s watchword for the Shalom Community, said Moyses Azevedo.
The founder of Shalom Catholic Community, Moysés Azevedo, made his presence at the Shalom Youth Congress 2016 held in Brasilia. He shared with more than 3,500 young people from 176 cities in Brazil and Latin America about the conversation he had with Pope Francis in an audience at the Vatican on last September 5. The main topics of this audience were the Jubilee of Mercy and evangelization of young people. Moysés said that the whole Shalom Community and Work were received by the Holy Father in this meeting: “Actually it wasn’t just me and the others who were there, but all of you. The Pope opened the door to receive the Shalom Community and showed affection for all of us”. He said.
According to Moysés, they talked about the mercy dimension. “The Holy Father said that mercy is the Gospel message’s heart. The moralism stops us to contemplate the merciful face of Jesus. Mercy is the best doctrine we can teach to each other”.
The founder also said he shared with the Pope about the experience of Shalom Community with the youth and the Pope appreciated all the work the community has achieved and spoke about the importance of walking side by side to the youth, to follow them up and announce the mercy to them. “The Church is with you, even if you stumble, you can trust in the loving and maternal eyes of the Church. Our mission is stand by you”. Said the Pope.
All of the youth congress’ participants were invited to go to the people and announce them the Gospel. “You got the call to go to the youth worldwide. We need to touch the suffering Christ’s body in the brothers who are far from Him and enrich them with the gift of faith”. Emphasized the founder.
The Holy Father’s watchword to the community was “consolidate”. “It’s the time to consolidate the received grace. Consolidate the faith and the life’s offer for the work of God keep growing and can feed the mankind hungry of the God’s Word. You should always be outgoing to the Community keeps growing and bearing fruit”. he said. “May we not be tempted to ignore the spiritual and material poor, and we might go to them,” he added.
Moysés said that the conversation was interrupted by a question from the Pontiff. “The Pope asked how many hours I pray every day. I told him about my routine of personal and community prayer, so he told me: ‘Prayer is the support of my life.” After all Moysés made a reflection about the importance of the prayer’s primacy in our lives and launched a challenge to the SYC’s youth: “If the Pope would ask you how long you pray a day, what would you answer?”
Also, during that meeting, the founder shared to the Holy Father the desire to perform in the next year at Rome, the Community Convention in celebration for the 35th Community Anniversary. “We renew our offer of life for the Church and all the mankind at the foot of the Peter’s successor” he said. The International Shalom Youth Congress and Halleluya Festival will also happen in the Italy’s capital on September 2017.