In the United States, the Shalom Catholic Community is present in the state of Massachusetts. In this time of quarantine, the missionaries have intensified their prayer for North Americans, who are intensely suffering the effects of the pandemic.
André Castro, a member of the Shalom Life Community, says that the whole city of Cambridge (Massachusetts), where the consecrated brothers live, has experienced a readaptation as a consequence of the measures imposed by the authorities.
Quarantine, the new reality in which the missionaries are living, has transferred the activities of the evangelization center to online platforms.
“Here we start the Hope project, which is a series that has strengthened evangelization in social networks through our YouTube channel. Through videos, we talk about hope in times of chaos, in face of the challenge of staying indoors,” he says.
André reiterates that the project gives good fruits with good involvement from the North American public, with a message of hope in this time of solitude generated by isolation.
“In times of challenge and suffering, with everything that passes the world today, we have the opportunity to announce peace, to reach the people of our work here in the United States with our Charisma (Shalom) and with our faith, ”concludes the missionary.
Missionary in Boston: it is time to brake and meet the essentials
Tamah Do Vale is a missionary of the Shalom Covenant Community in Boston (Massachusetts). She says that the members of the Community in Boston have been following the guidelines of the cardinal of the diocese from the beginning.
According to the young woman, prayer groups and community cells are taking place online and community members continue to do Bible study and recite the Rosary prayer in their homes, as silent testimonies that support the North American people.
“This is an excellent opportunity to put ourselves in front of the perspective of the brevity of our life, placing God in His due place and our hope in the right place” Tamah points out, alluding to the thought of Saint Therese of Lisieux who says: “life it is an instant between two eternities.”
Conversion: the crisis shows us what matters
According to the missionary, this moment of crisis puts us in a spiritual reality that we should have already lived constantly: that is trusting God.
You reiterate that a concrete form that Christians have of evangelizing in this time of pandemic is through their posture in the face of the crisis, which must not be panic, but of abandonment to the Divine Providence.
In the midst of the dynamic of the frenzy, a very strong feature in the large North American metropolises, says that this is the time to stop, to enter yourself, to realign things and put God where he really must be: above all tension.
Tamah concluded by saying that the goal of the Christian must always be holiness, even in the face of adverse circumstances in all parts of the world and in all moments of history.
Translation: Michele Volzone