Officiated by the Cuban priest José Conrado, who is visiting South Florida these days, the Holy Mass was dedicated to praying not only for Cuba, “also for Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti, Ukraine, the Middle East and all places where evil It spreads,” the father exhorted.
The religious leader recalled that Saint Michael the Archangel, the patron of the temple that welcomed hundreds of parishioners this Saturday, April 20, is the archangel who faces evil, who comes to the defense of his children just like the Virgin Mary, and therefore “a symbol of the militancy of faith that we need so much in these times.”
“We are not doing the mass just for Cubaalso for the Nicaraguans y Venezuelans because evil spreads and as a Cuban I feel a little responsible for the evil that is affecting those people,” he said.
“That is why I repeatedly asked the Cuban bishops to transmit their experiences to the bishops of those countries (Nicaragua and Venezuela) who believed it was impossible for their people to be affected by evil,” the father reflected and warned, “we cannot “stop warning people and not go to the root of the problem and I extend that to this country (United States), because God does not rest, but neither does the devil and evil spreads.”
Father Conrado called on men and women of faith to open their eyes, to all be good shepherds and “let us not abandon the responsibility we have to accompany, advise and not let the people distance themselves from God, because in doing so “The devil is coming.”
“We have to open our eyes, the truth is in the gospel,” he exhorted.
Among the evils that plague people and societies in these times, Father Conrado in his homily in the church of San Miguel Arcángel referred to sexual debauchery, the end of families, drugs, the insatiable desire for wealth, “They are all evils that, when proposed, destroy societies,” he said and gave a reminder.
“The great treasure of the Church are the guides, those who are capable of saving their people and that is the message that is needed in these times where the importance of people has been lost in the face of empty power, because that empty power is believes in the right to humiliate people. But, in front of that empty power of false leaders, there is the power of Jesus, to tell the truth, do good, do justice and not allow anyone to humiliate the children of God.
“Whoever does not recognize the power of the children of God is because he has not recognized him, God, manifested in his son Jesus. We have the obligation to make the strength of Jesus a reality, not that which humiliates, not that which crushes,” was Father Conrado’s call.
Father José Conrado mass church of San Miguel Arcángel Miami, April 20, 2024. Iliana Lavastida/DLA
Iliana Lavastida/DLA
And he reiterated “we are not alone and we have to be witnesses that the Lord is with us, in love, in dedication, in solidarity there is strength. What gives life is how the heart warms when you know that you are not alone and that someone accompanies you.”
In his prayers during Mass, the priest who everyone identifies because of his upright posture in the face of the violations of the Cuban dictatorship before the people, his words to the exile were: “please, never forget Cuba.”
“Nor to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ukraine, Haiti, the Middle East. Let us open our hearts so that God acts in us and in others.”
In reference to the Cuban Catholic clergy, Father Conrado said, “the pastors in Cuba are also crushed by circumstances, but there they are, trying to follow that flock, sometimes in front and sometimes behind. “These pastors are inviting us to pray because praying is also becoming aware and that is what the Cuban bishops are asking.”
And he reiterated, “that is the strength of Christians, to give ourselves to prayer and then we will be able to see how great the Lord is. We have to pray -exhorted the leader who officiates in the city of Trinidad, in the center of the island.
Starting this Sunday, the fourth of Easter, the Cuban bishops are asking all the Catholic faithful, wherever they are, including the temples of the island, to pray for Cuba. That call was transmitted during the homily by Father Conrado.
“We must ask God to unite us and grant us the moral and spiritual strength we need to open our hearts and demand and react to injustice.”
They will never be able to tear away from us the love that our parents and grandparents planted in our hearts, the prayer of the shepherds is a prayer of supplication for Cuba,” he concluded.
@IlianaLavastida
