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Beloved Brothers and Sisters
I fraternally convey you all greetings in the name of the Risen Christ
Praise to Whom that scattered darkness away and brought us Divine Light.
Glory be to Him, immortal God of wisdom. He lived for evermore.
In this special season, I greet you all well, with the hope that our daily and holy pilgrimage will shine with the horizon in the Kingdom of God .
The Church is an advance of that Final and True Kingdom where God is All in All of us. In this sense, I would like to share these simple words, which might somehow encourage our way to walk as pilgrims.
Under these current circumstances, the Globalization, makes possible in a certain way, that Christian horizon be lost, be seen more diffuse and at times bleak, and favors to see in some other places a type of Church to which we would not like to belong to. On the other hand, this scenario is a fertile ground to find coincidences with other churches.
However, we live - as a community of believers - within a framework of the Third World, a society oppressed by social, political, economic and perhaps religious issues. A society that carries a large account of sufferings and anguishes, accumulated through their national histories, which have also impacted in Christian churches in general and in the Anglican Church in particular.
The Church has not been exempt from these sufferings, being ourselves a family of Christ's holy Catholic Church; we build with our witness our own history
In Third World countries - such as those in Latin America and Africa - missions have developed a type of evangelization whose emphasis has been the preaching and teaching of good news of salvation, nut we have forgotten that these good news should necessarily be accompanied by the bonds of God's Love and Friendship and His Kingdom's values. Our family and community liaisons have not been a real and visible source of that Love. In fact, the more we announce these good news, paradoxically, more divided we stand, diminishing moral values and forgetting our vows and commitments, especially to the needy and starving people in the world.
In our region, there is a need of God, a thirst for sanctity, a hunger for new life in Christ. The Gospel teaches us that when salt loses its taste, It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. We are the salt to the earth, a vivifying ferment in the dough.
I invite to my dear brethren to grasp on our compromise with Christ, to declare unto the Throne of Grace our need of that amazing love that only God can give us.
Likewise, I invite to my AICW Family, our Bishops and Clergy to strength our efforts for awaking the Gift we have received from the Holy Spirit. Christ's Love urges us to do so as we serve as a mustard grain.
Our Church is a shelter, a true refuge to those who are hungry and thirsty of the God of Life. We are not just playing games, we endeavor to be heralds announcing God’s grace and forgiveness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our communities and missions are prophetical witness of God’s love, which is a lighthouse that shines in a dark place.
We work with the tools of peace, with the Holy Word from the Bible; we are workers and servants for His Name's Sake.
Our work makes sense when we deny ourselves, approaching to each other's reality being this the receiver of our preaching, love and friendship. However that love should be efficient as the Good Samaritan's Parable teaches us, that stranger who had nothing in common with the wounded man, that left everything to help his next, the “each other" that meets in his way. It is an example of love, efficient love.
Let us have a purpose in our lives. Let us make a ministry with a transcendental spirit. History belongs to those who are transformed by the amazing grace in Christ. Let us sow God's seed in the consciences of mankind.
+ Patricio, Abp
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