Brazilian PIME priest prepares for mission among Thai Buddhists
Rome (AsiaNews) - The biggest challenge is going to a "land of evangelization" in an "overwhelmingly non-Christian" country, where "not only the words, the proclamation count", but also” concrete works and gestures, Fr Llorenç Braz De Oliveira tells AsiaNews. The Brazilian missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) is in Italy for a few weeks waiting to leave for Thailand. He adds: "Brazil and Latin America in the past have received a lot of missionaries. Now it is time for South American nations to become missionary in turn, opening up to the world".
Fr. Llorenç Braz De Oliveira was born January 5, 1973 at Cataguases city, in Minas Gerais state, South-East of Brazil. From his youth he attended the parish, establishing a friendship with a Spanish Fidei Donum priest. "Looking at him - he says - I realized that God was calling me to Himself, but I wasn’t interested in becoming a priest of the diocese. I kept saying: Follow the footsteps of Christ whatever mission you are asked. " At age 18, a student and worker he experienced a "general desire" – as he describes it - to do something for others. The young man had for sometime corresponded with a Brazilian missionary in Guinea Bissau, who invited him to enter the seminary. From that initial proposal emerges a "journey of change," which originated with a question: "What - asks Fr. Llorenç - does God want for me and for others? ".
He attended the PIME seminary in Santa Caterina, Brazil, and after completing his studies, he moved to the United States to study English. Then the Philippines (in the photo, the priest with a group of children), where he remained for four and a half years to complete his theological studies. And it is in this archipelago in South-East Asia, his first land of mission, where the young Brazilian was confirmed in his vocation. "The impact with the Philippines - he says - was a culture shock for the physiognomy of the people, for the language. However, one element that struck me most is the curiosity of the Filipinos, together with their openness and willingness to meet with others. "
During his time spent in the country, something happened that has left an indelible mark on his missionary journey: "In a pastoral visit to a village of migrants - said the priest - I saw a pregnant woman alone and suffering. Her husband was at work and could not pay the cost of medical care. After having taken her to hospital, doctors found water in her lungs and ordered her immediate hospitalization. Fr. Llorenç intervened by offering to cover the cost of the intervention. "The woman suffered a cardiac arrest - he continues - and I felt responsible". A "sense of fear" pervaded him and remained by her bedside for several hours, until the arrival of her husband. In the following days he prayed at length, until he received a phone call in the middle of the night: "Thanks to the treatment received, she was fine. Not only that - he adds - but she had also given birth to twins. "
In May, the Brazilian priest will return to Asia, to Bangkok, for a challenge that "fills his head and heart," because "I will meet Christ in Thailand, he will fill my heart and show me the path to follow". "The challenge will be to go to a land of evangelization – says Fr Llorenç - to a country with an overwhelmingly non-Christian majority, where not only words count but concrete gestures and actions. My commitment will be to read between the lines what Jesus asks of me, missionaries are perceived as representatives of a Western religion, but the desire is to make them understand that Christ was born in Asia and is an integral part of their culture”.
Finally, he appeals to South America, long a missionary land and by now a majority Christian continent. "In the history of the Church have received a lot of missionaries – says the Brazilian - but we have given very few. We must promote dedication and sacrifice for our people, so that our continent, in turn, becomes a continent missionaries, open to the world". He launches an appeal so that each person in a different way, announces the Gospel: "mission is done with the feet of those who leave, with the knees of those who pray and hands of those who help. For this reason - he concludes - we are all called to mission. "
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