With great joy, from February 3 to 5, we received in our community of Ibarra the visit of the president of the Idente missionaries, Fr. Jesús Fernández Hernández, after signing the renewal of the agreement with the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) in Quito. In his words of welcome he told us how precious God’s time is and that we must be in an attitude of going out to do his will at every moment.
The next day he visited the “Fernando Rielo” Convention Centre at PUCE in Santo Domingo, greeted the young people and celebrated Mass at 6 p.m. This was attended by 250 people: the Idente family, altar boys, Idente youth and the work teams of the Idente missionaries, both from the university and from the school. In the Eucharist our president exhorted us to ask with faith for everything we need, without fear, with decision, and to live in every moment, with the desire to know and to dwell in the heart of the Heavenly Father. His homily was very beautiful and profound.
Then we shared a coffee with 120 people while the altar boys sang the “altar boys’ hymn” and a girl from the school dedicated a poem of approximately 10 minutes about the Eucharist. At the end our Primate, in a particular way and at the request of the parents, imparted the blessing to the families that were present. It was a very emotional moment because both the parents and the children received the blessing with a lot of faith.
To be able to share with the Idente family, with parents of the missionaries from Ibarra, with people who work in the school and in the university, has been a blessing for everyone. Several people commented that they had never been to such a special Eucharist and that the homily had touched their hearts.
The next day he visited the children of the Catholic Educational Unit La Victoria, which is located in a building that is being built, the children greeted him with innocence and they dedicated the song “missionary soul” to him. It was a beautiful visit: everyone was happy. At the end he advised us to plant more trees, because the children have to protect themselves from the sun, which was very strong at that time. Then he left for the airport on his way to Loja.
