Father Michele Sega, 29, a parochial vicar at a parish in the United States, recalls several highlights from a retreat organized by the Neocatechumenal Way with around 800 priests from North, Central, and South America. Among these highlights are their participation in the Pope\u2019s general audience and a four-day mission in Italy, traveling in pairs and without money.<\/p>\n
By Debora Donnini \u2013 Porto San Giorgio<\/p>\n
They set out with trepidation in their hearts and many questions, but returned filled with joy\u2014the kind that only the experience of God\u2019s love can bring into one\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
The approximately 800 priests from North, Central, and South America, still gathered in Porto San Giorgio for a retreat organized by the Neocatechumenal Way, shared their experiences from the mission they carried out in Italy over the past few days.<\/p>\n
They had set out last Saturday, June 20, with backpacks on their shoulders, traveling in pairs without money or cell phones. They journeyed to cities across various regions\u2014from Piedmont to Sicily, passing through many towns in Sardinia.<\/p>\n
All they carried were their onward and return tickets, a Bible, and a rosary. Upon arrival, they first asked for the blessing of the diocesan bishop and then met with local parish priests.<\/p>\n
The Lord did not fail to provide them with opportunities to proclaim the Gospel, said Father Michele Sega, 29, who went on mission to Catania, in an interview. Ordained just over a month ago, he now serves as parochial vicar at a parish in Miami, United States.<\/p>\n
He said that this experience has enriched his ministry, because they went just as Jesus sent His disciples\u2014without money, without anything.<\/p>\n
For the most part, these priests\u2014who come from across North, Centre and South America and were formed in the Redemptoris Mater seminaries\u2014experienced a warm welcome throughout this missionary journey.<\/p>\n
Last Wednesday, at the conclusion of this evangelizing experience, they took part in the Pope\u2019s general audience and, in the afternoon, concelebrated Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, presided over by Archbishop Javier Del R\u00edo of Arequipa.<\/p>\n
To seal these intense days, on Friday, June 26, the priests concelebrated Mass in the Basilica of the Holy House in Loreto.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Fabio Dal Cin, Archbishop-Prelate of Loreto and Pontifical Delegate for the Shrine of the Holy House, addressed them: \u201cRenew your priestly promises,\u201d he said, \u201cdrawing strength from Mary\u2019s \u2018yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Presiding over the Eucharistic celebration was Archbishop Del R\u00edo, who urged them above all to trust in God: \u201cThe world needs priests who make present Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who gives His life for His sheep.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Father Michele Sega, 29, a parochial vicar at a parish in the United States, recalls several highlights from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[133393,27117,123,125,124,89437,4571],"class_list":["post-321710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-ecclesial-movements","tag-italy","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-priests","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}