Mindelo, 18 June, 2024 / 1:34 pm (ACI Africa).
Bishop Ildo Augusto dos Santos Lopes Fortes of the Catholic Diocese of Mindelo in Cape Verde has called upon young people in his Episcopal See to look to St. Anthony of Padua for inspiration, not settling for average.
In his homily during the Feast Day celebration of St. Anthony of Padua Parish of Mindelo Diocese, Bishop dos Santos urged youths to go beyond their current achievements, and go for more.
“This is not the logic of greatness. You have to ask what is the maximum I can reach like St. Anthony (of Padua); it's dreaming big,” he said during the June 14 event, and added, “Let's be men and women who aim high and not low because that doesn't fulfill us.”
The Portuguese-born Catholic Bishop continued, “There are so many people here who are attached to mediocrity. Some people ask even in Religious Life what is the minimum I have to do? questions like that: how often do I have to go to church? how often do I have to go to confession? We spend so much time in church that we don't understand anything.”
He recalled some of the qualities of St. Anthony Padua, saying, he “is a doctor of the Church; he is an evangelical doctor and he was young, he died at the age of 36, but he left behind an impressive legacy.”
