Addis Ababa, 09 June, 2020 / 2:28 am (ACI Africa).
The head of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia has encouraged the people of God in the country to turn the challenge of staying at home amid COVID-19 into an opportunity for reflection “on the meaning of life” in the light of the “Word of God.”
In his Pastoral Letter on the occasion of Pentecost Sunday marked June 7 in the country in the Horn of Africa, the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia, Berhaneyesus Cardinal Souraphiel acknowledged the temptation to “lose one’s patience.”
“We stay at home in order to avoid the risk of being affected by the virus. This is however challenging and one may lose one’s patience. Yet, something good can still emerge,” Cardinal Souraphiel reflected in his Pastoral Letter issued on the eve of Pentecost Saturday, June 6 and added, “If one concentrates, contemplates and prays, one may gain a lot by reflecting on the meaning of life.”
He continued, “The time at home may be used for conversion, for meditation of the Word of God and for creative activities.”
“Our home is our space of security. It is there that we learned to love, to grow and to socialize. There is warmth in a house where love reigns. Children become well-developed in a house where Charity rules. A house that welcomes love becomes beautiful,” Cardinal Souraphiel who is the Local Ordinary of Addis Ababa reflected.