A NAP, A CUP OF COFFEE, CONFESSION AND TODAY´S MASS
1.
The «mountain top» experience of my life in Africa was the experience of organizing and conducting retreats for the youth and smaller groups of children. In May of 1966 we started a small group of young adults that we called «Juvenile Center». The group started with twelve boys and girls. All of them were working in different professions. Then students started joining them and pretty soon the group was a large group of different ages. Then the Juvenile Center started growing, up to the point of being able to mobilize the entire city of Quelimane, which is not a big city. There were always different activities happening and those activities created among them a sense of community.
2.
Retreats were the main event that used to congregate boys and girls for three days in a retreat house for prayer, meditation, silence and adoration. In all retreats the main theme was the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
«If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you «give me a drink» you would have asked Him and he would have given you living water. » (Jo. 4:10).
This was the highest event of each retreat.
«If you knew the gift of God…» Conducting this meditation my concern was to put in their hearts and their minds that this «Gift of God» was something very real. It was not just an idea or a feeling. This gift of God had the power to transform their lives. This was the moment when many of them changed their lives and started a new relationship with God. This Gift of God was an exciting gift that changed many lives during the retreats.
3.
Because I was aware of this responsibility, every time I conducted a retreat, I used to prepare it very well. Like as if it were the first time. There were three tools that I used to prepare this meditation: a nap, a cup of coffee and Confession. I wanted to be sure that I was not tired. That’s why,before the meditation, I used to do anything to take some time for a nap. I wanted to be rested and full of energy. The other thing was to drink a cup of coffee. I believed (I don’t know if it was true) that a cup of coffee would help me to be awake. One third thing was to look for a priest, and have a good Confession. I wanted to be full of that «Gift» Jesus is talking about. With these three «crutches» I was usually on fire and I started talking about the «Gift of God» Jesus was talking about with the woman at the well.
This «Gift of God» is offered to each one of us today during this Holy Mass where we all heard the Gospel of the encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman who was considered an outcast. But that «Gift of God» performed a miracle. She became a missionary who
brought many people to Jesus.
Fr. Bernardino Andrade 12-03-2023