San José, La Maya, Santiago de Cuba. On January 28, 2013 more than 200 people belonging to the communities of the Parish of Purísima Concepcíon in the municipalities of Songo La Maya and II Frente came together in the Church of San José de La Maya for the “First Workshop on the Year of Faith”.
Claretian Fr. Arturo González, pastor of Milagrosa church in Guantánamo was in charge of directing and leading the Workshop.
He offered all present some simple pamphlets which focused the attention of the participants on the topics and served as guide to understand better his explanation.
He began with brief presentation of the Letter of Pope Benedict XVI “The Door of Faith” and the objectives that the Pope indicsted forthis year: to intensify reflection on the faith, the opportunity of profess our faith in the Resurrected Jesus, to profess publically the creed, to intensify the celebration of faith, to encourage testimony from believers that is more and more credible, and to rediscover the contents of the faith. An invitation that during this year the faith be known, celebrated, professed, lived, prayed, and proclaimed.
Fr. Arturo also shared the words of the Pope directed to the youth at the World Youth Day in Madrid in August 2011: to highlight the importance of being rooted and built-up in Christ, firm in the faith, to search for and find Christ personally, to follow him as disciple, and to proclaim him as one of his witnesses.
A simple exercise of all participants about what is and what is not faith, closed this first workshop that will continue on Feb. 24.