Last week, Bishop Christopher Glancy, CSV, visited our schools in Colombia for special sacramental celebrations with brother Viatorians and our students.
Bishop Glancy celebrated Mass with the community in Tunja to help open the year.
Last Tuesday, Bishop Chris celebrated a Mass to open the new year at Colegio San Viator in Tunja. Vice Rector Fr. Pedro Herrera, CSV, and Fr. Edwin Ruiz, CSV, concelebrated with him, and Br. Juan David Ramirez, CSV, and Br. Carlos Suárez, CSV, served the Mass with them. Rector Fr. Fredy Contreras, CSV, also serves as General Councilor and Treasurer for the worldwide Viatorian Community; Fr. Fredy led special year-opening ceremonies the previous week and then was away on a General Council visit to Spain during this Mass.
The Mass in Bogotá included the Sacrament of Confirmation for over 100 of our students.
Last Friday, Bishop Chris was in Bogotá, where he celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation for 129 students at Colegio San Viator. Rector Fr. Alejandro Adame, CSV, and Fr. Edgar Suárez, CSV, concelebrated Mass with Br. John Alexander Avellaneda, CSV, assisting as deacon and Br. P. Enrique Medina, CSV, and Br. Edwin Barreto, CSV, serving the Mass.
Fr. Edgar returned home to Colombia from ministry in the US late last year following health concerns. After a procedure and some recovery time with his doctors back home, he is now resuming ministry, serving as a chaplain to Colegio San Viator in Bogotá.
“Seeing the smiles, enthusiasm, and openness of the young people reminded me once again why our presence in educational spaces is so essential to our mission. Sharing this joyful celebration with so many young people was deeply moving for me,” Fr. Edgar said. “Their energy, their questions, and their sincere participation in the liturgy and activities reflected a genuine desire to encounter God and to be accompanied in their journey of life and faith.”
Br. John has also returned to Colombia, after a few years in the US when he learned English and continued theological studies and priesthood formation – including the past several months as a transitional deacon at Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Bourbonnais, IL. He will be ordained a priest this spring in Colombia.
In addition to the importance of leading joyful prayer and celebration with and for our young people, this opportunity to minister and serve together sustains our professed Viatorians, too. “Moments like these renew my own vocation and strengthen my commitment to serve with joy, patience, and closeness,” Fr. Edgar said. “Celebrating together with Viatorian brothers was a powerful sign of fraternity and shared mission. It was a concrete expression of our charism lived in community: priests, brothers, and lay collaborators walking together in service of young people. Being together in prayer and fraternity reminded me that our ministry is never an individual task, but always a communal response to God’s call.”
.
These special occasions are great times for Viatorian religious to come together in support of our communities and young people. At left in Tunja (pictured left to right), Br. Carlos Suárez, CSV, speaks from the ambo while Br. Juan David Ramirez, CSV, holds bishop’s crozier, and Fr. Pedro Herrera, CSV, Bishop Christopher Glancy, CSV, and Fr. Edwin Ruiz, CSV, listen on. At right in Bogotá (pictured left to right with the confirmandi behind them) are Br. P. Enrique Medina, CSV, Fr. Alejandro Adame, CSV, a local clergy member, Bishop Chris, Fr. Edgar Suárez, CSV, Br. John Alexander Avellaneda, CSV, and Br. Edwin Barreto, CSV.