On 26 February 2023, the mission began in the parish of Ottrott, in the French Alsace, a parish that is part of the Community of parishes of Mont Saint Odile, whose parish priest is Father Dalmer, a Redemptorist from the community of Bischemberg. The mission will continue throughout the week and will end on 5 March.
The parish missionary team is joined by a group of 11 Redemptorist Missionaries from all the Redemptorist communities in France and one from Portugal.
The inaugural celebration was presided over by the Archbishop of Strasbourg, Monsignor Luc Ravel. There was also present Father Desiré Zanté, CSsR, Provincial Superior of France.
This stage of the mission was envisaged as a time of missionary presence in the midst of families to bring them the light and hope of the Gospel. This is why most of the week is dedicated to visiting each of the families of the parish, something of singular importance in a very secularised environment where the population has distanced itself from the Church.
During the days, the faithful are offered moments of celebration and prayer in the church. In the evenings, an extraordinary activity is offered: a prayer meeting, a conference on “The place of joy and hope in our world” given by Fr. Pedro López, missionary testimonies, meetings with families and children, meetings with the elderly…
The experience has been very positive, both for the missionaries, who have recovered the call to extraordinary pastoral work and teamwork and for the faithful, who are experiencing a new face of the Church which is close to the people and walks with them.
Fr Dalmer Jiron Deza CSsR
