Most of the brothers of our Province know how the San Cristóbal Parish-Community of Lima is organised, consisting of nine (9) chapels. For five (5) decades, it was not customary to celebrate the parish festival as such; instead, each chapel held its anniversary in the course of the year, which was not only to gather the faithful but also to raise funds for the maintenance of their respective chapels.
It was in 2022 that under the then parish priest, Fr. Álvaro Vásquez, it was decided to organize the parish festival around the commemorative date of San Cristóbal-Caja de Agua, that is, the last Sunday in May, at the chapel and principal centre. Thus, the annual parish festival came about and has consecutively been held for the past four years.
In this perspective, the annual parish celebration is an event of fraternal communion, fellowship, and cultural enjoyment, bringing together the faithful of the entire parish community in order to live the dynamics of the Mystery of the Eucharist. This year, 2025, we celebrate the 58th anniversary, a crucial event in which to remember the various persons who have shaped the history of the parish community, leaving their mark on pastoral, spiritual, and Eucharistic accompaniment, especially the European the missionary priests and the SSS religious.
This was nothing less than an event of expressing gratitude to God for the different generations who have experienced faith and God’s grace through the witness of Jesus’ faithful in their missionary and evangelizing work from the Peruvian lands. It is worth recalling the words of Pope Francis: “Look to the past with gratitude, contemplate the present with passion, and envision the future with hope.” The main purpose of the festivity is to instil the values of the Eucharist in the parish community through harmony and coexistence, while seeking to be deepened in the commandment of God’s love.
With an emphasis on the Gospel of John 14:23-29, the text proposed for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, in the context of the abovementioned feast, the opportunity was taken to challenge parishioners about the need to cultivate the commandment of love as a “source of life,” manifested through total dedication and a sound manner of living together that respects differences without forgetting the requirement of living “unity in diversity.”
Thus, considering the figure of Saint Christopher as a model of faith in accepting martyrdom as a witness of love in authentically and radically following of Christ, urges embracing in the contemporary world the prophetic dimension about proclaiming every day the message of love, peace, and justice in word, but above all, in witness and deeds that build us up in the grace of God.
Father Elibien Joseph, sss
Community of Lima
Notibip 109 - May 2025
Province of Saint John XXIII.
