LOS NEGRALES, Madrid, Spain
"The Calling of Saint Pedro Poveda is bold to proclaim the Gospel. His boldness is not afraid to go to marginalized contexts, or confess the faith,” said Fr. Jose Maria Gil Tamayo, secretary general and spokesman of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, who presided over the Eucharist to celebrate and give thanks for the life of the founder of the Teresian Association on July 27, in Los Negrales.
The Eucharist was concelebrated by Frs. Jesus Junquera, Juan Amaya, Angel Ayala, Eloy Marquis, Teodoro López, Ignacio Javier Gallego, Francisco Bueno, Jesus Folgado, José R. Godino, Sergio Hernandez Apolinar del Corral, Benjamin Elcano and Sergio Andrino.
Let me give thanks with Christ, in Christ and through Christ, for his witness to the faith, said Fr. Gil Tamayo. We give thanks for his life sealed by death because of Christ. "I am a priest of Jesus Christ," said Saint Pedro Poveda in those final hours. These are words that remind us of Jesus in the garden. No one is greater than the one who gives his life for his friends ... said the spokesman of the Spanish Bishops Conference.
Boldness in proclaiming the gospel means to come out, the Church to set out on her way, as Pope Francisco tells us. Boldness is courage, trust in God. Saint Pedro Poveda was not afraid of going where the marginalized are. His was a vocational life from his early days when his aunts made his garments to say mass. In Guadix he discovers material poverty and other types of poverty, selfishness, lack of education. He discovers these and brings the Gospel to the place of culture. It is the vocation of the encounter with man, which makes possible living the gospel in the midst of the world. Faced with such a vocation there is no room for mediocrity, pettiness, and excuses of any kind, as we see today. It is a boldness that continues urging us, he added.
From Guadix (Granada, Andalusia) to the cave of La Santina (Covadonga, Asturias). There he discovers the light of God. Then his return to Jaen ... Later on in Madrid, he lives in troubled times. The audacity of Saint Pedro Poveda does not rest in nostalgia. He becomes a forerunner of Vatican II.
The proclamation of the Gospel is also our task; this is what pope Francis tells us. We need an audacity that invites us to row out to sea, to invite others to set out on the road. Let us invite others to an open dialogue ... to present the itinerary of humanity that Christ reveals. Christ is the fulfillment of man. A life fully human and all God’s.
Pedro Poveda's spirituality is a not a spirituality for a moment or to volunteer for a month ... It is the one that is born out of martyrdom, that has apostolic zeal. He could have lived more comfortably, but he wanted to live as a servant of Jesus.
We recall the strength of Saint Pedro Poveda in the confession of faith. Martyrs do not improvise their martyrdom. They intuit martyrdom because they always have the lamp lit for the arrival of the Master. They are accountable only to the gospel.
To celebrate Saint Pedro Poveda is to celebrate the gospel, a confessor and witness of faith, a man of God. We should not just remember. The saints are intercessors, models, pastors, and witnesses. May you live this spirituality and bring it forth in your lives, in everyday holiness by being all God’s, concluded Fr. José María Gil Tamayo.
Ecclesial service of the Teresian Association
The Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference also expressed gratitude to the Teresian Association for our service to the Church. He named people who in recent decades have worked in areas of the Episcopal Conference. First he remembered Rafaela Rodriguez, (now deceased) who was a recognized film critic, Encarnación González and María Inmaculada Florido who have participated in the Commission for the Causes of the Saints, Maria Victoria de la Fuente, who has collaborated with some bishops, and recently, Raquel Perez who works on the secretariat of Universities.
Preparation of the Fifth Centenary of St. Teresa
After the Mass, a panel, moderated by Laura Moreno Maroccos, was held to give information on the celebration of the Fifth Centenary of the birth of St. Teresa of Jesus (2015). Carmen Azaustre and Raquel Perez explained some of the plans made by the Teresian Association for this occasion. Also, Loreto Ballester spoke on the Pedro Poveda Chair of the Pontifical University of Salamanca and Maria Rita Martin spoke on the Josefa Segovia Chair at the University of Mysticism (CITES).
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