Christmas celebrations at CIC and Colégio Internato Claret

The Colégio Internato dos Carvalhos (CIC) celebrated its Christmas feast in community under the Pastoral motto of the Province of Fatima and giving special emphasis to the WORD: because it was through the WORD that God became one of us in the Child who was born. It was through the WORD, with the YES of Mary and Joseph, that God became PRESENT in the life of man.

The Christmas Celebration, which took place in the Sports Pavilion, was also attended by two members of the Spanish and Portuguese Vincentian Youth Ministry Team, respectively, Frs. Martín Areta and Vitor Portugal, CMF, who presided over the celebration.

In the first part of the celebration, we reflected on the Word of God; in the second part, with the help of some musical interpretations made by the students, we reflected on the importance of words, that is, if we focus on the lyrics of some songs, we easily realise the importance that words have in our lives and the impact they can have on each other’s lives.

After the reading of the Word of God, Fr. Vitor Portugal addressed the whole educational community, underlining the importance of the Word in the relationship between God and Man, a Story of Salvation described in the Bible. He ended by encouraging the students to participate in WYD Lisbon 2023 as a transformative experience.

At the end of the celebration, the Pastoral Council, in the person of Professor Filipe Coutinho, challenged all those present, through the use of mobile phones, to send a message to someone they felt needed help, a friendly word, a gesture of gratitude and hope, that is, to move from Words to Deeds, experiencing the Power of the Word in community life.

For its part, the Colégio Internato Claret did the same and celebrated its family Christmas dinner among the teaching staff and students of the centre. The aim, as could not be otherwise, was to cultivate a welcoming and family atmosphere, as well as to create memories.