Sisters and Brothers in Christ

by Chinh Phan SVD

Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.

(Mt. 25:40)

You can easily find the Saint Roque Parish on a map because it is located at the very bottom of southeast Paraguay, in the territory of the city of Encarnación and close to the beautiful bridge linking Paraguay and Argentina. Father Carlos Winkel SVD, a German Divine Word Missionary priest, established the community in the early 1950s and received donations from generous benefactors in Germany to build to build a beautiful church. The parish chose Saint Roque González de Santa Cruz as its patron. He was a Jesuit, Paraguayan priest and martyr, who was canonized a saint in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

For many years, Saint Roque Parish was a geographically large parish with twenty-three small mission communities, but recently, Saint Roque Parish became smaller. Two of the small communities were established as parishes. Many families were relocated to the two new parishes and to other parishes in the area because of a new hydroelectric facility. Some of the mission communities became part of other parishes. Now San Roque Parish has eight mission communities.

Even though Saint Roque Parish is located near the central business area, many individuals and families are suffering economically and struggling to meet their daily basic needs. There are many single mothers with children and elderly people who live alone.

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Divine Word Missionaries Magazine
Spring 2013

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished children
of Eve;
to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us;
and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Prayer Request