“Parents and Children hike,” dialogue and encounter in Petropolis

Petropolis, 09/05/14, (Sodalit News – Brazil). Members of the Christian Life Movement in Petropolis completed a fun hike for parents and their children to a mountain called ‘Castelinho’.  The excursion was a good occasion for family sharing and also for reflecting on the relationship between Christian life and physical activity as part of an integral apostolic program.

This pleasant trip brought together nearly 30 parents and children to Castelinho, that is found in the neighbourhood of Morin and has a beautiful view of the city of Petropolis and a large part of Rio de Janeiro.  The initiative is part of a new apostolic program for adolescents and young people that seeks an integral formation through activities such as sports, movies, intellectual dialogues, and prayer.

The activity started with a reflection in the pastoral center about the Christian life and sports, reflecting on the importance that this dimension of life has on the formation of values such as perseverance, patience, sacrifice, and how it is always necessary to have a clear objective which one desires to reach.

The participants also had the opportunity to share about the importance of taking a pause in the midst of so much routine perturbed by modern life in order to contemplate nature, make silence, and most of all, to be able to dialogue and encounter others.  This activity invited the participants to share by means of dialogues and encounter between parents and their children that at times, even though they live in the same house, don’t speak or have moments of encounter.

The climb up the hill, even though it was difficult for some, was marked by a climate of joy, cooperation and the exchange between parents and their kids that participated.  For many it was a decisive moment of overcoming.  When the summit was reached, everyone shared a picnic that provided a chance to recover strength for the descent back down.

For Silvio Eberardo, who participated with his sons Lucas and Tiago, the hike was “an joyful experience of family and friends on the path towards a common goal: make it to the peak of Castelinho,” and he underscored that “on the way we were able to learn values such as generosity, perseverance and friendship.”  Likewise, Eberardo qualified the activity as an “opportunity to give thanks to God for the gift of life and to rejoice in being able to reach a goal and to prepare oneself for the next.”

“To go up with so many people up the mountain and to see parents and children together was a very strong experience of communion and helping each other,” explained Nathalie Queroz and highlighted that in spite of the difficulties that the climb represented for some “it was nice to be able to take the initiative in helping, to be able to serve and to think more in others than in myself.”