Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, prelate of Opus Dei, is on a pastoral trip through Central America that began in Guatemala City from 4-9 August. He visited Honduras (San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa) from 10-12 August, and his now the final leg of the journey in El Salvador, ending on 15 August.
You can also follow the trip on our Instagram account.
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Gathering with Families
“Anniversaries are good for remembering and giving thanks.” With these words, Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz welcomed the affection — and a bouquet of flowers — offered by families in El Salvador, who wanted to mark his 55th anniversary of priestly ordination, which falls on Saturday 15 August, ahead of time.
It was the beginning of a gathering where questions and personal stories carried the conversation naturally from one subject to the next.
The first question turned to forgiveness. The Father explained that forgiveness lies at the very heart of the Christian message, for “why did Jesus Christ come into the world? Above all, to forgive us.” On the Cross, he recalled, Christ himself turned to God the Father and asked: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And so, even when an offence stirs anger or rejection, “with our will, we can always forgive.” The feelings, he explained, may take longer to follow, but the will can already make a true decision to forgive.
Stephanie and Sebas, newly married, spoke of their wish to build a home with God at its centre, and asked how they might help other young people discover the beauty of forming a family.
The Father began by posing a more fundamental question: what do we really mean by love? “Sometimes what happens is that people have a very limited — and at times somewhat mistaken — idea of what love is,” he said. It is possible to fall into a kind of “provisional love,” one that lasts only as long as the circumstances remain favourable. But “love, if it is genuine, is for ever.” Nor is it simply a matter of loving the other person for what they give us. “Seeing the other as something that brings me satisfaction,” he explained, “is part of love, but it is not its essence.” That essence lies, instead, in “desiring the good of the other person.”
There was room, too, for a conversation about courtship. Rodrigo, preparing for his wedding to Isabel, asked the Father about that season of preparation. Msgr. Ocáriz encouraged him to live it unhurriedly, making full use of the time to truly come to know one another — not merely by discovering shared tastes or interests, but by confirming that there exists “a harmony in the fundamental ideas of life.”
Herberth, an educator and grandfather, wanted to know how a family might become a true school of virtue. The Father’s answer was simple: “become friends with your children.” Parents, he explained, are not only those who educate or set boundaries; they must also build a bond of trust strong enough that their children feel free to come to them with their problems. “Children must be able to turn to their parents,” he said. And that friendship, more than any lengthy speech, is what passes on what matters most, through the example of life itself.
His answer took on a deeper resonance when Evelyn shared the story of her husband, Edgardo. Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2020, he lived out his illness in close union with God, accompanied spiritually and preparing himself for his final encounter with Him. He died two months after the diagnosis. Two days before his death, Evelyn and her family had received a letter from the Father, written in reply to one they had sent him. Certain that Edgardo now rests in heaven, Evelyn wished to thank the Father for his prayers and asked how she might convey a difficult truth: that Christian joy, too, passes through the embrace of the Cross. His reply was among the most profound of the afternoon: “Despite suffering, and through suffering, we can be happy.”
The Father was careful to clarify that this is not a call to seek out pain. Rather, it is the discovery that suffering can be lived differently once it is united to Christ. He recalled the final years of St. Josemaría, when the founder of Opus Dei, though physically frail and nearly blind, held on to a deep and abiding joy. “How is this possible?” he asked, and answered, “It is only possible through union with the Cross of Christ, through faith.”
He also urged those present to widen their gaze, to make the sufferings of others their own. When news arrives of wars, earthquakes, or other tragedies, it is not enough simply to think, “how sad.” “We can pray a little for those who suffer, even if only for a moment,” he said, building a small but essential Christian habit: to feel what happens to others as very much our own,” whether through prayer for those in pain or by sharing their joy at good news.
As the afternoon went on, the young people and children present shared their own experiences. Mariana, a young girl, described how at school she seeks out Jesus in the oratory each morning, or during break, to tell Him something or to pray for someone in need.
At the close of the gathering, a Venezuelan family who had found their new home in El Salvador gave the Father a photo album of the country that had welcomed them, together with the prayer intentions of several families. The gift is meant to let him carry with him, as they put it, “a little piece of our country.”
Before taking his leave, the Father asked once more for prayers for the Pope: “Above all, pray intensely for the Pope,” he urged them. And so ended a gathering in which families had not only shared their joys and concerns with the Father, but received from him a simple and demanding invitation: to learn to love truly, forgive, walk alongside others, and discover that, even in the depths of suffering, union with Christ makes joy possible.