Sports Jubilee in Ocaña, Colombia: Cyclist Bishop presides over celebrations

Mons. Orlando Olave Villanueva, Bishop of Ocaña (Colombia), presided over the celebrations for the jubilee of the athletes in his diocese and, within the framework of his participation in one of the cycling routes, thanked God “for the gift of health and for the world of sport.”

This was indicated by the prelate in a video published by the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC), after sports activities and the Mass held on August 10 in Ocaña, in the department of Norte de Santander, near the border with Venezuela.

“They are very special moments, where we also want to highlight and thank all this jubilee of the athletes, thank God for the gift of health and for the world of sport, which also here in Ocaña is very strong, so we wanted to unite him to that jubilee year in the framework of our employer party,” said Mons. Olave.

The Bishop of Ocaña also presided over the Mass, after sports activities, in the Sanctuary of the Virgin Water, where “La Morenita”, as the locals call Nuestra Señora de Torcoroma, appeared in 1711.

Sports tests – the Athletic Escalada Agua de la Virgen and the Cycling Crossing Our Lady of Torcoroma – were organized in alliance with the City Hall of Ocaña, the Chamber of Commerce and local sports clubs, according to the CEC

Take care of the body because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit

“We say that healthy body and healthy mind, we can say healthy body also gives a spirituality, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, taking care of the body is obviously taking care of the temple, not as an aesthetic issue, it is a health issue, it is a subject of thanking the Lord for the harmony of our body,” said the bishop.

“And obviously in these cute environments that we have in our ocaña, we can enjoy sports. Sport also builds peace, builds reconciliation, builds fraternity, builds joy, and obviously sport and jubilee is all that,” he said.

Athletes “are quite religious”

Víctor Hugo Peña, professional exciclist and the first Latin American who led, in 2003, the famous Tour of France, thanked the bishop for the invitation and stressed that “if something has the athletes are that they are quite religious. Sport, and especially those background sports, such as cycling, athletics, because we have one, let’s say, nature of endure, to endure that there is a goal of knowing that reach”.

In that sense, he stressed the importance of “entrusting himself to a superior being to accompany him, so that nothing happens to him. I think he has a lot to contribute, and then everything that has to do with sport, which is discipline, surrender, commitment, which are like values that the spiritual life has too”.

Tatiana Hoyos is a mother who participated in the event with her son and stressed being able to be in “these beautiful, so wonderful spaces, that they also bring us a lot to God: it is to see their love reflected in our family, and what better way to share it in these spaces where we all realize that we can share, that we can be in spaces full of tranquility, of peace, love”.