This was originally published on February 24th 2014:
How are you going to spend the days before Lent, what many in the English and French speaking world call Mardi Gras and what the Portuguese speaking world calls Carnaval.
In an interview with cancaonova.com, the missionary from the Canção Nova Community, Emanuel Stenio speaks specifically to the youth that desire to live holiness, but they find it difficult to life the PHN call to Say No to Sin. [PHN in Portuguese stands for Por Hoje Não-Today I will not sin.]cancaonova.com: How do one live Carnaval and where does he go when there are many invitations and dances and festivals in this time? Emanuel Stênio: The youth should seek the true joy over all, for Carnaval is time of joy. Beyond this it is a moment of preparation for us Christians, for it is a period that precedes Lent, therefore, we have to prepare ourselves for living well this time of our Church. It is important to spend carnaval with joy; and where one finds this joy is the nub of the question.
We need this joy that cures us and that dissipates from our heart a sadness at once for all! And this is not a passing joy, as occured when you are sad and seek a drink to make you happy, but in another day al this sadness returns. Therefore it is important that we may have the capacity of going to places that present Jesus Christ to us, the true joy, the places that are agreeable to the man and woman of God.
cancaonova.com: What should youth do with two paths and only one choice?
Emanuel Stênio: Life is made of choices, and we know that we reap what we sow; therfefore, if we frequent environments that are going to brings us joy, peace and gentleness, we will be happy, peaceful, gentle, kind, healed and lovable people.Otherwise, we go to environments that offer drugs, drinks, and promote prostitution and the violence we welcome. the pregnancy out of wedlock, the transportation accidents as well as the victims of drunk driving accidents. ,
cancaonova.com: What are the challenges to avoiding drinking, drugs, lawless sex and all that these days of revelry offer to people?
Emanuel Stênio: As Christians we should flee these environments! Perhaps you do are not practicing the biblical teachingsd, but you are Catholic and baptized, therefore enter in the site to desire to experience something new at carnaval. For not wanting more to live the only situations that you lived in sexuality and in drinking, for knowing that after spending four days in carnaval, on Ash Wednesday you will have a huge headache, a great revelry for perhaps you may have seen and lived things that you would not have wanted to live.