Bishop Paolo releases his first Pastoral Letter 2023

Abu Dhabi.

Bishop Paolo Martinelli released his new Pastoral Letter 2023 titled, "Come and See" (John 1:39), 'Life is a Vocation' on 25 September, addressed to the faithful of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia.

In his first pastoral letter after the appointment and installation as the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia in 2022, Bishop Paolo reflects on the theme of our life as a vocation, taking into account the passage from the first chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus invites John and Andrew to "come and see" where he stayed. The Bishop reminds us that "Christianity begins with an encounter, with an invitation to be with Jesus".

"Dear young people", the Bishop invites, "let us avoid mediocracy and joyfully live life as a gift, as a response to the love of God, who calls us to do great things."

In addition to drawing our attention to the fundamental aspects of Christian life, Bishop Paolo shares with us his reflections on his meetings with the faithful during his first round of pastoral visits to the parishes of the Vicariate.

Below is the full text of the Pastoral Letter: 
 

"COME AND SEE'' (John 1:39)

LIFE IS A VOCATION

1. AN ENCOUNTER

Dear sisters and brothers, I address you with this pastoral letter more than a year after my appointment and having made my first pastoral visit to all the parishes of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. In addition to sharing some reflections on my meetings with you, I would like to draw your attention to a fundamental aspect of Christian life, which we already find in the first pages of the Gospels.

The first meeting: John and Andrew
Let's read the Gospel of Saint John. In the first chapter, after the majestic prologue, which describes God's mystery and the incarnation of the Son who reveals divine life to us (Jn 1:1-18), we find a very simple story that reminds us of the essence of Christianity. At the beginning of Christianity, there is the grace of an encounter.

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” (Jn 1:35-39)

John the Baptist sees Jesus coming towards him; he recognizes him: He is the lamb of God, the one who takes away the sins of the world. Two of his disciples, probably Andrew and John, the same author of the Gospel, begin to follow him. At a certain point, Jesus realizes he is being followed; he turns and asks: "What are you looking for? " Probably a little surprised by this question, the disciples answer him simply: Master, where do you live? Instead of asking questions about God or the great changes in the world, they merely ask him where he lived.

The disciples' question uses a crucial verb: to remain. It is a verb that the Gospel of John will use many times to describe Jesus' relationship with his disciples. For example, Jesus says towards the end of his mission that we must "remain" in him like the branches in the vine to bear fruit (Jn 15:1-17). Or when he invites them to "remain" in his love for him, as he "remains" in the Father and his love for him (Jn 15:10).

Jesus answers the disciples' question in a very simple way: "Come and see" (Jn 1:39). There are many other instances in the Gospel, where we hear Jesus use these phrases: "come" (Mt 4:19; Mk 1:17) or "come, follow me" (Mt 8:22; Lk 5:27; 9:59;18:22; Jn 1:43).

Christianity begins with an encounter, with an invitation to be with Jesus. Christianity is made by those who have met Jesus and accepted his invitation to follow him.

The Gospel tells us that the disciples followed him and saw where he lived (Jn 1:39). Surprisingly, the Gospel does not give their dialogue that afternoon. It is only said that they saw his dwelling, his house. A simple home. It was a carpenter's house. They might have met the Mother of Jesus, Mary. The disciples might have seen the simple and profound relationship between Jesus and Mary. This relationship will continue until the end of Jesus' mission when we find Mary under the cross together with John, the beloved Disciple (Jn 19:26).

The two disciples must have been so happy and surprised by that meeting and by having seen the house of Jesus that Saint John, when he wrote this Gospel at the end of his life, as an old man, still remembers even the time when it happened: “it was around 4 in the afternoon” (Jn 1:39).

Why does he remember the time of that meeting after so many years? Because that event changed everything in his life, as in the lives of the other disciples. Their whole life was transformed from that meeting, on the banks of the river Jordan. Nothing remained the same as before after the encounter with Lord Jesus. That meeting gave their life a new horizon. Following Jesus, the disciples understood their lives differently. They changed their mentality.

Let us never forget: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Benedict XVI). Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption” (Evangelli Gaudium, 7-8).

A meeting that continues in the footsteps of Saint Arethas and his companions
Dear sisters and brothers, the meeting between Jesus and the two disciples happened two thousand years ago but did not stop in Galilee. It spanned the centuries and all the countries of the world. This encounter with Jesus has reached us too, who called us and invited us to follow him. Jesus said to us, too: Come and see!

How did Jesus reach us? Through the Church, the testimony of Christians, through the Christian community, guided by the bishops who are the successors of the apostles, by the priests and deacons, through the consecrated persons, and all the Christians who have witnessed the beauty of the encounter with Jesus. Christian faith reached us through our parents and friends.

The Gospel has arrived in our lands of origin. The Gospel reached the lands of Arabia. Saint Paul already reminds us in his letters that he came to Arabia after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus (Gal 1:17).

This year, we are celebrating the jubilee, together with the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, commemorating the 1500th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Arethas and his companions in Najrān. This city was the seat of one of the largest Christian communities in the first centuries. Najrān was in ancient Yemen, currently, it is located in Saudi Arabia. Remembering their testimony, we realize that, since ancient times, Christians have inhabited the land in which we now live. And we are part of this beautiful history, the history of the Church in the Arabian Peninsula.

For this reason, on November 8th, we will celebrate the beginning of the Jubilee Year with a Holy Mass in Abu Dhabi. During the year, we will have the opportunity to delve deeper into the person and examples of these holy martyrs.

The Christian faith is communicated through an encounter, as it was for the first disciples up to us. We, too, can do as Saint John the Evangelist did. Let's think of some important encounters that changed our life. Let's try to think of the face of some nun, priest, or friend who made us meet Jesus. We thank God for all those who have communicated the Christian faith to us. It is a great joy to be Christian, to have met Jesus, and to live our faith in Arabia.

But what is communicated to us in this meeting? Jesus brings to us the fullness of divine life. For this reason, those who accept Jesus' call experience a profound transformation of life.

Jesus is the perfect man, and following Jesus makes us more human (Gaudium et Spes, 41). Whoever finds Jesus indeed finds himself because he reveals to us his Father and his love for him and makes us discover who we are (Gaudium et Spes, 22): we are the children of God and brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

2. THE CHURCH: A PEOPLE OF THE BAPTIZED

One Baptism
How do we become partakers of divine life permanently? The divine life enters us through baptism and is nourished by listening to the Word of God. It grows through the sacraments, in particular, the Eucharist and reconciliation. Faith grows if we intensely live the life of the Christian community in all its aspects.

We are all baptized and form one people, the people of God who live in Arabia. Being Church means being called to walk together. In the past year, I visited all our parishes in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Due to the ongoing conflict, I have not yet been able to go to Yemen. However, I am in constant contact with the Missionaries of Charity nuns and their priest, who also cares for the faithful.

I thank God for being able to meet you and being able to appreciate the richness of different cultural and spiritual traditions that are present in our parishes. We are one Church made up of migrants coming from many countries with different languages and rites. But we must not forget that our Church originates in the first meeting between Jesus and his first disciples. This meeting, capable of changing lives, developed in our countries and gave rise to many local churches.

Our languages are different, yet we have the same Catholic faith. We have different spiritual traditions, but we form one body; we are members of the one body of Christ, called to bear witness to all of God's love. Meeting all the groups and different linguistic communities, I have often asked myself: What can keep so many different people together? The encounter with Jesus unites us. Baptism unites us. We are baptized people. Even though we are many members, we form one body.

“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” (Eph 4:1b-6)

We are all called to follow Jesus. We all have the vocation to be sons and daughters of God. As the Second Vatican Council forcefully affirmed, with the one baptism, we all received the vocation to holiness, that is, to the fullness of divine love (Lumen Gentium, 5).

But what does it mean to be called to holiness? “Be holy because I am holy” (Lev 11:44), says the Lord. All of us were created in the image and likeness of God, and we realize life only if we welcome God's love and let ourselves be transformed by it.

Brothers and sisters, let us never forget our baptism. I always invite you to remember the date of your birthday and the day of your baptism. Celebrate this day! In this way, we remember that we have all received the vocation to holiness.

If we forget our fundamental vocation to be children of God, then divisions and partisan interests prevail among us. If we live united in faith and love, our differences become an asset for everyone.
 

Linguistic communities and the united Church
For this reason, I ask all linguistic communities to be, first and foremost, an expression of the Church's closeness to all the faithful because we all have to help them integrating into the Church. In the same way, I ask the communities to be a proper introduction for all the faithful to the unity of the parish to the unity of the Church.

We have the most essential things in common: the same Christian faith and the same baptism. Let us always welcome each other with sincere love. Everyone is the bearer of a gift that must be shared with others.

In our profession of faith, we say: I believe the “one” and “holy” Church! Therefore, we form one body to be holy. To grow in holiness, we need to be united in Christ.

Dear people of God, let us not forget we are all baptized. We form a priestly, prophetic, and royal people. We are called to live our vocation to holiness in all the circumstances of life: in daily life, at work, in family, with friends, and in school. We are called to holy life and to witness the joy of the Gospel. We are called to share with everyone the new humanity that Jesus came to bring into the world with his love and thus collaborate in the good life of all and building up a more fraternal and more human society.

Looking to the next Synod of bishops
Finally, I invite you to carefully follow the next synodal assembly, which will take place in Rome from 4 to 29 October on the theme: "For a synodal Church: communion, participation, mission". My beloved predecessor, Bishop Paul Hinder, with his collaborators, has done excellent, universally appreciated work at the level of our local Church. After the continental meeting, we now have the first session of the Synod of Bishops. As the people of God living in Arabia, we are called to walk more and more together and to be co-responsible for the life of the Church, according to each one's vocation. As you know, I will participate in the Synod as a delegate of the Latin bishops of the Arab region, together with a representative of our people. I wish to be in permanent contact with you these days and share the experience of the Synod with you. I ask you to pray for this great ecclesial event.

3. LIFE AS A VOCATION

Dear sisters and brothers, baptism has, therefore, given us the vocation to be fully sons and daughters of God. But the word “vocation” needs to be understood more deeply. It is, in fact, a word that seems a little out of fashion.

Let us return to Jesus' encounter with his first disciples. He calls them and invites them to follow him to participate fully in his mission. For John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Matthew, and all the other disciples, the vocation was a concrete thing linked to an event: the meeting with Jesus.

The word vocation has its root in the word "to call". Jesus calls us to be Christians, to be disciples and witnesses.

Precisely, the encounters that the Gospel tells us make us reflect that our whole life is a vocation, a response to God's love.

Vocation to life
Let us first reflect on this fact: each of us is called to life. No one can give life to himself. We are always born from someone who precedes us and who wanted and welcomed us: they are our parents and all those who helped us grow. We are not born by chance but because God conceived us from eternity.

Pope Benedict XVI had said it very clearly: “Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is wanted, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary” (Rome, 24 April 2005).

Even Pope Francis, this year, on World Youth Day, addressing the many young people present, reminded us that God calls us because he loves us:

“You are not here by accident. The Lord has called you, not only in these days but from the very beginning of your days. He called you by name. Let us listen to the word of God that called us by name. … You have been called by name. Each of us is called by name. … His words are inscribed in our hearts, and we come to realize that they are written in the hearts of every one of us, as a kind of title that tells people who we are, who you are. … None of us is a Christian by chance; …At the beginning of the story of our lives, before any talents we may have, before any shadows or wounds we may be carrying in our hearts, we were called. Why? Because we are loved. This is something beautiful. In God's eyes, we are precious children, and he calls us each day in order to embrace and encourage us, to make of us a unique and original masterpiece. Each of us is an “original”, whose beauty we can only begin to glimpse” (Lisbon, 3 August 2023).

Through the relationship with all creatures: Laudato si'
Furthermore, I invite you to consider another important aspect of life as a vocation. God also calls us through our relationship with reality. God calls and draws us to Himself through the beauty of things and life. We feel repelled when we see evil, while we feel attracted to good. A bad thing does not attract us, but when we meet an expressive face, a friend, the smile of a loved one, when we see the sun rising and setting with its beautiful effects, when we see the moon and stars in the sky when we see the charm of the desert with its shapes and colors, then we feel that our heart is attracted. We discover that God calls us to beauty, goodness, and love.

How many things attract us and make us discover that we are made to love and be loved? Life is a vocation because reality is a pro-vocation. The things and people we encounter take us out of ourselves and give rise to the desire for joy within us. God gave us life to be happy!

Of course, everything we encounter in life attracts us, but it also turns out to be limited. In all things, we see the limit. Yet the desire we have inside our hearts is infinite. In his book of Confessions, Saint Augustine addresses God: "You have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you" (Conf I,1). For this reason, our experience of the limits in things and people also makes us discover that we are made for fullness of happiness, to meet God. We are made for the infinite, for eternal life.

All things and people are a sign from God. He calls us through the things that happen every day to seek him and follow Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate meaning of all things because everything speaks of Him. In Him, all things are made (Eph 1; Col 1).

Saint Francis of Assisi wrote the famous Canticle of Brother Sun precisely to remember that all things are creation of God and are a sign of the Most High: Laudato si' mi Signore with all Your creatures. Therefore, we want to defend creation and the environment - as Pope Francis repeatedly teaches us - because things are signs of God. They lead us to God. It is part of our vocation to take care of creation because creatures are a gift of God, who invites us to love.

Ultimately, life is a vocation to love and be loved. We are here on earth to love! The life of each of us is fulfilled only in love. God is love, and our vocation to holiness is nothing but a vocation to love. We can love through everyday commitment, the various services and ministries we carry out in the Church, among the people. In the family, at work, there is no situation in which we cannot give ourselves to others. But the word “vocation” also indicates that we are called to respond to God through a fundamental decision that makes us take on a particular form of life in a stable way.

Marriage and family
The fundamental figure of Christian life is the family founded on marriage between man and woman. Marriage is a sacrament; it is a vocation because the spouses have the task of expressing, albeit within the limits of the human condition, the love between Christ and the Church for all the people of God (Amoris Laetitia, 72).

The husband and wife must never forget that their love is consecrated to God. They are called to be a sign of God's love for their children and the whole community. It is the task of parents and the family to welcome children as gifts from God, pass on the Christian faith to them and help them find their vocation.

Consecrated life
In the Church, there are also other essential forms of Christian life in which to realize one's vocation. I think first of all about consecrated life. Jesus calls many men and women to follow him by living in chastity, poverty, and obedience, that is, trying to imitate Jesus' way of life. He lived on earth chaste, poor, and obedient.

Christian obedience is the 'freedom' to seek God and follow his plans; evangelical poverty is the freedom to place our hope in Jesus without weighing down life with worries that suffocate the heart; chastity is the freedom to love others gratuitously, without seeking one's gain. This is how Jesus lived.

All Christians are called to strive for this love. Jesus calls some to live these evangelical counsels as the very form of their life: they are consecrated people. How many consecrated people have been, and continue their life of witness even today, in our Apostolic Vicariate! Many are involved in our schools and pastoral work in the parishes. I also remember the Missionary Sisters of Charity who in Yemen bore witness to the love of Christ to the point of giving their lives. Pope Francis recently remembered them in a general audience: “They are the martyrs of our time” (Rome, 19 April 2023).

Even today, Jesus calls many people to serve the kingdom of God through consecrated life, according to the different charisms that the Holy Spirit gives to the Church.

Ministerial priesthood
Finally, I think of the vocation to the ministerial priesthood: to give one's life by committing oneself to be a minister of the Gospel, pastor, and teacher in the Christian community. In our Apostolic Vicariate, many priests belong to religious orders, especially the Capuchin order, which has been committed for centuries by order of the Holy See to care for this portion of the people of God in Arabia.

There are also priests incardinated in the Apostolic Vicariate who serve the migrant faithful present in our Vicariate permanently and stably.

We thank the Lord for all vocations: to marriage, to the consecrated life, and the ministerial priesthood. Through these forms, each person realizes their fundamental vocation, the baptismal call, to the fullness of love for God and brothers and sisters.

4. VOCATION AND DISCERNMENT

Discerning the proper vocation 
But here's one crucial question: How do we understand our vocation? How do we know if God calls us to marriage, consecrated life, or ministerial priesthood?

The vocation of each of us is a call to freedom (Gal 5:13), which is why when God calls, he never imposes a choice on us but gives us signs through which we can verify and discern what God's will for our lives.

In the beautiful letter to young people, Christus Vivit, Pope Francis dedicated a chapter to the theme of vocation and another to discernment, to learn to recognize the signs of God's call. I invite everyone to go and read them, but in particular, young people who have the heart to ask questions about the meaning of one's life and the future.

Here, Pope Francis reminds us that vocation “is a recognition of why I was made, why I am here on earth, and what the Lord's plan is for my life. He will not show me the place, time and detail, since I will have to make my own prudent decisions about these. But he will show me a direction in life, for he is my Creator and I need to listen to his voice, so that, like clay in the hands of a potter, I can let myself be shaped and guided by him. Then I will become what I was meant to be, faithful to my own reality” (Christus Vivit, 256).

Even those who already find themselves in a specific vocation must always delve deeper into their choices. Spouses, consecrated persons, and priests must constantly renew their life choices to be faithful to their vocation and live it joyfully. We all need to rediscover the sources of our vocation and draw on the love of God to renew our primordial decision joyfully.

But special attention must be given to our children, teenagers and young people. Because precisely in the youth age, fundamental questions emerge about the meaning of one's life, and we ask ourselves of the decisions we must take to live up to God's most beautiful desires in our hearts.

Pastoral care for vocations is not just a chapter in the life of the Church. All the Church's activity must be concerned with helping the faithful, especially young people, discern their vocation and understand what God has prepared for them.

Each of us is unique and unrepeatable, and each of us is in the world because we have a special mission to accomplish. Therefore, it is important to discern your vocation together. As this great young man, Blessed Carlo Acutis said: we are all born original because each of us was wanted and designed by God for great things. But we often live and die like photocopies. That is, we risk living not according to the plan God has prepared for us but superficially, allowing ourselves to be influenced by the worldly mentality and thus risking, throwing away God's gifts.

Dear young people, let us avoid mediocracy and joyfully live life as a gift, as a response to the love of God, who calls us to do great things. Let us use the gifts and talents we have received from God for the good of all. Please welcome the questions that Pope Francis asks young people: “When seeking to discern our vocation, there are certain questions we ought to ask. … Do I know myself, quite apart from my illusions and emotions? Do I know what brings joy or sorrow to my heart? What are my strengths and weaknesses? These questions immediately give rise to others: How can I serve people better and prove more helpful to our world and the Church? What is my real place in this world? What can I offer to society?” (Christus Vivit, 285).

A pastoral animation "team"
Precisely, because of the fundamental importance of pastoral vocation, in the coming months, I intend to establish a team of people who will help animate all our pastoral activities on the horizon of life as a vocation. Family ministry, Christian formation, youth ministry, and the various services and ministries in the Christian community must be oriented towards making us rediscover the beauty of life as a vocation.

Also, during the year, I intend to propose tools and meetings, particularly for young people, as an aid for vocational discernment to delve deeper into the most critical questions our young people have regarding the meaning of life.

Dear young people, listen to your heart, which desires great things, listen to the word of God, dedicate time to prayer and silence, participate in the Eucharistic celebration, get involved in the life of the parish, seek spiritual confrontation with a consecrated person, with a priest, with some adults in faith to help you discover your vocational path.

5. CALLED TO BE WITNESSES

We started from the meeting of the first disciples with Jesus on the banks of the River Jordan and the same invitation Jesus extends to us today: "Come and see"; “You, follow me”! We respond to his call and follow him to become friends and witnesses of him.

In fact, each ecclesial journey aims to communicate the joy of the Gospel to everyone through the testimony of our lives. The whole journey we make together every year is to deepen our personal and community relationship with God, grow in faith, hope, and love, and give our lives to build the kingdom of God.

Benedict XVI said in this regard: “We become witnesses when, through our actions, words, and way of being, Another makes himself present. Witness could be described as the means by which the truth of God's love comes to men and women in history, inviting them to accept freely this radical newness. Through witness, God lays himself open, one might say, to the risk of human freedom” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 85).

We wish to make our contribution to the good life of all. In particular, we want to cultivate and deepen relationships with all people of goodwill, of other faiths and religions, as Pope Francis invites us to do, to build together a more human and fraternal world in view of the kingdom of heaven.

A few months ago, as you know, the Abrahamic Family House was opened in Abu Dhabi, which has its roots in the document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb. It is a structure with three places of worship: a Mosque, a Synagogue, and a Church dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. It is an excellent opportunity to cultivate good relationships with the faithful of other religions and to give our testimony of a good life, promoting peace and justice. I invite all parishes to be in connection with this center, organizing meetings, especially for young people. Our vocation to holiness always passes through dialogue and discussion with all people of goodwill.

May Saint Arethas and his fellow martyrs, help us to live this Christian journey and this testimony. May their example and courage help us be authentic witnesses of peace and reconciliation in the land of Arabia.

Our Lady of Arabia, intercede for us!

With my blessings,

Bishop Paolo Martinelli OFM Cap.,
Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia.

Abu Dhabi, 25 September 2023.