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July 3, 2024Dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you peace and joy. A special welcome to all the children from the summer camp who join us today.
Today is for me a special day: exactly two years ago I began my mission here among you as Apostolic Vicar of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. This anniversary gives us a favorable opportunity to reflect on the meaning of being the Church of Jesus Christ in this part of the world: the Arabian Peninsula.
The Gospel today offers us a very simple image of the Church represented by a boat in which Jesus and the disciples are. Many times, the fathers of the Church and theologians refer to the image of the ship or a boat to explain what the Church is.
Imagining the Church as a ship makes us think of a journey that must take us to the port. The port is the kingdom of God. Together we cross the sea, which is not only the symbol of life, but also of the difficulties we have to face. Above all, the image of the stormy sea describes the idea that our journey is never calm, we must face the difficulties and the evil that assails us.
We as people of God in this part of the world know what are these storms that can shake our lives: external storms and internal storms. External difficulties are the facts that happen and that can make our hearts agitated and restless: living in a foreign land, being far from home, having to speak a language that is not our mother tongue, having to live with people of different cultures and nations that is not always easy; being side by side with people of other faiths can make us struggle.
Then there are the internal storms, they are those caused by sin, by evil. The sea becomes stormy when we distance ourselves from God, when we allow ourselves to be dominated by envy and jealousy, when we close ourselves and only seek partisan interests. When we avoid to pray, the sea becomes agitated.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus is on board on the boat during the storm but he is sleeping. Observe carefully: Jesus is there, but he seems to sleep, to us he seems absent and for this reason we begin to be worried about our journey.
Then the disciples begin to shout, to call on the Lord, they are afraid. When Jesus finally awakens from sleep, he rebukes his disciples for not having enough faith. Furthermore, he rebukes the stormy wind and the troubled waters, and everything returns to calm. The disciples are deeply amazed. They discover who Jesus really is: not just a preacher among others, but the Son of God, the Lord of heaven and earth.
Dear faithful, the Church is like this boat in which we can experience the force of the wind and the turbulence of the waters, however on this boat there is Jesus: he is with us and never abandons us. My task as your Bishop is to invite you to always remain on the boat, to remain united in the Church. Let's stay together, let's stay united because Jesus is among us. My mission is to safeguard and help you grow in faith. Faith is recognizing that Jesus is present among us and that he is the Lord, he is God with us. Jesus is present in our unity, in the Eucharist, which is the sacrament of unity and love.
Dear children, I invite you to have Jesus as your best friend. Summer camp is a beautiful occasion to improve your friendship with Jesus and among you.
I thank the Lord because he called me to be Bishop in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. I thank Bishop Hinder, my beloved predecessor, the priests, the consecrated persons and all the people of God because you welcomed me right from the beginning with love. Please keep me in your prayers, as I keep all of you in my daily prayers.
I thank God that he brought us together. A foretaste of paradise often occurs within us, when we welcome each other as brothers and sisters, coming from different nations, with different cultures, languages and rites. Together we form the one body of Christ, the one Church. Sometimes we see the ancient prophecies come true in us in which the mountain of God becomes the house of prayer for all peoples and nations.
Finally, we turn our attention to all those in our Vicariate who are in greatest difficulty and feel the wind stirring the waters most. I am thinking particularly of the Christians present in Yemen and of the Missionary of Charity Sisters and the priest present in a precarious and dangerous situation. They too are on our boat; we form the same Church. We pray for everyone. May the Lord continue to guide our Church towards the safe harbor.
May Our Lady of Arabia guard us on the journey, Saint Arethas and his companion martyrs support us in the testimony of the Gospel. I wish everyone peace and joy. And to our children: Happy Summer camp!
Bp Paolo Martinelli, OFM Cap.
See the Photo Album of the Celebration
