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January 18, 2025Dear faithful, I am happy to be with you again this evening. With this Eucharistic celebration I come to the end of my third pastoral visit. Of course, tomorrow morning I will have the joy of celebrating the confirmations of many children to invoke upon all of them the gift of the Holy Spirit. In these days I have met the members of the pastoral council, all the priests, those involved in the various ministries, readers, ministers of the Eucharist, ushers, choir members, catechists, those involved in the family ministry and in Youth ministry. I also had the joy of being with the altar servers: it was a beautiful meeting in which we spoke about friendship with Jesus and the vocation that each one has to follow Jesus and build with him the kingdom of heaven.
This year's pastoral visit is marked by the Holy Year, the Jubilee of hope. And I am one with you in this year as a pilgrim people, a people called to be pilgrims of hope. This is the theme of this Holy Year, the Jubilee of the Lord 2025. This is also the theme of my pastoral visit. Being pilgrims, like being migrants, means always being on the move, it means moving toward a significant goal. In reality, we can only begin and continue a journey if we are animated by hope.
In daily life, there are simple hopes in our hearts; like the hope that our desires and dreams come true for our family, for our work and for the people we love. But then there is the greater hope, the one that opens us to the horizons of eternal life. It is not only the hope of a world beyond the one we live today. The greater hope is that which sustains us throughout life and which allows us to go through difficulties and tribulations. The great hope is that which recognizes Christ as the salvation of our life. The great hope is that nothing and no one is lost. Hope assures us of the final goal, eternal life, this makes our journey beautiful today, makes the effort and the joy meaningful.
The word of God that we have heard describes the root of our hope. Prophet Isaiah describes God's love for his people by comparing it to that of a man for his woman. What makes us pilgrims of hope is the certainty of being loved with an irrevocable and eternal love. Nothing can replace love and being loved. When we do not feel loved, everyone becomes insecure and sad, we feel isolated and alone, we lose our way, we stop, we interrupt the pilgrimage of life. When instead we have the profound experience of being loved as we are, with our limitations and even with our sins, then life begins again, hope is born. Hope does not disappoint. Christian hope is reliable hope. Jesus, the son of God, incarnate, much and risen, is reliable hope.
The Gospel presents us with the first miracle that Jesus performs in Cana during the wedding celebration. Jesus transforms water into wine and allows the great wedding feast to continue and not end in disappointment. This miracle occurs through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus, who is the first to notice the great discomfort. Without that miracle there would have been a great disappointment. But Christian hope does not disappoint. At first, Jesus seems not to accept his mother's words, it seems his time has not yet come. In reality, in this way the Gospel shows us that the miracle performed by Jesus, transforming water into wine, is accomplished in the perspective of the Paschal Mystery, in which Jesus conquers the evil of the world. Jesus transforms our water into wine, Jesus transforms our entire life, making it a participant in his divine love.
But how can we participate in this love every day? St. Paul answers us in his letter, speaking to us about particular gifts of the Spirit, the charisms. Through these gifts, each of us is called to contribute to the building of the Church, to the spread of the Gospel. When we realize that we are loved by someone, we realize at the same time that we are unique and unrepeatable. We never love generically; we love the person by his name. In the same way, each of us is called to give his original contribution to the life of the Christian community, through the charisms that he has received not for himself but for the good life of all.
In this light we can think of a great saint that we remember today, Saint Joseph Vaz. Born in Goa, he lived his mission in Sri Lanka facing difficult trials and great dangers to bring the Catholic faith to that country. He knew how to live according to the charism that the Lord had given him. He did not go looking for comfort, but faced difficulties to bring Jesus to all the faithful who were left without priests because of persecution. He lived in great poverty, like a servant. He was imprisoned for over two years because of his witness to the Gospel.
Why was he able to live all this? Because he was certain of Christ's love, he felt deeply loved by Christ, for this reason he became a missionary from Goa to Sri Lanka, rebuilding and organizing the life of the Church in that beloved country. Even today we cannot think of the Church in Sri Lanka without thinking of his mission.
Brothers and sisters, Joseph Vas died at only sixty years of age. He literally spent his life for the Gospel and for the Catholic faith. What does this teach our faithful in Sri Lanka but also all of us? Let his zeal for the mission also take our hearts. His desire to live the Gospel and bring it to others be our desire too. He was a man animated by hope, without which he would never have been able to face and overcome all the difficulties of his mission. Saint Joseph Vaz invites us to be pilgrims and missionaries of Hope.
I also invite you to be pilgrims and missionaries of hope. At the end of my pastoral visit I ask you to commit yourself to the parish for the Lord's Jubilee. You know that I have declared your parish a pilgrimage center for all the faithful of Oman. Please help your priests to accompany the pilgrims who will come here to find peace and mercy.
I want to make a proposal for you all. Certainly, each of you knows Catholic people here in Oman who do not attend Church for various reasons. I propose that you invite at least one of them to participate in one of the Jubilee moments that will be held in the parish. Do it with kindness, without judging people, but with love. Tell them that this year is the Jubilee of hope and that the Lord Jesus is waiting for them in the church to celebrate with them too.
Dearest ones, I wish you with all my heart to live the Lord's Jubilee to the full. Be a sign of hope for everyone, of true hope, the one that does not disappoint: be witnesses of Jesus.
