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April 27, 2025Your Excellency Archbishop Christophe El Kassis, Apostolic nuncio to The United Arab Emirates; dear Parish Priest Father Lennie, Dear Priests and consecrated sisters and brothers, dear Deacon, dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, May the Lord give you Peace and paschal Joy.
Today we celebrate the liturgy of Divine Mercy Sunday, at the culmination of this week’s celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. But the joy of Easter is mixed with the news that has touched the hearts not only of Christians, but also of all people of good will. Last Monday our beloved Pope Francis concluded his mission on this earth. The solemn funeral of His Holiness ended a few hours ago. And therefore, I wanted to be among you this evening to pray together for the Pope, thanking the Lord for his intense and generous pontificate.
Today, the word of God tells us about the Apostles' encounter with risen Jesus; The Gospel speaks about St. Thomas, who first refuse to believe the testimony of the other Apostles about their encounter with the risen Lord. But when he sees the Lord with his own eyes and touches him with his hands, he exclaims, ‘My Lord and my God!
Again, the Acts of the Apostles show us how Jesus remains present and active in the Church after Easter that the same miracles that Jesus performed are now been worked through the prayers of the Apostles. The mystery of Easter helps us to live this time of mourning at the conclusion of Pope Francis' earthly mission.
It is very significant to be able to pray for Pope Francis on the feast of divine mercy, because mercy is certainly one of the key themes of his pontificate. In these twelve years he has done many gestures that have expressed the love of Christ who was sent on earth not to condemn the world but to save it. God is always ready to forgive. Think for instance, his visit to the prisoners. Every year he went to celebrate the Maundy Thursday mass in Jail, wanting to wash the feet of the prisoners. Even last week, on Maundy Thursday, despite being very weak due to the pneumonia that he was suffering from since more than a month, he wanted to go and visit the prisoners to remind them that they are loved by God and that God always forgives.
At the beginning of his pontificate, after the first Angelus in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis had recalled a dialogue he had with an elderly woman regarding the fact that God always forgives; without God's forgiveness the world could not exist, said the elderly lady to him. The problem is that we often get tired of asking for forgiveness. Let us never be tired of asking God’s forgiveness because God is a merciful Father and He always gives us the possibility of a new beginning.
Deeply connected to the mercy of God, Pope Francis taught us also the gift of fraternity. Those who experience God's forgiveness become capable of forgiving others and loving them as they are. Without forgiveness there is no fraternity. What would family life be, without forgiveness? How many times has Pope Francis told us that in the family (between husband and wife, between parents and children), one should never end a day angry but always make peace and forgive each other before going to sleep? If God is mercy, then we too must be merciful towards one another: be merciful as the heavenly Father is merciful.
But being merciful does not only mean forgiving those who have hurt us, but also helping our neighbors who are in difficulty, especially the poor and needy. Jesus himself is present in the poor.
Dear friends, praying for Pope Francis these days, I invite you to welcome his evangelical teaching to be merciful and follow Pope Francis on the path of fraternity, first of all among ourselves, in our parishes, as members of the people of God. Let us love one another because love comes from God. We are all baptized, children of God. Together, in unity we form one body even if we are different.
In this regard, we must remember that in 2019, Pope Francis came to Abu Dhabi invited by his highness Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, together with his Eminence Ahmed Al Tayyeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar, to sign the document on Human Fraternity, inviting all religions to build a more fraternal world and he also visited our local Church. Pope Francis was the first Pope to visit the Arabian peninsula. His words during the homily at the Zayed stadiun are unforgettable: "You who are here know the Gospel’s tune and you follow its rhythm with enthusiasm. You are a choir composed of numerous nations, languages and rites; a diversity that the Holy Spirit loves and wants to harmonize ever more, in order to make a symphony. This joyful polyphony of faith is a witness that you give everyone and that builds up the Church".
Do not forget that this altar in on which we celebrate this mass this eveing in Saint Mary's Church in Dubai is the same altar on which Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Dear faithful, Pope Francis invites us to be a joyful polyphony of faith. In this way we will know how to walk together with all people of good will, even with different faiths, and be peacemakers in this world, where we are experiencing a fragmentary world war, as he often said. Let us treasure his encyclical "Fratelli tutti" in which he invites us to promote social friendship and universal brotherhood, in imitation of Saint Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis was a tireless peacemaker. May his example enlighten the powerful of this world to choose peace over war.
Pope Francis literally gave his entire life to live the Gospel and help us to be followers of Jesus. He traveled the world to announce the joy of the Gospel and to bring reconciliation, peace and dialogue to all. He was able to live to the fullest until the end because he was always united with Jesus.
In his last encyclical on the devotion to the Sacred Heart – Dilexit Nos - there is his testament: he was certain of Jesus' love and wanted to love him with all his self, until the end. Being loved by Christ and loving Christ makes us capable of loving others, even our enemies. Dear faithful, let us continue to pray for Pope Francis these days of mourning for the Church and let us welcome his precious legacy.
May Mary, Mother of God, whom Pope Francis loved with a particular fondness, accompany him to the definitive encounter with Christ and help us to be authentic Christians, disciples of Jesus, Amen.
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