Search
-
February 27, 2023Abu Dhabi.
It is a great joy to be here with you and celebrate the Eucharist, the sacrament of God's love for us. It is the concrete sign of the presence of Jesus among us. His love is faithful, and he never abandons us. I come among you with simplicity and humility. For you, I am a bishop, but with you, I am a brother. I have a great desire to get to know you, to dialogue with you and share our experiences, and to help us live the faith, hope, and love that Jesus came to bring into the world. The bishop is the successor of the apostles, and his presence is a sign of the unity of the Church. I want to be among you a humble sign of Jesus the good shepherd and a sign of unity for the whole Church that lives in this parish. You come from different nations and cultures. Among you, there are many gifts of the Holy Spirit. You have various languages and rites. But you are one Church of Christ.
This pastoral visit is in a very special time of the year, the season of Lent. As we know, this is a crucial time in the Christian life. The liturgy reminds us of the theme of conversion. But what does it mean to convert? The invitation to conversion asks us for at least two things: first, it means recognizing that we are sinners, interrupting the paths that take us away from Jesus and the Church, and returning to full communion with him. We must interrupt the ways of death, which lead us away from the love of God. The Lord invites us to leave division and work for unity. Sin divides: love unites. But there is no proper path of conversion if we are not willing to question our mentality. Converting means changing the way we think. We are called to have the same feelings in us that were in Christ Jesus. We are called to look at others as Jesus looks at them, with a gaze of love and benevolence.
In his message for Lent, Pope Francis invites us to Lenten penance from the perspective of the synodal journey that the whole Church has been experiencing in recent years. What does it mean, first, to live the Lenten penance? Here are the Pope's words: “Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcome our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross. …To deepen our knowledge of the Master, to fully understand and embrace the mystery of his salvation, accomplished in total self-giving inspired by love, we must allow ourselves to be taken aside by him and to detach ourselves from mediocrity and vanity. We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice, and concentration”.
The word of God that we have heard helps us understand, above all, that we are sinners, and we all need God's forgiveness. The Book of Genesis reminded us of the original sin. Sin is always disobedience toward God. The serpent seduces man and woman into believing that disobeying God's command will make them free and more like God. On the contrary, disobeying enslaves us. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and become dependent on an animal. True freedom is to obey God. It is the obedience of God's children. We are called to pass from the slavery of sin to the joy of being God's children.
The word of God teaches us that sin never has the last word. St. Paul tells us that where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. God entered the world to take our sins upon himself and set us free from evil. God's grace is stronger than our sin. Let us, therefore, allow ourselves to be reconciled with God. Every parish must be a community of people reconciled with God and others.
Finally, the Gospel shows us that Jesus lets himself be led into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Jesus overcomes temptations. Jesus overcomes the seduction of power and supports us on our journey. We, too, have to face many temptations in life: in the family, in the workplace, in school, and in the different environments we frequent. We are tempted to put ourselves, our success, and our career at the center of our lives: we are tempted to put our hope in money or power over other people. We cannot overcome these seductions alone. Jesus walks with us because we can win our battle against the evil that wants to enslave us.
How can we feel within us the strength of Jesus? Walking together as a people of God united in love, we will participate in Jesus' victory. This is why I invite you again to be united and rediscover us all as baptized who welcome the grace of forgiveness. The Lenten journey leads us to rediscover our baptism, which has made us children of God.
Let us, therefore, rediscover our baptism, which asks us to be active protagonists of the Christian life. As Christians aware of our baptism, we are called to live everyday life differently. Let us bring the joy of the gospel to all. We are called to live the gospel in our families, friends, and places we frequent. Let us never be ashamed of being Christians.
Finally, we welcome Pope Francis' invitation to make the Lenten journey a synodal journey. Being a synodal Church means being a people of God walking together, never alone. Therefore, I invite you in this time of Lent to participate more intensely in the Church's life through the proposed initiatives: moments of prayer and retreat.
To be truly a synodal Church, we can commit ourselves to invite some friends and acquaintances who no longer come to the Church to come to the Church and participate in some spiritual meetings.
Let's go towards Easter together, not alone. Let's rediscover that together. We are the people of God who follow Jesus on the way to the cross to participate in the joy of the resurrection. We entrust our journey to the Mother of God, who follows Jesus to Calvary. May Holy Mary support us on our Lenten journey to participate fully in the joy of Easter.