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May 6, 2024Dear ones, I am very happy to be among you for this second pastoral visit. A year has already passed. What has happened in the past year? How is our spiritual journey going? Do we pray more in our families? We are called to be saints and this life is given to us to grow in holiness and mutual love.
Of course we could ask ourselves many usual questions: have we become a little older? When a year passes, especially for people who have reached a certain age, we generally notice that we have become a little older. If I look at a photo from last year or look into the mirror, I have to admit, it's true, I am a little older; I have more wrinkles on my face, the color of my beard and hair is grayer than last year. So, we know that as time passes, we become a little older.
But we can look at the passing time in a different way. In fact, we are called to follow Christ who is the source of life, he is our way to eternal life and who conquered death with his resurrection. If we truly follow Jesus, we can experience the youthfulness of the Spirit, which is more important than the body. Those who follow Jesus become younger day by day because they follow the one who is the source of true life, and therefore, forever young.
At the same time, we can become old in spirit if we remain closed to ourselves, when we keep grudges in our hearts, when we remain divided among ourselves. But we become younger when we are forgiven and know how to forgive, when we overcome divisions. We become young when we are loved and we love others. Love is always young.
This is the teaching that the word of God offers us today. In the Gospel Jesus addresses his disciples in a very intimate way: I do not call you servants but friends because I have passed on to you what I have heard from the heavenly Father. Stay in my love. And bear fruit that remains forever. You didn't choose me but I chose you.
We too are called to live this profound relationship with Jesus. He asks us to remain in his love. Love is the great commandment for Christian life. Saint John, the youngest disciple, even goes so far as to simply affirm in his letter that God is love. He says not only that God loves, but that he himself is love. Love is not simply an attribute of God. Love is the very nature of God. God is nothing but love. And we who were created in the image and likeness of the God of Love, are in turn called to be loved and to love. In God's love for us, revealed to us by Jesus, we too can have the experience of having been chosen by Jesus and of being friends with him, safeguarding our relationship with him every day.
Being loved by God, as Saint John tells us, means being generated, begotten by God, receiving life from him. Being continually generated by love and called to love, that is, to give ourselves as Jesus did. This is the experience of youth that grows over time. We are regenerated by God in baptism, we are generated by God with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through the Eucharist, Christ makes us participate in his relationship with the Father. The sacrament of confession makes us reborn because it gives us God's forgiveness.
Finally, love spreads across time and space. Love knows no barriers and boundaries. This is the message that comes to us from the acts of the Apostles. While Saint Peter preaches to people of different cultures and nations, he sees the Holy Spirit descend upon them and transform their lives. These were the pagan people, gentiles, not part of the ancient people of Israel. However, the power of the Holy Spirit knows no boundaries, it enters people's hearts and transforms lives.
Dear faithful, isn't this exactly our experience as a parish? As you know, this parish dedicated to the Virgin Mary assumed into heaven is in all probability the largest parish in the world. We too, as in the acts of the Apostles, come from different peoples, with different cultures, languages and different traditions. Yet, we have the same faith, we have received the same baptism. The same Holy Spirit has been poured into our hearts. Therefore, we all form One body, we are One Church. The diversity among us must never be a reason for division. Unity in diversity is the secret of love. Love opens our hearts towards others.
We here have a unique possibility in the world, to be a Church made up of many different people forming One body and being united. The world needs to see this miracle of love, to see the power of the Spirit in action that gathers us together and unites us in Christ. The world needs to see that unity and peace are possible among such different people; yet, animated by the single Spirit of God that breaks down every wall.
May Mary Assumed into heaven always keep us close to Jesus and help us to be docile to the action of the Holy Spirit.
May Saint Arethas and his companion martyrs support us in our evangelical testimony.