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January 6, 2025Dear faithful, I am happy to be with you for this Eucharistic celebration on the day of the Epiphany of the Lord, in which we begin the jubilee of hope for this parish as a pilgrim center for our Vicariate. Pope Francis invited the whole Church to celebrate this great Jubilee that commemorates two thousand and twenty-five years since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus.
The Holy Father opened the Holy Door on the Christmas Eve at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. We solemnly celebrated the opening of the Holy Year in our Vicariate on the feast of the Holy Family, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Abu Dhabi. Today the Jubilee is solemnly inaugurated in all the parishes in our vicariate.
It is significant for the Bishop to be here today because this Parish Church of St. Anthony of Padua in RAK is the official shrine for all the faithful in the United Arab Emirates. Here the faithful of the different parishes are invited to make their pilgrimage, ask God for the gift of a renewal in life and receive a plenary indulgence. I ask all of you dear faithful to help your parish priest and the assistant priests during this year as many pilgrims will come here to pray and celebrate the jubilee.
Today we celebrate a feast, full of light, the Epiphany of the Lord. It is a solemnity that the people of God love very much. At the center we find the story from the Gospel about the Magi who came from the East to Jerusalem because they were guided by the rising of a star.
We can say that the Magi became pilgrims of hope. They are described as wise and experienced people. They studied the stars in the sky, they looked for a sign that indicated a significant change in the world. For those who search, it means that they have a restless heart, they feel the need for a deep change in life which they cannot give themselves, depending on their own strength. For this reason, they look for a sign in the sky. They knew that only God can transform life. The Magi recognized in the star a sign of this change, the birth of a new king. Therefore, they set out on a journey.
The Magi probably left from this our Arab region, making a long and tiring journey with their camels and dromedaries. In this way they became Pilgrims of Hope; meeting Jesus they recognized him as the Hope of the world and honored him with their precious gifts. They were surprised by his poverty and humility. A king born in a cave instead of a royal palace: this is the revolution of the Gospel.
The word Epiphany means manifestation; it deepens the mystery of Christmas. The light that radiates from the small cave of Bethlehem extends to reach everyone. God's salvation is a universal salvation, for every man and every woman. No one is excluded from God's love. The word of God became flesh precisely to be able to address everyone. Pope Francis recently stated that God reveals himself in the beauty of Jesus' humanity.
The feast of the Epiphany brings to fulfillment the prophecy we heard from prophet Isaiah. “The nations come to your light and kings to your dawning brightness. Lift up your eyes and look round: all are assembling and coming towards you.”
Jesus manifests himself in this way as the light of the world, the Gospel is for everyone. No one can confine Jesus within their own borders or to their own nation, or even to their own culture. Jesus overcomes all divisions and barriers and wants to make all nations, the kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and justice.
Saint Paul in his letter to the Ephesians presents himself as the Apostle of the Gentiles; his mission is not to remain closed in one nation, but to bring the Gospel to different parts of the world. The mission that Jesus entrusted to the Apostle Paul led him to announce the Gospel in all the countries known at that time, until he arrived in Rome, where he suffered martyrdom.
Dearest people, we cannot confine Jesus in one ethnicity, in one culture, or to a single language. Jesus calls different peoples to form the new people of God. Precisely in the light of the solemnity of the Epiphany, I invite you to look at our Church here in the Gulf. God has called us to be his people in the very land where the Magi left to go and find Jesus in Bethlehem.
We are not a Church made up of one type of people, having the same language or culture. Among us we speak different languages, we come from different nations, we have different traditions, but Jesus has made us his Church, with different gifts, charisms and ministries, to show himself to all peoples.
In this part of the world, one can see in a unique way the universality and internationality of the Church, a family of families, a people of peoples. In this way, we are called to realize the synodality that Pope Francis calls us to: walking together, in unity and in the diversity of gifts and languages.
There is only one danger that can stop us. It is the fear that is represented in the Gospel by King Herod. He fears that the birth of Jesus is a threat to his power. As we know from history, his fear will lead him to exterminate the children of Bethlehem, the holy innocents. Perhaps we too may sometimes feel the others or the Church or even Jesus as a threat to our projects and our power. Sometimes we can feel Jesus as an alternative to our self-realization, because he asks us to transform our hearts. The Magi instead show us that welcoming Jesus opens our hearts, widens our horizons, renews our life.
We too must choose between the fear of Herod, who wants to eliminate Jesus from his life, and the joy of the Magi for the encounter with Jesus. Do not be afraid of Christ, let us open the doors to Christ. The most beautiful sign of the epiphany for us is when we do not close ourselves in, isolating ourselves in our groups, in our communities, but we feel the joy of walking together, different and united.
Let us imitate the Magi, let us go to meet Christ. Let us allow the encounter with him to change our hearts. Dearest, I invite you to imitate the Magi. Be pilgrims of hope, recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world. Bring the friendship of Jesus to everyone. Welcome the pilgrims who will come here to meet Jesus.
May Mary, Mother of Hope, accompany us on this journey in the new year.
Ceremony Photo album
