-
January 9, 20249 January 2024
Today we celebrate the Holy Mass in honor of the holy martyrs Arethas and companions. We ask for their intercession for the life of our Apostolic Vicariate and our annual meeting with the priests, nuns, and lay people involved in the pastoral ministry.
The Gospel shows us the great authority of Jesus, which impresses all the people. He is not like other authorities. His is not a threatening authority that creates fear. His is an authority that guards us in goodness. Jesus' authority is expressed in his ability to free us from evil and to listen to our prayers and supplications. Jesus always acts for our joy and our salvation.
In this way, our savior expresses the merciful face of God. In the first reading, we saw how God listens to the prayers made with faith by a woman suffering because she is barren. Jesus heals our life and makes our existence fruitful. He is our salvation and gives his life for us. The Lord infinitely loves us.
What is the best response to the love of God revealed in Christ? It is the testimony of life. We are reminded of this by the holy martyrs Saint Arethas and companions, whom this year we remember in this extraordinary jubilee recalling the thousand and five hundred years of their sacrifice for love.
By celebrating these holy Martyrs, we rediscover our roots in this land. Even though we came from different churches, from different parts of the world, we now live here on this place. We form the one Catholic Church here in the Arabian Peninsula.
The blood of these martyrs marked this land in the first centuries of Christianity. They did not want to deny Christ. They wanted to be utterly faithful to the love of Christ and the Christian faith. And we have the task of continuing to witness the Gospel and promote the good of all on this earth with humility and simplicity of heart.
Saint Arethas and his companions witnessed the greatness and power of Jesus. In the Church, only some faithful are called to the supreme testimony of martyrdom, but all the baptized are called to bear witness to the love of God before the world.
The true witness never puts himself at the center but Jesus and his Gospel. Being witnesses does not mean showing that we are better than others. This would draw attention to us. But the witness is characterized by the desire to make Jesus known to others, and through everything they do and say, they want to show the face of Jesus.
The witness has no other strength than the gift of the Holy Spirit. When we are weak, says saint Paul, it is precisely then that we are strong because the power of god is manifested in us.
May Saint Arethas and companions help us to be faithful to Christ. Never be ashamed of being Christians but bring the joy of the Gospel to everyone with our lives and in humility.
The holy Martyrs remind us that nothing is more beautiful than being surprised by the Gospel and the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.
