Homily, Mass of October 16, 2022

In the Gospel of Saint Luke, John the Baptist announces conversion, change, to people of different social categories (cf. Luke 3,10-14). These people all ask the prophet the same question: “What should we do? “.

After a time of synodal work in our diocese within our communities, parish units and deaneries, we too could ask ourselves, like the seekers of meaning close to John the Baptist: and we, in Corsica, what should we TO DO ? Our Church, what must it do?

I am not offering you a program or a strategy to follow. I’m not a dream salesman or a pressure marketing manager. The Church has no vocation to produce but to be fruitful.

Teaching the Word of God

Let’s start from the Word of God for this Sunday. She is the light of our steps and the lamp on our way (cf. Psalm 118,105). Three terms can enlighten us in our mission: combat, transmission and perseverance.

The fight : In the first reading, Joshua is on the battlefield with his men. Moses with his brother Aaron and Hur are on the mountain. They pray. Moses raises his hands to support the fight of the plain. Since our life, from birth to death, includes a part of struggle, we must prepare for it in order to be solid and emerge victorious. The fight is first interior, to pacify and unify our being. If we are divided, we are lost. Prayer strengthens and sustains all of our relational and pastoral life.

The transmission : Paul writes to Timothy to encourage him. Keep the treasure you have received, be faithful in the transmission. To keep and transmit it is necessary to rely on Scripture: teach, denounce evil, straighten out, educate in justice, proclaim the Word, intervene in time and at the wrong time, reproach, encourage, always with patience and concern for instruct. This is a beautiful program of spiritual and missionary wisdom.

Perseverance : The parable of the widow of the Gospel is a teaching to pray without being discouraged. The attitude of the widow teaches us to better live our faith in insistence, trust and perseverance. Indeed, today, with too much ease, in the face of difficulties, refusals and failures, we resign. We have lost, no doubt, cordial perseverance. The resistance of others to our desires or missionary projects leaves us dejected, disappointed and frustrated. This widow teaches us to overcome a fatalistic and sad attitude, in order to tactfully reach the hearts of people to move forward together in the Church. If you are chased out of one city, go to another (cf. Matthew 10:23) without violence…Jesus is going ahead of us to Galilee!

The teaching of our synodal reflection.

According to the synthesis of our exchanges, I retain some orientations for our Church in Corsica.

1. The principle of communion. A divided kingdom cannot stand (cf. Mark 3:24). Priests, deacons, men and women religious are the missionary engines of a diocese. Our internal communion must be adult and mature. Without communion there is no testimony. Our legitimate differences must not slide into division. Those involved in ecclesial life must be models of availability, welcome and patience. Those knocking at the doors of our churches deserve a welcome worthy of the Gospel.

2. Develop proximity. In our towns and villages, believers and practitioners cannot be distant or indifferent to others. Relational benevolence must be the sign of the will to build a welcoming ecclesial family.

3. Children, young people and catechumens are the future of the Church. They bring their freshness and reveal the same challenge to our communities. I encourage catechists and animators to accompany them generously, offering them time and talents. In the world of “young Christians” all priests, deacons, catechists and animators must dare missionary creativity, clear communication and responsible accompaniment.

4. Internal organization. Our parish units and deaneries must organize themselves to better welcome occasional or distant Christians. That the coordinates to join our communities are easily accessible, to facilitate their contact. It is possible to call on volunteers for times of reception in churches or in parish houses. A good internal organization contributes to the quality of the reception of people wishing to meet us.

5. The “distant ones”. The mission ad-intra is right and natural, it is part of our ordinary life. But the Gospel does not encourage a mission of conservation of Catholic space and species! You have underlined it: people who are distant by their history, their culture or their wounds are part of our pastoral priorities. For these people, we must pay attention to communication, action and the coordination of our responsibilities: they are waiting for us. Why not organize, for example, one time per week (one morning or one afternoon) of free mission? or once a month (a weekend)? or one missionary week per year? The people of our neighborhoods, towns and villages are waiting for enthusiastic missionaries to listen, advise and encourage.

6. Brotherhoods. By their statutes and their history, the brotherhoods of Corsica are a blessing for the Church and society. Our sisters and brothers can help us embody the face of solidarity and fraternity in the places where we live. Their charism pushes them to go beyond worship and culture to see and support the poorest and most isolated in our society. They are wornrs of a beautiful Corsican identity which is not indifferent to the vulnerable people of our families and our society.

7. Poverty. In Corsica we all know serious social poverty. We cannot limit ourselves to observing the difficulties that the media communicate to us. The Church perceives them but it must also act and propose changes. With the associations and all those who work here for the poorest, let’s be actors and creators of a more human, more united and benevolent society.

8. The laity. You are the most numerous within the Church. Without you, the family is cut off from the living genius in the world. Being quality witnesses requires training for a better knowledge of history, of the Bible, of our spirituality. I trust you to be the sign of a present and active God in the world. Do not hesitate to challenge us so that our behavior and our words are more just, our links with current society adjusted.

9. Spiritual life. Our soulless action would only be tactics and strategy. The mission requires a careful spiritual life. Through our celebrations and our times of prayer, whether community or personal, it is right to promote a dense, inhabited interior life. I invite you not to be stingy with spiritual proposals. Let’s offer times for God and with God. In our time silence is not a danger but a privilege.

10. The present and the future of our Church. We are in a land of tradition where, today, transmission is in danger. Young or not, all are thirsty for God, spiritual comfort and human consolation. Our mission requires audacity to awaken or resuscitate the taste for living in joy and serenity. A Christian is the bearer of life and of the future. For that, we need to get out of formalisms and voluntarisms in order to be free. Corsica needs a powerful breath of the Holy Spirit to grow in missionary maturity. I believe we all have a desire to be better, more peaceful, less violent, more welcoming and benevolent. This is the orientation of the Gospel.

So, dear friends, may our faith and our joy in believing be seen in our faces and in our behavior. The Church of Corsica has an extraordinary potential to announce Christ. Let’s open the way!

Through the Virgin Mary, patroness of Corsica, I invite you to say “yes” to God’s plan for us. Let’s live the adventure of faith without arrogance and without complexes.

Saint Devota and Saint Julie, intercede for us !

Homily, Mass of October 16, 2022 – Diocese of Ajaccio