Homilies
Homily of H.E. Bishop Aldo Berardi, O.SS.T., at the Conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of St. Arethas and Companions
Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral - Awali, Bahrain
October 25, 2024
Today, we celebrate Saint Arethas and his Companions, the conclusion of the Jubilee in their honor, and most importantly, we celebrate Jesus, our Risen Lord. He has opened the Gates of Heaven, revealing to us the boundless love of God the Father and granting us the Holy Spirit to live as children of God. This Jubilee has been a true blessing for our vicariate, seen in countless pilgrimages, especially through the two Holy Doors where thousands entered with hearts open to grace, seeking conversion, forgiveness, and the strength to follow Jesus, who is our eternal Gate. Though we are saddened to close the Holy Door, we remember that Jesus is forever our doorway to life and light. This Jubilee has deepened our understanding of our Christian heritage here in the Arabian Peninsula—a heritage that reaches back centuries. It is humbling to reflect on the many ancient churches, monasteries, and communities that once flourished here. We are connected to this history as we walk in the footsteps of those early Christians, honoring this land’s traditions and faith while expressing our own. Through this Jubilee, we have rediscovered our special vocation to live as witnesses to the truth of our faith. Even when words are difficult to express, our actions can reflect Christ’s love. Daily, we are called to live with integrity, kindness, and honesty, showing our neighbors by example that we are trustworthy children of God. The witness of the Martyrs of Najran is especially powerful. They sacrificed their lives rather than deny the Cross of Redemption, the divinity of Jesus, the Son of God, and the truth of the Holy Trinity. From their steadfastness, we confess today that Jesus was not merely a prophet or a holy man, but the very Son of God, who revealed Himself through the Resurrection. Our cathedral, while dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia, stands as a beacon of Christ’s Resurrection. Here we encounter God, receive His blessings and graces, and gather as a family in faith. Soon we will prepare for Christmas when we will be reminded anew of the mystery of the Incarnation—God’s love made flesh in Jesus. This unfathomable mystery is beyond human understanding, but for God, nothing is impossible. Through Jesus, God took on our humanity, and through His death and resurrection, we have received the Holy Spirit. This is the reason we gather here, in the hope and belief that Jesus can touch our hearts and transform our lives. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has washed away our sins and made us a new creation. The cross, once an instrument of death, has become for us an instrument of life, through which we are redeemed and invited into the mystery of God’s love. The early Christians had to explain how this symbol of suffering became the source of our salvation, a mystery that continues to challenge us today. Yet, through Christ’s death and resurrection, we celebrate redemption anew, embracing the forgiveness and grace He has given us. As God’s holy people, we have come to know Him more deeply, for He took on our flesh and touched our hearts. We are His sons and daughters, called to live in communion with the Holy Spirit, as brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Kingdom of God, the heart of the Holy Trinity, is open to us—a communion between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the eternal life that Jesus awaits to share with us, a life we can begin to live here and now as witnesses of His resurrection. This is the beautiful mystery revealed to the Martyrs, enabling them to offer their lives without hesitation. As we conclude this Jubilee, let us continue our journey as witnesses—within our families, in our workplaces, and throughout this peninsula—reflecting the beauty of God. God is beautiful because He is love, and we encounter this love in the sacraments, in forgiveness, and when we receive the Body of Jesus, our Risen Lord, who is our Brother and the Giver of Life in the Holy Spirit. We honor the Martyrs of Najran and all martyrs today who suffer for their faith in Jesus around the world. In solidarity, we offer them our prayers and love, knowing that in the end, it is the love of God that we all seek. Happy feast to all of you!
Homily of H.E. Bishop Paolo Martinelli, OFMCap, at the Concluding Mass of the Jubilee for AVOSA
September 22, 2024
Saint Arethas and his companion martyrs! Who are they? Who are these people? I have never heard their names! I think many of you asked this question when you first heard about these saints and the extraordinary jubilee in memory of their martyrdom in both, the Northern and the Southern Vicariates of Arabia. Now that we have reached the conclusion of this jubilee, we all know well who these saints are. They have become familiar to us and very dear to us. We thank our Holy Father Pope Francis who granted us to celebrate the joy of this extraordinary year of grace marking the martyrdom of St Arethas and his companions that took place fifteen hundred years ago in Najran. I thank Monsignor Aldo Berardi, the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, who started this initiative and who was with us last year at the inaugural celebration. Let us recollect, how many times in the past year have we turned to St Arethas and Companion martyrs in prayer or turned to God through their intercession! I have seen the many pilgrims who came to the Holy Door to receive the plenary indulgence for the forgiveness of sins! Every Saturday afternoon there was a long line of pilgrims who came to pass through the Holy Door and pay homage to the Relics of the holy martyrs of Arabia. The pilgrims came from all the parishes in the UAE, Oman and even from other countries in the Gulf. Even today we have faithful among us who have come from Oman. I cordially greet you all, you are all welcome in the house of God for this solemn celebration in which we will soon close the holy door. However, it is not only the faithful who came to visit Saint Arethas and his companions in the Cathedral, but Saint Arethas also visited all our parishes in the Vicariate through the relics that you welcomed and venerated with love in your own parishes. Now we should ask ourselves: why have these saints become so dear and precious to us? I see at least two reasons. First of all, because they are holy martyrs. They preferred to die rather than deny Christ. Jesus says: “Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26) The Holy Martyrs of Najran were not ashamed of Christ, they recognized him before the world, even before the oppressors. They accepted Jesus as the meaning of their life and showed us that it is worth living and dying for Jesus. We learn from them that we too are called to be witnesses in words and in deeds to the truth of the Gospel and to give our life as witness. Saint John Paul II said: “the martyrs are the most authentic witnesses to the truth about existence. The martyrs know that they have found the truth about life in the encounter with Jesus Christ, and nothing and no-one could ever take this certainty from them. Neither suffering nor violent death could ever lead them to abandon the truth which they have discovered in the encounter with Christ. This is why to this day the witness of the martyrs continues to arouse such interest, to draw agreement, to win such a hearing and to invite emulation” (Fides et Ratio 32). These words are founded in the letter to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39) How beautiful it is to have such a deep awareness of being loved by God and to be certain that no one can ever separate us from Jesus. The martyrs of Najran remind us that we too are loved forever, with a love stronger than death. Today, as we conclude this extraordinary jubilee, we renew our decision to follow Jesus and to be witnesses in the world. Let us look at the other reason why these saints have become important to all of us. As we know, we come from many different countries, speak different languages, we have different liturgical rites and spiritual traditions. Each of us has devotions to saints from our own culture and we may wish to celebrate them here as well. But Saint Arethas and his companions are saints of this land of Arabia in which we now live. Therefore, they are our saints, whom we all can celebrate in common. They are a sign for us to be united and help us to recognize that we are one Church - the Church of Arabia. One of the Fathers of the Church, Tertullian, said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity. Martyrdom and the testimony of faith are always fruitful, they sow the seeds of faith in other persons. By celebrating this extraordinary jubilee, we have thus found the common roots of our Church in Arabia. We are a Church made up of different peoples. Our differences are a blessing and a wealth for all. Coming to this country in the Gulf as migrants we become an indivisible part of the history of this Church of Arabia, rooted in the Apostolic testimony and watered by the blood of the martyrs. Today, the extraordinary jubilee comes to an end in our Vicariate, but Saint Arethas and his companions will remain with us, the relics of saint Arethas will always remain among us, we will continue to implore their intercession so that we can be a Church always united in love, capable of witnessing to all the joy of the Gospel. From now on, every year we will celebrate the feast of Saint Arethas and companions. Dear People of God, this extraordinary jubilee has been, therefore, a great occasion of joy for all of us. This jubilee concludes but the joy does not end. In a few months, we will begin the great Jubilee 2025, the Holy Year of the Lord. So, we move from one joy to another, from one jubilee to another. In fact, Jesus came among us for this Joy as he says: so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. A time of prayer now opens for us in preparation for the jubilee of the Holy Year. May Our Lady of Arabia protect us, Saint Arethas and his companion martyrs always accompany us on the pilgrimage of our life on this earth. Amen.
Homily of H.E. Bishop Aldo Berardi, O.SS.T., at the Solemn Pontifical Mass of the Jubilee
October 24, 2023
"Let him carry his cross every day and follow me" Today, with this solemn Mass, we open the Extraordinary Jubilee of St. Arethas and his Companions, martyrs. This is a great joy for us and for the whole Church. It is about honoring brothers and sisters in the faith and following their example of faith, courage, and perseverance. We want to go beyond the simple historical fact to fathom the deep attachment of the martyrs to the Cross, to probe their love for the Risen Christ and their great community and ecclesial spirit. The martyrs of yesterday are our ancestors in the faith who enjoin us to be faithful and firm. A STORY LIVED AND REDISCOVERED No, we are not in the realm of legend or cautionary tale. We are living history. In the history of this region that has welcomed us and where we live, some for many years. Can we imagine this history forgotten and then revived? Did we know anything about these Christian communities of old ages, from the early days of evangelization? Did we ever imagine that there were churches and monasteries in these lands? That Apostles may have passed through here on their way to India? Suddenly, history comes back to us and the historical research seems astounding. Suddenly, places, names, stories dance before our eyes... Suddenly, we find brothers and sisters! Our hearts begin to beat in a new way to reach, in the communion of saints, those who call us out on this day and who beckon us. The Najran event is well located and documented. It left traces and stories. Historians knew something about it. Archaeologists have found visible signs. The local memory had not been forgotten. Descendants of the tribe of St. Arethas are still there! It is moving to see the rock in the desert where the Himyarite army described its plans to destroy Najran. It is touching to see these crosses carved into the rock as signs of faith and presence. It is overwhelming to wander through the ruins of the ancient city that lived through the tragedy of the martyrs but which is the witness of a faith that has not wavered. We can reread this story, but our curious eyes can only penetrate through the facts and the stones to find a life entirely given to Christ and ready to shed the blood of witness. A TESTIMONY OF LIFE What do these martyrs tell us? The importance of the Cross and faith in the divinity of Christ, Savior and Redeemer, Son of the Father who gives the Holy Spirit. The martyrs kept the Christian faith in the face of derision, persecution and threat. They remained firm and upright in the strength of community unity. The cross is a sign of God's love and not only of the dramatic destiny of the Messiah. It granted us forgiveness and reintroduced us to the lost friendship with God. The cross with which we are marked, with which we sign ourselves, which we wear, which we venerate. The cross, as a sign of Christianity but above all as a profession of faith and commitment to life. Carrying one's cross and following Jesus are the two poles of a life on a journey that will blossom in Easter joy. The cross is a stage that brings us to the Resurrection. It is like an obligatory passage that purifies us and tests our faith. We do not seek it as an instrument of suffering, but as a moment of truth. Christ bore it but transformed its meaning. From an instrument of torture, it has become a tree of life and a sign of hope. It is the cross that will lead to the Resurrection and thus to the affirmation of the divinity of Christ. This, then, is the second aspect that caused the martyrdom of the Christians of Najran. It leads to the heart of the Christian faith: we believe that Christ is the Son of God and that He introduces us to the Father's friendship through the Holy Spirit. His divine sonship is by nature. As partakers of Christ's death and resurrection, we too become sons and daughters of the Father by adoption (Gal 4:5). This is our ultimate vocation and our way to Trinitarian communion (Eph. 1:5). Jesus the Son introduces us to the divine mystery of communion and therefore of love. What an extraordinary revelation and what a joy it is to feel loved and desired by a God who is only love (1 John 4:16). The martyrs understood this: "We cannot abjure because He is our life... To die for Him is to find life," St. Arethas said before his beheading. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" asked St. Paul (Romans 8:35). Our Church treasures the long list of witnesses, lovers of the God of life, ready to throw themselves into this infinite and eternal love, the Trinitarian love. WE ARE THE WITNESSES OF TODAY Looking at the past inspires us. Life in the past was no easier than it is today. Things have changed, but faith has been passed on. It remained as a beacon in the storm and a light in the night. It is the way of life and light for those who look to Christ and follow Him. Today we are the witnesses of the Risen One, with our words and our works, with our weaknesses and our strengths, with the same love that animated the martyrs. It is up to us to stand up and bear witness to Christ with an honest and consistent life, a life given out of love and oriented towards the Good and the Beautiful, towards fraternal love and commitment to peace, justice and tolerance. We profess an inner freedom that commits us and makes us the adopted sons and daughters of the Highest. Our "daily martyrdom" is a sign of vitality in the Holy Spirit. Nothing can stand in the way of this force which animated the martyrs of Najran and which is now communicated to us. Let us draw together from this treasure of the Church, the merits and holiness of her members, which we share as a precious gift from our God. May St. Arethas and his Companions pray for us, now that they contemplate the purest Face of our God for eternity. + Aldo BERARDI, O.SS.T.
Homily of H.E. Bishop Paolo Martinelli, OFMCap, at the Mass for the Arabian Martyrs
January 9, 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.
Homily of His Grace Archbishop Eugene M. Nugent during the Jubilee Mass at Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral
November 4, 2023
It is a great joy to be with you this morning for the solemn opening of the Holy Door marking the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Saints Arethas and Companions on the 1,500th anniversary of their martyrdom in Najran, Saudi Arabia. 523 – 2023! 1,500 years ago! In my capacity as the Holy Father’s Representative – the Apostolic Nuncio in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, it is my pleasure to bring you the greetings of our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis on this important occasion for the life of the Church here in the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia. Pope Francis has asked me to assure all of you gathered here this morning and those who are following the ceremony which is being transmitted online of his closeness in prayer. To all of us, he extends his blessing and he asks us to remember him in our own prayers. On this very day one year ago, the Holy Father was here among us on a pastoral visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain. What a wonderful and blessed occasion that was! What a wonderful moment it was when he visited this Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia and held an Ecumenical Prayer Service with the representatives of the Christian churches present in the Gulf region! Here we are again one year later gathered in prayer in this beautiful Cathedral as we begin the Extraordinary Jubilee Year with the Opening of the Holy Door. “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” Very often in his teaching Jesus used the image of the door or the gate. In St John’s Gospel we read where Jesus says (Jn 10:9) “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved”. Jesus is the door, the gateway to eternal life. In Psalm 117 we read “Open to me the gates of holiness, I will enter and give thanks. This is the Lord’s own gate where the just may enter.” We have begun the Jubilee of Saint Arethas and companions by entering the Holy Door – it is a special privilege that has been granted to the Vicariate by the Holy Father for this Jubilee Year to open the Holy Door here at the Cathedral, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait and Qatar. As we pass through this door, we want to renew our faith, asking the Lord to give us the grace to bear witness to him even if we meet with persecution as Arethas and his companions did before us. May this Jubilee Year be a time of grace for all of us and a time of spiritual renewal. May the example of the holy Martyrs teach us the virtues of faithfulness and perseverance. In his teaching, Jesus uses the image of the door to bring home to us that salvation is not automatic. You remember for instance the time when Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem passing through many towns and villages, on his way to Jericho and Jerusalem. He is approached by a man who wants to know if only a few will be saved. One has the feeling that he expects the answer to be ‘Yes’ and that he regards himself as being among the chosen ones. Jesus does not answer the question directly but he implies that those who are saved are not necessarily those who regard themselves as God’s chosen ones but rather those who walk a certain path in life. That path, of course, is precisely what he is proposing through his own life and teaching. It is a narrow door, he says, which many will not be able to enter. When the Master comes at the end to close that door for the last time, some will stand outside knocking and begging for the door to be opened. They will hear very frightening words, “I do not know where you come from.” They will counter by saying, “We ate and drank in your company. You taught in our streets.” But he still says he does not know them and tells them to go away. Jesus was often accused of eating and drinking with sinners but it did them no good unless, as a result of their contact with him, they changed their way of living. It is clearly not enough to be just in Christ’s company or to have heard his teaching. For example, just being a baptised Catholic or routinely fulfilling a few religious obligations (like being physically present at Sunday Mass) is not the same as really being a part of what is going on. To enter by the “narrow door” is to be actively committed to living the Gospel in one’s daily life. Each day and all the days of our lives we have to walk through that narrow door, that door of faith and trust and love for Jesus and our brothers and sisters. Only then will we find ourselves joining the patriarchs, the prophets, the holy martyrs and all the saints in that life of unending happiness and union with our God for which we were made. In today’s world it is not easy to be a Christian. Very often our faith is put to the test, even ridiculed. How many nasty comments are made on social media making fun of us because of our convictions! How many Catholics are beaten, imprisoned and even put to death because they bear the name of Christ! This is not something new. It has been going on down the centuries. As we begin the Extraordinary Jubilee year of Saint Arethas and Companions, we ask the Lord to open the door to us and to allow us to enter. To remain outside is to be locked out, to be excluded, to be kept in the cold and the darkness. To pass through the door is to enter inside, to become members of a family, to belong, to come into a place of warmth, of light and intimacy. Maybe much of our lives we spend on the outside wandering around, lost, going around aimlessly, not sure of the direction of our lives, following whatever it is that tempts us and leads us astray. The Lord is the door. There is no other way to life except through him. In terms of the Gospel, the doorway to life can be summed up in the word “love”. Saint Arethas and companions understood this very well 1,500 years ago when they made the supreme sacrifice of their lives for their faith and were willing to shed their blood for love of the Bridegroom. They understood very well the words of today’s Gospel: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” We have walked through the Holy Door this morning. We begin this Holy Year as a pilgrim people and the Lord is reminding to us that He is the door to life. “Open to me the gates of holiness, I will enter and give thanks.” Saint Arethas and Companions, pray for us! + Eugene M. Nugent Apostolic Nuncio to Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar