Dear brothers and sisters who will receive the sacraments of Christian initiation and confirmation

Brothers and sisters

May the Lord give you peace!

This is an important moment for the life of our Catholic community in Nicosia, and beyond. It is an important moment for our entire vicariate community, of our Latin Catholic Church in Cyprus. We will receive new members, new sons and daughters into our community. We have a great risk of conceiving, of thinking that the Church is the physical building: the Church of the Holy Cross, the Church of Saint Catherine in Limassol… yes, we want to have beautiful buildings, and this is important, but this is not the fairer definition of Church. We still have the risk of thinking that the Church is made up only of the hierarchy: Pope, bishops, priests and nuns…

Brothers and sisters, the true Church is all of us: baptized, living members of the body of Christ. Yes, the Church is the body of Christ, and Christ is the head, the head of the Church. If we do not understand this well, the risk is to have a virtual Church, made up of rites, full on special occasions such as Christmas, perhaps at Easter, and then empty and little attended. And today, celebrating the solemnity of the baptism of the Lord, we want to renew the promises of our baptism. And we accompany these brothers and sisters of ours who today will receive the sacrament of Baptism and confirmation.

The Gospel that accompanies us on this solemnity is the passage from the Gospel of Mark. For us who have studied the Bible a little, Mark is called the photographer of Jesus. Because he gives us very brief but very clear images of the life of Jesus. Today’s passage is a condensation of the entire message of the gospel, of the message of Jesus. Of the good news: Jesus is our brother! Jesus stands in solidarity with us, lines up with sinners in the Jordan River, immerses himself in the water like all other men… This is the sign that he is the Son of God! Jesus in solidarity with all of us.

He is Emmanuel, the God with us… yes, a God of solidarity, and he changes the image of God. He is not a distant God. Which is high… And it is sad to note that many brothers and sisters still live with this image of God. They live with the fear of God. And He is a God, an incarnate Word who loves man. Who seeks man: the parable of the prodigal son, the parable of the lost sheep. Yes, baptized brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters who will soon be baptized: Jesus knows you and will know you by name. He knows your life, your thoughts, your dreams…. And He does not abandon us.

But be careful: He also teaches us… he teaches us that to be “Church”, members of his body, is to overcome individualism, it is to overcome selfishness, and above all racism. And this Truth is useful for everyone. For all the baptized, even for those who become priests, bishops… Remembering that we are all baptized. I remember years ago, when I decided to enter the seminary, to become a priest. My father made me sit next to him and said: Bruno, remember that selfishness, individualism and being a priest are not compatible. If you want to become a priest, be a good priest, supportive and without selfishness. And so I promised my dad to become a priest according to the heart of Jesus…..

And I say to you dear brothers and sisters that you are about to receive the sacrament of baptism and confirmation and that you receive the body of Christ for the first time in the Eucharist. Become good Christians: supportive, present of the Church. Witnesses for society….

Jesus our brother teaches us to never lose this hope of a humanity made up of all brothers and sisters. And today this Catholic community of Nicosia receives these new brothers and sisters… and we pray that the Holy Spirit, He who is the true protagonist of this celebration and of our lives, transforms the lives of these brothers and sisters of ours and gives us his peace … his light to illuminate our choices and our consciences …. Amen!