Brothers and sisters

May the Lord give you peace!

Dearest sisters, Sister Monica, Sister Marilena, Sister Ramona, Sister Roshina and Sister Beda. I would really like to thank the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition for their service to our Catholic Church in Cyprus. “Service and generosity”, marked by a long stay on the island. And I would like to repeat once again, what I said to your mother to the mother general: “Cyprus needs your presence, your testimony, your charism”. Yes, of the charism inspired by Santa Emilia, and then confirmed by the Church. Confirmed by the Church, it becomes a gift again, for the whole Church.

I am very happy to celebrate the solemnity of Saint Joseph today immediately after my ordination… truly a thank you. As you know, the spirituality of Nazareth was for a school after nine years of living in Nazareth, in the school of St. Joseph.

Yes, The Holy Family of Nazareth can help us find the best in each of us. Yosef (Joseph), who taught Yehoshua (Jesus) to pray, invites every father of a family to open his horizon to the life of prayer. An exemplary worker, in this period of economic crisis, he teaches us that the economy must be at the service of man. Yosef is remembered for his chastity, and he can help us in this world, pervaded by erotic hedonism, to urgently rediscover the true meaning of love on all levels. Looking at the just and human craftsman of Galilee, he teaches us to open ourselves to everyone as brothers. It is beautiful because we find in Jesus the traces, the signs of the human personality of Jesus. In the respect for women and for the most fragile, in the time dedicated to listening, in the gaze directed at those who approached him; anyone who approached Yehoshua (Jesus) felt unique, characteristic of those who worked with the creativity of the craftsman. It is precisely from Saint Joseph that Jesus learned these distinctive elements.

Finally, we invoke Saint Joseph together with the Most Holy Virgin and we ask the Lord that the path of holiness, Holiness and works of the Life of Saint Joseph can become for us every day, a bright and safe path of our journey of love for God and for our brothers. Amen