ST. ARETHAS JUBILEE
OCTOBER 24th, 2023
PONTIFICAL MASS HOMILY
Luke 9:24-26
“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.