Thousands of migrant workers from Asia participated in the Francis Mass at the Bahrain National Stadium. “When Jesus invites us to love our enemies, he is not an irenist, but a realist: he indicates the only way to break the chain”. At the ecumenical meeting, the Gulf was seen as a laboratory of unity: “It is precisely in our deserts that the Lord loves to open new and unexpected paths and makes springs of living water sprout.”
Awali () – It was a thank you “for your kind and joyful testimony of brotherhood, for being seeds of love and peace on this earth. This is the challenge that the Gospel launches every day to our Christian communities, to each one of us “. This is the message that Pope Francis addressed to the Christians of the Persian Gulf at the end of the Holy Mass this morning in the National State of Bahrain. It was the central moment of the third day of his apostolic journey. The rite was attended by 30,000 faithful not only from Bahrain, but also from the other three countries included in the Apostolic Vicariate of North Arabia – Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia – and from other countries in the region. A crowd comprised primarily of Christian immigrants mostly from Asia (Indians, Filipinos, Sri Lankans, and others) as well as from Africa and other Middle Eastern countries. These people who live in the Gulf often work in extremely difficult situations and gathered for Saturday mass because Sunday here is a work day like any other. “I bring the affection and closeness of the universal Church, which looks at you and embraces you, loves you and encourages you,” Francis told them. “May the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Arabia, accompany you on your way and protect you always in love for all.”
In the homily of the mass, the pontiff stopped at the invitation to “always love and love everyone” that Jesus – the only prince who makes peace his power – affirms as a Christian response even in the face of the evil that has been suffered. “Jesus is not an irenist,” the Pope commented. “He is a realist: he speaks explicitly about evildoers and enemies. He knows that in our relationships there is a daily struggle between love and hate.” But faced with this situation, he dares to propose a “surprising, risky and audacious” response. He asks his people for the courage to risk something that, apparently, is losing. He asks you to remain always, faithfully, in love, in spite of everything, even in the face of evil and the enemy.”
“Jesus – Francis continued – does not ask us to “dream irately of a world animated by fraternity, but to commit ourselves in the first person, beginning to live concretely and courageously the universal fraternity, persevering in good even when we receive evil, breaking the spiral of revenge, disarming violence, demilitarizing the heart”. “And do it with a love that transcends the circle of those closest to us. “This same land – observed the pontiff – is a living image of the coexistence of diversity, of our world increasingly marked by the permanent migration of peoples and the pluralism of ideas, customs and traditions. It is important, therefore, to accept this provocation of Jesus: “If you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t the publicans do it too? “The real challenge, to be children of the Father and build a world of brothers, is to learn to love everyone, even the enemy”.
And it is a love that must be witnessed together, even between Christians of different confessions: Francis underlined it last night at the ecumenical meeting held in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, in the presence of representatives of the other local Christian communities and of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew. “The Christian people – he pointed out – is called to come together so that the wonders of God become a reality. Being here, in Bahrain, as a small flock of Christ, scattered in various places and denominations, helps to perceive the need for unity, of sharing the faith: just as in this archipelago there is no lack of strong ties between the islands, so must it happen among us, so as not to be isolated, but in fraternal communion”.
The Pontiff recommended the prayer of praise to all, “the antidote against sadness, against the temptation to allow ourselves to be disturbed by our inner smallness and the external scarcity of our numbers.” Those who praise – he added – do not look at the smallness of the flock, but the beauty of being the little ones of the Father. Praise, which allows the Spirit to pour out his consolation on us, is a good remedy against loneliness and nostalgia. It allows us to feel the closeness of the Good Shepherd, even when there is a lack of nearby shepherds, which is frequent in these places. The Lord, precisely in our deserts, loves to open new and unforeseen paths and makes springs of living water sprout.”
Pope Francis then praised a practice among Christians in Bahrain, as well as in other communities in the Gulf: “making the buildings of worship available to other communities to adore the one Lord.” Indeed, not only here on earth, but also in Heaven there is a trail of praise that unites us. It is that of so many Christian martyrs of various denominations – how many have there been in recent years in the Middle East and throughout the world, how many! Now they form a single starry sky, showing the way to those who walk through the deserts of history: we have the same goal, we are all called to the fullness of communion in God’.
Finally, Francis invited everyone to bear witness jointly, because “faith is not a privilege that is claimed, but a gift that is shared.” A gift that also in Bahrain has the simple and genuine face of charity: “I think of assistance to the brothers and sisters who arrive – he concluded -, in a Christian presence that in daily humility, in the workplace, bears witness to the understanding and patience, joy and meekness, benevolence and a spirit of dialogue”. In a word: peace.
