Fr. Jerome Pistoni sx
This Sunday we are celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany. It is the feast of God’s revelation to the Wise men, people who did not belong to the race of Israel and came from the East to look for Christ , without knowing Him.
They were pilgrims who left their own country searching for somebody who could give sense to their lives.
It is a meaningful coincidence that the motto of the Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope”.
The logo of the Jubilee portrays four peoples, who signify the four corners of the world, walking in a single line, holding each other and following the cross.
They look like the wise men who, one behind the other, were following a star.
What do these wise men, these “pilgrims” of the past, teach us today that can help us to take advantage of the jubilee 2025?
They were, first of all, peoples in search of something. They were rich, according to the costly gifts they offered to Jesus, but they were not satisfied with material riches. This dissatisfaction prompted them to look for something beyond their comfortable world. Jesus said that riches can kill the spirit. We all remember his words:
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven”.
Secondly, they were looking at the sky, to find an answer to their desire to know. The sky for us is the church, the Word of God, the Sacraments, the community of our brothers and sisters. If we honestly and openly look at them, like Mary who treasured and pondered all the events of the life of Christ in her heart, we can also find the road that leads us to Christ, and Christ himself, like a reliable star, will show us the road we must follow today.
In the year 2025 the Xaverians celebrate the 75th anniversary of their arrival in Sierra Leone. It was the year 1950, 8th of July, when the Frs. Augusto Azzolini, Attilio Stefani, Camillo Olivani and Pietro Serafino Calza, arrived to Freetown. Is it not a beautiful coincidence that they were four, like the people portrayed in the logo of the Jubilee 2025? They were Pilgrims, four Wise men, who abandoned their own country, opened the road to many other Xaverians who came to Sierra Leone to bring the good news of Christ to those who still had not the opportunity to know him.
The Wise men were walking together. Does not this condition remind us of the synodality? Even a football team has this motto: “You will never walk alone”. This is a reminder of the importance of living our faith in a community. We are on the same road together. We help each other. We listen to the others and learn from them.
The logo of the Jubilee 2025 tells us that we need to be “Pilgrims.” The characteristic of pilgrims is that they are moving on the road. Walking on the road leads us to different places. Sometimes we walk on flat land, then we climb a hill; we can find ourselves in the desert or sometimes we are crossing the water of the sea, like the four people of the logo. Consequently, we need to adapt ourselves to each of these different terrains. This happens also in our society. Changes are vital part of our life and no changes have occurred so fast like in our time. New situations that were never seen before can enter into our daily life. New ideas, mentality, behaviours surface every day. Like pilgrims who are vigilant, we, Christians are called to find answers to the challenges that these new circumstances bring to us. Let the activities of the Jubilee 2025 and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the first Xaverians to Sierra Leone help us to be Pilgrims of Hope in our places, today.
Fr. Jerome Pistoni sx
This Sunday we are celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany. It is the feast of God’s revelation to the Wise men, people who did not belong to the race of Israel and came from the East to look for Christ , without knowing Him.
They were pilgrims who left their own country searching for somebody who could give sense to their lives.
It is a meaningful coincidence that the motto of the Jubilee 2025 is “Pilgrims of Hope”.
The logo of the Jubilee portrays four peoples, who signify the four corners of the world, walking in a single line, holding each other and following the cross.
They look like the wise men who, one behind the other, were following a star.
What do these wise men, these “pilgrims” of the past, teach us today that can help us to take advantage of the jubilee 2025?
They were, first of all, peoples in search of something. They were rich, according to the costly gifts they offered to Jesus, but they were not satisfied with material riches. This dissatisfaction prompted them to look for something beyond their comfortable world. Jesus said that riches can kill the spirit. We all remember his words:
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven”.
Secondly, they were looking at the sky, to find an answer to their desire to know. The sky for us is the church, the Word of God, the Sacraments, the community of our brothers and sisters. If we honestly and openly look at them, like Mary who treasured and pondered all the events of the life of Christ in her heart, we can also find the road that leads us to Christ, and Christ himself, like a reliable star, will show us the road we must follow today.
In the year 2025 the Xaverians celebrate the 75th anniversary of their arrival in Sierra Leone. It was the year 1950, 8th of July, when the Frs. Augusto Azzolini, Attilio Stefani, Camillo Olivani and Pietro Serafino Calza, arrived to Freetown. Is it not a beautiful coincidence that they were four, like the people portrayed in the logo of the Jubilee 2025? They were Pilgrims, four Wise men, who abandoned their own country, opened the road to many other Xaverians who came to Sierra Leone to bring the good news of Christ to those who still had not the opportunity to know him.
The Wise men were walking together. Does not this condition remind us of the synodality? Even a football team has this motto: “You will never walk alone”. This is a reminder of the importance of living our faith in a community. We are on the same road together. We help each other. We listen to the others and learn from them.
The logo of the Jubilee 2025 tells us that we need to be “Pilgrims.” The characteristic of pilgrims is that they are moving on the road. Walking on the road leads us to different places. Sometimes we walk on flat land, then we climb a hill; we can find ourselves in the desert or sometimes we are crossing the water of the sea, like the four people of the logo. Consequently, we need to adapt ourselves to each of these different terrains. This happens also in our society. Changes are vital part of our life and no changes have occurred so fast like in our time. New situations that were never seen before can enter into our daily life. New ideas, mentality, behaviours surface every day. Like pilgrims who are vigilant, we, Christians are called to find answers to the challenges that these new circumstances bring to us. Let the activities of the Jubilee 2025 and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the first Xaverians to Sierra Leone help us to be Pilgrims of Hope in our places, today.
Fr. Jerome Pistoni sx