FRIDAY, MAY 03, 2024
Team Herald
OLD GOA: Rev Alex Dias, Bishop Emeritus of Port Blair, has a meaningful message to the elected representatives of Goa which was to work at serving the people.
While preaching his homily at the Feast Mass of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa, on Friday said, "Our Goa is beautiful. Our leaders should have preserved it, but they don’t do it. Keep your eyes open, don’t be greedy for wealth. People elected you not be fill your pockets, but to serve the people." He was speaking in the context of there being a lot of evil in the world such as fights, wars and lies. This is even happening in Goa, Archbishop Emeritus Alex Dias said.
The Bishop lamented that that there is a lot of evil, lies and falsehood in this world and even in Goa, which is so small, these kinds of problems exist even here and put the blame on such elected representatives and those who have been in power.
He also added that the Church and people need to evangelise and preach the Gospel to the whole world, just like St Francis Xavier did.
The Bishop then spoke about how the concept of conversions is being misunderstood. “Some people fail to understand the meaning of evangelisation and they say it is conversion. The Church exists only to evangelise,” said Bishop Dias.
Quoting St Mother Teresa of Calcutta, at the beginning of his homily, Bishop Emeritus Alex Dias said people are hungrier for love, more than for food. People hunger for Jesus and his teachings. People are searching but don’t know where to look for. We are blind because we have turned our back on God.
The Archbishop Emeritus also stated that the Church and people need to evangelise and preach the Gospel to the whole world, just like St Francis Xavier did,. The Church exists to evangelise, but people don’t understand it. They think of conversions. But conversion means change from a sinful life to Holy Life. The Church is involved in so many ministries such as education, health etc. The sole purpose is to evangelise, Bishop Emeritus Alex Dias opined.
Earlier speaking about St Francis Xavier, Bishop Emeritus Alex Dias said that Francis used to mock at Ignatius of Loyola and was very worldly in his ways, especially when studying n Paris. But when Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, told him about Jesus' words from the Gospel of Mathew Ch 16: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world for himself and finally suffers the loss of his soul, Francis changed. The word of God pierced his heart and Francis' only purpose was to proclaim the word of God to the world. He left his family, his country and came to preach to our ancestors and went to evangelise right upto Japan.
The theme of the Novenas and Feast this year was "Stay with us, to live communion, participation, mission like St Francis Xavier."
