Alex Dias, Archbishop Emeritus of Andaman and
Nicobar, 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.
Quoting St Mother Teresa of Calcutta, at the
beginning of his homily, Archbishop 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,
Archbishop Emeritus Alex Dias said opined.
Earlier speaking about St Francis Xavier Archbishop
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.”
