“If St. Anthony managed to live the “provocation” of the Gospel in his era, it means that in every era, in every time, in every social and cultural context, it is possible to live the Gospel by making a choice, deciding to freely adhere to the Word of Jesus, to the Word that is Jesus. Let us think of the figure of Anthony of Padua, of his great preaching, of his language still venerated today: the language of St. Anthony denounced evil, calling it by name, but was able to build good. In every procession, the people follow the image of a Saint to say that we too, today, want to repeat the same steps that, within humanity, the Saints have taken”. Thus the bishop of Lamezia Terme Monsignor Serafino Parisi at the conclusion of the procession in honor of St. Anthony of Padua.
The prelate’s reflection focused on love, underlining how “our city and our entire diocese strongly feels the need to live the faith in a community way, as we have said several times during this year. Not in an isolated, individualistic or intimate way: faith involves us as a community. We are called to be there, as believers, in the world and in history, as a community. And to be a community we must carry out what was Jesus’ greatest revolution, which the Saints followed: that of love. On the Cross, Jesus died for love and the Cross, surmounted by Jesus, was transformed from a gallows of death into a tree of life. Looking at the Cross of Jesus, who gave his life for love, we can introduce this principle into our human relationships, build our relationships in the name of hope, draw from faith the strength to build a new history for this territory of ours”
“The great innovation brought by Jesus – continued Parisi – lies in the fact that, if previously relationships were based on blood, carnal ties, Jesus gave himself for everyone and therefore it is possible even between “strangers” to establish relationships of care, of closeness, of love. The newness of Jesus is still possible: no one has greater love than those who give their lives for their friends.”
Hence the bishop’s warning that “as the people of Lamezia we do not work in a disintegrated way, but we build bonds of communion and others can speak of our community not as an amorphous mass, but as a community of committed believers, in the name of their own faith, to build a society that can be recognized by love and, in a time of divisions, can announce a prophetic word of “weaving” relationships made of love and charity”.
“I wish all of us – concluded Parisi – to be able to walk as the Saints walked, to be able to follow their step. I hope that all of us can learn from St. Anthony to say the Word of the Gospel, certainly with the tongue but above all with life”.
From Bishop Parisi a special thought and the invitation to pray “for the poor, the last, for those who have lost their jobs and have no prospects for the future, for those who await peace. I am thinking in particular of people in wheelchairs: if in the sick there is the flesh of Christ and serving the sick means caring for the flesh of Christ, wheelchairs are “monstrances” that show Jesus waiting for our care and our service. Jesus asks us that our step can be put in tune with the tired step of the sick, of those who no longer have breath, of those who struggle to breathe, of those who need someone to take that “monstrance” in their hands to move forward. ” and push that wheelchair, because in the service of love there is still hope for our humanity”.
Bishop Parisi then thanked the police forces and the voluntary associations, which allowed the procession to take place smoothly, the statuary of St. Anthony, the civil and military authorities.
