Homily of His Excellency Selim Sfeir Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus, November 5, 2025 at Our Lady of Grace Maronite Cathedral
Our beloved and late Holy Father Pope Francis wrote in 2018 in his beautiful apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be Glad)”Do not be afraid of holiness. It will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy.”(§32). With all our planning and thinking of how to best serve the needs of our local churches, in this time of unprecedented difficulty, we need to hear again those words. They are an excellent explication of the words of the Gospel which we have just listened to: Sanctify them in the Truth!” All our problems, all our difficulties, and all our obstacles can be solved by this single truth: personal holiness. We might be afraid to spend more time in prayer, to give more time to the Divine Liturgy, to pray the divine office more slowly, to make a tiny sacrifice … we all have so many things to do: Everyone is looking to us. Let us be the first to live this expression: do not be afraid of holiness. It will give us the wisdom and the courage to carry forward this work to the glory of God. May our Lady, the first to give herself to this wonderful adventure of holiness intercede for us
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