Homily of H.E. Mons. Claudio Gatti of March 9, 2009

46th anniversary of the priestly ordination of Mons. Claudio Gatti

"There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent", so it is written in the Ecclesiastes, one of the books of the Old Testament. This evening, before the Holy Mass, will be a time to speak, while during the Eucharistic celebration, it will be a time to be silent. The times when I have not given the homily during holidays are rare, you can count them on the fingers of one hand. The expression: "There is a time to keep silent" we modify it: "There is a time to pray". This evening the time we normally use for homily and prayer of the faithful will be replaced by silence. There will be no homily, there will be no loud prayers uttered by the faithful. You all will have the opportunity to address God directly in the silence of your heart and I too will join in this choral and individual prayer. Do not pray for other intentions, pray for those that Our Lady has recently indicated to you: pray for the bishop of the Eucharist and for the victim of the Eucharist. Believe me, I thought more people would have come tonight. It was an opportunity to truly demonstrate attachment to the bishop and the seer. I notice that one comes to ask and not to give, it is sad to see that people often are limited to loving with words. I am certainly not addressing you here, but it is sad to note this! The church was supposed to be full tonight.

Last Sunday I told you about God's trials. He didn't just ask Abraham for a leap of faith. I explained to you that in the Church history there are many Abrahams to whom God turned and, depending on the case, asked for total trust and complete abandonment from his friends. God wants this: a total and complete trust; I would say, almost superhuman, irrational, so that even the intellect finds difficulties when facing all this. Don't worry, it's not for you but those who live this experience have a deep laceration, they are physically, psychologically, morally and spiritually ill. We have the wrong idea of God. He can change his programs as he wants and when he wants, without having to ask anyone's permission. For example, he can reveal to you that one day you will be fine, but then, that day, you feel bad instead and you must still have faith in God. He is not just any person, he is God! And apart from infinite love, he also has infinite omniscience, He knows the reason for all this. You cannot contest God and say to him: "Why did you change things?” Then you have to repress the natural rebellion, almost resentment you have inside you. You cannot say to God: "But you told me...", because He can answer: "But I am God and who are you to say this to Me?" God doesn't say it in a hard way, as to crush you, but He tells you with love, but the fact still remains that you don't understand anything.

What year are we celebrating? The Year of Faith and therefore it must not be just an abstract discourse, it must be made concrete, because this is the concreteness.

Today is the exact day on which the anniversary of my priestly ordination occurs. On March 9, 1963, a few minutes before receiving the ordination, I was joined by Our Lady and Marisa and this union was formed for the first time and was later made solid. Think how slow God's plans are, no less than seven years went by. It was a beautiful day, at least for me and Marisa. What would you think if I tell you that today is the hardest, most suffered, saddest day ever? For a long time now this is the day where the soul is most torn apart. Perhaps it is the hardest day ever of all the thirty-eight years, more or less, that we went through. God promised me one thing, but before my eyes there is another one.

Since last night Marisa began to feel very bad and when God came this morning, I think I demonstrated total faith and total surrender in Him. For the umpteenth time I stated explicitly that everything depends only on Him, only He can change our situation, Marisa’s and mine.

Marisa, as long as she will remain on Earth, she will continue to feel bad, I will feel bad, whoever lives in this house will feel bad and you too will feel bad, all of us will suffer. God told us that everything will change when He takes Marisa to Heaven and that I will be the first to know the day. Other times we were told that Marisa's departure was near but then God's plans changed. I would have liked to insist on knowing the day right away, since it has been postponed several times. But can this be said to God? When He deems worth speaking to us, even if we have a turmoil, a storm, within us, we must always think about who we are talking to, how is then the virtue of faith exercised? Faith is not exercised with men, but with God.

Total faith and complete surrender is only towards God. If He points to something impossible, you still have to believe it. Whatever He asks, you must be ready and willing to say yes, even if you cry inside, even if you are oppressed and crushed by fear, even if tiredness destroys you. The good Christian is not the one who participates, serene and peaceful, in the Holy Mass and then goes back home, but is the one who takes up the cross and follows it, as Christ said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). This is the true disciple: all of this has been forgotten in the Church, however the Lord continues to call up some victims and I have no hesitation in stating that the victim to whom God has asked the most is indeed our sister Marisa: he asked her everything and the opposite of everything, to her nothing was spared.

Today it was supposed to be a good day, but since one o'clock last night, a devastating and atrocious suffering has been poured upon her. This morning God came and said to us: "I am always with you, Jesus is always with you, the Holy Spirit is always with you, Our Lady, Saint Joseph, grandmother Iolanda, all of the Heaven is always with you", but I saw a soul that moaned and was torn apart by pains. Oh Lord, how are you with us?

My dears, the Church needs these victims and also priests and bishops. The Pope needs victims, you can't do it alone, even with a retinue of expert and competent secretaries. The work of the Pope is spiritual: with speeches, with chatter, with the homilies that others have prepared, you are not going to manage the Church or a diocese. The Church is managed by climbing the cross with Christ and, under the cross of Christ, there was Mary. Every celebrating priest who must have a victim close by, so that the benefits of the Holy Mass reach everyone's heart, this is Christianity. This is the year of faith, what did you think? Easy to thing that God would turn the tables, wow, what kind of faith is this? Faith is when God tells you one thing and does another. This is true faith, that is, when you continue to believe, you continue to accept and bow your head. This is faith, this is the way that the Church is reborn!

Then now you understand why yesterday Our Lady said to Marisa: "Tomorrow you will not come down", but the awful sentence is: "On the fifteenth you will come down, if God wills". Humanly speaking, Marisa is dying out and I think this is the last year we are going to celebrate it together. Here is faith, we will celebrate it together, but as God wills.

We were very keen on this morning's meeting with God, but we had to interrupt the conversation because Marisa was too sick. And yet, usually, pain is not felt during ecstasy, instead Marisa was suffering and God said: "My son, I have to close, because your sister is feeling sick". This morning Marisa and I strongly desired to be able to experience the Holy Mass, she and I alone, on the occurrence of my priestly anniversary; we had everything ready, but she lay down on the bed and, thanking God, she fell asleep. And our Holy Mass? It was celebrated with the victim present but not conscious, yet, Our Lady had told us to prepare the feast.

Did you think I would come here smiling tonight? My heart sank when I saw that you were just a few. I am not referring to you who are here, but to others who are not here today. It is not a personal thing, those who did not come, have not responded to God's call, to Our Lady's invitation. Are you tired from work? But the Bishop and the Seer stay awake for whole nights, but we are always here. Sunday morning I'm here, Friday the same, even if I haven't slept for a single hour; then I can say with Paul: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ". Do you see how many things must be corrected? If I had to listen to my impulse right now, I would go home because they are working and struggling to find a vein to administer a sedative. My place is close to my suffering sister, yet I am here among you and I would like you to understand the depth of what I am saying. I'm not saying this to show off, but to encourage you: if I did it, why don't you do it too? This evening I struggled to get dressed and I used violence on myself, but I had to do it, first of all out of respect for God. I was ordained Bishop, and it is right that on great solemnities I wear the most elegant clothes. As Our Lady revealed to us, the same happens in Heaven: on great solemnities God wants the saints to dress in the most elegant way.

As I put on the ring, buttoned the buttons and got ready, believe me, I said to myself: "Why on earth should I do it? Why should I do it?" and the answer was: “For the love of God and souls”. Am I the only one to love God and souls? Is only Marisa loving God and souls? Don't you have to love God and souls? Not with words, facts are needed, even going against yourselves, your own comforts and certainties. Holiness is something demanding, but I can assure you that if one puts all the effort into it, one reaches holiness without even realizing it because one tries to do everything in the best way; and when God comes and says: "You are holy", even here an act of faith is required.

Today the bishop and the victim are like Mary under the cross. During her Son's suffering and until his death, the famous sword of her pain pierced her soul: today this sword has also stuck in our heart and, believe me, it’s awful!

This is why I have spoken now, but during Mass I ask you to put aside any other intentions and to pray exclusively for the bishop and the seer. This is all I ask you, and it is also the gift I ask you and that I want you to offer throughout this week, until Sunday. All the prayers, the little sacrifices, the way of the cross, the rosary, the Holy Mass and also the fasting, all must be done for the bishop, the seer and their intentions. I thank you in advance and I tell you: truly love God with deeds not with words, truly love Christ, paying in person and not by reciting formulas, love the Holy Spirit by trying to nurture the gifts he has given you. Love the Mother of the Eucharist, listen to her words and put them into practice, do not make her cry. Love St. Joseph, the man of total surrender and don't remember him only on the occasion when you eat St. Joseph's cream puffs. Love grandmother Iolanda and put her words into practice: "Do not make my two children, Marisa and the Bishop, suffer".

Praised be Jesus Christ.