Homily of Most Rev. Charles John Brown D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines
January 2, 2025 | Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno (Quiapo Church)
“Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well” (1 John 2:23).
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
For me as your Apostolic Nuncio, it gives me so much joy and happiness to be with you this afternoon, here in the most famous and beautiful Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno, Saint John the Baptist Parish. The worldwide famous Quiapo Church for today's Mass, which is the third day of the novena, which will lead up to the traslacion, one week from today, on January 9.
Today is the third day of your novena; and after Mass, we will have the Solemn Rites of Blessing of the Images of Jesus Nazareno, owned by you, individual devotees, at the Quezon Boulevard overpass bridge here in Quiapo.
I am very grateful to His Excellency, the Most Rev. Fr. Rufino “Jun” Sescon, Jr., Bishop-Elect of Balanga, who has invited me to be with you this afternoon. I am joined by Monsignor Giuseppe Trentadue, who is the Counsellor at the Apostolic Nunciature on Taft Avenue.
So, as I said at the beginning of my short reflection, “Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.” That is exactly what all of you devotees of Jesus Nazareno are doing during this novena: you are confessing the Son. The Son is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Nazareno. Because you confess Jesus, you have the Father as well; but the First Reading which we heard from the letter of Saint John (1 John 2:22-28), warns us about the ones who do not tell us the truth. The First Reading warns us about “the liar”. “The one who denies that Jesus is the Christ”. The antichrist, the one who denies Jesus. The liar.
We, as children of our heavenly Father, as Catholics, as devotees of Jesus Nazareno, we need to be on guard against lies. The devil is “father of lies” (Jn. 8:44), and “Jesus is the Truth”, as Jesus says in the Gospel, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn. 14:6). You are a devotee of Jesus Nazareno, you are a devotee of the One who is the Way (that means the path), the Truth, and the Life. We need to be people of the truth. We need to love the Truth. Because when we love the Truth, we are loving Jesus Nazareno, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Love the Truth Sincerely
Some 65 years ago, Holy Father, now Saint John XXIII wrote a beautiful Encyclical Letter called “Ad Petri Cathedram” (that means “To the Cathedra of Peter”), in which he spoke about the connection between truth, unity, and peace. Truth, unity, and peace. He wrote this 65 years ago in words that are as true today, as they were when they were first written. This is John XXIII, now a saint. He wrote, “All men, therefore, private citizens as well as government officials, must love the truth sincerely if they are to attain that peace and harmony on which depends all real prosperity, public and private” (Ad Petri Cathedram #21).
What was the Pope saying 65 years ago? He said, first of all, “love the truth”. Because for us as Catholics, truth is not only a philosophical idea, but Truth has a name and a face: Jesus Nazareno, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
If we are going to follow the Way of Jesus Nazareno, if we are going to follow His image through the streets of Quiapo, one week from today, we need to follow the Truth in the other 364 days of the year. Because by loving the Truth, we love Jesus, because Jesus is the Truth. That means we shouldn’t tell lies. When we tell lies, when we say things that aren't true, we're not following Jesus Nazareno, we're following the “father of lies”.
This is true for all of us, as John XXIII, the Holy Father said, back in 1959, all human beings, all people, whether we're private citizens or government officials, must love the truth sincerely. If we love the truth sincerely, we love Jesus. Then we love the truth, we will obtain that peace and harmony on which the Pope said is “all real prosperity”. So, if we want a prosperous society, if we want people to have good relationships with each other, we need to base that on truth, on speaking the truth, on saying the truth, and not saying things that aren't true.
The Ultimate Truth
What is the ultimate truth that the gospel tells us? It is described also by Saint John in his gospel, the famous words, John 3:16, the truth that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” That is the truth of the gospel: God loved the world. God loves us, and He gave us His Son, Jesus Nazareno to be our Way, our Truth, and our Life.
Let's avoid lies. Let's love the truth. Let's follow Jesus in this world by speaking what is true. Not everything that is true can be said. Sometimes we know things that cannot be said. We call those secrets, and that's okay; but what we say, what comes out of our mouth, should be true, should not be false. We're going to really follow Jesus Nazareno, the one who came into the world to give us eternal life, so that we may not perish but have the joy of heaven.
Jubilee Year 2025
Brothers and sisters, we're now in the Jubilee Year 2025. An amazing year in which special blessings, special graces are bestowed throughout the Church, to all of us who participate in the jubilee celebrations.
I encourage all of you here,
to take advantage of this jubilee year,
to visit the Jubilee Church here in Manila,
to pass through the Holy Door, and
to receive all the blessings that God wants to give you during this Holy Year.
So, for me as a representative Pope Francis, it gives me so much joy to be with you this afternoon, to encourage you to love the truth, to avoid lies, to follow Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Finally, as I always say, pray for Pope Francis. The Pope is always asking you, his beloved Filipino people to pray for him. So, don't forget to pray for Pope Francis.
Take full advantage of this Jubilee Year, and especially of this novena―each day, each nine days. Each of the nine days is a beautiful preparation for the traslacion, which will take place on January 9. May God bless you and give you all the blessings that Jesus Nazareno intends to shower upon you, during this novena. May God bless you. Pray for Pope Francis.
Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo
Comments