{"id":4139,"date":"2019-04-13T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/15.188.244.8.xip.io\/homily-on-the-occasion-of-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-priestly-ordination-of-fr-mario-pezzi\/"},"modified":"2021-08-10T10:58:13","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T09:58:13","slug":"homily-on-the-occasion-of-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-priestly-ordination-of-fr-mario-pezzi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neocatechumenaleiter.org\/en\/homily-on-the-occasion-of-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-priestly-ordination-of-fr-mario-pezzi\/","title":{"rendered":"Homily on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Priestly Ordination of Fr Mario Pezzi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On March 18, 2019 – the eve of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph – Fr Mario \nPezzi, from the international responsible team for the Neocatechumenal Way, \ncelebrates 50 years of his priestly ordination. During also almost \n50 years, Fr Mario has accompanied Kiko Arg\u00fcello and Carmen Hern\u00e1ndez in \nthis charism inspired by the Holy Spirit and recognized by the \nChurch.<\/p>\n\n

On the occasion of this anniversary, on March 19, Fr. Mario celebrated \na Eucharist at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Rome. He was \naccompanied by Kiko, Mar\u00eda Ascensi\u00f3n Romero (member of the team \nresponsible for the Camino since 2018), as well as by the rector of the seminary \nand the formators. Numerous priests also participated, some \nseminarians and special guests.<\/p>\n\n

On April 8, also to celebrate his 50th anniversary of ordination, Fr. Mario presided over another Eucharist in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Madrid. Kiko and Mar\u00eda Ascension were again present, as well as the rector and the team of formators, and \npriests, seminarians and also some special guests.<\/p>\n\n

The homily that Fr. Mario Pezzi gave at the Thanksgiving Eucharist \nfor his 50th anniversary of priestly ordination:<\/p>\n\n

Thanksgiving to God for the fifty years of priestly ordination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Dear brothers, first of all, I thank Kiko and Maria Ascension for their presence, the rector and the formators of the Redemptoris Mater seminary, to the priests and seminarians present, to the personal guests and to those who have wanted to join me, to give thanks to God for the gift of the 50 (fiftieth) anniversary of my Presbyterial Ordination.<\/p>\n\n

50 years ago, I was ordained in the parish of Saints Peter and Paul, in Gottolengo, Brescia, on the afternoon of the 18th of March, accompanied by my parents and relatives, my superiors and Comboni brothers and many parishioners. I was ordained by the Auxiliary Bishop of Brescia, Monsignor Pietro Gazzoli, being Pastor Don \nFrancesco Vergine, who, by the grace of God, ended his days as \nspiritual director of the Redemptoris Mater in Rome. The next day, the 19th of \nMarch, solemnity of Saint Joseph, I celebrated my First Mass.<\/p>\n\n

“How will I repay the Lord for all the good that He \nhas done? I will raise the Cup of Salvation, and I will invoke the name of the \nLord”. In this solemn Eucharistic celebration, together we will raise the Cup of Salvation and we will thank God for all his benefits in these 50 years.<\/p>\n\n

To thank the Lord, after fifty years of priesthood, I am almost forced to share with you some facts of my life. Being close to Kiko, I have learned to \nspeak in brushstrokes, I hope it is not too heavy. \nI come from a humble family, in my life I have had no \nextraordinary gifts, visions or revelations, but from my early years \nI have felt the presence of the Lord who has filled me with so many gifts, \nhas guided and led me by the hand since the first years of life \nuntil I met Kiko and Carmen, the Neocatechumenal Way in my \ncommunity of San Juan de Dios, until I became the priest of \nKiko and Carmen’s team since the summer of 1971.<\/p>\n\n

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Many times in these years I have asked myself why the Lord has called me to carry out the priestly ministry, on the team of Kiko and Carmen:<\/strong> \nthe only answer I have found is in the fantasy and the \nsense of humor of the Lord, who likes to do things by breaking \nour human plans.<\/p>\n\n

I am a person of fragile constitution, educated for a regular and orderly life, without special skills or gifts, I would say that I am a normal person, set to collaborate with two giants of the faith, Kiko and Carmen, whom God has filled with numerous special gifts, in view of his mission in the Church today.<\/p>\n\n

Suddenly jumping into a bohemian lifestyle, without fixed schedules, constant changes and unpredictablity, living day by day, allowing ourselves to be guided by the will of God.<\/p>\n\n

In the first years, I passed through moments of crisis, but the certainty that he was God has always helped me, through the events of my history since childhood, which \nhe was using to prepare me to be the Presbyter of the team of the Initiators of the \nNeocatechumenal Way, even though many times I did not feel up to the height of the mission. Today, after fifty years of my priestly ordination, without too much presumption, I am sure of it.<\/p>\n\n

The first reading is from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I chose the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, because I had chosen it for my first Mass fifty years ago, the day after the Ordination.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cEl esp\u00edritu del Se\u00f1or est\u00e1 sobre m\u00ed,<\/em>porque el Se\u00f1or me ha ungido.<\/em>\u00c9l me envi\u00f3 a llevar la buena noticia a los pobres,<\/em>a vendar los corazones heridos,<\/em>a proclamar la liberaci\u00f3n a los cautivos<\/em>y la libertad a los prisioneros,<\/em>a proclamar un a\u00f1o de gracia del Se\u00f1or;<\/em>para alegrar a los afligidos de Sion\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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Since my formative years, I was surprised to be able to participate in the \nsame Power of Jesus Christ who, communicating it to the apostles, said: “All\u00a0authority in\u00a0heaven\u00a0and on\u00a0earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of\u00a0all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The idea of \u200b\u200bbeing able to tell a person “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace”, the power to make present and participate in the Passion, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ in the \nCelebration of the Eucharist, I have always seen it as a great gift of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n

In these years, celebrating together with Kiko and Carmen, the different steps\/stages that mark the Neocatechumenal itinerary, I have always been surprised to see the Power of \nJesus Christ who was acting before our eyes, gradually changing the \npeople’s lives, rebuilding those destroyed, \nstrengthening marriages, allowing the openness to life and \neducation to the faith of the children, missionary zeal. Many times I have \nthought: I wish the Church realized the power that the Lord has given her to generate children of God!, as Carmen said so often, from \nreopening the bosom of the Church, the baptismal font, which has the power to \nbury the old man and give birth to the children of God for our time.<\/p>\n\n

The Gospel of Matthew: Saint Joseph and the birth of Jesus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In recent years, sometimes I have asked myself what it meant to have been ordained on the eve \nof the solemnity of St. Joseph. On the occasion of the celebration of my 25 \n(twenty-fifth) anniversary of my Presbyterial Ordination, the Lord \nilluminated the figure of Saint Joseph and his closeness to my life as \npriest, in the team of Kiko and Carmen.<\/p>\n\n

As we have heard in the Gospel of today, St. Joseph found himself in a tragically embarrassing situation, when he discovered that the Virgin Mary, his wife, upon returning from her \nvisit with her cousin Elizabeth, was pregnant.<\/p>\n\n

Imagine the suffering and the long silences of Joseph and Mary, in a humanly incomprehensible situation. The Gospel says: “Joseph, her husband, who was a just man and \nwanting to repudiate her, decided to divorce her secretly. \u201d Only an angel \n\u00a0of the Lord, who appears to him in a dream, says: \u00abDo not be afraid to \n\u00a0receive Mary, as your wife, because what has been generated in her comes from the Holy Spirit.\u201d, which restores the serenity between Joseph and Mary.<\/p>\n\n

In regards to this story, Kiko and \nCarmen told us about a Midrash, in which Joseph, after the dream, says to Mary: \u201cBut how could you not tell me before? I would have believed! \u201d. And Mary responds: \u00abAnd who was I, to interfere between you and God?”.<\/p>\n\n

I have told you about this Midrash because I think that here lies the secret of the team of initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko and Carmen. As I mentioned the day of the funeral of Carmen, each of them has had a strong personal relationship with \nGod, trying to obey His Will, even when there were \nsituations of apparent conflict. And along with them, in these fifty years, I too have learned to obey God every day.<\/p>\n\n

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Pope Saint John Paul II in the Encyclical “Redemptoris Custos”, on the figure of Joseph, affirmed that he was a man who did not want to lead his life, to carry out his own life project but to allow himself to be led by\u00a0the Lord. The Virgin Mary replied to the Angel: “Let it be done to me according to your Word”; and later, at the wedding in Galilee, she said to the servants \n“Do what he tells you.” Joseph, to the Angel who visits him three times and \nmanifests the will of God, regarding taking Mary as wife, when fleeing to Egypt and then when he returns to Nazareth, he doesn’t say anything in response, but \nhe does act: he obeys.<\/p>\n\n

I also, keeping my distance, like Joseph, was involved in a story that was beyond me: I too have been called by God to recognize that on the Way, that it did not come from \nme, it was not my son, the work of the Holy Spirit. A mission that, although \nin the shade, it was very important. For this reason, the presence of the \npriest in the Way, even if he does not appear as a factotum, is very \nimportant, because it is he who recognizes the work of the Lord and has the \nmission to unite the Charism with the Institution of the Church.<\/p>\n\n

Today’s liturgy shows us that we find ourselves inserted into a story that is beyond us, a story of salvation that God has made with a specific people, the people of Israel, and a promise to David a descendence, and Joseph is the bond that binds Jesus to the genealogy of David, of Israel. So also through \nus, the Lord sends his salvation, his love to this generation. \nFor this reason today, I want to sing with all the strength I have left in \nthe Eucharist, to thank the Lord, together with all of you. In \nIsrael’s history, full of sins and infidelities, shines His \nfidelity and His love, and also in our history His fidelity shines \nabout our sins. I too, today as I bless and \nI give thanks for so many gifts, I ask for forgiveness for my many resistances, \ninfidelities and sins and I ask for the gift of humility.<\/p>\n\n

To all of you, I ask for the help of your prayer, so that the Lord helps Kiko, and me too, to \ncomplete the mission entrusted to us, with the help of Maria \nAscension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On March 18, 2019 – the eve of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph – Fr Mario Pezzi, from the international responsible team for the Neocatechumenal Way, celebrates 50 years of his priestly ordination. During also almost 50 years, Fr Mario has accompanied Kiko Arg\u00fcello and Carmen Hern\u00e1ndez in this charism inspired by the Holy Spirit and recognized by the Church. On the occasion of this anniversary, on March 19, Fr.<\/p>\n

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