The Archbishop of Santiago (Chile), Mons. Fernando Chomali, presided this Sunday over the procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patron saint of the country, in the so-called “Festival of Hope”and focused his message on the importance of saving the country, protecting the spiritual heritage and respecting human life from fertilization to natural death.
The activities carried the motto “Our Lady of Mount Carmel, teach us to pray and encourage us in hope” and began with a procession through the streets of the capital, where numerous delegations from the city’s Catholic communities carried the image of the Virgin, stopping at different stations to receive artistic tributes prepared for the Mother.
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Upon his return, the Archbishop of Santiago offered a blessing in the atrium of the cathedral, and presided over the Eucharist inside the temple.
In his homily, the prelate made reference to the Gospel of John where the miracle of Jesus at the wedding at Cana is narrated.
In that context, he compared that scene with the current reality: “The world and Chile look like a wedding without wine. God created us so that there would be joy, brotherhood, work, family, security, prosperity and peace. And it happens that we do not find any of that, but violence, fear, corruption in the leaders.”
When referring to a “great globalization of indifference”, hopelessness, selfishness and poverty, he called to imitate Mary’s attitude and appeal to Jesus, because “it is more than proven that every personal, family, political and social project that excludes God ends up failing.”
“You can create a world without God, but that world will end up going against man himself,” he warned, calling to “fill the jars” with the hopelessness, sadness and violence that oppresses us, so that He can turn them into hope. , joy, peace. “Let us fill our jars with the suffering of our country so that it can once again be a sensible, austere and fair country,” he encouraged.
Make Chile founded on the Rock
Bishop Chomali also urged to protect Chile’s spiritual heritage. To do this, he considered, “the best thing is to be here today recognizing each other as brothers, because we have the same Father and the same Mother.”
“Today is the time to make Chile founded on the Rock, on Jesus Christ. He is the foundation of everything. This Rock will remain, it will not move despite the hurricane-force winds,” he stated.
Continuing with the Gospel, the archbishop asked: “What would it be like to do what he tells us today?” In response, he proposed putting aside frivolity and superficiality.
Strongly motivate respect for human life
Secondly, he called to promote social justice: “The poor cannot wait,” he stressed. Likewise, he called for “strongly motivating respect for human life, from the moment of fertilization to natural death.”
“Let us commit ourselves before the Blessed Virgin Mary to say forcefully, in time and out of time, that we do not want abortion in Chile; that we do not want euthanasia in Chile. We don’t want therapeutic obstinacy either. We want human care, a medicine that cares,” he implored.
“Let us strongly promote the freedom of parents to educate their children. It is a right and a duty prior to the State. Let us jealously guard freedom of religion and worship,” he continued.
“Let us also take care of the freedom to undertake and create. Because without entrepreneurship, without companies there is no work and without it there is poverty,” he added.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.