Faith and Mission Renewed at St. Peter’s Tomb

On Tuesday, October 28, the Superior General led the Major Superiors on a pilgrimage to St. Peter’s tomb in the Vatican Basilica. They celebrated the Eucharist on the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, apostles and early witnesses of faith. The basilica, built on the relics of St. Peter, recalls his martyrdom and confession of Christ. Here is the homily delivered by the Superior General during the pilgrimage.

St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome
October 28th, 2025

Dear brothers and sisters,

“You are no longer strangers and strangers, but members of the household of God, because you have been built on the foundation of the Apostles,” we heard in the first reading. When the Founder and his first companions began to live in community, they dreamed of creating a family of missionaries who would live like the Apostles with Jesus. Our CC and RR detail the characteristics of our apostolic communities that make the Founder’s dream a reality. We are religious missionaries in apostolic communities; it is our identity in the Church.

When we contemplate the community of those called by Jesus, we see men who doubt, who abandon and deny the Lord. No, they were not perfect, but they left everything when Jesus called them to follow Him and live with Him to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Their ideas were not all clear. They were slow to understand the mission entrusted to them by Jesus because of fear; but they remained together, praying until they received the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures do not hide their subsequent disagreements among them, but they were able to discern together and make bold decisions. They all bore witness to the Lord with their lives and deaths, and thus the Church began that journey that now impresses us with its vitality and breadth. Let us imitate their example, and we too will see a vital Congregation that expands throughout the world to proclaim the Gospel to the poor.

Today we come as pilgrims to participate in the Jubilee of hope. Two hundred years ago, Saint Eugene also participated in the final days of the Jubilee in Rome before our Constitutions and Rules were approved. This Jubilee grace prepared him to receive the grace of the approval of our Congregation. Today is our Jubilee. Pilgrimage helps us renew our vocation to holiness, a vocation common to all the baptized, and our specific vocation as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It is an opportunity to renew our religious and missionary oblation. In every step we take today, let us remember the Founder’s words when the Constitutions and Rules were approved: in the name of God, be saint. In the name of God, let us be saints, saints religious, and saints missionaries who live and proclaim the Gospel.

The second dimension of our pilgrimage is to express our communion with the Church and with the Pope, the successor of Peter. We know how important this aspect was to Saint Eugene. His fidelity to the Pope endured numerous trials and persecutions, from both outside and within the Church. We wish to renew our affective and effective love for Pope Leo and help him build a synodal Church that “bends itself to the earth to care for the poor” (DT 69), that looks upon them with respect, lives with them, and learns the Gospel from them. “A Church that knows that ‘love for the poor—in whatever way that poverty is manifested—is the evangelical guarantee of a Church faithful to the heart of God’ (DT 193). Are these words not at the heart of our charism? Is not our love for the poor the guarantee of our fidelity to God’s call?

Our pilgrimage will end at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I want to see here a call to let Mary accompany us in our ministry as Servant leaders in our Units. Mary set out to receive and give Jesus Christ to the world and placed herself at the service of Elizabeth. With her and with so many poor people we serve, we want to sing her song of praise and prophecy that amazes the merciful work of God from the poorest. Like her, we want to be humble servants of the Lord, always listening to and preserving his Word in our hearts. Together with her, we want to persevere at the foot of the Cross of the Lord and of the crucified of the world to announce redemption to them. With her, we want to accompany the Apostolic communities through prayer and maternal support for each apostle and missionary. Let us ask Mary for her smile to confirm us in our mission and enable us to walk joyfully in Jesus’ footsteps. May Mary Immaculate, Saint Eugene de Mazenod, and all the Blessed Oblates accompany and inspire us on this pilgrimage of hope and help us renew ourselves in our missionary oblation. Amen.

Luis Ignacio ROIS ALONSO, OMI
Superior General

Published on the OMI World website