Plenary Session 2026: The Time is Fulfilled

As the doors of the Jubilee Year of Hope close and Rome still echoes with the footsteps of pilgrims coming and going, the Central Government enters a time of intense discernment and service.

Today, January 12, 2026, the Central Government began its 10th Plenary Session, scheduled to continue until February 13, with the celebration of the Eucharist. Gathering in the chapel of the International Roman Scholasticate, the members of the Central Government entrusted their time together to the Holy Spirit. The celebration was presided over by Fr. Luis Ignacio ROIS ALONSO, OMI.

We now share with you the homily delivered by the Superior General during this celebration.

Homily of the Superior General

“The Time is Fulfilled”

Rome, January 12, 2026

Brothers, the Gospel we have heard today opens with a proclamation that is both simple and definitive. These are the first words spoken by Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry: “The time is fulfilled.”

The Present Moment of Grace

These words are not symbolic or abstract. They announce that something has begun, here and now. They also help us understand the moment we are living as a Congregation. As we approach the celebration of two hundred years since the pontifical approval of our Constitutions and Rules, we are not merely looking back at our history. We are being invited to recognize a moment of grace in the present, which is a time given to us to discern how we are called to serve the Congregation today and how we are called to move forward into the next century of our mission.

“We are living in a time of fulfillment. And in this time, we have been chosen.”

Chosen in Our Fragility

We must remember that God’s choice is not a reward for perfection. He has not called us because we are the best, the strongest, the most intelligent, or the most faithful.

He has chosen us simply because we are who we are. God has not chosen an idealized version of our Congregation. He has chosen us as we are, with our limits, our histories, and our fragility. Nevertheless, God has called us to be here in this moment of the Congregation’s life. This is a profound grace.

I Will Pay My Vows to the Lord

How do we respond to this call? The Psalm today gives us a clear answer, “I will pay my vows to the Lord.” These words are not abstract, they are a call to action. To pay our vows means to offer our lives, our religious life. It means making the vows we once spoke a lived reality, and remaining faithful to that commitment day after day. The thanksgiving sacrifice we offer is not something external, it is our life itself. This is how we respond to the gift God has given us.

Three Pillars: Convert, Believe, and Follow

The Gospel presents us with three simple words that ask everything of us:

Convert. In some translations, this word is rendered as repent. In English, the word “repent” often points us toward the past or toward something done wrong that must be corrected. However, conversion is more than that. It touches the past, the present, and the future. It is a change of direction and a change in the way we think, live, feel, and make decisions. To convert means allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us and remove whatever blocks us on the path God is asking us to walk.

Believe in the Gospel. This is not mere optimism, it is trust. It is the trust that the Gospel gives life and leads to holiness. Our Congregation was born from the Gospel and exists for the Gospel. If we desire another two hundred years, the Gospel is the way forward. We will not find our way through strategies or structures alone, but through faith in the power of the Word. We must not believe that the negative news of the world is more powerful than the Word of God.

Follow Me. Jesus does not say to follow an idea, a project, or a role. He says, “Follow me.” He never calls one person alone, he calls a community. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were called together. To follow Jesus means to walk together, to support one another, and to help one another remain faithful to what we have promised.

This is our call today. We are invited to allow these words of the Gospel to become flesh in our lives. We are called to live our conversion, to believe deeply in the Gospel, and to follow Jesus together.

We are living in a beautiful and demanding time. This time is entrusted to us, not because we are perfect, but because we are who we are.

Published on the OMI World website