Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for Glenmore Park Parish Patronal Feast Day celebration
Readings: Jeremiah 1:4-9; Galatians 2:19-21; Matthew 16:24-27
21 September 2025
St Padre Pio the icon of the transfigured Lord for the church and our world
Dear sisters and brothers,
It is a great joy for me to celebrate with you this Sunday’s Eucharist in which we honour our Patron, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, much better known by his epithet of Padre Pio. He was a Capuchin Franciscan friar and priest who was renowned for his great piety and dedication to God, for his experience in having the Lord’s wounds, the stigmata, as well as for his great personal holiness and sanctity, in which he became a very popular figure both during his life and after his passing.
Padre Pio was born into a family of peasants that were very deeply religious and committed to God, and this had great impact on the upbringing and development of the young Padre Pio who developed a great love and commitment for God from an early age, and who joined the Capuchins in his early teenage years.
This young future saint had experienced mystical visions and revelations from a very young age, something which would continue to influence and affect him throughout his later life and ministry. When he later on became a Capuchin friar and saint, he ministered to the people faithfully, in his devotion and prayerful life, and through his miraculous stigmata and personal holiness, many began to come to him with various problems and needs, coming to him at the monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo, where today a great Basilica and shrine to this saint now stands. Padre Pio however did not have it easy, as he also faced a lot of hardships and trials, challenges and difficulties from those who doubted the authenticity of his miracles and stigmata among others.
But he remained firmly committed to his faith in God, drawing ever more people and pilgrims seeking his advice and help, for him to heal them and cast out demons, and for hearing their confessions. By his dedication and faith, and by his perseverance and faith, and holiness, he inspired many to turn away from sin and evil, and back towards God’s path.
The Word of God that we have heard teaches us that Christian life is about self-renunciation in the way that Jesus demonstrated. We are to live life to the full by surrendering to the process of defeat, suffering and dying. This is the great paradox that Jesus taught and lived: life is lived fully not by following our survival instincts but by surrendering it for the sake of God and his kingdom.
In the first reading, Jeremiah known as ‘the weeping prophet’ because of his lamentations for the sins of Israel, reflects on his vocation. He was conscious of his limitations on the one hand and the awesome task of speaking truth to power on the other. In the end, though, he remained fully committed and faithful to his mission in the face of adversity. He shows us what it means to live by one’s principle, to have moral courage and to walk the long hard road of fidelity.
Such courage and commitment are also demanded of the disciples as evident by the Gospel reading. “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” These words of Jesus form the kernel of Christian discipleship. To be his follower is to walk the path of the cross. It is to lose oneself for the sake of the kingdom. It is to commit oneself not to self-preservation but to self-sacrifice for the sake of others. “For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it”. Peter had a shock to his system when he heard these words. He learned that he could only be a true rock when he had the courage to emulate the Suffering Servant. On the other hand, he would be a stumbling rock or an obstacle, if he emptied Christian discipleship of the cross.
Brothers and sisters,
As followers of Jesus, we are challenged by the message and example of Jesus who lived his life fully for others. As disciples, we recognize that life worth living is life poured out for others, life that embraces pain, suffering and even death for the sake of the one we love. This is what we call the paradox of the Gospel. The cross is at the heart of Christian discipleship.
Padre Pio was the saint who was deeply trained in the crucible of suffering. We recall how he experienced not only physical pain of great intensity, but also the spiritual suffering of being misunderstood and misjudged by others. But he constantly accepted all his sufferings with serenity and trust in God. He came to love suffering because he loved the suffering Christ. He learned to love the cross through his love of the crucified Lord.
Let us all follow the great examples set by our Patron Saint in his devotion to prayer and to the righteous and virtuous path of God. Let us all not lose heart or be discouraged by the challenges that we may face in life. May St Pade Pio inspire us to live in a deep and personal relationship with the crucified Christ and may we become the icon of the transfigured Lord for the church and for the world.
