My dear brothers and sisters in Our Lord Jesus Christ; my friends!
One of the themes of this homily is to be the words of Our Lord at His Last Supper:
Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum
Greatly have I desired to eat this Passover with you
I chose this theme because I wish to communicate to you a single emotion, desire. I rejoice in the fact that I have been given this great gift of the priesthood. As many of you would know, the path to the priesthood, and subsequently, has not been easy. However, this Easter, at the vigil, as I stood around the altar along with the Cardinal Patriarch and his priests, I was filled with the overwhelming realization of how lucky, how blessed I was, as well as I how grateful I am, to have been given this great opportunity to a priest of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This anniversary is a day of joy, therefore, and it necessarily had to be shared with you, who have sustained me both prior, and subsequent, to ordination.
I have to particularly thank those assembled here today, who came together under the group “Liturgy in Goa,” who have been mounting the “Reverent Mass with Gregorian chant.” It has been thanks to you that I survived my first months of priesthood, and I will be ever grateful for this support. May God bless you all.
Indeed, the Gospel for the feast of St. Pius V, which we celebrate today, offers us what should be the theme of every priest’s life: “Tend my sheep”, “Feed my sheep.” In my case, the sheep presented themselves to me, and I willingly consented to be their shepherd. And as is always the case in the Catholic faith, the shepherd feeds the sheep, and the sheep feed their shepherd.
With this word of thanks we come to the second theme of this homily, which involves the feast of Pope St. Pius V. As some of you would know, Pope Pius V was the Pope was saw the implementation of the decisions of the Council of Trent, and particularly, gave us the Mass today known as the Tridentine Mass. Listen to the words of the Collect for his feast day:
Lord God, in your providence
You called Pope Saint Pius to defend the faith
And to enhance the dignity of divine worship.
Give us grace, through his prayer,
To worship you in your sacred mysteries
With an ardent faith and an active charity.
Once again, many of you know how awful was the one year before my ordination. I had planned to simply flee Goa for the horrors that I had to endure. The day of ordination itself was filled with confusion and anxiety. What gave me hope, however, was the fact that it was also the (Novus Ordo) feast day of St. Pius V!
My dear friends, I was already convinced, through the efforts of Pope Benedict XVI, that the liturgy is the single most important thing in the world and that we must give our all to “enhance the dignity of divine worship” and that it is only through the liturgy that we will be able to “defend the faith” and indeed extend it. For this reason, I am convinced that it is crucial for all priests to know the Tridentine form of the Mass, because this is the mother of the form of the Mass which we today celebrate. One should know where one springs from, else one is forever floating on a sea of confusion, thrown this side and that. Much of the todo about my ordination seems to have been the result of my liturgical discipline, and it was a small sign for me that St. Pius was the patron of the day on which I was ordained.
The desire to celebrate this Passover in this church of the Cruz dos Milagres (Miraculous Cross) stems from the fact that it is the resting place of the remains of a man who I often go to in prayer. Pé. Pascoal da Costa Jeremias, was the founder of the Recolhimento do São João do Deserto, which later gave rise to the Congregation of the Oratorians in Goa. I have been fascinated by this man who I know little about, except the fact that he was dedicated to the life of the ascetic and pious life. Originally from Margão, he first set up an recollect in Batim, and then moved here. From the same social group as I, what made this man, so early in our community’s conversion to the faith, come to the life of a penitent recluse, placing all his faith in Our Lord? Praying by his resting place, in the course of that one year of confusion prior to ordination was a great solace, and I thank him for his companionship, and petition him for his continued prayers as I seek to live out my priesthood.
One final word. The phrase that inspired this homily “Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum” actually ends with the words, “antequam patiar,” (before I suffer). The entire sentence, therefore, should read:
Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum antequam patiar.
Greatly have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer
I excised these two words because I had no intention of further suffering. But as I stand here, I realise that suffering is a part of the priesthood, because the priesthood is a participation in the suffering of Our Lord. Indeed, one of the great prayers I embraced in the year leading up to ordination, and subsequently, has been that great line from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians (1:24):
In my flesh I take on what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body, the Church.
I do not wish more suffering, but if it is His will, I will endure, and I know, not without your support. Thank you, and God bless you all.
(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful gathered to commemorate the first anniversary of my ordination at the chapel of the Miraculous Cross, Old Goa on 30 April 2026.)
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