On Tuesday 23 February, Bishop John Wilson celebrated Mass to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the death of Mgr Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion and Liberation, at Ealing Abbey. The Mass was attended by members of the movement who came to remember the life and work of Mgr Giussani.
In his homily Bishop John explained, 'The legacy of his remarkable life is seen today in you, his spiritual children, who, together with your brothers and sisters across ninety different countries, form the living Fraternity of Communion and Liberation.'
He paid tribute to 'Fr Giussani’s persistent invitation to discover Christ; not as some vague spiritual ideal, but to encounter him personally "… as the complete and definitive answer to the deepest expectations of the human heart."’
Echoing Fr Giussani, Bishop John said ’In love with Christ, we freely embrace God as our Father and Master; in love with Christ we willingly submit to him as our true and only Teacher; in love with Christ we humbly seek to serve him on the peripheries, in the needy and the poorest. Our personal relationship with the Lord shapes us to cease from evil as we learn to do good; it stirs us to search for justice and to help the oppressed; it moves us to be just to the orphan and the widow, in whatever guise we might meet them. In love with Christ we know that by his cross and resurrection our sins are washed clean in his blood; and this can only ever prompt us to be merciful, like the Father.'
Bishop John concluded his homily by praying that Fr Giussani may 'continue to inspire us to seek the merciful face of Jesus, as companions with him and with each other'.
The full text of Bishop John's homily can be read here.
