Journeying Toward the Year of Grace

Homily of H.E., Most Rev. Charles John Brown, D.D., Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines

Holy Mass for the 75th Jubilee of the Diocese of Sorsogon

June 29, 2026 | Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Your Grace, the Most Rev. Rex Andrew C. Alarcon, Archbishop of Caceres;

Your Grace, the Most Rev. Adolfo Tito C. Yllana, Titular Archbishop of Montecorvino;

Your Excellency, the Most Rev. Jose Alan V. Dialogo, Bishop of Sorsogon;

Brother bishops who have come from near and far this morning here to Sorsogon;

Priests of the diocese, deacons, seminarians, religious sisters, and

most of all, you, the faithful people of the Diocese of Sorsogon:

Today is a day of great joy and happiness, a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving, a day of appreciation; and we can say “gratitude to God” for 75 years since the foundation of your diocese on June 29, 1951. That moment in which the then Diocese of Caceres, as the “mother diocese”, we can say, gave birth to two daughters, the Diocese of Legazpi, covering the Province of Albay, and the Diocese of Sorsogon, where we are this morning, covering Sorsogon, and at that time also Masbate.

Today is a day of great joy, because as we remember the foundation of your diocese, it is also the feast day of your cathedral here, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. For that reason, it's for me a special privilege as your Apostolic Nuncio, the one in the Philippines who represents the successor of Saint Peter, that is Pope Leo XIV, our Holy Father in Rome, to be with you this morning.

So, not only do we celebrate the Parish Feast Day, Peter and Paul, 75 Years since the foundation, the creation of the Diocese Sorsogon, we also celebrate this beginning of your synodal process. The theme of your synodal process is “Pilgrims of Hope: Journeying Toward the Year of Grace.” On this historic occasion, we will also be convoking your Second Diocesan Synod, guided by those beautiful words of Jesus, “I am with you always”. “Pilgrims of Hope.” That's what we are, brothers and sisters. Journeying together towards the year of grace, journeying together towards the kingdom of God.

Our Scripture readings this morning for Peter and Paul have a theme of movement, of we can even say “journey”. In the First Reading (Acts 12:1-11) we hear how Saint Peter was led miraculously by the angel out of the prison, passing the first guard, the second guard, the unlocked gate, and into the city, freed and led on a journey of freedom. Then we hear Saint Paul (2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18) talking about the end of his life with those famous words translated a little bit differently in our reading this morning, but the classic translation, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” “I finished the race,” “finished the course.” Again, the idea of movement, the idea of transition, the idea of going somewhere. “Pilgrims of Hope: Journeying Toward the Year of Grace.”

The root word synodos, which comes from the Greek: σύνοδος (synodos), from which we get synod, originally meant what? A “caravan”, people traveling together. It comes from two words in Greek joined together: “σύν” (transliteration: sun; phonetic spelling: soon) or “syn” and “οδος”. “Σύν” (Syn) mean “with” or “together”, and “οδος” (hodos), “the way,” “the path”. So synodos, in its original meaning, “synod” means “together on the path”, “on the hodos” 

As I was saying to Archbishop Tirona before Mass this morning, we have that word, maybe some of you know that in your automobile or on your scooter, the meter that measures the kilometers that your car has taken over time, or your scooter, or your motorcycle, in English, we call that an “odometer”. It's the same word as synodos, as synod—odos, odometer. The odometer on your scooter or car tells you how far “on the way” has your car gone [or traveled] in its entire life. The odometer, synodos, same word: the path, journeying together, this caravan.

That's what the Church is. The holy caravan of God: journeying together towards the kingdom of God, with different groups and different gifts. We're not all the same in a caravan. [Think about the entrance procession at the start of this celebration: we have bearers of the cross or the crucifix, we have] servers, deacons, bishops, nuncio, etc. A caravan walking, a procession. Think about the Church, the synod of the Church walking through time.

We're in that caravan of faith, and it's so beautiful. When we think about how the Church should go forward, we need to think about those [who walked before us. That means, going through time, not just now, but through time. So, let's think about the Church as a caravan, as a procession. With maybe, at the front of the procession, walking in front of us, we see Mary and the Apostles. We see Saint Peter who heard those words of Jesus in the Gospel today. Then behind them, we see the great saints, and we see many other people].

If we do our job, we pass the faith on to the next generation. If we keep that procession going, there's no gap behind us; but a continuous line of people walking towards the Kingdom of God. That's our responsibility on this 75th Anniversary, as we look forward 25 years to the 100th, the centenary anniversary of the Diocese of Sorsogon.

So, let's do our job, let's be faithful, think about the ones who have gone before us in the past. We pray to Our Lady of Peñafrancia, our beloved “Ina”, to intercede for us, to lead us. We thank God for this occasion, for this wonderful and incredible feast day. 

Finally, we pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, our Holy Father in Rome, who today will bestow the pallium, which is a special liturgical garment given to archbishops. We have three archbishops from the Philippines who are there in Rome this morning for that Mass with the Holy Father. So, today on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, we thank God for 75 years, and we look forward in confidence and hope to the next years to come; and we pray for our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.

May God bless you.

Happy 75th anniversary!

Transcribed by Joel V. Ocampo