Below is an edited version of he homily preached by Fr Colum O’Shea SMA during Mass at Knock Basilica on Saturday 24th of May 2025
We gather this Jubilee year of Hope; we are indeed Pilgrims of Hope. We are here in Knock, a special place of Pilgrimage, a centre of Hope. Our readings today capture that theme of Hope. Our Gospel reading is the great prayer of Mary, a prayer of Hope. “My soul glorifies the Lord…….My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” We are pilgrims of hope because we are Easter people. Our Hope is based on our deep belief that our God is faithful and that he will fulfil His promises. You have travelled from all over Ireland, to be with us here today. There are also some of our friends joining us from home via the webcam. All of you have been, and continue to be, a great support and a sign of hope to us the SMA and OLA and to our mission. We are grateful to you for that.
You may recall that a few years ago we were praying for the release of one our priests, Father Luigi Maccalli. Father Luigi is an SMA priest from Italy. On the evening of 18 September 2018, he was abducted from his mission in Niger, West Africa, by a group of Muslim extremists. For a long time, there was no word of his whereabouts, we did not know if he was dead or alive. For 25 months he was held captive in the barren, hostile Sahara Desert.
He has written an account of his ordeal and I read it recently. He was held captive in terrible conditions, sometimes chained, deprived of all the basic necessities of life that we take for granted. He had to endure the sweltering heat of the sun by day and the cold of the desert night. Fr Luigi says, his greatest discomfort was his total lack of communication with the outside world and not knowing if he would ever again see his family and friends. In his time of captivity, he never felt totally abandoned by God, even though there were dark times when he cried out the cry of Jesus crucified, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” But it was his faith in God that sustained him and his hope that one day he would be free.
It is that hope that comes through strongly in the pages of his book. Fr Luigi welcomed each new day as if it was to be his last in captivity. One evening as he watched the sun go down and as he settled down in the desert for another night, he wrote the following; “The trail of light from the setting sun slowly faded away. Wrapped up in the darkness of the night, I do not forget that the resilient and invincible sun prepares for its own redemption.”
Even though in the darkness of night we cannot see the sun, we know that it is there and it will appear again. No one is exempt from difficulties in life. We have all been through, or may be going through, painful experiences and crises. For many life lacks meaning, direction and purpose; times when darkness envelopes us. At such times we may feel God’s absence; when we question God’s existence. Just as in the dark of night we cannot see the sun it does not mean that it is not there. Our faith assures us that in our darkest moments God is there.
Fr Luigi goes on to say, “Every evening I continue to keep alive the light of hope in the darkness of what is happening.” When I read these words of Fr Luigi, I was 
reminded of the words of the song, ‘Whispering Hope.’ “Wait till the darkness is over; wait till the tempest is done. Hope for the sunshine tomorrow after the darkness is gone.” When we experience difficulties and painful situations in life and when we are fearful of what the future may hold, our faith and hope in God sustain us.
After 752 days and nights in captivity Father Luigi’s prayers were answered and his hope realised, when he was eventually freed from captivity. After some time of recuperation and rest with family and friends in Italy Fr Luigi returned to West Africa and is presently on mission in the Benin Republic. He says that the light of Hope that sustained him during his captivity now shines brighter and stronger than ever. He is a great sign of hope to all of us.
Pope Francis, of happy memory, told us that we are all called to be messengers of hope in our world today. He said, “Today our world is experiencing a tragic ‘famine’ of hope. May we become messengers of hope.” This is our mission in this Jubilee Year, to become messengers of Hope – let your light shine for the world to see.
In that way you will be radiating hope in a world that is starving of hope. Remember what Fr Luigi says; “Keep alive the light of hope in the darkness of what is happening.”
Fr Colum O’Shea SMA