My dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ:

It is not difficult to sense the great enthusiasm that fills you at this moment. It is a moment of fullness that I thank you for inviting me from far-away Karachi to do this. It is a moment fraught with blessings from Goa, perhaps on an unprecedented scale. It is up to you to open yourselves to this outpouring, "like a deer that thirsts for running streams" [Psalm 42]

In addressing you as the Goan people, I am reminded of God's people in the Old Testament, and the different experiences, changes, disasters, lessons, etc. they had to undergo over the centuries.
In the First Reading, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, the Chosen People are reminded of their roots, their origins. Moses recounts how God's might delivered them from the slavery of Egypt, and brought them to the Promised Land. He reminds us that their blessings and prosperity in the new land depend on their faithfulness to that Law.
In the Second Reading, the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, thanks God that their faith is spoken of all over the world. He then exhorts them to persevere in that faith because "by their believing from the heart, you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips, you are saved."
Finally, in the Third Reading, Matthew's Gospel places in the forefront of your attention your greatest treasure - the new Law of the Gospel. "You are the light of the world, the salt of the earth.. seek first the Kingdom of God." To this, therefore, must be given top priority if the other things are to be added unto you".

These are the three themes, therefore, that I offer for your reflection this afternoon:

[1] your roots in Goa;

[2]faith came to you in Goa;

[3] your migration to this land of promise and the demands that God is making on you.

[1]Your roots in Goa

In the life of a tree, the roots are always there; they never become irrelevant; They may go out of sight, but never out of date. It is significant that the younger generations of Goans in Canada, far from being enchanted with the glamour of this fairyland, were the first to seek the shores of Goa to discover first hand, "Who am I?" Many are the requests I have personally had for details to help Goan families in Canada to build up their family tree with roots in Goa. You hail from the picturesque hills and streams of the Western Ghats. It is important for you, therefore, to have a positive attitude toward your Eastern origins which go back many centuries before the advent of the Portuguese and the British. In the past there may well be hidden riches that you have still to discover, especially in the field of spirituality. It is not strange, therefore, to notice that many Western writers and scholars are beginning to wax enthusiastic about what the East has to offer in the way of peace and balance for the modern man and woman.

Let us beware of covering up our past as if it were something insignificant, or of bending over backwards to prove that you are more Canadian than the Canadians themselves. You fit far more harmoniously into what Mr. Trudeau calls 'the Canadian Salad Bowl' by being what you are, than by trying to be what you are not.

[2] Goa and Faith

Before the migration of Goans to various parts of the British Empire began, the Goan people had a three-century encounter with their Portuguese rulers and all they had to offer. It is this Goa-bound experience of the Goan people that is of special interest to us today. During this phase, two great changes took place: Ia] there was a cross-fertilization between East and West in the field of government, language and culture; [b] more importantly, our forefathers experienced a three-century immersion in Catholic faith and practice.
Both these phenomenon are still having far-flung repercussions in different countries.
[a] The cross-fertilization accounts for the marked preference of Goans for things Western and the large-scale migration of Goans to centres of Western culture and lifestyle, such as the U.K., Canada and Australia. It is only thus that you will be able to explain the Goan genius for Western literature, or Western music, as evidenced by world-famous Goan violinists or pianists, or the perfect theatrical productions of Gilbert and Sullivan.
[b] Since not all Goans have migrated from their eastern bases the second phenomenon, i.e. the thorough immersion in the Faith explains how in many parts of the Third World, Goan laity and clergy have stood their ground to become the backbone of the local Church and evangelisation. St. Francis Xavier may or may not have been a linguist of the charismatic type, but his positive spiritual discernment into the faith of the Goans was remarkable.

[3] The Faith-Demands on You

Dear Goans who are settled in Canada, that same 300-year immersion in the Faith makes certain claims on you in this land of your adoption. You need to face these claims calmly, realistically, and with courage. Perhaps when you decided to migrate, many of you had the idea that you were playing safe, that somehow, being Christian in the so-called Christian country would be easier for you and your children, less fraught with difficulties and dangers than in a country you left behind. There is no need for me to put you wise on this score; you have learned it from your own mature experience that this is no longer true. Did we not learn in our catechism days:

Go where thou wilt, by land or sea
your heavenly Father is there with thee".

Go where thou wilt, O Christian you will always be in a position of Peter and the Apostles at Pentecost. You will always be called upon to leave the safety and closed doors of the Upper Room, to step out into the open and proclaim, at whatever cost, that the Risen Jesus is Saviour and Lord. In this spirit I invite you to accept the challenge of your environment.

[a] The challenge of unity versus division: The outpouring of the Spirit gathers more and more people into unity. Pentecost is the exact opposite of the Tower of Babel, which results in splits and divisions. That your Goan community in its overall unity should be structured into smaller units is good and positive, because it is the means of reaching people at all levels. But splinter and rival groups that keep jockeying for prominence or precedence, instead of service are not the work of the Spirit. "By their fruits you shall know them." Do I need to call to your memory the motto that was hung on the top of the stage at the K.G.A. Hall in Karachi? It reads: "Brotherhood and Unity"

[b] The challenge of material success: Brothers and Sisters, you are living in the land where material success is placed on a pedestal, it is regarded almost as an idol; where the success stories of Henry Ford, Dale Carnegie and Lee Iacocca pour through the mass media, preaching the "gospel" of bigness, of giantism, the big mergers. Let's face it: material success can be an asset if you view it with the right kind of binoculars, whose optical system includes the immediate vision of faith.'"The fashion of this world is passing away. Here we have no lasting city, but we look for another". If your material success is so geared as to increase the scale of your compassion for the unfortunate and the scale of your forgiveness for those who have done you harm, if at each step on the road to success you have sought first and foremost the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, then your success becomes not a foolish short-term accumulation of the man who gathered into the barns, but a long-term investment wherein you have set your heart on the treasures that last forever.

[c] Challenge of Family Witness: Last, but not least, you are called to witness the Christian values of family life. 'The two become one flesh; what God has joined together, let no man put asunder." Bring up your children in the image and likeness of God. You are challenged to do this in an environment of permissive sexuality where the Christian family is under attack on every possible front: divorce, abortion, artificial insemination, casual habitation, homosexuality - a state of affairs that takes us back to the age of the infant Church and the early Roman Empire, when the height of prosperity and progress went hand-in-hand with the flouting of family morals and sexual irresponsibility. Then, as now, people looked forward to a turn of the tide at the turn of the century. In this great turnabout you will do your humble but important share of taking a determined stand in the very intimacy of your hearts and homes; the stand of a Christian who, by definition, does not swallow the feedback of the mass media bait, hook and sinker. No indeed! the Christian is one who sits in judgment on the media and shares his judgment with his children; whose children at an early age begin to realize that they are somehow different from their companions, as leaven is different from dough, as salt is different from the earth, as light is different from the dark surroundings.

Then my dear Goans of Canada, you will have justified the warm welcome that Canada has extended to you. Then you will have fulfilled the original purpose of your migration: "We came here for the sake of our families."

Reproduced with permission of the Goan Overseas Association ~ Ontario