As the Church in Asia prepares for its biggest gathering in twenty years — the Great Pilgrimage of Hope, to be held in Penang, Malaysia from Nov. 27–30 — Catholics are invited to rediscover their faith and walk new paths of compassion and dialogue.
The Gospel of Matthew tells us: “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went a different way” (Matthew 2:12). The Magi, after encountering the Christ Child, could not return the same way. Their encounter changed them. They took a new path — one born of faith and transformation.
The Great Pilgrimage invites us to do the same. Like the Magi, we too have encountered Christ — in our sacraments, in our communities, and in our daily struggles. Now the Lord calls us to journey differently: with renewed hope, deeper compassion, and a stronger sense of service.
Going a Different Way
To go a different way is more than a change of direction; it is a change of heart. It means letting our encounter with Jesus reshape our priorities and renew our vision.
In today’s Asia, modernization, inequality, ecological crisis, and cultural divisions mark our societies. Amid these challenges, Jesus invites us to walk the road of integrity, simplicity, and solidarity. The Pilgrimage is a sacred opportunity to leave behind the paths that lead us away from God — indifference, consumerism, prejudice, and fear — and to walk instead the path of mercy and communion.
Pope Francis reminds us in Evangelii Gaudium: “The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.” The joy that guided the Magi to a new road must guide us too. The Church in Asia must dare to journey differently — to listen more deeply, serve more humbly, and reach out more courageously to those on the peripheries.
Hope: The Compass of Our Pilgrimage
At the heart of this Jubilee lies hope — the quiet strength that allows us to see light even when the world feels dark. Hope is not naive optimism but the assurance that God is already at work, even in our waiting and pain.
In Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict XVI writes that hope “awakens something like a memory of the future.” For Catholics in Asia, this hope must animate our response to the wounds of our time — poverty, conflict, injustice, and loneliness.
To go a different way is to believe that tomorrow can be better, not by our power, but by God’s promise.
Rabindranath Tagore expressed it beautifully: “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark.” Our hope must sing — for the migrant longing for home, the youth searching for meaning, the earth groaning under misuse, and the poor whose cries rise like incense to God.
Triple Dialogue
To live the Gospel in Asia is to let it take root in our soil — to speak it through our languages, express it in our art, and live it through our values of harmony, respect, and community.
The Church in Asia is called to the triple dialogue — with cultures, with religions, and with the poor. This is the path of the Spirit in Asia: not confrontation but communion; not domination but service.
Our Catholic identity shines most brightly when it reflects the tenderness of Christ — gentle, humble, contemplative, and close to the poor.
When we kneel before the manger like the Magi, we see a God who became small, choosing love over power. This humility must guide the Church’s presence in Asia. We are called not to impose but to propose; not to shout but to shine.
Journeying Together in Communion
To go a different way is also to go together. The Pilgrimage invites us into a deeper experience of synodality — walking side by side as one people of God.
In a continent rich in diversity, our journey must be one of listening, respect, and collaboration. Pope Francis reminds us in Fratelli Tutti: “No one is saved alone; we can only be saved together.” The Church in Asia must reflect this truth — building bridges across generations, religions, and nations. Our intention is not to conquer hearts but to accompany them; not to claim superiority but to reveal God’s nearness.
Hope, then, becomes our shared road — the song we sing as we walk together through both suffering and joy toward the fullness of life that God has promised.
Transformation and Hope
Through the Great Pilgrimage of Hope, Jesus calls us — the Catholics of Asia — to walk differently, to dream differently, and to love differently. He invites us to be pilgrims of hope in our families, parishes, and societies.
Let us choose paths that heal rather than wound, that include rather than exclude, that build rather than destroy. Let us be the face of Christ for our neighbours of other faiths, for the poor, and for creation itself. The prophet Isaiah assures us: “See, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth — do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19).
This is God’s promise for Asia — a new path of peace, justice, and unity.
Like the Magi, may we rise, adore, and then go a different way — a way illumined by the light of Christ, guided by hope, and revealing the tender heart of God to all peoples of Asia.
