"It's not enough to come to the procession; it's not enough to spend these festive days gathered around the image. What we must do is open our lives to the Lord, who is capable of transforming them," Auxiliary Bishop Guillermo Elías of Lima, Peru, said during his homily at a well-attended Mass on Oct. 28, the central feast day of the Lord of the Miracles.
The feast coincides with the second to the last procession of the "Cristo Moreno" (the dark-skinned Christ).
The original image of the Lord of the Miracles was painted by an African slave on an adobe wall around 1651 and survived the massive earthquake of 1655, which was considered miraculous given the scale of destruction. Subsequently, additional miracles were associated with the image.
Addressing the sea of ??devotees gathered outside the Church of the Nazarenas in the historic center of Lima, where the sacred image of the Christ of Pachacamilla (another name for the image) is kept, the prelate posed a question that reached beyond the celebration itself: "Do you come for the miracles of the Lord, or for the Lord who is capable of performing the miracle of your salvation?"
Drawing from the day's Gospel, in which Jesus speaks with Nicodemus about God's love and eternal life, Elías invited the faithful to look upon the Cristo Moreno with a faith that does not stop at the image itself nor come to an end when the processions conclude.
"What is the foundation of your faith? Do you come for the miracles of the Lord or for the Lord who performs miracles?" he reiterated.
A faith demonstrated through works
For Elías, devotion must also be evident in how one treats others. During his homily, he recalled a statement by 20th-century Chilean St. Alberto Hurtado, which was cited by Pope Francis: "Not doing evil is good, but not doing good is evil."
The bishop warned that observing religious practices is not enough if they do not lead to love: "You can do many good things, follow so many precepts, so many good deeds, but if you lack love, it's not enough," he stated.
He also addressed the violence in Lima and other parts of the country, lamenting that a person could lose his life during an assault or an attack on a bus, and noted that "a city like ours is in great need of our witness."
Faced with this reality, he encouraged the faithful not to remain indifferent. "Let us ask that we, too, may bring salvation by loving the vulnerable, those who have nothing, those who have lost hope, by offering them the very best of ourselves," he urged.
Preparing hearts for Pope Leo XIV
Elías also touched on the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to Peru, recalling he motto of the trip, "Let us open our hearts," and asked whether the Peruvian people are truly preparing themselves to receive the pontiff.
The call to open your heart, he explained, is not limited to welcoming the pope; rather, it is an invitation to live out Christian values ??in one's personal, family, and community life.
"Let us open our hearts to the values ??of the kingdom — to peace, justice, and solidarity," he stated.
The second to the last procession of the image of the Lord of Miracles in 2026 made its way through the center of Lima, reaching Archbishop Loayza National Hospital.
This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
