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PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE FAMILY CLOSING OF THE PAULINE YEAR La Valletta, Malta
Mass of the Solemnity Beloved people of Malta, with great joy I come here to your noble homeland as the Special Representative of His Holiness Pope Benedict the Sixteenth for the conclusion of the Year dedicated to Saint Paul, the Apostle who generated you in Christ. With sentiments of deep respect, I now greet the President of the Republic, His Excellency Doctor George Abela and his wife, the First Lady, Mrs Margaret Abela. I embrace with fraternal love the Archbishop of Malta, His Grace Monsignor Paul Cremona, the Apostolic Nuncio, His Grace Monsignor Tommaso Caputo and the concelebrating archbishops and bishops. I also greet the priests, the religious and all the lay persons of Malta, “the mother who gave you her name”, as you sing in your national anthem. Today’s Psalm is a beautiful and powerful invitation for all: “Fix your gaze on the Lord and your face will grow bright…” (Ps 33:5). We are thus called to contemplate the Lord, that we may participate more deeply in his life and saving mission. Having contemplated the Risen Lord, Saint Paul therefore experienced this same transformation, making him an ardent apostle. “Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil 3:12) he says. “I am alive, yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me” (Gal 2:20). Because of Jesus, Paul dedicates all his energy, makes long journeys, spends sleepless nights, suffers perils, trials, persecutions, humiliations, ill-treatment, hunger, thirst and endures all kinds of hardships. But from the Lord Jesus, Paul also receives the strength and joy to overcome every tribulation: “There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13), “In all our hardships, I am filled with encouragement and overflowing with joy” (2 Cor 7:4). As the first reading today recalls, it was during one of the most dramatic moments of his life that this marvellous man arrives in Malta. At first it may seem that because of the violent storm and shipwreck, Paul arrived by chance to this land. In faith we know, however, that it was the Lord who sent him here, as messenger: “We are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were urging you through us” (2 Cor 5:20). Your Maltese forefathers welcomed Paul and all those shipwrecked with the warmth of the fire and their generous hospitality: “The inhabitants treated us with unusual kindness” (Acts 28:2), writes Luke, the author of Acts. To this day, this rara humanitas shown by the Maltese remains one of the characteristics of your noble nation. The Apostle remained in Malta three months. But that time was decisive because it forever marked the subsequent history of Malta: Nineteen centuries and a half which have witnessed different experiences, not excluding storms and times of trial. Despites these you have remained faithful to Paul’s teaching and to Christ. However, today we are faced with another test, afflicted as we all are, by storms of materialism and moral degradation. Indeed, the Church in Malta is not immune to these modern storms, for the transmission of faith and moral values does not take place automatically and is not to be taken for granted. For this reason Pope Benedict the Sixteenth observes in Spe Salvi: “Incremental progress is possible only in the material, [scientific and technical] sphere[s]… Yet in the field of ethical awareness and moral decision-making, there is no similar possibility of accumulation for the simple reason that man's freedom is always new and he must always make his decisions anew… Freedom presupposes that in fundamental decisions, every person and every generation is a new beginning” (n.24). Dear Christians of Malta, you are rightly proud of your history and the faith of your ancestors. Continue living this faith, bearing witness to your children. For this you need to keep your gaze upon the Lord through personal and communitarian prayer, the liturgy, and by listening to the Word of God and meditating upon it. You must be united to Christ, welcoming him in your life, affirming together with Saint Paul that “Jesus is Lord” (Rom 10:9), not only in theory, but in practice through your deeds. You are Christians, heirs of Saint Paul and heirs of a glorious tradition. You love Christ and his Church. Remain always full of zeal, participating actively in the Church’s life. The Archdiocese of Malta has celebrated a diocesan synod: accept with generous responsibility the directives and the pastoral instructions of the synod. The greater you are in communion with Christ and his Church, the greater you will feel missionaries like Saint Paul. Pope John Paul the Second, who came to your beloved Malta twice, urged you saying: Europe needs Malta’s witness, your human values, your “rara humanitas”, your Christian faith. As President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, I encourage you in the various pastoral initiatives you have taken in support of the family, especially through the Diocesan Family Commission, the Cana Movement and through Caritas Malta. I have seen, among other things, that you have a solid preparation for Marriage. I hope that this preparation will take place throughout the entire period that precedes the married life, as a journey of faith, with the support of married couples. The aim is not only theoretical, but most of all it is practical: it is a preparation concerning the various aspects of Christian life and marriage. It also promotes the insertion of the future spouses into a network of friendly relationships among families. Indeed, I have been informed that in addition to the pre-marriage course, you are seeking to implement a suitable programme for young married couples. Allow me to suggest here the promotion of family encounters, both within the parish or at home; periodic encounters directed by married couples, based on prayer and the Word of God, reflection and friendship, sharing and moments of leisure. In the Gospel today, we heard Peter’s marvellous profession of faith: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). For his part, Saint Paul concurs with Peter, issuing a moving declaration of his faith in Christ: “There is only one God, the Father… and one Lord, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 8:6); “… all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and… every tongue proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11). Dear brethren, be worthy children of your father in faith; be worthy sons and daughters of “Paul of Malta”, Pawlu ta’ Malta, as one of your poets once declared him. Keep the fire of your faith and love always burning; a fire more luminous and warmer than the “rara humanitas” which your ancestors lit upon the arrival of Paul and his shipwrecked companions. Amen. St. John's Co-Cathedral parvis where Mass was celerated. H.E. Cardinal Ennio Antonelli after being presented with a gift from Mgr. Paul Cremona, Archbishop of Malta.
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