Pope Benedict in Malta - Discourse 3 Homily Mass at Granaries Square, Floriana
(18 Apr 10 - RV) Below we publish the full test of Pope Benedict XVI's homily and
Regina Caeli address at Granaries Square, Floriana: Dear Brothers and Sisters
in Jesus Christ, Maħbubin uliedi, I am very glad to be here with all of you
today before the beautiful church of Saint Publius to celebrate the great mystery
of God’s love made manifest in the Holy Eucharist. At this time, the joy of the Easter
season fills our hearts because we are celebrating Christ’s victory, the victory of
life over sin and death. It is a joy which transforms our lives and fills us with
hope in the fulfilment of God’s promises. Christ is risen, alleluia! I greet
the President of the Republic and Mrs Abela, the civil authorities of this beloved
Nation, and all the people of Malta and Gozo. I thank Archbishop Cremona for his
gracious words, and I also greet Bishop Grech and Bishop Depasquale, Archbishop Mercieca,
Bishop Cauchi and the other bishops and priests present, as well as all the Christian
faithful of the Church in Malta and Gozo. Since my arrival yesterday evening I have
experienced the same kind of warm welcome which your ancestors gave the Apostle Paul
in the year sixty. Many travellers have disembarked here in the course of your
history. The richness and variety of Maltese culture is a sign that your people have
profited greatly from the exchange of gifts and hospitality with seafaring visitors.
And it is a sign that you have known how to exercise discernment in drawing upon the
best of what they had to offer. I urge you to continue to do so. Not everything
that today’s world proposes is worthy of acceptance by the people of Malta. Many
voices try to persuade us to put aside our faith in God and his Church, and to choose
for ourselves the values and beliefs by which to live. They tell us we have no need
of God or the Church. If we are tempted to believe them, we should recall the incident
in today’s Gospel, when the disciples, all of them experienced fishermen, toiled all
night but failed to catch a single fish. Then, when Jesus appeared on the shore,
he directed them to a catch so great that they could scarcely haul it in. Left to
themselves, their efforts were fruitless; when Jesus stood alongside them, they netted
a huge quantity of fish. My dear brothers and sisters, if we place our trust in the
Lord and follow his teachings, we will always reap immense rewards. Our first reading
at Mass today is one that I know you love to hear, the account of Paul’s shipwreck
on the coast of Malta, and his warm reception by the people of these islands. Notice
how the crew of the ship, in order to survive, were forced to throw overboard the
cargo, the ship’s tackle, even the wheat which was their only sustenance. Paul urged
them to place their trust in God alone, while the ship was tossed to and fro upon
the waves. We too must place our trust in him alone. It is tempting to think that
today’s advanced technology can answer all our needs and save us from all the perils
and dangers that beset us. But it is not so. At every moment of our lives we depend
entirely on God, in whom we live and move and have our being. Only he can protect
us from harm, only he can guide us through the storms of life, only he can bring us
to a safe haven, as he did for Paul and his companions adrift off the coast of Malta.
They did as Paul urged them to do, and so it was “that they all escaped safely to
the land” (Acts 27:44). More than any of the cargo we might carry with
us – in terms of our human accomplishments, our possessions, our technology – it is
our relationship with the Lord that provides the key to our happiness and our human
fulfilment. And he calls us to a relationship of love. Notice the question that
he put three times to Peter on the shore of the lake: “Simon, son of John, do you
love me?” On the basis of Peter’s affirmative response, Jesus assigns him a task
– the task of feeding his flock. Here we see the basis of all pastoral ministry in
the Church. It is our love for the Lord that must inform every aspect of our preaching
and teaching, our celebration of the sacraments, and our care for the people of God.
It is our love for the Lord that moves us to love those whom he loves, and to accept
gladly the task of communicating his love to those we serve. During our Lord’s Passion,
Peter denied him three times. Now, after the Resurrection, Jesus invites him three
times to avow his love, in this way offering him healing and forgiveness and at the
same time entrusting him with his mission. The miraculous catch of fish underlined
the apostles’ dependence on God for the success of their earthly projects. The dialogue
between Peter and Jesus underlined the need for divine mercy in order to heal their
spiritual wounds, the wounds of sin. In every area of our lives we need the help
of God’s grace. With him, we can do all things: without him we can do nothing. We
know from Saint Mark’s Gospel the signs that accompany those who put their faith in
Jesus: they will pick up serpents and be unharmed, they will lay their hands on the
sick, who will recover (cf. Mk 16:18). These signs were immediately recognized
by your forebears when Paul came among them. A viper attached itself to his hand,
but he simply shook it off into the fire, and suffered no harm. He was taken to see
the father of Publius, the protos of the island, and after praying and laying
hands on him, Paul healed him of his fever. Of all the gifts brought to these shores
in the course of your people’s history, the gift brought by Paul was the greatest
of all, and it is much to your credit that it was immediately accepted and treasured.
Għożżu l-fidi u l-valuri li takom l-Appostlu Missierkom San Pawl. Continue to explore
the richness and depth of Paul’s gift to you and be sure to hand it on not only to
your children, but to all those you encounter today. No visitor to Malta could fail
to be impressed by the devotion of your people, the vibrant faith manifested in your
feast-day celebrations, the beauty of your churches and shrines. But that gift needs
to be shared with others, it needs to be articulated. As Moses taught the people
of Israel, the words of the Lord “shall be upon your heart, and you shall teach them
diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and
when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise” (Deut 6:6-7).
This was well understood by Malta’s first canonized Saint, Dun Ġorġ Preca. His tireless
work of catechesis, inspiring young and old with a love for Christian doctrine and
a deep devotion to the Incarnate Word of God, set an example that I urge you to maintain.
Remember that the exchange of goods between these islands and the world outside is
a two-way process. What you receive, evaluate with care, and what you have that is
of value, be sure to share with others. I would like to address a particular
word to the priests present here, in this year devoted to a celebration of the great
gift of the priesthood. Dun Ġorġ was a priest of remarkable humility, goodness, meekness
and generosity, deeply devoted to prayer and with a passion for communicating the
truths of the Gospel. Let him serve as a model and an inspiration for you, as you
strive to fulfil the mission you have received to feed the Lord’s flock. Remember,
too, the question that the Risen Lord put three times to Peter: “Do you love me?”
That is the question he asks each of you. Do you love him? Do you wish to serve him
through the gift of your whole lives? Do you long to bring others to know and love
him? With Peter, have the courage to answer, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” and
accept with grateful hearts the beautiful task that he has assigned you. The mission
entrusted to priests is truly a service to joy, to God’s joy which longs to break
into the world (cf. Homily, 24 April 2005). As I look around me now at
the great crowds gathered here in Floriana for our celebration of the Eucharist, I
am reminded of the scene described in our second reading today, in which myriads of
myriads and thousands of thousands united their voices in one great song of praise:
“To the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb, be all praise, honour, glory
and power, for ever and ever” (Rev 5:13). Continue to sing that song,
in praise of the risen Lord and in thanksgiving for his manifold gifts. In the words
of Saint Paul, Apostle of Malta, I conclude my words to you this morning: “L-imħabba
tiegħi tkun magħkom ilkoll fi Kristu Ġesù” (1 Cor 16:24). Ikun imfaħħar
Ġesù Kristu!