The Catholic Charismatic Conference of this year centred upon Christ’s invitation to Simon: “Put out into the deep” (Lk 5,4) or its Latin equivalent Duc in altum! This fascinating yet challenging invitation is all the more important in a time where the Church in Malta is struggling to show the saving power of the Gospel. Yes, the Gospel has the power to save our society, to illumine those who are walking in the darkness, to encourage the disheartened and to safeguard and empower those who still believe in its relevance.
The key issue remains: How are we going to render visible Jesus Christ? In what manner can Jesus be felt in our nation? Much has been done in the area of structural and pastoral planning in the Church. Yet, unless the Spirit is given His importance in pastoral preparations and initiatives, pastoral care becomes “a soulless propaganda” destined to fail few hours before its inception. It is the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, whom Christ sent to his disciples, both on the cross as well as on the Day of Pentecost, who is the sure roadmap the Church needs to follow.
On an ecclesial level, Duc in altum means resorting back the spirit of communion. One of the marvelous gifts of the Holy Spirit is peace (Gal 5, 22). Obviously the peace that Paul is speaking about needs to be seen within the broader ecclesial community. The Apostle of the Gentiles was preoccupied that in his communities there was dissension among Christ’s believers. His preoccupation is spelled out in his first letter to the Corinthians: “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Cor 1,10). Thus, Duc in altum means being one, as Christ and the Father are one. And it is when we are one that the world will believe in Jesus.
Unity is not an easy task to accomplish. We know that divisions have slowly and maliciously crept into movements, prayer groups, village festas ect. They are really a plague in the Maltese and Gozitan Churches. Nevertheless, we are not exempted to work for that ecclesial communion, which has the Trinity as its exemplar. For communion to be experienced in the Church it is not enough to hear moving and beautiful speeches. Surely this year’s conference was not lacking in this. Rather, we need concrete and tangible steps which pave the way for that communion, so much desired by Christ on the eve of his passion. For communion to take place we need to learn to go that extra mile which the Gospel demands, without compromising our principles. In a certain sense we need to endorse what Paul writes to the Corinthians: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor 9, 22).
Talents on their own do very little to unite the body of Christ. In Pope John Paul’s view, what keeps, and increases, communion in the Church is “the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity, … [the] ability to think of our brothers and sisters in faith within the profound unity of the Mystical body, … [the] ability to see what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God, … [and] to know how to “make room” for our brothers and sisters, bearing “each other’s burdens” (Gal 6,2) and resisting the selfish temptations which constantly beset us and provoke competition, careerism, distrust and jealousy” (Novo Millenio Ineunte, 43).
It is my heartfelt prayer that this vision would not merely be the one cherished by the Church on the Maltese Islands but also put into practice by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal itself. May the Lord uses this movement to cultivate the spirit of communion within its own ranks and then to humbly propagate it in the Church.
Fr Mario Attard
OFM Cap