Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to our apostolic island was a humble yet a triumphant manifestation of the truthfulness of Jesus Christ’s voice. Old age and foundless accusations against the Holy Father could not besmirch the authority which the Son of God bestowed on him, as his Vicar on earth from the day of his election.
In listening to the German Pontiff’s speeches, one cannot but praise God for his faithful presence and remarkable aid he is incessantly giving to this courageous Pope. “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28, 20). One of the most eloquent realities which Pope Ratzinger stressed on during his speeches was precisely the fact that we cannot live a flourishing human life without a relationship with God and his Church.
“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”.
Why trusting Jesus and abiding by his word will give us life in abundance (see Jn 10, 10)? Because it was he who promised us so. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3, 16). Heeding to Jesus’ voice is tantamount to knowing Him and the Father intimately. Since what the Father has belongs to the Son (see Jn 16, 15), and, consequently, the Son and the Father are one, those who appertain to Jesus are, ipso facto, protected by the Father from any rapacious wolfish voices intended to devour them. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (Jn 10, 27-30).
It is intriguing that Jesus likens his followers with the sheep. The latter necessarily need a shepherd who guides them. Otherwise they easily go astray and get lost (see Ps 119, 176). Pope Benedict XVI is very much aware of this. In fact, in his homily at the Floriana’s Granaries Square , he exhorted us: “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).
One of the immense gifts that God gave us Maltese, through Pope Benedict’s visit, is to recover the habit of listening anew to the voice of Jesus. The American Quaker ecumenist, Douglas Van Steere wrote: “Holy listening – to ‘listen’ another’s soul into life, into a condition of disclosure and discovery may be the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another”. The Holy Father illustrated that listening ad intra, i.e. interiorly to Jesus’ heart, naturally leads the believer to the ad extra listening implications of such holy listening. For us priests, this means that “our love for the Lord… 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”. On the other hand, for all Maltese Christians, listening to the true and only voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, suggests “manifest[ing] God’s all-inclusive love [by] seek[ing] out the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized; … hav[ing] a special care for those who are in distress, those suffering from depression or anxiety; car[ing] for the disabled, … promot[ing] their dignity and quality of life; … be[ing] attentive to the needs of immigrants and asylum seekers in our midst; … extend[ing] the hand of friendship to members of all faiths and none. That is the noble vocation of love and service that we have all received. Let it inspire you to dedicate your lives to following Christ”.
Jesus says to Pilate: “Every one who is of the truth hears my voice” (Jn 18, 37). For this Pope Benedict came to Malta, precisely “to bear witness to the truth” Jn 18, 37), Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (Jn 14, 6). Blessed are we Maltese, who openly receive and let ourselves be changed by Jesus’ life-giving words as spoken to us by means of his Servant of the Servants of God, Pope Benedict XVI.
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
San Gwann