Gianluca Bezzina’s impressive performance in the last Eurovision Song Contest is undisputed. The recently graduated doctor and part-time singer left an indelible impression on many people. Some may have been captivated by his disarming smile, others by his charm and simplicity.
I can well understand PBS chief executive officer’s comment, Anton Attard, when he rightly said: “The performance is very simple really. We’re banking on Gianluca’s charm and charisma to win them over”.
Personally, while admitting that I too was truly captivated by Gianluca’s talented charm and charisma, I must also admit that I was won over by his powerful ardent witness of the Christian faith he subscribes to. Gianluca made me realise that there is no separation between the world of faith and that of entertainment. On the contrary, he helped me understand that God not only has a place in the world of entertainment but a prominent one indeed! Gianluca evangelized the entire Maltese nation, not to mention the other non-Maltese people in Sweden, by his life-giving witness to Jesus Christ.
Some days ago, I had the pleasure of watching the interesting documentary on You Tube that ‘Xarabank’ had filmed concerning Gianluca’s extremely positive experience in Malmö. On Thursday evening, while sitting on the coach on their way to the hotel Gianluca grabbed the microphone and after cheering with the Maltese delegation that Malta has made it to the Saturday finals he prayed this following moving prayer: “In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Heavenly Father, I really want to praise you for your greatness. For all the good you did to us. I know that we do lack the necessary words to praise you. I thank you for everything you have provided us thanks to this experience. I want to give you thanks for the new relationships that you have given us. Thank you for making us meet. Thank you for allowing us to work as one family as well as for your faithful companionship throughout this experience. I thank you because you are a perfect Father. In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Such a prayer speaks untold volumes! It comes from a person who regards God as his friend and life companion. As I searched for more information about this special artist, I discovered that he attends the Youth Fellowship.
For him, the hub of his Christian vocation is found in Nehemiah’s words: “The joy of the Lord is my strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10). While acknowledging that life is very challenging, Gianluca believes that the surest path to freedom and joy comes from a God whose nature is infinite joy and communion, which he continually offers to us.
Moreover, I realised how the Church, the community of believers, is built up, rejuvenated and strengthened by these new God-inspired movements like the one Gianluca attends. Gianluca’s extraordinary witness amply shows that ecclesial movements and new communities contain within themselves a precious evangelizing potential that is urgently needed by the Church today. It would really be a great pity if their richness has not yet been fully recognized or valued. In his speech to the members of the ecclesial movements and new communities at the vigil of Pentecost in 1998, Blessed John Paul II said: “Often, in today's world, which is dominated by a secular culture that proposes models of life without God, the faith of many is greatly tested and often suffocated and put out. Therefore there is an urgent need for a strong testimony and a Christian formation that is solid and deep. What a great need there is today for mature Christian personalities who are aware of their baptismal identity, of their call and mission in the Church and in the world! What great there is of living Christian communities! This is where the ecclesial movements and new communities appear: they are the answer which has been raised up by the Holy Spirit to this dramatic challenge at the end of the millennium. You are this providential answer!”
Can I now be won over by Gianluca’s faith?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
SAN GWANN