At the news conference during which Mgr Charles J. Scicluna was officially announced as Malta's new Archbishop, he said: "I am called to give my life for the flock. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is my example who said he gives his life for the flock".
His words reminded me of a powerful speech Pope Francis made on 18 September last year. On that occasion, the Holy Father received in audience the bishops who had been appointed the previous year.
After saying how delighted he was to meet them, Pope Francis told them that they were "the fruit of the arduous work and tireless prayer of the Church who, when she chooses her pastors, recalls that entire night the Lord spent on the mount, in the presence of the Father, before naming those He wanted to stay with him and to go forth into the world".
The Pope exhorted his brother bishops that now that their initial fears and excitement had been conquered, they should never take their great episcopal ministry lightly. On the contrary, they must keep marvelling themselves at God's plan for his Church sustained by His loving and caring presence. The Pope made them all the more aware of "the inseparable bond between the stable presence of the bishop and the growth of the flock". The Holy Father said: "When the pastor is missing or unavailable, pastoral care and the salvation of souls is at risk. In fact, in the pastors Christ gives to the Church, He shows His love for His bride and gives His life for her".
The Pontiff added: "We do not need superficially happy bishops; it is necessary to dig deeper to discover what the Spirit continues to inspire in your bride. You are not fixed-term bishops, who always need to change address, like medicines that lose their power to cure, or like those foodstuffs that have to be thrown away because they have lost their usefulness. It is important not to block the curative force that springs from within the gift you have received, and this defends you from the temptation to come and go aimlessly, because no wind is favourable to he who does not know where he is going. And we have learned where we are going: we are always going towards Jesus...
"In this way, your watch over your flock will never fail to encounter the flame of the Risen Christ."
The Holy Father encouraged the bishops "not to fall prey to the temptation to change the people". Instead, "love the people that God has given you, even when they have committed grave sins, without tiring of turning to the Lord for forgiveness and a new beginning, even at the cost of having to cancel your false images of the divine face or the fantasies you have nurtured on how to ensure their communion with God".
The Holy Father said that the Church should "welcome ... all without discrimination, offering the firmness of the authority that enables growth and the gentleness of paternity that generates. Do not fall prey to the temptation to sacrifice your freedom by surrounding yourself with courts, networks or choirs of assent, as the Church and the world always have the right to hear from the lips of bishops the Gospel that sets them free".
Pope Francis exhorted the bishops to call for Moses' patience in leading his people, because "nothing is more important than introducing people to God!" The young and the elderly should be at the top of their pastoral agenda. "Because the first are our wings and the second are our roots, without which we do not know what we are, much less where we are going".
Bishops are sentinels, able to inflame their Churches with God's Spirit. Men who cultivate and ripen God's fields. Pastors who guarantee unity. "Do not waste energy in conflict and disagreement, but rather use it to build and to love".
I humbly pray that these reflections can be of help to our new Archbishop. May God bless you Your Grace with his fruitfulness, patience and humility! We pray for you!
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap
Paola