Pope in Malta: No-one is irretrievable for God

Mass in Granaries square Floriana, in front of authorities and 20 thousand faithful. Faced with wars, such as the "sacrilegious" one in Ukraine, the invitation to become "tireless witnesses of reconciliation". He looked at refugees, the sick and the last of the world. The admonition to young people that they must spend themselves "in love" and safeguard "their roots, grandparents and the elderly". The visit to the Grotto of St Paul and the meeting with migrants. 

Valletta (AsiaNews) - In the face of conflicts, wars ravaging the earth not least the one in Ukraine, at the gates of Europe, which he calls "sacrilegious" it is essential to become "tireless witnesses of reconciliation" because "for God no one is irretrievable." Pope Francis affirmed this today at Mass on the fifth Sunday of Lent, celebrated from the forecourt of the Granaries of Floriana, the city that lies beyond Valletta's city walls and Malta's largest open-air site, during his two-day apostolic journey to the island.

Commenting on the Gospel passage dedicated to the adulterous woman, the pontiff exhorts to go in search of sinners to bring them back to the heart of God, because this is what Jesus teaches with his example. An unconditional love, which makes the misery (of the woman) meet the mercy (of God), reminding us that we all need to be healed of our inner wounds and to turn to others with the gaze of Christ. 

The Pope's Sunday is in the footsteps of St Paul in Malta. He is the third pontiff on the island after St John Paul II (in 1990 and 2001) and Benedict XVI in 2010 in a two-day apostolic journey that was "brief but intense". A day with his gaze turned to migrants, the sick, drug addicts, the victims of war, the last of the world who suffer the "anachronistic pretensions" of some "powerful" sadly "locked up" as he said yesterday on his arrival.

The pontiff celebrated Mass in the presence of about 20,000 faithful and representatives of the Christian Churches and other religious denominations, after arriving aboard the popemobile and greeting the crowd present, as well as the authorities and leaders of the local Church including the Archbishop of Malta, Mgr. Charles Jude Scicluna. In his brief message to the Pope, the prelate recalled the "rare humanity" with which the Maltese welcomed St. Paul and the 275 people shipwrecked with him. The visit, he added, should be an occasion to arouse "in our hearts that flame of charity and that 'rare humanity' that are the fruit of the Spirit of the Lord."

In his homily, the pope extolled "God's holy people, who here in Malta are numerous and lively," linked to a "concrete faith." In the accusers of the adulteress, he sees "the image of those who boast of being righteous, observant of God's law, good and decent people." They do not recognize Jesus and see him "as an enemy to be eliminated", pervaded by the "worm of hypocrisy" and the "habit of pointing the finger". In reality, "those who believe they are defending the faith by pointing the finger at others - he affirms - may have a religious vision, but they do not espouse the spirit of the Gospel, because they forget mercy, which is the heart of God".

The episode of the adulteress and her accusers shows how many make faith "a façade, where what stands out is the solemn exterior, but lacks inner poverty, which is man's most precious treasure". However, when "we open our hearts in truth, he can perform wonders in us" because God "always leaves a possibility open and knows how to find ways of liberation and salvation every time [...] The life of that woman changes thanks to forgiveness. There is no sin or failure that, brought to Him, cannot become an opportunity to begin a new, different life, under the sign of mercy. This is the Lord Jesus. He is truly known by those who experience his forgiveness." 

In the Angelus, the pontiff then addressed young people, reminding them of the beauty of Jesus and inviting them "to spend themselves in love, which sets us free" without forgetting "the roots" which are "the grandparents, the elderly" with whom we must speak to keep memory alive. In conclusion to the Marian prayer, Pope Francis renewed his invitation to pray for peace and "for the humanitarian tragedy" that is unfolding in Ukraine, a victim of the offensive launched by Russia, a "martyred" land in which a war that he continues to define as "sacrilegious" is underway. 

In the early morning today, the Pope visited St Paul's Grotto in Rabat, just outside the walls of Medina, where the apostle stayed following the shipwreck, after a brief private meeting with members of the Society of Jesus. He was welcomed by a festive atmosphere in the grotto where, according to tradition, the Apostle of the Gentiles lived during the three months he spent on the island after the shipwreck of the boat that was taking him to Rome, an event evoked by a reproduction of a ship on which a candle is burning.

In the Pauline Basilica, the Pontiff addressed a prayer and lit a votive lamp, also addressing a prayer to the saint, then signed the Book of Honor and greeted the 14 religious leaders present. Recalling the story of St. Paul on the island and the spirit of its inhabitants, "good-hearted pagan people," the pontiff stressed that "there was no time for discussions, judgments, analyses and calculations; it was time to render aid; they left their occupations and so they did." This was followed by the meeting inside the basilica with the sick and needy helped by the local Caritas (which coordinates the activities of 26 welfare organizations), some of whom were hosted in the "House of Pope Francis" in Santa Venera.

Finally, the last event of the pope's trip to the land of Malta is scheduled in the afternoon and is also related to the theme of hospitality, when he will meet two hundred migrants in the small theater of the Peace Lab dedicated to St. John XXIII, in Hal Far. Founded in 1971 by Franciscan Father Dionysus Mintoff, the facility now houses 55 people among the latest migrants, the rejected and undocumented, coming in particular from African nations such as Mali, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea and Senegal.