Look what a shipwreck can do
Pope Benedict has been in Malta over the weekend, and gave his usual compelling addresses at the events scheduled there. But it’s interesting to note what he said in brief remarks to journalists traveling with him. He focused on the role St. Paul played in bringing Christianity to Malta, and emphasized the shipwreck that brought him there.
Considering the historical truth of that, and the fact that Malta is celebrating the anniversary of Paul’s arrival 1950 years ago, the remarks were entirely within context. The Vatican Information Service link is broken at the moment, but here’s what they issued:
“I think we can summarise the essential point in words he [St. Paul] himself used at the end of the Letter to the Galatians: ‘Faith expressed in charity’.
“Faith, the relationship with God which then transforms itself into charity, is still important today. But I also think that the memory of the shipwreck says something to us. For Malta, the opportunity to have the faith was born with the shipwreck. Thus we too can see how the shipwrecks of life can be part of God’s project for us, and be useful for a new beginning to our lives.
Like, today, for instance.
“Faith, the relationship with God which then transforms itself into charity, is still important today. But I also think that the memory of the shipwreck says something to us. For Malta, the opportunity to have the faith was born with the shipwreck. Thus we too can see how the shipwrecks of life can be part of God’s project for us, and be useful for a new beginning to our lives.
What a timely message.
