MALTA - A Pilgrimage Experience

St. Paul's Island, Malta - The sight of the shipwreck of the vessel carrying the imprisoned St. Paul to Rome

In reviewing the outline of my Roman sabbatical program, the pilgrimage to Malta intrigued me on two levels.  First, I questioned how this fit the theme of the sabbatical module on evangelization and second, I wondered, what there really was to do in Malta. My questions were more then answered in these five days. 
So much so that I find it hard to write a summary blog on the experience. So I frame this post in this simple definition of a pilgrimage.  

pilgrimage - a spiritual journey to a sacred place.  It is undertaken with spiritual goals and objectives in mind.

I therefore went to Malta with a desire to understand how the experience of St. Paul in this archipelago nation, might in some way assist me in serving the church on another island, 4543 miles away.  I did not come away with a definitive answer to that question, rather I deepened my understanding of St. Paul and I came to know how a particular people has lived the Christian mystery for the last two thousand years.

Fr. Scott Brodeur, SJ of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome,
 the scriptural guide to our Malta pilgrimage

For a base understanding of the scriptural context of our pilgrimage, I direct you to the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 27 and 28 for a recounting of the experience of St. Paul's shipwreck in the islands of Malta. We were blessed to have Fr. Scott Brodeur, SJ as our the director of our scriptural journey. Fr. Brodeur spoke his scholarly expertise of St. Paul in a language we could understand and he enabled us to learn as adults do, through an experiential encounter with people and places.  Not only did he give us the benefit of his research, but he prayerfully guided us into an experience of St. Paul that I have never had before.  He made me want to know St. Paul. And more importantly, he made me want to be an effective witness of Christ, as was St. Paul.  The opportunity to go to the place of these chapters of sacred scripture touched me in a way I had not known since a brief visit to the Holy Land 20 years ago. Right here, in the places where I stood, one man, for a mere three months, brought Jesus Christ, through accident, to an isolated island nation. In all the planning I do, its the accidental occurrences that seem to bear the most fruit.  What accidental encounters in my life has Christ given to me?  

After the celebration of Mass at the church 
dedicated to the shipwreck of St. Paul

The unexpected part of the pilgrimage was the encounter with the history and people of Malta.  It is not possible, nor prudent in a blog format, for me to share all that we learned of the 5,000 year old history of Malta.  From prehistoric, to the earliest recordings of history, to the middle ages, on to the second world war and finally to the present day, this small nation has a history characterized by the presence (both hostile and friendly) of a multitude of cultures and traditions. Amazingly they do not bear the scars of their trials but instead have made hospitality and the incorporation of the identity of their guests into their own corporate culture.  Without any effort, one can observe in the people of Malta today, the various threads of influence, Arabic, French, Italian, English and the prehistoric temple people. What struck me most however was their authentic fidelity to these words for the Acts of the Apostles.

A grotto in the place where St. Paul was kept imprisoned
during his time in Malta

The natives showed us extraordinary hospitality; they lit a fire and welcomed all of us because it had begun to rain and was cold.        Acts 28:2

Tourism is the number one industry of the country, they are very good at

Our guide, Christina taught us so much about
the past and present of Malta

hospitality. Remarking on the amount of German tourists he observed, one priest asked our tour guide, how the Maltese people got along so well with the Germans, who mercilessly bombed them throughout World War 2.  Our guide responded simply by saying that they would never survive if they tried to keep out everyone who was hostile to them.  I believe that St. Paul was an effective evangelist in Malta because it was the nature of the people to welcome that which they did not know. Paul effectively cultivated an encounter with Jesus, because of the hospitality and openness of the people. As we seek to grow our faith, how willing are we to accept the outsider?  Do we welcome the stranger as Christ?  Accidents and openness are keys to the sharing of faith today.  How can we allow the accidents of our lives and the strangers in our midst to assist us in the encounter of Christ with our world today?

Paul had Luke, we had each other.
Who was better off?

The account of St. Paul's time in Malta is told to us through Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. How strengthened St. Paul must have been, by the authentic presence of true friends during this trying journey.  The pilgrimage to Malta was not a singular experience but one of accompaniment with brother priests, some of whom I met only days before the journey. The blessings of pilgrimage occur not in isolation but in the community that we build. I am very grateful to have spent these days with my brothers. In the journey through life, who is walking with you, helping you in both the joys and the sorrows?

I am grateful for the unexpected blessings of this pilgrimage and the encounter it provided me with St. Paul, the people of Malta and my brother priests. And I guess that too is an unspoken part of the definition of pilgrimage.  We go with objectives in mind, but God has so much more in mind for us.

A blessed way to end the pilgrimage, a visit with my friend, 

Father Anthony Refalo, who served in St. Mary's, Manhasett, 

during my pastoral year and diaconate ministry. 

I concelebrated mass with him at his church, 

visited his town on the island of Gozo, 

met his mother and brother, 

and enjoyed a meal at his nephew's restaurant.