Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 289

That same word, the word of the Gospel, still has the power to break into

our lives and to change their course. Today the same Gospel which Paul

preached continues to summon the people of these islands to conversion,

new life and a future of hope. Standing in your midst as the Successor of

the Apostle Peter, I invite you to hear God's word afresh, as your ancestors

did, and to let it challenge your ways of thinking and the way you live your

lives.

From this holy place where the apostolic preaching first spread through-

out these islands, I call upon each of you to take up the exciting challenge of

the new evangelization. Live out your faith ever more fully with the members

of your families, with your friends, in your neighbourhoods, in the workplace

and in the whole fabric of Maltese society. In a particular way I urge parents,

teachers and catechists to speak of your own living encounter with the Risen

Jesus to others, especially the young people who are Malta's future. "Faith is

strengthened when it is given to others!".3 Believe that your moments of faith

assure an encounter with God, who in his mighty power touches human

hearts. In this way, you will introduce the young to the beauty and richness

of the Catholic faith, and offer them a sound catechesis, inviting them to ever

more active participation in the sacramental life of the Church.

The world needs this witness! In the face of so many threats to the

sacredness of human life, and to the dignity of marriage and the family, do

not our contemporaries need to be constantly reminded of the grandeur of

our dignity as God's children and the sublime vocation we have received in

Christ? Does not society need to reappropriate and defend those fundamental

moral truths which remain the foundation of authentic freedom and genuine

progress?

Just now, as I stood before this Grotto, I reflected on the great spiritual

gift 4 which Paul gave to Malta, and I prayed that you might keep unblem-

ished the heritage bequeathed to you by the great Apostle. May the Lord

confirm you and your families in the faith which works through love,5 and

make you joyful witnesses to the hope which never disappoints.6 Christ is

risen! He is truly risen! Alleluia!

3 Cfr. Redemptoris Missio, 2. 4 Cfr. Rom 1:11. 5 Cfr. Gal 5:6. 6 Cfr. Rom 5:5.