At the last assembly of the Archdiocese of Malta, another phase of reflection on the theme ‘One Church, One Journey’, promulgated by Archbishop Charles Scicluna in 2020, was initiated. “A Church that welcomes” invites all people of goodwill to ponder an ethos of hospitality in today’s Malta. Those gathered were presented three stories and exchanged their reflections in dialogue.
The first story, told by a social worker, was of the many women who find respite at Dar Hosea from their daily life of exploitation and abuse. The home welcomes any woman, no questions asked, to a warm meal, clean bed, hot bath or to some quiet time in a space that offers safety and dignity. Hospitality in this context evokes the stories of the many who are exhausted, near-dead, but who miraculously reach our shores and knock from the peripheries seeking a safe haven.
The second story was told by a man, who lived in religious life, but after periods of spiritual searching, chose to follow a desire to enter in a committed relationship with another man and raise a family. The challenge he posed was why he was ostracised and his relationship not blessed in the community that had been so central to his life. The story evoked the hurt of the many baptised who feel shunned by the Church: those in “irregular” relationships or who, for one reason or another, feel betrayed, were abused or are rejected.
The third story was of Jesus himself, tested by the Jews, who presented to him an adulteress that the law demanded to be stoned. Jesus questions neither the law, nor the guilt of the woman, but tells those present that the one with no sin should throw the first stone. As all withdrew, Jesus, the only one sinless, addressed the woman directly: “No one condemned you? …Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, from now on, do not sin again” (Jn 8:10-11). Jesus, who does not condemn, reveals the heart of hospitality: not only accepting the other, but encouraging them, building them up, to become the best they can be.
Notwithstanding their seeming differences, the three stories converge around one truth: hospitality promises new life in body and soul, but ultimately in community, without which no person can feel whole. Hospitality is a gesture that in healing, reconciles bringing back all shattered pieces together.
“Church that welcomes” is the only true Church: one, holy, universal and across all ages as the human communion par excellence born of Christ who reconciles all creation to himself. The “one baptism” is the symbol of this communion. But baptism is not only in water, but in Spirit; not only willed, but offered, as it is the Father who desires and chooses his own for all time. When the “Church” fails to welcome, when in the “Church” we fail to feel welcomed; when the word “Church” itself connotes “them” instead of “all-of-us”, those who have promised to live the Gospel contradict the hope of salvation.
When the “Church” fails to welcome, when in the “Church” we fail to feel welcomed; when the word “Church” itself connotes “them” instead of “all-of-us”, those who have promised to live the Gospel contradict the hope of salvation
Advent is the time of expectation, of hoping for the Messiah who is to come. As Scicluna concluded: may gestures of welcome – of mutual listening, empathy, dialogue in search for truth – commit us to a common journey towards reconciliation in Malta.
nadia.delicata@maltadiocese.org