Aboard the papal plane, Apr 18, 2010 / 08:10 am
Speaking to journalists aboard the flight to Malta on Saturday afternoon, Pope Benedict offered insight into his reasons for choosing to travel to the Mediterranean island. He also sent a message of hope to the Church, saying that "shipwrecks" can provide a new start in life and that the wounds of the Church can be healed through the Gospel.
The Holy Father offered an instructional catechesis while listing the essential reasons for his visit to Malta.
The 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul's shipwreck, he said, provided an occasion to throw "light on the important figure of the Apostle to the Gentiles and his message." This message, the Pope added, can be seen in its essence in St. Paul's words to the Galatians:"Faith expressed in charity."
"Faith," he highlighted, is "the relationship with God which then transforms itself into charity" and continues to have importance for us today. Recalling the gift of faith in Malta which resulted from St. Paul's shipwreck, Pope Benedict said that we can also see that "the shipwrecks of life can be part of God's project for us, and can be useful for a new beginning to our lives."