In a joint pastoral letter on the occasion of the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady (being celebrated on Wednesday), the Archbishop, Mgr Paul Cremona, OP, and the Bishop of Gozo, Mgr Mario Grech, urge the faithful not to forget the other dimension of life - eternal life.
This is the full text of the pastoral letter:
One question that is asked by man down the ages is about what kind of future awaits him. It is a question asked by many parents worried about their children; by students who will soon return to school; by young people looking for work; by engaged couples planning to get married; by pensioners who have retired from work; by sick persons seeking medical treatment; by those who experience a marriage breakdown and would like to turn over a new leaf. All these are cause for concern. However, apart from material anxieties, man also asks questions about the true purpose of life and about the experience of death, and what lies in store after death!
At the same time, we are living in a culture which tries to make us forget that there is life after death. Some people appear to be concerned solely about the present without thinking about tomorrow; others are more interested in life here and now, than in eternal life.
One is not surprised that among the ailments facing our society today, one finds a lack of those ethical certainties that normally serve as a sure guide for the sectors of work and culture, for scientific research and the therapeutic application of its discoveries, for the lifestyle adopted by citizens and families, as well as for political and legislative choices.
One is not surprised that we have a mentality whereby we do not feel obliged to explain our actions to anyone! For if we live our life as if God did not exist, as if we kill God, everything becomes licit. Is not God the source of truth and of good? If we do not believe that someday we have to appear before God and explain our actions, what will help us to be responsible to ourselves and to others?
True meaning of our life
Faced with this reality, the feast of the Assumption throws plenty of light on the true meaning of our life and the true future of humanity. For with her assumption into heaven Mary took part in Christ's triumph over death and is living forever.
Here we have an example of the power of Christ's Resurrection, which is a historical fact, witnessed by the Apostles (Acts 2.22-32). The fact that Christ rose from the dead does not mean that He returned to the type of life we are accustomed to in this world; but with His resurrection He entered a totally new and different life: eternal life in the embrace of the Father. With Him, He also took in all the family of man: "as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, we too might live a new life" (Rom. 6.4).
Mary is the first witness of the Resurrection of her Son and the first among men and women who, after Christ, entered into the glory of heaven. Accordingly, Vatican Council II invites us to look up to Mary: "The Mother of Jesus in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God" (Lumen Gentium, 68).
"This hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Rom. 5.5). The basis of this Christian hope is the endless love that appeared in the Easter mystery of Jesus Christ. Because he loves us, Jesus gave himself up to the Father and for us. Because he loves him, the Father raised him from the dead.
And as St Paul says to the Church in Corinth: "Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep... Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will obtain life in Christ (cfr. 1 Cor 15.20-22). For this reason, we bishops encourage you to know better the Risen Christ, who is the core of the evangelical message, because with his resurrection he is proposing to us eternal life in the glory of heaven.
In the light of all this, we feel that it is urgent and crucial that the ecclesial community in our country rediscovers and proposes to today's weak society the other dimension of life in this world that we often forget: eternal life. If in the recent past there were those who started thinking that the teaching about "the Last Things" was no longer applicable and did not make any sense, today this truth of our faith as we profess it in the Creed is one of the signs of the times because it offers at one and the same time a challenge and an answer to man and society, confused as they are about the future. St George Preca used to speak often about the "Last Things". And we often hear today the accusation that we priests rarely mention anything about this in our preaching.
A purpose in life
This future shown to us by God concerns not only what awaits us after death, when we meet God face to face, but also offers us a purpose for our life today. Indeed, Christian hope is not an alienation or escape from the commitment of everyday life. If we interpret things this way, we would be embracing a heresy.
"The Church teaches," says the Vatican Council, "that hope in life to come does not take away from the importance of the duties of this life on earth but rather adds to it by giving new motives for fulfilling those duties. When, on the other hand, man is left without the divine support and without hope of eternal life, his dignity is deeply wounded... and the problems of life and death, of guilt and of suffering, remain unsolved, so that men are not rarely cast into despair (Gaudium et Spes, 21).
If we are not walking towards eternity from today, we are new pagans! Because whoever does not believe in eternal life would not have in him the desire to be united to God to enjoy His wonderful countenance; would not have enough strength and light to fight against sin and evil. As a consequence of this, he would have a clouded vision regarding what makes human life a beautiful and full experience: about what is man, the value of life, the importance of relationships in the family and the community, the quality of relations between the social partners, education and the transmission of values, concern for those in need, civic sense, and respect for legality.
Indeed, if one knows that one has to appear before God, would one lie, steal or kill? If, in married life, before one betrays one's spouse and family, and one recognises that infidelity is a sin with its eternal consequences, would one commit such a betrayal? If we are convinced that we belong to God and that others too belong to Him, would not we think twice before we commit something which causes scandal?
If you know that one day you will hear God saying to you, "I was hungry and you did not feed me... I was a stranger and you did not welcome me... I was naked and you did not clothe me... I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me", would you not be more careful in your dealings with your neighbour? If I know that I have to answer to God for my irresponsible actions, would I not be more careful to respect that which forms part of the common good, such as the country's material resources and its cultural and environmental heritage?
A presence which offers a new life
We bishops hope that the feast of Mary's Assumption into Heaven will spur us as a Church in Malta and Gozo so that the words of the Creed, where we state that we believe in "the resurrection of the body and life everlasting", are not just proclaimed but lived out; so that we are truly a sacrament of the Resurrection and therefore a presence in our country which offers new life.
Therefore, we call on the people of God so that while continuing to reflect more deeply on the Resurrection of Christ, it builds itself up into Christian communities which, in the words of St Ignatius of Antioch, distinguish themselves as those who "have acquired a new hope" and live as sons and daughters of Sunday (dies dominicam viventes) in view of the fact that on Sunday the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Christ!
We would like to have communities, particularly those in the parishes, which hold ever more dear the Sunday Eucharist. We also wish to see a genuine and collective effort so that the liturgy is truly a celebration that is understood and bears fruit. In this way, as Christians, we would get the fullest benefit from the Eucharistic sacrifice, through which the sacrifice of the Cross continues to be renewed until his coming (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 47).
Convinced that our faith regarding life after death can give a higher meaning to the experience of our brethren, of families and of society, we encourage you to speak about them when preaching, during catechism classes, when evangelising and between us. If we live like this, it is not only the Church that grows, but we will leave a positive result on our society in these islands. Think about what you can give to civil society if you adhere to the Commandments and if you are driven by the word and quality of life proposed by Jesus!
Many of us have never disowned the truth about Resurrection and Eternal Life, but chose to put it aside and to avoid thinking about it. However, when we are facing death or the death of someone dear to us, we start thinking and speaking about heaven. Why not start to reflect and speak today on what you know you will start thinking about in those circumstances?
In this way, the Assumption of Mary into heaven, which we celebrate with so much love in our islands, will also mean a change in our lives and in the life of the Church.