A transfigurative pilgrimage

As the media announced, Archbishop Paul Cremona led the pilgrimage of 168 people to the Holy Land between March 30 and April 7. The humility of our Archbishop, the professional, spiritual and organisational qualities of the four Franciscan guides - Fr Twanny Chircop, Fr Marcello Ghirlando, Fr Ġwann Abela and Fr Noel Muscat - as well as the collaborative attitude of us pilgrims, made this special pilgrimage an outstanding experience.

In visiting the Holy Land, I came to realise the immense work that my Franciscan confreres together with other religious institutes are carrying out in the land of Jesus.

The Catholic Church has been involved in helping out the inhabitants of the Holy Land educationally, spiritually, socially and financially. Through the Franciscan Order and other institutes of consecrated life the Church has been serving the poor and the cause of peace.

Since the early days of their mission, the Franciscans not only got back the custody of the majority of the holy places but also continued to develop their evangelisation mission by means of ongoing archaeological and biblical studies, particularly by the founding of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. We are really blessed that in Malta, thanks to the Holy Land Commission of the Franciscan Minors, we have this wonderful opportunity to visit the places related to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

The moving homilies of Archbishop Cremona, the spiritual fervour and comprehensive commentaries on the holy sites delivered by the four mentioned friars together with the touching moments of prayer made of this pilgrimage an evolving transfiguration experience.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, St Paul writes: "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Cor 3, 18). This pilgrimage has been for me an unveiling, a beholding and a transforming experience in, with and through the Resurrected Christ.

While being thankful to God for his unfailing love for us Maltese, let us pray and generously support the Holy Land Commission of the Franciscan Minors so that they keep burning "the same spirit of faith" (2 Cor 4, 13) which the apostles and those who succeeded them, ignited, preserved and faithfully handed over to us, as Christ's disciples.