We focus on the apostolic journey to Malta and Holy Week. On Holy Saturday, during the Easter Vigil, Francis invited us to "raise our eyes", because suffering and death have been embraced by Christ and now he is risen. Looking at his glorious wounds, we hear at the same time the Easter advertisement which we need so much: "Peace be with you".

Taking stock of his apostolic journey to Malta (postponed for two years because of Covid), the Pope said on Wednesday 6 April that Malta is a privileged place, a "compass rose", a place core topic, for several reasons.

First, because of its status in the middle of the Mediterranean (which receives and processes many cultures), and because it received the Gospel very early on, through the mouth of Saint Paul, whom the Maltese welcomed "with uncommon humanity" (Acts 28:2), words that Francis chose as the motto for his journey. And this is important in order to save humanity from a shipwreck that threatens us all, because - the Pope said, implicitly evoking his message during the pandemic - "we are in the same boat" (cf. moment of prayer in the empty place of St. Peter's on 27-III-2020). And that is why we need, he says now, for the world to become "more fraternal, more livable". Malta represents this horizon and this hope. It represents "the right and the strength of the small, of the small nations, but rich in history and civilisation, which should carry forward another logic: that of respect and freedom, that of respect and also the logic of freedom".

Secondly, Malta is core topic because of the phenomenon of migration: "Every immigrant ," the Pope said that day, "is a person with his dignity, his roots, his culture. Each one of them is the bearer of a richness infinitely greater than the problems involved. And let us not forget that Europe was made through migration.

Certainly, the reception of migrants - Francis observes - must be planned, organised and governed in time, without waiting for emergency situations. "Because the phenomenon of migration cannot be reduced to an emergency, it is a sign of our times. And as such it must be read and interpreted. It can become a sign of conflict or a sign of peace. And Malta is, therefore, "a laboratory of peace": the Maltese people have received, together with the Gospel, "the sap of fraternity, compassion, solidarity [...] and thanks to the Gospel it will be able to keep them alive".

Thirdly, Malta is a place core topic also from the point of view of evangelisation. Because its two dioceses, Malta and Gozo, have produced many priests and religious, as well as lay faithful, who have brought Christian witness to the whole world. Francis exclaims: "As if the passage of St Paul had left mission statement in the DNA of the Maltese! This is why this visit was intended above all as an act of recognition and thanksgiving. 

We have, in short, three elements to situate this "compass rose": its special "humanity", its crossroads for immigrants and its involvement in evangelisation. However, even in Malta, says Francis, the winds of "secularism and a pseudo-globalised culture based on consumerism, neo-capitalism and relativism" are blowing. This is why he went to the Grotto of St Paul and the national shrine of Ta' Pinu: to ask the Apostle of the Gentiles and Our Lady for renewed strength, which always comes from the Holy Spirit, for the new evangelisation. 

In fact, in St Paul's Basilica, Francis prayed to God the Father: "Help us to recognise from afar the needs of those who struggle amidst the waves of the sea, battered against the rocks of an unknown shore. Grant that our compassion may not be exhausted in vain words, but that it may kindle the fire of welcome, which makes us forget the bad weather, warms hearts and unites them; the fire of the house built on rock, of the one family of your children, sisters and brothers all" (visit to the Grotto of St. Paul, 3 April 2022). And in this way the unity and fraternity that come from faith will be shown to all in deeds. 

At the shrine of Ta'Pinu (island of Gozo) the Pope pointed out that, at the Cross, where Jesus dies and all seems to be lost, at the same time a new life is born: the life that comes with the time of the Church. To return to that beginning means rediscovering the essentials of faith. And that essential is the joy of evangelising. 

Francis does not beat about the bush, but places himself in the reality of what is happening: "The crisis of faith, the apathy of the believing internship especially in the post-pandemic period and the indifference of so many young people to the presence of God are not issues that we should 'sugarcoat', thinking that after all a certain religious spirit is still holding out, no. It is necessary to be vigilant so that religious practices are not reduced to the repetition of a repertoire of the past, but express a living, open faith, which spreads the joy of the Gospel, because the joy of the Church is to evangelise" (meeting de oración, homilía2-IV-2022).

Returning to the beginning of the Church at the cross of Christ also means welcoming (again, an allusion to immigrants): "You are a small island, but with a big heart. You are a treasure in the Church and for the Church. I say it again: you are a treasure in the Church and for the Church. To take care of it, it is necessary to return to the essence of Christianity: to the love of God, the motor of our joy, which makes us go out and travel the roads of the world; and to the welcoming of our neighbour, which is our simplest and most beautiful testimony on earth, and thus to continue moving forward, travelling the roads of the world, because the joy of the Church is to evangelise".

On Sunday 3 April, Francis celebrated Mass in Floriana (on the outskirts of Valletta, the capital of Malta). In his homily, he took his cue from the Gospel of the day, which recalls the episode of the adulterous woman (cf. Jn 8:2 ff). In the woman's accusers, one can see a religiosity eaten away by hypocrisy and the bad habit of pointing fingers. 

We too, the Pope observed, can have the name of Jesus on our lips, but deny it in deeds. And he enunciated a very clear criterion: "He who thinks he defends the faith by pointing the finger at others may even have a religious vision, but he does not embrace the spirit of the Gospel, because he forgets mercy, which is the heart of God" .

Those accusers, explains Peter's successor, "are the portrait of those believers of all times, who make of faith an element of façade, where what is emphasised is the solemn exterior, but the interior poverty, which is man's most valuable treasure, is lacking". That is why Jesus wants us to ask ourselves: "What do you want me to change in my heart, in my life, how do you want me to see others?

In Jesus' treatment of the adulteress -mercy and misery met -, the Pope points out, "we learn that any remark, if it is not motivated by charity and does not contain charity, will ultimately destroy the recipient". God, on the other hand, always leaves open a possibility and knows how to find ways of liberation and salvation in every circumstance.

For God there is no one who is "irrecoverable", because he always forgives. Moreover - Francis takes up here one of his favourite arguments - "God visit uses our inner wounds", because he did not come for the healthy but for the sick (cf. Mt 9 , 12).

That is why we must learn from Jesus in the school of the Gospel: "If we imitate him, we will not focus on denouncing sins, but on going out in love in search of sinners. We will not look at those who are there, but we will go in search of those who are missing. We will no longer point fingers, but begin to listen. We will not discard the despised, but will look first to those who are considered last".

Francis' preaching during Holy Week began by contrasting the eagerness to save oneself (cf. Lk 23, 35; Ibid., 37 and 39) with the attitude of Jesus who seeks nothing for himself, but only implores the Father's forgiveness. " Nailed to the scaffold of humiliation, he increases the intensity of the gift, which becomes a per-donation" (Homily on Palm Sunday, 10-IV-2022). 

Indeed, in the structure of this word, forgiveness, one can see that to forgive is more than giving, it is to give in the most perfect way, to give by involving oneself, to give completely.

No one has ever loved us, each and every one of us, as Jesus loves us. On the cross, He lives out the most difficult of His commandments: love of enemies. He does not do as we do, licking our wounds and grudges. Moreover, he asked for forgiveness, "because they know not what they do". "Because they do not know", Francis stressed and pointed out: "That ignorance of the heart that all sinners have. When you use violence, you know nothing of God, who is Father, nor of others, who are brothers". So it is: when you reject love, you do not know the truth. And an example of all this, the Pope concludes, is war: "In war we crucify Christ anew".

In Jesus' words to the good thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Lk 23:43), we see "the miracle of God's forgiveness, which transforms the last request of a man condemned to death into the first canonisation in history" .

Thus we see that holiness is achieved by asking for forgiveness and forgiving, and that "with God it is always possible to live again". " God never tires of forgiving", the Pope repeated several times these days, also in relation to the service that priests must render to the faithful (cf. Homily at the Mass in Cœna Domini, in the new Prison Complex of Civitavecchia, 14-IV-2022).

In his homily during the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday, 16 April 2022), Francis looked at the Gospel account of the resurrection advertisement to the women (cf. Lk 41, 1-10). He underlined three verbs. 

First of all, "see". They saw the stone rolled away and when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord. Their first reaction was fear, not looking up from the ground. Something like that, the Pope observes, happens to us: "Too often, we look at life and reality without lifting our eyes from the ground; we only focus on the today that is passing, we feel disillusioned about the future and we shut ourselves up in our needs, we settle in the prison of apathy, while we continue to lament and think that things will never change. And so we bury the joy of living. 

Then, "listen", bearing in mind that the Lord "is not here". Perhaps we look for him "in our words, in our formulas and in our customs, but we forget to look for him in the darkest corners of life, where there is someone who cries, who struggles, suffers and waits". We must look up and open ourselves to hope. 

Let us listen: "Why do you seek the living among the dead? We must not seek God, Francis interprets, among dead things: in our lack of courage to allow ourselves to be forgiven by God, to change and put an end to the works of evil, to decide for Jesus and for his love; in reducing faith to an amulet, "making God a beautiful memory of times past, instead of discovering him as the living God who today wants to transform us and the world"; in "a Christianity that seeks the Lord among the vestiges of the past and locks him in the tomb of custom". 

And finally, "to proclaim". The women proclaim the joy of the Resurrection: "The light of the Resurrection does not want to keep women in the ecstasy of joy staff, it does not tolerate sedentary attitudes, but generates missionary disciples who 'return from the tomb' and bring the Gospel of the Risen One to all. After having seen and heard, the women ran to announce the joy of the Resurrection to the disciples", even though they knew they would be taken for fools. But they were not concerned about their reputation or defending their image; they did not measure their feelings or calculate their words. They only had the fire in their hearts to bring the news, the advertisement: "The Lord is risen!

Hence proposal for us: "Let us bring it to ordinary life: with gestures of peace in this time marked by the horrors of war; with works of reconciliation in broken relationships and compassion towards those in need; with actions of justice in the midst of inequalities and of truth in the midst of lies. And, above all, with works of love and fraternity".

At the general audience on 13 April, the Pope had explained what the peace of Christ consists of, and he did so in the context of the current war in Ukraine. The peace of Christ is not a peace of agreements, and even less an armed peace. The peace that Christ gives us (cf. Jn 20, 19.21) is the peace that he won on the cross with the gift of himself.

The Pope's Easter message, "at the end of a Lent that does not seem to want to end" (between the end of the pandemic and the war) has to do with the peace that Jesus brings us by carrying "our wounds". Ours because we have inflicted them on Him and because He bears them for us. " The wounds on the Body of the Risen Jesus are the sign of the struggle that He has fought and won for us, with the weapons of love, so that we can have peace, be at peace, live in peace" (Blessing urbi et orbi Resurrection Sunday, 17 April 2022).