For the second year, our Province has organized a Franciscan visit in Malta, this time at the Luqa Parish. This took place between the 21st and the 25th of August and 37 missionaries; 17 Friars Minor, 1 Poor Clare, 12 Franciscan Sisters and 7 lay people participated and made this visit possible.

On Wednesday 21st, the Parish Priest Fr. Gordon Refalo celebrated mass and welcomed us Franciscans in his Parish. During the mass he blessed us and gave each of us a TAU Cross; in this way this visit had officially started.

Between Thursday and Saturday we visited families in their homes, had daily morning / evening prayer and mass which included catechizes. We also had Lectio Divina in 15 different families, meetings in political and band clubs, and there were also various times in which Friars were hearing confessions at the Parish Church and at the Ħal Farruġ Chapel. It was very encouraging to see that the response was very good, the parisioners did accept our invitation.

This visit was organised in collaboration with the Poor Clares, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and various lay. The Poor Clares were united with us in prayer, however they also sent one of their cloistered nuns, Sr. Claire Agnes to give a testimony during the closing mass on Sunday. The Franciscan Sisters and the lay participated throughout all the program.

I can say that it was a beautiful and profound experience not only for the parishioners, but also for all of us who participated; a great opportunity to experience a close fraternal collaboration with the Franciscan Family. It was nice to live this experience together, to share experiences during lunch, which was prepared for us by helpers in the Parish, and also to serve together.

The visit was welcomed and appreciated by the Parish Priest and the clergy, and also by the people; this was felt during the closing celebration which took place on Sunday 25th August, where mass was celebrated by our Minister Provincial. During the closing mass all participants gave back the TAU Cross to the Parish Priest as a sign that our mission there had come to an end. Our Provincial also presented the Parish Priest a statue of our founder St. Francis of Assisi.

On Teusday, all participants gathered as one family at the Franciscan Friary in Rabat for an evaluation meeting and a dinner to mark the closure of the second Franciscan Visit. We had among us the Parish Priest and Clergy from Luqa Parish, and we were also honoured by the presence of two Franciscan Bishops from our Province, Mgr. Joseph Bonello OFM, currently serving in Honduras and Mgr. Silvester Magro OFM, currently serving in Libya.

Our 4 day mission at Luqa has finished, however we will keep each and every intention we met there in our prayers. I thank God for this moment of grace, the Parish Priest, Clergy, the Parishioners for welcoming us and accepted our invitation, and all the participants for their generous collaboration with our province. God bless everyone!

Ramon Farrugia OFM