FUNERAL OF GRAND MASTER FESTING - THE CARDINAL'S HOMILY
Homily preached by Silvio Cardinal Tomasi C.S. at the Funeral Mass and entombment on Friday 3rd December 2021 in the Conventual Church of Saint John of Jerusalem, now the Co-cathedral in Valletta, of Robert Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 11 March 2008 to 28 January 2017.
Mr. President, Your Excellency, Lieutenant of Grand Master Fra’ Marco, Excellencies, dear members of Fra’ Matthew’s family, dear confreres, dear friends.
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to our Holy Father Francis who asked me to personally preside over this celebration in his name, and I add my personal greetings and thanks: to the President of the Republic of Malta, George William Vella; and to Archbishop Scicluna for having allowed this celebration and the entombment of Grand Master Festing in the Crypt of the Grand Masters of this glorious cathedral basilica dedicated to our patron saint, Saint John the Baptist.
As a faith Community we are gathered in this beautiful and historical cathedral to say farewell and commend to God the Bailiff Grand Prior, Knight of Justice and former Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and former Grand Prior of England, Fra’ Matthew Festing. A person of deep Christian convictions, Fra’ Matthew was aware and proud that in his mother’s English recusant family line is included Blessed Sir Adrian Fortescue, Knight of Malta, martyred in 1539. Through the choice of becoming a Knight of Justice, Fra’ Matthew dedicated his life to the mission of the Order, a mission that has remained constant through the centuries: Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum, the defence of the Faith and service to the Poor. History doesn’t stay still but it constantly moves forward. Indeed today’s battles are fought by the Order not with the sword but with the more effective weapon of charity toward the Poor and the Sick. The Order is therefore engaged with its Professed, its Members in Obedience, its large number of Knights, its volunteers and Dames, in the vast field of the world in promoting justice, creating peaceful coexistence, aiming at realizing the dream Pope Francis has often placed before our eyes that we are all brothers and sisters, a fundamental message of the Gospel.
Fra’ Matthew Festing, 79th Prince and Grand Master of our Sovereign Military Order of Malta, had been elected in March 2008 and retired in full obedience and with great humility and discretion in 2017.
Fra’ Matthew had as one of his priorities to promote more vocations as Knights of Justice and Providence called him to eternal life when he came to Malta where a solemn profession was celebrated after many years of interruption.
This circumstance sends us a message at this moment when the reform of the life of the Order is underway, and will lead us to an updated Constitution and a Melitensis Code. It is a message that calls us to root ourselves in the religious identity of the Order and to pray that the Lord may send generous vocations to continue the mission of the Order in fidelity to the inspiration of Blessed Gerard, who formed a new religious family of lay religious in the Hospital in Jerusalem for pilgrims, sick people and people without resources, about one thousand years ago.
Fra' Matthew through his obedience and prayer life leaves us a legacy that strengthens the Order and invites us to follow the same path.
The fruitful cooperation of the various categories of persons who together carry on the original charism of the Order is a strong witness of the united spirit and action that moves us on. As we look around this Island, there is plenty of evidence of its Christian tradition, beginning with the refuge provided to the Apostle Paul after his shipwreck. Storms and conflicts have not disappeared and they mark the course of our existence. There is no surprise in this, but mutual love and respect has always to prevail.
Fra’ Matthew contributed his part in pursuing this dream by encouraging the Order around the world.
If the whole Church takes up this missionary impulse, She has to go forth to everyone without exception. But to whom should She go first? When we read the Gospel we find a clear indication: not so much to our friends and wealthy neighbours, but above all the Poor and the Sick, those who are usually despised and overlooked, “those who cannot repay you” (Lk 14:14). There can be no room for doubt or for explanations which weaken so clear a message. Today and always, “the Poor are the privileged recipients of the Gospel”, and the fact that it is freely preached to them is a sign of the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish. We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our Faith and the Poor. May we never abandon them.
After nine centuries, the mission of the Order continues to inspire and to advance on the main road of the Church, faithful to her teaching, and to all those who like Fra’ Matthew – and may he rest in peace - tried without fear of their own limits to implement the Gospels’ message. Amen.
Requiescat in pace
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| Cardinal Tomasi imparts his blessing to the Conventus after Mass. |