Pope and bishops focus on eternity

The Pope and the bishops of Malta and Gozo spoke on the same subject last Sunday. The occasions were different - a pastoral letter read in churches in the case of the bishops; the Angelus message in the case of the Pope. The message was the same: the eternal direction of humanity.

Pope Benedict XVI reminded his audience that Christians should keep their focus on eternal life, rather than becoming preoccupied with material goods. He said that a prudent Christian "remains alert and watchful, so that he will be ready to welcome Jesus when He comes in all his glory." Every believer should be mindful of the "last things: death, judgment, eternity, hell and heaven."

The bishops proposed the same message. Present life takes its full meaning in the light of eternity. Humanity is not "walking" forward aimlessly. Its inheritance is eternal life and if we meditate on the "last things" we will give a new and enhanced dimension to our earthly existence.

This is the first Santa Marija pastoral letter of Archbishop Paul Cremona and Bishop Mario Grech. They touched a very important topic. Our culture emphasises the present without giving importance to the inner and more lasting dimension of our humanity. By emphasising the present moment at the expense of the future we lose track of what makes our human life really worth living: the eternal dimension.

Belief in the afterlife is relevant to our life now. The Bishops explain why:

"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?"

Christian living is not some kind of alienation. On the contrary, it is an immersion of earthly 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 bishops expressed their message in a pastoral letter. This has advantages and disadvantages from a communicative point of view. The message is read to a very large audience, i.e. those attending Sunday Mass. As a result the message depends a lot on the way it is read. A good reader will enhance it while a bad reader will kill it.

Such a mass audience presents a number of problems. Attention spans are short and the level of interest and intelligence of different members of the congregations varies greatly. The pastoral letter cannot be too long as otherwise people drift away; it cannot be too short as otherwise the message cannot be adequately explained. So on and so forth.

We believe that the message communicated in last Sunday's pastoral letter was a bit elevated and even difficult in parts, since many words and terms were beyond the average audience. The use of quotations makes sense in a text which is meant to be read. But when quotations are used in a text that will be read out, then they have to be presented differently.

Quite naturally, a pastoral letter has limited value if left on its own. It should be followed up in subsequent homilies and in other means and ways to make an impact.

The bishops themselves ask for such a follow-up.

"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!"

We hope that the bishops' appeal will be heeded.