Praying in the name of Jesus Christ

And Jesus said: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the tiny eye of a needle than for a wealthy man to enter the gates of heaven. For if you want to follow me, give away everything you posses and follow me.” Jesus was a man who gave rise to big controversy but who also championed an ideology that is based purely on the values of compassion, tolerance and, most of all, love.

Jesus is celebrated by the Church as the main founder of the Christian faith but does the Church really practise what Jesus preached? I stress that Jesus’s message was based on love, compassion and tolerance, feelings which, if practised by everyone, can truly create heaven on earth. His message was not about money and materialism.

So where did the Church go wrong?

Preaching to help the poor and the needy is the easy part. The hard part is actually acting to help the needy and improve the life of others. That is what Jesus’s words truly meant.

Although Jesus was not considered a politician, his adversaries feared his policies. Although he was not a freedom fighter, his actions were condemned and described as highly harmful by those in power. Above all, he was not a fake but those who despised him, dubbed him as a blasphemer and determinedly put him to death.

People have always feared what they do not understand. Manipulation has always been part of the game for power. Say one word and mean another. Make a lot of noise in one corner so in another you can commit as many sins as you want. This is not Jesus’s way of thinking but it is the reasoning of evil.

The authorities speak of morals, compassion, solidarity and come up with all the beautiful adjectives a grammar guru might think of. But how many times have we had the pleasure of seeing those heart-warming words being put into practice? Very little, I hasten to say. In fact, it is so little we hardly ever notice a change for the better in our lives.

If Jesus would suddenly re-appear among us, He would most probably be “crucified” once again although, this time, in a figurative type of way. This will most probably be done by the so-called “seasoned Christians” under the pretext of Him (Jesus) being just a charlatan claiming to be God, a know-it-all, a regular guy who wants to defy a system that has been shaped over hundreds of years. Those who are really “followers of Jesus”, meaning those practising his word are at sure odds with the so-called “Christian dogmatists”, the ones who follow our Church because they believe it is the same one.

To back my argument I would like to mention the word “Nazarene”.

This word was actually used as a title by which Jesus and his followers were referred to during his times. The word “Christian” came into play long after Jesus was crucified. In fact, it was “Roman” emperor Constantine who acknowledged Christianity as a religion. That is why our religion is known as “Roman” Catholic. Jesus would have never named his religion that way knowing full well what kind of people the Romans were and what they did to him. So who is telling the truth?

When it is convenient, the ecclesiastic authorities of Malta use the name of Jesus in their messages so that they might have an edge over the activist believer. A clear case in point is the debate on divorce. The Church’s agenda on this issue is clear. Use God and the name of Jesus as much as you can to achieve the desired goal, one which reads clearly: say no to divorce.

What the Church forgets to mention is that, in the past, both God and Jesus’s name have been exhaustedly used intentionally by the same Church to tamper with much-needed social changes in Malta. Some examples come to mind: preventing 18-year-olds from voting, the vote for women, not to vote for Labour and to justify the burial of Labour sympathisers in a non-consecrated part of the cemetery.

The present time is again one of those moments. If Jesus were among us He would not consent such crusades in His name or that of His Father. For all He ever wanted was for people to love one another, help one another and have compassion with one another. He never imposed mortal sin on anybody but actually absolved those who had committed such sin. He never preached for one man to take up arms against another but He taught us to forgive and be tolerant to one another.

Sadly, history has showed us that so many wars were started in the name of Jesus and so many innocent people were slaughtered in the name of God. The scariest part of all is that today, in 2011, this is still going on.

Going daily to church or reading the bible isn’t going to save anybody from eternal torment. Only by practising the true word of Jesus will people be saved.