'We must cherish the gift of faith'

Joe Xuereb

Feb 12th, 00:49

Now then, let's have a brain-storm. Please make allowances; I'm only an old geezer in his dotage and it is rather late in the day (my disco-dancing Sat. nights are long gone thank god).


In their panic they are bending over backwards suggesting that the Church/Religion must change in order to survive/be relevant. Impossible. Bad choice of words, there Father. Change and strength are mutually enhancing in the world of the living but not, I'm afraid, in the spiritual domain. Any Religion can not change unless it is prepared to lose its credibility, its gravitas. And then what?!

Some are happy as things are. But they would feel higher than a lark if the sanctioning of divorce were not in the Constitution. Still, the human spirit is resilient and welcomes 'periods of adjustment' un po` alla volta(little by little, as in one mincing step in front of one arthritic).

People defend their Faith because of a primeval need, the need to live forever. Christianity meets this need so they are hanging on in there. Cannot blame them.

I know what I am talking about because I was there. Then one day I went horse riding. The horse was an alien thoroughbred not used to our ways. It threw me. I saw the light.

Belief was distorting my existence something terrible. At the end of the stick were two places. One was Hell. The other Heaven. I decided that Hell was here, hell was other people. Hell was fire - an accidental discovery millions of years ago by lightning I believe. And hell is other people we all know about that too. So, two tangibles. Heaven, on the other hand is a bit vague at least. I'm sorry but a deity who stands for humility but does everything to be adored and flattered forever and a day does not sound very humble to me. Indeed, I would suggest that people who hanker after everlasting life - and often behave like they are going to live forever, to their detriment and those around them - could try a bit of humility and live their life as a finite thing, a beginning and an end with the period in between to be savoured and endured. Because that is what life is. A wonderful but in the end, a humiliating experience. No wonder they invented religion! And if proof were needed.....this is it. Man's fear of annihilation and finality. He is prepared to sell his soul to have his way. Paradoxical, or what?!

Some here are fond of quoting the Constitution this, the Constitution that. Including one's right to worship whatever. Hold the horses' reins, it's going to scupper something terrible. I am thinking of course of a blog by one of the Maltese Church's stalwarts, but one whose aspirations are infinitely higher. On the 9th of May 2009 he wrote:


http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090509/blogs/should-there-be-more-mosques-in-malta.256177


Now, if I were so taken up by Malta's spiritual tradition this would really set me worrying. After all, and from what I understand, the alien religion is already making inroads - through marriage? but not only - into Maltese society. Now then, if only I believed in prayer!

Francis Saliba M.D.

Feb 11th, 11:49

@ A Magri. (10 Feb at 22:08)

No doubt about it! You lack the guts to make a straightforward false accusation that I consider myself superior. You know that that is not true. That is why you hide behind a malicious question falsely implying that lie.

If you understand plain English you should understand that in my comment I stated clearly that I consider myself a sinner like everybody else, that I pray for myself and others and would be grateful if others did the same for me. That excludes the feeling of superiority you maliciously attribute to me.

It is not I that conceitedly believe that I am superior to anybody else. That accusation should be levelled at those who believe that they are so perfect that they do not need anybody’s prayers and who object that anyone should dare to pray for them.

Wally Vella-Zarb, please note.

Francis Saliba M.D.

Feb 11th, 11:48

@ A Magri. (10 Feb at 22:08)

No doubt about it! You lack the guts to make a straightforward false accusation that I consider myself superior. You know that that is not true. That is why you hide behind a malicious question falsely implying that lie.

If you understand plain English you should understand that in my comment I stated clearly that I consider myself a sinner like everybody else, that I pray for myself and others and would be grateful if others did the same for me. That excludes the feeling of superiority you maliciously attribute to me.

It is not I that conceitedly believe that I am superior to anybody else. That accusation should be levelled at those who believe that they are so perfect that they do not need anybody’s prayers and who object that anyone should dare to pray for them.

Wally Vella-Zarb, please note.

Mr Emanuel Farrugia

Feb 11th, 07:09

The importance of Faith

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).

Theology is structured as an understanding of faith in the light of a twofold methodological principle: the auditus fidei and the intellectus fidei. With the first, theology makes its own the content of Revelation as this has been gradually expounded in Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Church's living Magisterium. With the second, theology seeks to respond through speculative enquiry to the specific demands of disciplined thought.

The word of God reveals the final destiny of men and women and provides a unifying explanation of all that they do in the world. This is why it invites philosophy to engage in the search for the natural foundation of this meaning, which corresponds to the religious impulse innate in every person. A philosophy denying the possibility of an ultimate and overarching meaning would be not only ill-adapted to its task, but false.
The word of God refers constantly to things which transcend human experience and even human thought; but this “mystery” could not be revealed, nor could theology render it in some way intelligible, were human knowledge limited strictly to the world of sense experience. Metaphysics thus plays an essential role of mediation in theological research. A theology without a metaphysical horizon could not move beyond an analysis of religious experience, nor would it allow the intellectus fidei to give a coherent account of the universal and transcendent value of revealed truth.

The importance of metaphysics becomes still more evident if we consider current developments in hermeneutics and the analysis of language. The results of such studies can be very helpful for the understanding of faith, since they bring to light the structure of our thought and speech and the meaning which language bears.


Emanuel Farrugia [TARXIEN] former student Faculty of Theology UOM

Matt Done

Feb 11th, 02:49

Can anybody give me a valid reason as to why blind faith should be considered virtuous?

As far as I'm concerned, maintaining dogged faith in something without any justifiable reason for doing so is not an intelligent position, and certainly is not virtuous.

And how exactly do you 'update' a religion?

Saviour Cachia

Feb 11th, 00:07

@Andy Farrugia
Bear with me for the last lines: ta, ta. You are as die-hard as I am, but with different hue of colour. We can continue discussing up to eternity, but no one of us will admit the whole scenario of Malta's political history. Certainly it did not started in 1981, and besides progressive I have the courage to call a spade a spade, but you (without any offence) seemed to have been stuck back in time and look too pious to admit otherwise. For me majority is supreme, and it really hit you hard that in Catholic Malta, the electorate went all out for divorce. If Gonzi did not like it, he had to lump it, as he has to lump Franco Debono for the rest of the legislature to gain breathe and try a 'miraculous' comeback and the Gonzi PN will retain power. Hope you know the meaning of 'miraculous", though we are familiar with sinister ways PN built up the electoral strategy. Take care of your faith and conscious, and i take care of my principles.

Peter Shaw

Feb 10th, 22:31

The Bible:you would take a two thousand year old collection of ramblings written by desert wandering peasants, as fact despite the evidence that almost all of it is both immoral and impossible? The christian god is the most evil character ever invented in fiction. And if such a god is our creator than I refuse to spend my eternity with such a tyrant.

robert laiviera

Feb 10th, 22:04

"Ah, the Maltese, so ready to venerate a statue... yet so reluctant to respect thy neighbour."
They are so right: http://www.teandrain.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-will-follow-you-i-will-follow-you-my.html !

Seems like we've still a long way to go.

Zagroma Savrene

Feb 10th, 21:20

"The gift of faith" lololol...how is faith a gift? Anyone can have faith in something. Some prefer to put their faith in material backed with coherent proof...some prefer to put their faith in an almighty being backed with literature stories.

Gerry Cowie

Feb 10th, 21:16

Not sure, Wally, what this has to do with the flag - that is the one which quite rightly has the George Cross on it.

Saviour Cachia

Feb 10th, 20:13

@Mr. Andy Farrugia,
By your definition of democracy, Malta should have better joined the Third World countries rather than the European Union. Who was the Maltese political party who stressed that Malta was burning because the Labour Pary won the General Elections in 1981 according to the rules of the Constitution? Majority is supreme, stressed this party and gives it the right to govern. This was confirmed by the changes made in the same Constitution in 1987. So how can that the concept that majority is democracy is supreme is dangerous and smacks of totalitarianism. All that is enacted in Parliament is approved by a majority (even a minimal of one seat) and it is in case of amendments to the Constitutions that 2/3 vote of support is needed.
So how can you call that all this smacks of totalitarianism? Your way of arguing baffles me completely, though I respect it because you have all freedom of expression. But do not judge others. And keep your mind at rest, I do not have time in life to turn to be a politician. I feel a senior citizen who political history in Malta taught me a lot and always was on the progressive side and the laws of the game.

Saviour Cachia

Feb 10th, 19:10

% Andy Farrugia
Do mean that all the MPs that voted against divorce were right, because they respected what their conscience said. What about those who voted in favour. Are not these MP's Catholics too or at least let me give you some room and say Christians? The pro-conscience MPs and the pro-civil rights MPs are not they all Maltese? The conscience dictates to all that the supreme will of the people should be respected.
And I wonder with all your saintly conscious you did not mind calling my argument ridicilous or gibberish. Was this taught to you by the Roman Catholic Church. Or are you still living in the mentality of the sixties, when all us who supported Duminiku Mintoff had a long tail attached to our back,and saw other labour mps or supporters interdicted, buried in 'mizbla', subjected to all venom by catholic priests etc...were these doing such things as dictated by their conscience?
i maintain conscience and politics do no mix, especially if you are a politician. If you are a priest or religious person, it is up to you, and even any other voters have the right to choose whether he/she goes by his/her conscience or political beliefs. But politicians are in a different position. I expounded my argument, Mr. Vella, without calling you ridiculous or gibberish.

Saviour Cachia

Feb 10th, 18:16

@ Francis Saliba M.D.
I am not manipulating facts or truth. The thing is that in both cases, European Union accession and Divorce, both referendums were not binding, but nobody can deny the fact that the will of the majority should never be denied. And that process was started in 1987, when the necessary amendments in the Constitution was approved.
So Dr. Sant was right when he stressed that the EU accession referendum should be confirmed in a general election. And then, that was it as the Maltese electorate wanted to join European Union and elected the Nationalist Party to ascertain this fact.
Gonzi gave a free vote to his NP deputies regarding the vote on divorce, but still his conscience urged him to spite the will of the people and vote against. What was Gonzi then, a politician or a clergyman? If he wants to avoid this dilemma, he knows what he should do.
I would not go in politics, when I know I am against abortion. But if the majority of the Maltese people (Catholic or not) one fine day press for such an act to be including in the Maltese law, though all the political parties till now are against it, the Maltese Parliament cannot deny this fact.
This is democracy. This is the separation of the duties of the State and the Church. This is the modern concept of the European Union, a Union which the same Catholic Church was not against. We stop here, we agree to disagree. Seems to be two persons, too hard to convince. Maybe we are seeing things with a tinge of colours? Let Catholics be lead by their conscience, but Maltese Parliament cannot deny civil rights to the rest of the society, though abortion is always debatable. Euthanasia maybe not be that much.

Francis Saliba M.D.

Feb 10th, 17:49

@ Joe Fenech and Patrick Zammit.

Faith is something that you have got or you have not - and that includes those who had that gift but threw it away. To those who still have faith it no explanation is necessary. To those who haven't, and still worse to those who had it but threw it away, no explanation is possible. I would try prayers, instead.

Francis Saliba M.D.

Feb 10th, 17:43

@ Mr Saviour Cachia. (10 Feb at 16:51)

Please stop manipulating the truth.

Prime Minister Gonzi was scrupulously correct when he complied with the result of a referendum, that was not even a binding referendum, by promptly introducing divorce legislation. He was still most correct when he followed the dictates of his conscience during the voting in parliament. The correctness of his conduct is determined by his conformity with his own informed conscience and not by the “conscience” of anybody else.

Dr Alfred Sant was mischievously employing manipulated mathematics when he added inexistent votes arbitrarily to the MLP nay-sayers.

Joining the EU ensured that we Maltese adopt modern European standards and that we abandon our former traditionally insular and parochial way of doing things – not to “stay stuck in conservatism”
After graduating from the Seminary to the priesthood, Catholic priests are under the obligation to exercise their RIGHT and to carry out their DUTY to teach everywhere in Malta in order to conform to the Constitution.

The rights of “ lay persons” (by which I guess you mean non-Catholics) are safeguarded by the protection the Constitution gives to other religions and by a real separation of State from Church as proved by the recent passage of divorce laws against the teaching of the Catholic faith.

Joe Fenech

Feb 10th, 17:13

The GIFT of faith? What on earth is that?

Francis Saliba M.D.

Feb 10th, 16:55

@ Paul Pulis.

Seneca had no experience of a Christianity that was still an unkown force just emerging in Palestine in his time. Christianity was a target for destruction (not a useful tool) for the rulers of his time.

Saviour Cachia

Feb 10th, 16:51

@ Mr. Ernest Vella,
So you are saying that Prime Minister acted well when he went against the will of the majority and voted no to divorce? So was Dr. Alfred Sant right in 2003 when he stated that the majority of the people were against Malta joining the European Union, because the referendum did not get the 50+1 support, but was apporved by relative majority? Did we join the European Union to stay stuck in conservatism? The State and the Church are two different entities even in what we call Catholic Malta. And those that find it hard to accept the supreme will of the people and stress they should go according to the conscience, should not try to make a political career. There place is in a Seminary and perhaps they will manage by time to become Pope. Politics is a different matter and recognized the rights of lay persons, not only Catholics.

Paul Pulis

Feb 10th, 16:26

'Religion is regarded by the common people as true,
by the wise as false,
and by the rulers as useful'
- Seneca

Simon Cachia

Feb 10th, 16:19

Why does this newspaper allow the publication of such insolent comments, like that of Mr Hunt (calling the Faith as mythology) and others read in other articles, especially when it comes to the Catholic Church, our values and our traditions?

I think that comments like these cannot be classified as "freedom of expression". I would rather classify them as "immaturity", "ignorance" or "malice." Please note that "I do not agree" is very different, and far more healty for our education than from "being insolent to attract attention".

Mr. Editor and staff, please protect the real "freedom of expression" and avoid lowering the high level of this newspaper by accepting any insolent or discriminating comments. Please do educate us to use "freedom" correctly and not to abuse from it.

Close brackets... Happy feast day to all Maltese, Catholics and non-believers, who love their Country and who cherish their values. May God, through the intercession of the Great Apostle Paul, bless Malta and the Maltese.

Mike Hunt

Feb 10th, 15:20

When it comes to faith ... well ... there should be no political involvement. Do you know who else is red and white? Father Christmas!

The state should be secular ... mythology should play no part in the running of a country.

Alfred Grech

Feb 10th, 15:20

Glad the weather seems to be clearing so the procession will be held as usual. Il-festa tajba lill-Pawlini kollha.

Wally Vella-Zarb

Feb 10th, 15:17

He certainly got one thing right:

""We all form part of the same RED AND WHITE FLAG,"

Mark Anthony Fenech

Feb 10th, 13:26

“Meta ħlisna mill-għarqa, sirna nafu li l-gżira kien jisimha Malta.”

U qabdu jkantaw:

Malta - ġbejniet u bigilla
Malta - fażola u bizzilla
Malta - fuq Xarabank

Dil-gżira ż-żibġa tal-Mediterran...

Mr Ernest Vella

Feb 10th, 13:16

sewwa qal Fr.Martin...imma li tmur tghid lil Prim Ministru jirrizenja ghax ivvota LE ghad-divorzju, b'kuxjenza retta u haddiehor jghidlu jirrizenja, haddiehor li huwa mghammed u Kattoliku daqsu....dak kankru u mhux emoragija jissejjah...imma f'isem il-political correctness, hadd ma ddefenda id-dritt sagrosant tal-PM li jivvota LE. Qablu hekk ghamel Rocco Buttiglione...Insaqsi jien fejn hija l-Maghmudija ta' Malta...jekk kulhadd jabdika mir-responsabilta nisranija tieghu ghax imur jiggerra wara ideologija "hekk imsejha liberali" u fil-fatt qeghda tkun il-kankrena ta din l-istess MALTA.

V. Cauchi

Feb 10th, 13:09

It was a very good panegyric indeed, something like which is rarely heard in this age of modernity. It is very enticing, even for its rich scriptural content and interlacing with theological concepts, and I think it should be printed and distributed as a very valid contribution to Malta's state of faith and dire needs in this day and age.

Very comforting was the presence of the country's top brass for this traditional panegyric in which preachers speak out their minds (never like this year) and rest their faith in God for Malta's future, and I sincerely hope today's were not passing words with only temporary punctuated applauding effect but words which we people worthy of the name of Maltese Christians will cherish and make a programme for our communal lives .

Thank you Fr Martin for giving the lead. Our only hope is other leaders will follow you.