Last weekend a pastoral letter written by both our bishops was read in all churches in Malta and Gozo. The subject treated, as well as the manner of its treatment were by no means easy. But the subject is of greatest importance.

The pastoral letter was quite evidently influenced by the recent Synod of Bishops and in fact quotes quite often from the final document of the Synod. What is technically called evangelisation was the core theme of the Synod and the pastoral letter. In common parlance evangelisation means the communication of the good news that God loves us, saves us through Christ and is present in our lives through the Spirit.

There is one paragraph which I particularly liked. I quote it in toto.

“This “Word” may be read in the Bible and we, as your Bishops, recognize that the more time passes, more and more groups are focusing upon this Word. But the Church also believes that even in the world around us, there is the “seed of the Word”, that is, there are signs of the presence of Christ. For this reason, if we wish to announce the Good News, we cannot but be alert to what the world is saying. Dialogue with society is profitable and not a deficit because through dialogue, we are also able to discern God’s hand in our life narrative! An important aspect in this exercise is the dialogue between faith and culture. The Synod states that: ‘the new evangelization needs a renewed alliance between faith and reason. We are convinced that faith has the capacity to welcome every product of a sound mind open to transcendence.’ Jesus healed the deaf and dumb man within the pagan confines known as the Decapolis where there existed a combination of cultures, religions and philosophies. But he did not avoid this reality; rather he took the opportunity to establish dialogue in such a situation!”

I declare a personal interest.

Those who read my commentary on The Sunday Times of last Sunday would immediately notice that the theme of this paragraph was the subject I treated in my commentary. This was a mere coincidence and not some planned thing. If anyone is interested in reading it one can still access it through the search machine of timesofmalta.com. I cannot supply the web reference just now as the search machine is not currently in operation.

In my commentary I emphasised the need to discern the presence of God in the product of popular culture, particularly the mass media. I made reference to the book turned film called Cocholat; Pasolini’s great film about Jesus title Vangelo Secondo Matteo. Kieslowski’s fantastic ten films about the Decalogue and the lyrics of the songs of Bruce Springsteen. The bishop, I wrote, besides being an expert in the exegeses of the Sacred Texts should be an able exegete of the products of popular culture.

I conclude with another extract from the pastoral letter which is also reflected in my commentary.

“The Church cannot enclose itself within the comfortable and secure confines of its sacristies, however it must emulate the Good Samaritan who traverses every path, even those which are dangerous and on the wayside; it is there that one meets Christ who is present in the wounded and abandoned.”

This is the direction given by the Synod of Bishops and reflected in the Bishops’ pastoral letter. It has now to be translated into concrete steps, projects and decisions.