Pope Paul VI’s great apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, which tackles the issue of proclaiming the Gospel to the people of today, summons all Christians to evangelise.
The Church is inconceivable without the carrying out of this sacred mission entrusted to it by the Lord Jesus himself: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20).
Likewise, when addressing the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation on October 14 last year, Pope Francis stressed that Christians are to give witness to the life-changing message of the Gospel of Jesus both by their words and, especially, by their deeds:
“New Evangelisation means to reawaken the life of faith in the heart and mind of our contemporaries. Faith is a gift of God, but it is important that we Christians show that we live the faith in a concrete way, through love, concord, joy, suffering, because this elicits questions, as at the beginning of the journey of the Church: Why do they live like this? What drives them?
“These are questions that go to the heart of evangelisation, which is the witness of faith and charity. What we need especially in these times are credible witnesses who with their life and also with the word render the Gospel visible, reawaken attraction for Jesus Christ, for God’s beauty.”
Concrete actions stir up curiosity from outsiders. They can also be the catalyst for lukewarm Christians or even non-believers to commit themselves to Christ in his Church. But, on their own, actions devoid of any catechetical basis would lack that something which makes them entirely transformative. Thus, they direly call for solid instruction in the faith.
As the Motu Proprio concerning the indiction of the Year of Faith, Porta Fidei, rightly suggests, the Year of Faith was launched by Pope Benedict XVI with the intention of encouraging the whole Church to make “an individual and collective, free and conscious, inward and outward, humble and frank... profession of the same faith” (§ 4).
Faith formation is extremely peripheral for a good number of us Maltese Catholics
Such “an authentic and sincere profession” could help the whole Church to “reappropriate exact knowledge of the faith, so as to reinvigorate it, purify it, confirm it, and confess it” (§ 4).
But, in all honesty, has this goal been reached? Without being the prophet of doom I think that a lot needs to be done to arrive at a sounder formation of Maltese Catholics. Suffice to look at an online vox pop regarding the current liturgical season the Church is celebrating, Lent. When the interviewer asked ‘What do you know about Lent?’, the ensuing answers were: “I don’t know much about religion”, “One has to reflect on what one does”, “Making sacrifices”, “Fasting especially from sweets”, “Lent means not taking what you want”, “A time of preparation for the greatest feast of Christianity” and “Meat and sweets are forbidden”.
The interviewer delved deeper into the subject by asking the interviewees about the length of Lent. The answers the interviewer got ranged from two weeks to 40 days. Another person said the question was too hard to answer.
When it came to the liturgical colour of Lent, the answers seemed to fare much better. In fact, four out of five respondents replied purple, with the exception of one who said it is green. Two other interviewees mentioned the colours black and rose.
The situation got worse when the interviewees were asked where Jesus spent his 40-day preparation before his public ministry. The answers were: “I don’t know!”, “I cannot recall”, “In the Gethsemane Garden to pray”, “At the Last Supper”, “On a mountain”, and “Was he not crucified?”
These shocking answers clearly reveal that faith formation is extremely peripheral for a good number of us Maltese Catholics. Many initiatives have been taken to remedy this heartbreaking state of affairs. However, if media communications and personal contact are used intelligently, the faith will definitely reach more people at the grass roots level.
frmarioa@gmail.com
Fr Attard is a member of the Order of Franciscan Capuchins.