This year’s Christmas has, for me a kind of a sweet/sour taste. I oscillate between answering sympathy cards offering condolences for the death of my father Guzeppi who passed away on December 2, to answering Christmas cards promising a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
Answering sympathy cards is a healing experience. Such cards are a sign that I am not alone; there are people who care. Some cards pleasantly surprised me more than others, as I would have never expected the sender to oblige. Others bring a smile on my lips reminding me of some long forgotten incident. Others bring tears to my eyes. In a certain strange way, they are happy tears.
Let me share three of the most beautiful comments I received; one of them was posted under my commentary in The Sunday Times:
(i) “Your father was such a kind, gentle soul. He would do anything to help someone in need. We noticed that from his smile and actions which gives anyone the comfort even if he was in difficult situation. I remember him whenever we came to your house he made us feel like our home and he treated us as his son and daughter and the kids as his grand kids.”
(ii) “We remember him always with his nice smile. We remember how much he loved us, even he had never said it explicitly but we understood his wonderful heart and lovely face.”
(iii) “But in my childhood years I used to wish that the kind hearted warm-smiled face of the sacristan at San Guzepp Haddiem (B'kara) would remain with us forever. Unfortunately, I was wishing too much. Notwithstanding his limping walk, his smile shone across his face and his gentle manners said it all.”
Such comments provide me with the support, friendship and care we sorely need during such moments of difficulty.
The experience of answering Christmas cards seems, prima facie, a very different experience but in reality, it is not so different. The answering or sending of Christmas cards is a sign of our belief that the need we have for the support, friendship and care of others was answered by God Himself who became man – a sacrament and sign of the solidarity of the divine with the human.
Christmas means that we are not alone. God is with us. It should be translated into a commitment that we should not leave anyone alone. We should be constantly there for others. We can never say that we are not our brother’s keepers. Christmas is the antithesis of Cain.
Christmas is the total abandonment of an attitude of alienation. Alienation is the archenemy of Christianity. Our religion is not and cannot be the opium of the people. Marx was totally mistaken on this point. Perhaps he is not to be totally blamed for his mistake. Many Christians on several occasions behaved as if ours was a religion of alienation.
Christmas, on the contrary, is the rallying call for total immersion into human reality. God totally immersed Himself into our reality. We are asked to do the same. Quite naturally, we will have to pay the price for doing this. After all, whatever we do or fail to do, there is always a price tag to be picked! However, this is a very low price when compared to the reward: eternity in the bosom of the Father. We carry our cross with a smile, as we know that ours is a triumphant cross.
Did you mention a smile? This is a legitimate question. Yes, a smile, I say.
A running theme in the comments I received about my father was the reference to the smile he always wore in spite of his physical disability and the other hurts and disappointments which he – like the rest of us – had to endure during life. As a good Christian he believed that these were passing incidents paling into insignificance compared to the bliss we are blessed to start tasting from this life but which will fully blossom in the next life. These difficulties are looked at as disasters by those of no faith, but in the end they turn out to be the midwife of the new creation
My father taught me the theology of the smile. I am eternally indebted for this. It gives me the strength to say loudly and clearly Happy Christmas to all.
The Gentle Theologian
This December was a very good harvest month for St Peter. He must have been happy to welcome Rev Prof Maurice Eminyan SJ. A few days before his departure he told a visitor that he had no unfinished business left and consequently was ready to depart. He did so after living his life to its fullness.
Fr Eminyan SJ was a household personality especially in the 1960s and the early 1970s thanks to his regular contributions to the popular religious programme on TVM. He answered people’s questions with clarity and humaneness. He was not afraid of controversy but never courted it for its own sake. Many people wrote to him privately confiding in him their problems and tribulations. He always answered. Eminyan was a source of hope and inspiration to thousands.
I came to know very well Fr Eminyan SJ during my theology course at the Faculty of Theology. He was one of our professors of dogmatic theology. However, his style was not dogmatic at all. He was open to dialogue and continuously searched for new answers. “Maybe” was his favourite answer to our frequent questions.
He was gentleness personified. He treated every one of us with great respect. I never heard him utter a harsh word about anyone. At that time, I was one of the students’ representatives on Faculty Board. Together with the other student representative (Paul Pace, currently the Jesuit provincial in Malta) we were instrumental in getting Fr Eminyan elected dean of the Faculty of Theology. His organisational skills served the Faculty a lot.
In the house of the Father he served so well he is now reaping the fruits of his labour.