I would like to thank the Capuchins of San Ġwann parish for all the care and dedication they show towards us parishioners. Great effort is put into organising activities that cater for the various groups normally found within a parish.

I would like to make some observations in particular about some comments made in a letter that appeared in this column. These are a few points one should consider before jumping to conclusions:

The homily is not the be all and end all of the celebration; there is so much more to it than that for us Catholics; it is definitely not the yardstick by which one should measure whether going to Mass is of spiritual benefit. It is definitely not the only reason why we take our children to Mass.

The particular Mass mentioned was said by a priest who, in my opinion and in that of many others, manages to make one feel good, that it is normal to find life difficult at times, that it is "ok" to sin, that, above all, God loves us all exactly as we are and always forgives us. I don't find the tone patronising, I find it comforting and empathic.

I was sorry to see that only one priest managed to be seen as adequate and to suffice for delivering a homily; this is a very subjective opinion indeed. In fact we have quite a good team; I have seen much improvement over the years.

It is very unfair to say that the priests cannot understand what we have to face in our families because they are not married! Firstly, many of us look to them for advice and support so they are actually more aware of what is going on in our families than we individually are. They have many sources of information. Secondly, these priests are human beings like us, they have parents and brothers and sisters who get terminally ill; they have nephews and nieces who have marital problems, who choose to go down the wrong path. And they have feelings, just like we do! Thirdly, does one have to go through an experience oneself to empathise and understand? A simple analogy would be - do you have to inject yourself with heroin to know about its ill-effects?

So much good is being done by the San Ġwann Capuchins. They really try their best to boost church-going and to make the celebration of Mass a fruitful experience for everyone. Now we are celebrating Holy Week, the greatest celebration for us, and so much work and effort is put into it to make it an experience that brings us closer to Christ. And this is just about Mass. So much more work is done, planned meetings with families, supporting those most in need - in various aspects, hospital visits, home visits... and so much more. And all this is done by choice, because these people have given up their life to God and the service of others; they are not on a pay-roll and they don't have fixed working hours either. So a great big thank you to all of them.

A parting thought - when one feels that things are not quite up to what one expects (and this is very subjective) wouldn't it be decent and Christian-like to talk to the persons concerned privately?