Mary in our lives

Prayerful Mother by Sassoferrato

I share with you today this beautiful reflection on the Blessed Mother and how she can affect our own lives, by reflecting on her own life with its ups and downs. Our Lady shows that in every state, in every moment, in all that a person does, they are called to pray; that a whole life united to Christ becomes a continual prayer: in joys, in laughter, in celebration, in friendships, in relationships, and in sorrows, disappointments, suffering, illness, misfortune, and loss. There is no moment lost when we keep Christ in the forefront of our mind and recognizes that He is a God of love who desires for us true freedom from sin and peace founded in a life of diligent and faithful, persevering prayer. Our Lady, who is essentially defined by her perpetual surrendering to the will of God, was the freest creature to have ever existed. It may be a temptation to think Our Lady was so strict and controlled that she must have been cross, serious, and rigid. On the contrary, she knew when it was a time to feast just as well as she knew when it was a time to fast. She knew intimately when it was time to weep and when it was time for laughter. She knew when it was time to mourn and when it was a time to rejoice. When it was time to meditate and when it was time to serve. She knew quite a bit about time and what she should be doing and when.  She reflected the very heart of His mercy by and through this perfect disposition and balance and she pleased the Lord in all that she did, thought, and pondered. Her pondering is none other than the heights of contemplation and unitive prayer. She meditated on the works of God, his ways above her own, and in her humility, she was taken up into the love of God most fully. This interior disposition resulted in her peaceful nature and exterior obedience to suffering and trials of life.

The Holy Archangels

Today is the feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael - the angel of judgment - is known as the champion in the fight against Satan and the other devils as well as the guardian of the faithful especially at the time of death. Frequently he is portrayed crushing the devil’s head with a lance. Gabriel - the angel of mercy - is the messenger from God in St Luke’s gospel who foretold the birth of John the Baptist, “Be not afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.” Six months later it was Gabriel who appeared to Mary at the Annunciation saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Raphael  -  whose name means “God has healed” was sent by God to heal Tobias of his blindness and to deliver Sara from the devil in the book of Tobit. We tend to underestimate the presence of Angels in our lives. However they are gaining popularity as we see many angel pins on people’s jackets, posters and paintings of various angels are showing up at card stores. And of course at Christmas, there are the angels on ornaments and hanging on nativity scenes. We sing about the angels in several of the Christmas hymns. Angels were also present at Jesus’ tomb when the women went to anoint his body and found the tomb empty. But we are reluctant to accept their actual existence. This is certainly a departure from our childhood when we prayed to our Guardian Angel at least daily. As children we believed that there was truly one angel whose job was to look after us, who would always hover around us ready to protect us from all evil and to communicate our desires and needs to God. The feast of the Guardian Angels in fact is in 3 days, October 2.

Three Trees (part 3)

The third tree dreamt of one day being part of a tower perched on a hill, which would defy storms, wind and rain and give protection to all those who shelter inside it. However, when it was cut, it ended up in an abandoned yard in Jerusalem. It sat there for many years until one day it was picked up and made into a cross. It cried when she saw that her role was to serve as a form of torture on which someone would see his death.  Her cries were turned to relief when she noticed that the person chosen to carry the cross to the hill on which he would be eventually crucified was a truly holy man. When He was dying, the tree heard him say prayers of forgiveness, and even forgave another prisoner dying next to him. He went as far as forgive those who had caused his death. And when He died, she heard a centurion claim ’This was truly the Son of God.’ The tree then realized how special she was as the blood of an innocent person became part of its texture, and thus the world was redeemed.

Three Trees (part 2)

The second tree wished that it would one day end up serving as a large mast of a galley, on which Generals and navigators would sail the seas, win battles and see all the sailors gathered around her to celebrate one naval victory after another. Sadly this was not to be as the wood from this tree ended up in Bethsaida, and was used to build a fishing boat to be used by two fishermen, the brothers Peter and Andrew. They used it for many years in the Sea of Galilee, with other fishermen helping them haul large quantities of fish. There were days when the fish were not biting, and were left disappointed. The tree complained that it ended up in a simple fishing village, until one day, a man stepped into the boat, and during a storm, he quickly calmed the waves. On another day, he invited the fisherman to fish in a different part of the bay, and were overloaded with large fish. Frequently people would gather around the boat to hear Him speak to them. The tree realized that instead of Kings, Generals and navigators, the boat welcomed on board Someone more special than all the kings of the world.

Three Trees (part 1)

There is a Jewish story of three trees in a forest and they often talked among themselves about their wishes, their dreams, their expectations of life for them. The first tree told the others that she always wanted to be a part of a furniture in a large palace, enjoying a life of luxury and seeing Kings and Princes, Queens and Princesses parade by her. When it was cut, it ended up in a carpenter’s shop in the town of Nazareth, and rested there for a few years, until the carpenter named Joseph decided to make out of it a rocking crib for the baby that his wife gave him. And so the tree that desired to live among royalty, ended up cradling the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings. The tree realized what a special baby it was that rested in her arms every day as his mother rocked him to sleep. (to be continued....)

60 years ago

I take you today on a voyage to my primary school days, back to 1963, 60 years ago. We had just started classes in a brand new school in St. Julian’s, a much needed investment in an ever-growing town. Before that we had classes in two regular houses in St Elias Street. That’s where I had my elementary classes, until Standard 3, the American equivalent of Grade 5, when we happily moved to our new school. The first photo shown here is during a Eucharistic Day procession we held in June, in which all the teachers and students participated. All the altar boys dressed up for the occasion as well as the children who had just received their First Holy Communion a few days earlier. I was one of the altar boys seen in the photo, as well as my brother Paul, 3 years younger than me. It was customary to hold a special day dedicated to the Eucharist, as we had Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, at which time each class would dedicate 15 minutes in private and communal prayer, and everything would end with this procession.

The second photo shows the visit by the Governor of Malta, Sir Maurice Dorman, as students greeted him, all lined up, nicely dressed, and well behaved. I was probably one of the boys you see looking down from the balcony, outside our classrooms. Those were the days, but the school is still running smoothly, and who knows how many children have passed through those doors and classes, most of them now parents and grandparents, raising their children and grand-children, attending the same school, and probably sitting in the same benches as their ancestors.

Hope

If you can look at the sunset and smile, then you still have hope.
If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower, then you still have hope.
If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly, then you still have hope.
If the smile of a child can still warm your heart, then you still have hope.
If you can see the good in other people, then you still have hope.
If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep, then you still have hope.
If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder, then you still have hope.
If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips, then you still have hope.
If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism, then you still have hope.
If you give people the benefit of a doubt, then you still have hope.
If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life, then you still have hope.
If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings pleasant surprises, then you still have hope.
If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration, then you still have hope.
If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end, then you still have hope.
If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection, then you still have hope.
If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree or cook the turkey, then you still have hope.
If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy, then you still have hope.
If you can look to the past and smile, then you still have hope.
If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase...."yeah....BUT.." then you still have hope.
Hope is such a marvelous thing. It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break.  It sustains us when nothing else can.  It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.
Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage.
Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it.
Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction.
Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return.  And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places.  

Never lose hope.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

This is one of my favorite prayers by St Pio of Pietrelcina, (1887-1968) whose liturgical feast we celebrate today:

My dear Jesus, release from my mind and heart 
- any troubles from the past, 
- any worries about the present, 
- any anxieties about the future. 
So that I can desire always, and in everything, just one thing 
– TO GO AGAINST MYSELF IN FAVOR OF YOUR LOVE. 
I entrust my reckless and troubled past to Your bountiful Mercy, o Lord. 

I also entrust to Your infinite Love my confused and undecided present. 

And I entrust to Your holy Providence my mysterious future. Amen.

The Nobel Prize and Dynamite

Alfred Nobel, with the medal given each year

Alfred Nobel was still alive when the newspapers reported his death, and he was upset because the headlines said simply ‘The inventor of dynamite died.’  He complained and they apologized to him. Thereupon he started sharing his wealth with those who were successful in various fields, philanthropy, medicine, science, literature, world peace, humanitarian acts, etc.  And he set up prizes to be given every year for those who excelled in their respective field of work. And so the Nobel Prize was instituted in Sweden, and when he actually did die, they all remembered him for his philanthropic masterpiece that every year honors those who excel in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Economics and Peace. Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million SEK (c. US$186 million, €150 million in 2008), to establish the six Nobel Prizes.

Malta’s Independence Day

Malta becomes independent on September 21, 1964

Malta was ruled over the past 2 millennia by the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish, the Knights of St John, the French and the British. Following a Maltese constitutional referendum in 1964, approved by 54.5% of voters, on September 21st 1964, Malta became an independent state as a Constitutional Monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State. So September 21st every year is celebrated as Independence Day or Jum l-Indipendenza in Maltese, this year being the 59th anniversary. One can say that both Labor Leader Dom Mintoff, as well as Nationalist Leader and Prime Minister George Borg Olivier contributed towards the attainment of Independence. On December 1st 1964, Malta was admitted to the United Nations. In 1965 Malta joined the Council of Europe, and in 1970, Malta signed an Association Treaty with the European Community. Malta was declared a Republic on December 13th, 1974 and in 2004, Malta finally became the 25th nation to join the European Union.

The Korean Martyrs

The Korean Martyrs canonized in 1984 by St John Paul II

We honor today the men and women who were slain because they refused to deny Christ in the nation of Korea. The faith was brought to Korea in a unique fashion. The intellectuals of that land, eager to learn about the world, discovered some Christian books procured through Korea’s embassy to the Chinese capital. One Korean, Ni-Seung-Houn, went to Beijing in 1784 to study Catholicism and was baptized Peter Ri. Returning to Korea, he converted many others. In 1791, when these Christians were suddenly viewed as foreign traitors, two of Peter Ri’s converts, named Paul and Jacques, were martyred. The faith endured, however, and when Father James Tsiou, a Chinese, entered Korea three years later, he was greeted by four thousand Catholics. Father Tsiou worked in Korea until 1801 when he was slain by authorities. Three decades later the Prefecture Apostolic of Korea was established by Pope Leo XII, after he received a letter smuggled out of Korea by faithful Catholics. In 1836, Monsignor Lawrence Imbert managed to enter Korea. Others arrived, and they worked until 1839, when a full persecution started, bringing about the martyrdom of the European priests. Young Korean seminarians were sent to Macau for ordination. 
The first native priest, Andrew Kim Taegon, returned to Korea in 1845 and was martyred the following year. Severe persecution followed, and Catholics fled to the mountains, still spreading the faith. In 1864, a new persecution claimed the lives of two bishops, six French missionaries, another Korean priest, and eight thousand Korean Catholics. The Korean martyrs of 1839, 1846, and 1867 were canonized in Korea in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. During that ceremony, the Pope said: “The Korean Church is unique because it was founded entirely by lay people. This fledgling Church, so young and yet so strong in faith, withstood wave after wave of fierce persecution. Thus, in less than a century, it could boast of 10,000 martyrs. The death of these martyrs became the leaven of the Church and led to today's splendid flowering of the Church in Korea.” Since Pope Francis just announced that the next World Youth Day will be held in South Korea, a renewed interest among the Catholics of this country has grown significantly. And the rest of the world is looking at Korea with hope and faith-filled anticipation.

St Januarius

St. Januarius (San Gennaro) is a patron saint of and former bishop of Naples in the 4th century. Januarius and his friends were initially sentenced to be eaten by the lions, tigers, and bears  at the Naples amphitheatre. Although the beasts had been starved for several days before the day of the planned martyrdom, the beasts refused to attack Januarius and his colleagues. The spectators at the amphitheatre were frightened by the indifference of the starving animals to the Christians and rumors began to circulate that the Christians had magical powers and were possibly protected by their god. The governor of Campania ordered their immediate beheading and Januarius' body was later returned to the Cathedral in Naples. Over a century later, it was purported that a vial of St. Januarius' blood surfaced and was preserved and permanently fixed in the metal reliquary in the Cathedral of Naples. Thousands of people assemble to witness the event of the liquification of his blood in the cathedral of Naples, three times a year: on September 19 (Saint Januarius day, to commemorate his martyrdom), on December 16 (to celebrate his patronage of both Naples and of the archdiocese), and on the Saturday before the first Sunday of May (to commemorate the reunification of his relics). 

Naples Cardinal showing the liquified blood of St. Januarius

Sometimes the "blood" liquefies immediately, other times it takes hours.  When the priest brings the vial to the altar that holds the saint's blood, the people, who gather by the thousands, pray that the blood becomes liquid once again. If the miracle takes place, the officiant proclaims, "Il miracolo é fatto!" and waves a white handkerchief. Then a Te Deum is sung and the reliquary is taken to the altar rail so the faithful can kiss the vial.  There have been a few instances when the substance in the vial had not liquefied and the faithful believes that it is a sign of impending peril. Five times when liquefaction has failed there have been major disasters, the latest being an earthquake in southern Italy that killed 3,000 people in 1980.

Jumbo Visma winners times 3

2nd, Jonas Vingegaard, 1st, Sepp Kuss and 3rd, Primoz Roglic

A historic day was recorded yesterday as another big race came to an end in Madrid, Spain. It was the third of the big 3-week races, La Vuelta which is held in Spain. Surprisingly, unexpectedly and truly astonishingly, all three races were won by members of the same team, Jumbo Visma. The first one was the Giro d’Italia, held in Italy between May and June, won this year by Primoz Roglic of Slovenia. The second one was the Tour de France, held throughout July and won by Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, and yesterday’s La Vuelta came to an end and was won by Sepp Kuss of the United States. The leaders and eventual winners wear an iconic colored jersey, Pink in the Giro d’Italia, Yellow in the Tour de France and Red in La Vuelta. The big surprise came yesterday as all three of them came in the first three places, and are seen here together as they were crowned in Madrid. They also unveiled a special jersey yesterday which they used, combining the pink, yellow and red colors in horizontal stripes to celebrate the triple victory of the same team, Jumbo Visma. Congratulations to Sepp Kuss, a very humble and unpretentious biker who was always helping the other two to win their own races, and this time, they helped him achieve such an illustrious milestone. Winning a Grand Tour is like winning a Grand Slam in tennis or golf.

Blessing of a Bank

Recently I was asked to write a prayer on the occasion of the re-opening of a local bank. It was well received, and so I thought you might enjoy reading it.

We pray Lord Jesus, on the occasion of the re-furbishing and re-opening of our local bank, we pray that this place will serve as a convenient and reliable Bank in our local town. As we are grateful to all those who helped incessantly to restore this much needed and useful place of encounter for many of our residents, we pray that those who come here, do so in a good spirit and be served with cordial and prompt efficiency. With the intercession of St Matthew, the patron of bankers, accountants and money-changers, we hope that all the banking interactions done here, will be accomplished with all honesty, integrity and sincere responsibility. We pray that all the clients who come here, will be attended to with courtesy, and that all cashiers and employees treat everyone with respect and kindness. As we bless this place during the week celebrating the local feast of the Nativity of Mary, may the Blessed Mother keep her eyes on us all, as we show respect and gratitude towards those who serve us. We hope to collaborate with one another, so that we reap the fruits of our collective effort to see this bank become successful and proficient in its service to the people. We pray this in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008)

The Gulag Archipelago is one of the most popular books ever written. It was the experience lived by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a writer and Soviet dissident who was not afraid to criticize the Soviet regime and Communism in general. He helped in raising a solid awareness of the dangers or the political soul of the former Soviet Union. He was imprisoned with hard work in a gulag. In spite of the strenuous work imposed on him, only once he was at the point of desperation and even contemplated suicide. But at one moment, another prisoner sat next to him, and drew a cross with a twig on the gravel sand. Alexander stared at the cross for a long time, and he remembered saying to himself ‘I know that salvation is only find through him, through that Christian symbol of the cross.’ It was at that specific moment that he garnered enough courage to go on. The dangers and struggles in his life did not end, but because of Jesus, Solzhenitsyn found the courage to persevere. So remember that every time you are going through a struggle, know that the Lord is close by telling you ‘Do not be afraid – I am here for you – Courage!’. As time goes by, your troubles will pass on and Jesus will be there close to you. On October 8, 1970, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is the author of 2 books ‘The Gulag Archipelago’ and ‘A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich.’

Our Lady of Sorrows

"The Seven Sorrows of Mary" by Adriaen Isenbrant

The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated a day after the feast of the Cross, and even though we are far from the Lenten season, the church asks us to reflect on the 7 sorrows that Mary experienced, as beautifully depicted in this image by Adriaen Isenbrant from the 16th century, a panel visible in Bruges, Belgium. The 7 sorrows that Mary had to face were these, as described in each of the panels surrounding the image of the Sorrowful Mother:

1. Jesus’ circumcision, and the prophecy by Simeon that a sword shall pierce her heart.
2. The escape into Egypt.
3. Jesus lost and found in the temple.
4. Seeing Jesus carrying the cross and meeting him on the way to Calvary.
5. The crucifixion of Jesus.
6. The Pieta, as the dead body of Jesus is laid on her lap.
7. The burial of Jesus.

The beautiful hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa is sung frequently during Lent, especially during the Stations of the Cross. The first three words mean ‘Stood the mournful Mother weeping,’ and the poem was written by Jacopone de Todi in the 13th century, and was set to music by various composers including  Palestrina, Pergolesi, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini, Dvorák and Arvo Part. 

The Feast of the Cross

Crucifixion by Zurbaran

Today the church commemorates the day when St Helena found the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Being the mother of Emperor Constantine, who ended the persecutions in 313AD, Helena was determined to find the abandoned cross on which Jesus was crucified. The excavations actually found three crosses buried in Jerusalem close to Mount Calvary. To verify which was the actual cross of Christ, they asked a sick person to touch each cross.  When he touched the third one, the person was completely healed, and thereby they concluded which was Jesus's cross. King Constantine later on had a vision whereby he would see the Cross and the words inscribed IN HOC SIGNO VINCES, which means ‘With the sign of the Cross you shall win.’ Peace then reigned for a few centuries. Just about every artist painted the Crucifixion of Christ, and among them was Francisco de Zurbaran who left quite a few versions of this solemn moment. We adore you o Christ and we praise you, because by Your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

Morocco and Libya

The medicane between Malta and Libya

We are all praying for the people of these two neighboring countries to Malta, both of which were hit with catastrophic tragedies this past week. First it was Morocco being hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake devastating  a large part of the Atlas Mountains, several miles away from the historic city of Marrakesh. The photos we’ve seen so far paint a sad picture of destruction everywhere you look, with over 2,500 victims so far. At the same time, a hurricane was forming around Greece, and since it is in the Mediterranean Sea, it is called a medicane, named Daniel. The forecast was telling us that it was heading towards Malta, and I followed its progress from Monday until this past Sunday. This medicane surprisingly stood still for 6 full days. It kept churning up waves and rain in the sea between Malta and Libya without moving. I thought my Ventusky app was not working because the storm did not move at all for 6 days. The festivities of the Nativity of Mary for September 8th held here in Malta in 4 parishes were cancelled or postponed and I waited to see when this medicane is going to move, one way or another. It graced our island and only a few drops of rain fell over the entire week. The first photo shows how near it came to hit Malta. 

The medicane as it approached Libya on Sunday

The second photo was taken on Saturday as it swerved towards Libya, hitting Benghazi and Derna with horrific force on Sunday night, dumping the total amount of rain they usually get in one full year. Maybe our prayers to the Blessed Mother protected us from being the target of Daniel, but unfortunately it hit the northern Libyan coast with a vengeance, with a projected 10,000 victims being reported, between drowning, suffocating while sleeping and being swept into the sea. We pray for all the victims in both Morocco and Libya, as well as the survivors and those helping courageously in the recovery process.

The Ulma Family beatified

Last Sunday for the first time ever, an entire family was beatified for helping Polish Jews during World War II and were martyred in the process. Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma had 6 children with another baby due to be delivered within days. They lived on a farm in Markowa, Poland, and were very devout Catholics, besides being great benefactors to those who needed help. Two families asked for help from them as they were Jewish and were afraid the Nazis would find them and kill them. Josef and Wiktoria were married on July 7, 1935 and had these children: Stanislawa, 8 years, Barbara, 7 years, Wladislaw, 6 years, Franciszek, 4 years, Antoni, 3 and Maria, 2 years old. The Szall family with 2 parents and 4 sons found refuge with the Ulmas, as did the Goldman sisters. They lived in an attic, but occasionally they came out to help in the fields. Yet on the night of March 23 and 24, 1944, someone spied on them, and the Nazis came over to the house and found the Szalls and Goldmans hiding. They were all killed on the spot. Then Jozef and Wiktoria were killed in front of the screaming and crying children. Lastly the young children were killed, one by one, all martyred for being kind and helpful to strangers. The stress that Wiktoria experienced made her deliver the baby she was carrying. Actually this was found out when exhumations of their bodies were done in January 1945, to have them buried in a Catholic cemetery. Wiktoria was found with the tiny head of her baby between her legs. 17 martyrs who were all beatified on September 10, 2023. The liturgical feast of the Ulma family will be celebrated on July 7 each year, the date of their wedding. A monument in memory of the Ulma family was erected in Markowa frequently visited by tourists and pilgrims. 

22 years ago

This is a day when we remember the three thousand victims of the most senseless tragedy in human history. At least those who are teenagers and older will surely remember where they were when the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded. I personally was preparing and celebrating Mass at my church in Pleasant Valley, NY, and believe it or not, I heard about the attack on America from my mother. When I got to my room after Mass, I found a message on my phone, and as soon as I was retrieving the message, the phone rings, and it was my mother frantically screaming "Julian, are you all right ?" "yes, of course I'm all right" I answered, wondering why was she panicking. Then she told me to open the TV and relayed to me quickly what was happening. At first I thought that the TV was showing a Schwarzenegger movie, but quickly I realized that this was no science-fiction movie. We all know the rest of the story, and for the next month or so, I was in touch with the Klein family of Pleasant Valley who had lost their son Peter, in his twenties, and married only a year. Of course I had to do the funeral, with no body, but a large picture of Peter, lots of flowers and a nice quilt which his mother had coordinated with friends, showing the various talents Peter had, from being an altar-boy to a boy scout. Over the next 5 months I kept giving interviews to a local radio station in Malta, RTK, besides of course doing a lot of counselling to people who were disturbed and upset with this senseless tragedy.

22 years have passed since that day, and the pain for so many families is still there. The blemish that terrorism had inflicted on the USA and the rest of the world is still around us. We just hope and pray that similar horrific tragedies will never occur again. I took this photo in 1988, while on a school trip to the Statue of Liberty with our school children. Let us pray and remember. 

Do it, anyway !

I shared this reflection in my homily this weekend, and many people liked it. So here it is to be enjoyed and reflected on by the rest of the world.

Some people are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred - love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of ulterior and selfish motives – do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies - succeed anyway.

Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable – be honest and transparent anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow – do good anyway.

The biggest people with the brightest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds – think big anyway.

Certain people show compassion towards the weak and defenceless – ignore the comments and keep helping the weak, anyway.

What you spend building all your life, may be destroyed overnight – build anyway.

Give to the world and society the best you’ve got, and you’ll get kicked and humiliated at times – give the best you’ve got, anyway.

Flashback to Colombine

The victims of Columbine HS shooting in 1999.

The mother of one of the victims of the Columbine High School massacre spoke a few years later in a Memorial Service, and this is what she said: “Since the dawn of creation there has been both good and evil in the heart of men and of women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher and the other children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers. I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy - it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies!  Much of that blame lies here in this room.  Much of that blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that express my feelings best. This was written way before I knew l would be speaking here today.
Your  laws  ignore  our  deepest  needs  –  Your  words  are  empty  air.
You've  stripped  away  our  heritage.  –  You've  outlawed  simple  prayer.
Now  gunshots  fill  our  classrooms.  –  And  precious  children  die.
You  seek  for  answers  everywhere.  –  And  ask  the  question  "WHY"?
You  regulate  restrictive  laws.  –  Through  legislative  creed.
Add  yet you  fail  to  understand.  –  That God  is  what  we  need!
It has been almost 25 years since that tragedy, the first of many which followed, and are still following at regular horrific instances. We do need a change of heart and a humble acknowledgment that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God. May we remember our Father Who is in Heaven, our God Who created us and gives us the freedom we need to live in peace. May we never be embarrassed to bow our heads in prayer, and not simply in our Churches, but at home, in our travels, in our visits to friends, in our place of work, in our schools. May we also remember that on every dollar, quarter, penny and dime we use, are written the words that give meaning and purpose to our country, “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

Nativity of Mary

The statue of Maria Bambina in front of Naxxar parish church

Today we celebrate the feast of the birthday of the Blessed Mother. She was conceived in St Anne’s womb on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and to follow the duration of a human pregnancy, the church celebrates her birth date today, exactly 9 months later. Many countries, including Italy and Spain as well as Malta celebrate this holy day with images and statues of the baby Mary, although the statues venerated in Malta are that of a young girl, all of which known as Maria Bambina (the little child Mary.) We always imagine Mary as an adult, but as a baby, a toddler, a little child, and as a teenager, she also had her special attributes. In Malta we also commemorate today the anniversary of two major victories at war. The first one was the victory of the Maltese and the Knights of Malta against the Turks, the Ottoman Empire in the Great Siege of 1565, and the second one was the end of Fascism and Nazism at the height of World War II, a time of terrible suffering for the Maltese people. May the Blessed Mother keep her watchful eyes on all of us, especially our young people and children, as well as many families who may be struggling at this time.

Two competing Band Clubs

The façade of the Peace Band Club in Naxxar, Malta

Most parishes in Malta have a band club that plays joyous and festive marches during the festivity of the local titular saint. They also go to other parishes to entertain the locals on certain weekends. Here in Naxxar parish, where I am stationed, there are two band clubs, Peace Band Club and Victory Band Club, both of which have their own premises, clubs, bars, snooker room and beautifully decorated walls and ceilings. There isn’t here the fiery rivalry you find in other towns and villages, where they also have two competing clubs. But they do compete against each other in a subtle way – they do this about the fireworks they display, the number of musicians in each club, and other issues which sometimes are too silly to even mention. They also seem to compete on the decorations that cove the entire façade of each club. This is splendidly decked up  in its festive best during the two weeks leading to the festivity of the Nativity of Mary, celebrated on September 8th.  

The façade of the Victory Band Club in Naxxar.

You can see for yourselves what I mean by admiring these two photos. Peace Band Club is displayed first, with their predominant color being blue, with Victory Band Club being displayed next, with their main color being red. It is truly a labor love, even just to set the pieces in place, and hope it doesn’t rain and turn windy, as unfortunately it is doing this week. Three other parishes celebrate the feast of the Nativity of Mary, celebrated tomorrow, also known in Malta as Our Lady of Victory. On this day, besides the birth of the Blessed Mother, we commemorate the victory of the Knights of Malta over the Turkish Armada during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.We also remember the end of Fascism and Nazism at the height of World War II, a time of terrible suffering for the Maltese people.

Our young people

Many people have different attitudes towards the young today. Usually, one is either too optimistic or too pessimistic. Allow me to quote this paradoxical extract I deem very consoling: “We live in an age of decadence. The young are good-for-nothing, do not respect their elders, are impatient and rebellious. The wisdom of the old is ridiculed by them and their parents are treated without regard. These symptoms of our age are an indication that we are near to the end of the world.” What is consoling in these gloomy phrases, many will ask? This was written more than 4,500 years ago, by Atamou, scribe of Thebes, in Egypt, in the year 2,500 BC.

So before condemning our young people today, please understand that things could have been much worse in ages past. After seeing so many energetic and enthusiastic young people gather around Pope Francis a month ago in Lisbon for WYD, we should be grateful that a nice percentage of our younger generation still have precious values they cherish, and a good Christian upbringing, which they will hopefully pass on to their offspring. Pope John Paul II spoke in a more hopeful way in late 1979, when speaking to his Cardinals: “Young people, in their various phases from adolescence to the doorstep of marriage are righteous, generous, thirsty for the truth, for justice; they turn to the Church with renewed interest and with a profound desire for a clear reply to the fundamental questions of life… But I think also of the obscure realities which menace this potential richness of life.”

St Teresa of Calcutta

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the tiny woman recognized throughout the world for her work among the poorest of the poor, was canonized on September 4, 2016. Among those present were hundreds of Missionaries of Charity, the order she founded in 1950 as a diocesan religious community. Today the congregation also includes contemplative sisters and brothers and an order of priests.

Born on August 27, 1919 to Albanian parents in what is now Skopje, Macedonia (then part of the Ottoman Empire), Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was the youngest of the three children who survived. For a time, the family lived comfortably, and her father's construction business thrived. But life changed overnight following his unexpected death.
During her years in public school Agnes participated in a Catholic sodality and showed a strong interest in the foreign missions. At age 18 she entered the Loreto Sisters of Dublin, Ireland. It was 1928 when she said goodbye to her mother for the final time and made her way to a new land and a new life. The following year she was sent to the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling, India. There she chose the name Teresa and prepared for a life of service. She was assigned to a high school for girls in Calcutta, where she taught history and geography to the daughters of the wealthy. But she could not escape the realities around her—the poverty, the suffering, the overwhelming numbers of destitute people.
In 1946, while riding a train to Darjeeling to make a retreat, Sister Teresa heard what she later explained as “a call within a call. The message was clear. I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.” She also heard a call to give up her life with the Sisters of Loreto and, instead, to “follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor.” After receiving permission to leave Loreto, establish a new religious community and undertake her new work, she took a nursing course for several months. She returned to Calcutta, where she lived in the slums and opened a school for poor children. Dressed in a white sari and sandals (the ordinary dress of an Indian woman) she soon began getting to know her neighbors—especially the poor and sick—and getting to know their needs through visits.

The work was exhausting, but she was not alone for long. Volunteers who came to join her in the work, some of them former students, became the core of the Missionaries of Charity. Others helped by donating food, clothing, supplies, the use of buildings. In 1952 the city of Calcutta gave Mother Teresa a former hostel, which became a home for the dying and the destitute. As the order expanded, services were also offered to orphans, abandoned children, alcoholics, the aging, and street people. For the next four decades Mother Teresa worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor. Her love knew no bounds. Nor did her energy, as she crisscrossed the globe pleading for support and inviting others to see the face of Jesus in the poorest of the poor. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On September 5, 1997, God called her home, but her legacy of love lives on.

Just a teacher

Today I was a Nurse binding a hurt with the white bandage of compassion,
a Doctor healing a small broken world,
a Surgeon suturing a friendship together.
 
Today I was an Alchemist seeking gold in base metals,
a Scientist answering endless whys,
a Philosopher pondering elusive truths.
 
Today I was an Entertainer, refreshing young minds with laughter,
a Fisherman dangling learning as a bait,
a Pilot guiding youth away from ignorance.
 
Today I was a General campaigning against intolerance,
a Lawyer speaking out for brotherhood,
a Juror weighing right and wrong,
 
Today I was a Philanthropist sharing the might of the past,
a Mother wholly giving love,
a Priest giving hope and sharing faith to those who have lost them,
a humble Follower of truth.
 
I am just a Teacher.