I think we are not living in a western style democracy: the workings of the FIAU were not investigated by the police who choose what to cover up and what to investigate. The media is not free (I remember the emails exchanged between Muscat and an RTK journalist), and those who offer themselves as leaders of the community use the rule of the mob to achieve their aims; how the PA chooses to implement its decisions, how the Ombudsman was humiliated when he criticized the promotions in the Armed Forces. We should be afraid as Daphne once wrote in her blog: the fear she felt when the police were at her door and she sent her son somewhere out in the fields with a computer.

We should have learnt from other countries and picked up only the good things. A humming bird and a vulture cover the same terrain. One looks for nectar and the other feeds on carcasses. The attacks on the Archbishop are unjust. He is right to defend the natural environment. Why do some rear up as if pricked when he speaks against corruption? Should we not all be against it? We should fight corruption at every level, which is why Fr George Preca told members of his Society never to accept gifts. That is why everybody, even doctors and lawyers, should provide a fiscal receipt. And a FIAU that is ignored by the police switches on a red light for those in their right mind.

In a democracy, the Archbishop is not attacked for saying the obvious. We can disagree with his views but not vilify him. It shows a fortress mentality that has not gotten over the perceived hurts of the past. But the Church, and this means the bishops, priests, catechists and lay people should continue teaching moral and spirit values and help people search for the truth. It is not true, as some are saying that the Catholic Church is slowly dying. Malta has Christian roots and what keeps our families resilient are our Christian values. Let us not build on pique but on what commitment to Jesus means in everyday life. Let us educate everyone both Labour and Nationalists: freely you have received; freely give (Mt 10: 8). It does not matter who is congratulated for the success. What is important is that we unworthy servants have done our duty (Lk 17:10).

A man once needed to give medicine to his big pet dog. He tried several times and each time the dog spilled the medicine. Then when the man gave up, the dog started licking the medicine off the spoon and the man realized that there was an easier way of administering it. We can put our message across without letting our ego stand in the way. A person normally accepts a message if it is not said with antagonism. Let us make friends with everyone so when tension kicks in, maybe the past friendship will help us overcome the hard times (Lk 16).

One last thought from the book Maus by Art Spiegelman: Life always takes the side of life and somehow the victims are blamed. But it wasn't the best people who survived, nor did the best ones die. It was random.

 

Joe Portelli

Nadur