Those who have written letters giving the poor quality of homilies at Sunday Mass as a reason for non attendance – in some cases even complete loss of faith in the Catholic Church – are in need of encouragement and certainly not condemnation nor ridicule.

What such people need to realise is that the homily is but a small part of the Mass celebration, the climax of which is the Eucharist and the invitation to all to refresh our souls and ourselves by participating in it. When we receive the consecrated host we are sharing the body and blood of Christ. Jesus instituted this sacrament at the last supper with his apostles when he broke the bread and shared this with them in the upper room before His passion and death on the cross.

If one does not fully realise the significance of this supreme moment of the Eucharistic celebration surely one cannot appreciate what attendance at Mass really means to one’s self and well being!

I will not quote Scripture in support of what I say above as other contributors have already done so eloquently. I will only quote from a book Let us give thanks, which I read this summer, written by Fr Cormac Rigby a parish priest in England.

I do so because Fr Cormac is no ordinary priest. This is because he had a late vocation and for most of his life he lived as a layman faithful to his Catholic upbringing. He had a very successful career as a BBC announcer for 20 years and was a renowned commentator on the arts especially on ballet.

Yet, at a late stage in life he felt that his life was as yet unfulfilled and he joined a seminary. He was ordained by the late Cardinal Basil Hume in 1988 and soon afterwards became parish priest of St William in York. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and his activities were curtailed.

Yet, from the day of his ordination he never omitted celebrating Mass every day. I now quote two extracts from his book which are particularly relevant: “The single most important decision I ever made, 30 years before I became a priest, was to go to Mass every day.

“Yes, I know that the commandments say it is our duty to keep holy only one day in seven – what I’m saying is that love tells us that it is our privilege to keep holy every single day of our lives.

“Once we’ve been to Mass on Sunday we’ve obeyed the law and fulfilled the demands of the rota. But daily Mass is the call of nature, the privilege of love, the nourishing of the soul. Not a duty, not a chore, but an act of love.”

Coming as they do from someone who was called to the priesthood late in life, and who has made a name for himself with his down-to-earth sermons, readers may agree with my view that the above exhortations are more effective in reversing the trend of decreasing Sunday Mass attendance in Malta than “fire and brimstone” sermons!

It is accepted that not everyone finds the time, or has the inclination, for participating daily in the Eucharistic celebration. But how is it possible that one denies oneself the privilege of receiving the Eucharist at least once a week? Over the years I have heard some bad but also many good sermons. To use the former as an excuse for not attending Mass on Sundays surely is a rather puerile excuse.

To those who are still struggling with their conscience, because they cannot get themselves to obey what is, after all, one of God’s commandments, I would strongly advocate, as a first step, frequent visits to one of the adoration chapels that have sprung up in various parts of Malta over the past few years. There one can pray in the peace and quiet of these chapels away from all other distractions that one might be confronted with in a larger congregation at Mass.

For the younger generation in the habit of frequenting places of entertainment in the Paceville area, I cannot but recommend regular visits to the Augustinian Millennium Chapel. This is open from 9am to 2am, a full 17 hours. So finding a few minutes occasionally should be quite feasible.

It is amazing what miracles moments of complete silence before the Eucharist can make! It takes only a small spark to make one realise what one is missing by not joining the community at Mass and receiving the Eucharist at least weekly.

Anthony R. Curmi

St Julian’s