Recently I have met a homeless man who really struck a chord in my life. He asked me the following question: “Why is the Dead Sea dead?” Honestly I was not prepared to answer this question, simply because I did not know the answer. Then he resumed. “See. The river Jordan is full of life. It gives all the time. Yet the Dead Sea is a closed sea. And because it is so, it is dead because it cannot give. When you preach tell your parishioners to give lest they become a dead sea themselves.”

What a nice lesson to harbour!

The American philosopher and writer Elbert Hubbard wrote: “The love we give away is the only love we keep.” Love is planted and reaped like any other sown seed. Thus, love implies commitment. As it stands, it is our own responsibility if our lives become cemeteries or gardens of relief, comfort and harmony. The secret is one: giving. As the prayer attributed to St Francis says: “It is in giving that we receive.” The invitation is there ready to be taken seriously: let us become an overflowing river lest we end up being like a dead sea!

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap

San Gwann