From Mr J. Grech

Ms Caruana Galizia mentioned the Men for Christ prayer group in her article “The magic shoelace” (TMIS, 3 June). She rather dismissively stated that she “has noticed that many (of us) are retired or have undergone some life-changing crisis”. Correct, but only to a certain extent.

It is a fact that although there are “many” men connected with Men for Christ who are retired, most are not – the age range of the men on our address list is 30 to 80. But that is a detail, relevant only within the context of what little was written about us and how it was expressed.

The most important characteristic of Men for Christ, which Ms Caruana Galizia does not appear to have “noticed” and therefore omitted to mention, is that not just many, but most of the men who attend our meetings have, in fact, undergone a life-changing experience (an experience, not a crisis Ms Caruana Galizia!). This overwhelming experience occurs when a man meets and gets to know Christ in a manner one finds so difficult to describe. In fact, all we typically end up doing whenever we men find ourselves sharing this wonderful spiritual experience with others, is simply inviting them to “come and see” for themselves.

By the way, none of us sports a halo and we are all as human as the man-next-door; we have simply taken a decision to enter into a personal relationship with Christ and strive to do what He tells us – admittedly not an easy task in this day and age, and that’s where the importance of being part of a group comes in. Yes, we admit, it is a little bit like Alcoholics Anonymous – where we all support one another in a common effort to walk the good road and to get rid of the old bad habits. The main difference is that we don’t need to and don’t want to be “anonymous”!

It is unfortunate that Men for Christ caters solely for the male gender, otherwise we would have readily invited Ms Caruana Galizia to feel free to come to one of our monthly meetings and see for herself. On the other hand, we would like her to please consider this letter (which is being copied to her) as an open invitation for her to come and meet some of the men behind Men for Christ. We will gladly share our stories and experiences with her. We will tell her all about who we are, where we come from, what we stand for, and where we’re heading. She will then be able to judge for herself, rather than depend on hearsay and second-hand information.

There’s so much more in the article, which one feels tempted to comment upon, not least the disrespect shown towards us Catholics by belittling and ridiculing the process of sainthood and, thereby, our beloved saints. But we will best leave that to others and limit expressing ourselves on just this one other issue.

As men, as Maltese, and as practicing Catholics, we are indeed proud that the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House and the Leader of the Opposition, all of whom happen to be men, went to Rome for the canonisation of Dun Gorg Preca. We also applaud the decision taken by one of these dignitaries to kiss the hand of the man whom he regards as the successor of Saint Peter and the Vicar of Christ. As simple as that.

Finally, just in case your readers, male or female, young or old, wish to know more about Men for Christ (incidentally, we have just celebrated our first 10 years this month), they are very welcome to contact us by e-mail at [email protected].

Joseph Grech

for Men for Christ

NAXXAR