Over the years, many have criticised the bishops for not issuing enough confrontational pastoral letters. However, the latest pastoral letter for Advent, entitled “The courage to renew oneself”, shows the bishops’ determination to help build up a Church that is full of zeal for her founder, Jesus Christ, as well as readily available to hold dialogues with other entities in society in the same spirit and vision of her divine founder.

The bishops boldly acknowledge the inner resistance of people within the Church who do not want to change. “There are people who would reason that it is better not to stir stagnant water because it will create an unpleasant odour!” Unfortunately, such members do more harm than good to the people of God since they have rendered the Church as being “no more than a historical museum”.

The problem is omnipresent in Christ’s mystical body, starting from top to bottom. For instance, the “leaders” need to “question whether certain teachings, attitudes, projects and religious customs are actually the fruit of the Spirit who works in the Church, or rather fruits which are borne out of … personal initiatives only”.

Furthermore, the spiritual malaise of inertia is also to be found in the practice of the faith. The bishops sadly note that religious customs has turned religion into a mere convention, “the Word of God has been rendered too cheap”, prayer has become a matter of routine to the point that it ended up being a burden rather than a loving personal meeting with God, participation in the Mass degraded itself into customary attendance, and the receiving of the sacraments by some Christians has been simply tantamount to social convention.

Such destructive attitudes are practically eroding the work of the Spirit within ecclesial communities. Some have resigned themselves and have tragically become “at ease with the idea of resting upon their laurels and relying upon their usual routine, with the result that their message is repetitive and their rituals do not change”. Others are, incredibly, burying their heads in the sands by dwelling “nostalgically on the past. In many cases, we are still speaking in yesterday’s language and using methods of the past, in spite of the fact that we are aware of the great risk we are taking by doing so, because that language and those methods are no longer comprehended in this day and age”.

To add insult to injury, the weakening of the ecclesial spirit by sheer habitualness is opening the way to abuse, laxity and mediocrity. The bishops said: “Habitualness is a condition which has infiltrated various aspects of human activity. In marriage and the family, it is easy to become familiar with one another, with the result that we become careless in our relations. Over-confidence in commercial circles leads to a lack of control and this encourages theft. In the field of health care, there is the danger of the patient being viewed as being merely a number, if not even a means of profit.

“When things are done out of habit, as is often the case in the world of politics, administration, education and journalism, these no longer remain to be efficacious tools. Rather they become a means by which people seek out their own interests.”

The only way forward is what the bishops term as “a programme of renewal”. This consists of an “internal renewal within the community of the Church, especially where the ‘altar of the Word’ is concerned; the relationship between the ecclesial community and the world around us; [the] sharing [of] our theological, spiritual and ethical patrimony, with the hope that this will stimulate renewal which will urge us to shift from our present standpoint and move forward; [the adoption] of structures recommended by the Council, such as the Presbyteral Councils and the Parish Councils;… [and] ‘renewed’ people and communities who are conscious of their duty to practice and transmit the spirit of Christ in order that we may have ‘new heavens and new earth’ (2 Pet 3:13).”

Are we bold enough to take up the bishops’ invitation and putting it into practice by letting the Holy Spirit constantly renew us as a Church?

Mario Attard OFM Cap