In this materialistic world, where greed and instant gratification are god, calls to return to basics are not likely to go down well.
Gozo Bishop Anton Teuma must, therefore, be commended for not fearing to go against the grain and make one such heartfelt appeal.
His supplication to go back to basics and return to Christian values touched on both the mundane and the spiritual.
What is the point of having rich churches if the naves are empty most of the time?
Why spend money on big houses with luxury interiors whose inhabitants are broken families?
Does it make sense to see construction going on incessantly and everywhere when young families find it increasingly difficult to afford housing?
Is it correct for lavish village festa activities to be mere opportunities to indulge in unbridled drink and drugs rather than an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate in unity?
Was the bishop daydreaming when he said he preferred to see less rich people but able to better care for each other and the poor? Was he hoping against hope poverty will ever be eliminated for good?
Unlikely. He was raising the same point Jesus wanted to make: “The poor you will always have with you” (Mk 14:7).
In his message for the World Day of the Poor in 2021, Pope Francis interpreted that as meaning that, though the poor will always be with us, we should not become indifferent and, instead, adopt “a mutual sharing of life that does not allow proxies”.
The pontiff distinguished between the occasional almsgiving and the enduring mutual sharing.
Is it not that what the Gozo bishop was talking about too?
Such talk should push each of us to be fully aware of the manner in which the constant race to wealth can and does lead to new forms of poverty.
The pope spoke of a “market that ignores ethical principles, or picks and chooses from among them” and that “creates inhumane conditions for people already in precarious situations”.
He noted “the creation of new traps of poverty and exclusion, set by unscrupulous economic and financial actors lacking in a humanitarian sense and in social responsibility”.
That must have been what Bishop Teuma had in mind. Archbishop Charles Scicluna had spoken on the same lines on Independence Day last September when he referred to an economic system “that does not work in favour of everyone, that destroys the environment and that results in a diminished quality of life”.
Pope Francis has urged governments and world institutions to go for a “farsighted social model” that counters the new forms of poverty.
Still, GDP is often the yardstick used – and flaunted by governments, including ours – to boast how strong the economy is and how well off people are. Still, it cannot be considered as a measure of welfare.
In a report earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund noted that, though the Maltese economy made an “impressive” recovery post-pandemic, income inequality and the risk of poverty appear to be on the rise.
Official figures show that people at the risk of poverty have well exceeded the 100,000 mark and those severely or materially deprived approach 30,000. There are now soup kitchens in at least five localities and the Franciscans distributed more than 98,000 lunches and 22,000 packed suppers just from their soup kitchen in Valletta.
We simply cannot continue on this vicious cycle where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We really do need go back to basics.