Coming out of the church for her annual pilgrimage, Our Lady of Sorrows is very happy to see awaiting her, once again, massive crowds of devotees, with their loving and warm gaze fixed on her image under her Son’s cross.
Very much used to ponder things in her heart, she initiates a dialogue with her Son, through her thoughts.
“You see,” she says to Him, “they still love me and appreciate very much my mediation with you, on their behalf, in their moments of spiritual or material need.
“They know very well how much you mean to me,” replies her Son. “Many are the Maltese who sincerely treasure you as their heavenly mother. They also seek to follow your advice to do as I wish them to. Indeed, I see several genuine, good-hearted, honest and charitable Christians in the crowd. This is all very beautiful and appropriate. Still, I am afraid, not everything is fine and rosy in their communities.”
“I know,” whispers Mary, sadly.
“I am thoughtful, for instance, about the two big and fine buildings there are in this place, built and adorned by festa enthusiasts, housing two societies and każini dedicated to the feasts of two of my beloved saints.
“Of course, like so many other każini all over the island, they do their own good and positive work. Many are their members who are persons of good will. But then, if you observe certain individuals standing in front of one of these buildings, as well as the supporters from the other każin facing them on the other side of the road, what do you see, my dear Mother?”
Mary perceives sentiments of pique, animosity and envy, not of good will, affability and love, in the eyes and hearts of those concerned. Not only, but some of them are nattering very ugly things about supporters of the other każin and regarding certain persons in the crowd.
She knows that they are staunch enthusiasts of the festa not because they really love the saints and want to follow their examples to be able live as good Christians, but to satisfy their own worldly aims.
She knows that their zeal is nurtured more by their desire to invest in a greater feast than that of their rivals, for example with bigger and merrier go-as-you-please band marches, than because they truly want to celebrate the memory of the saints.
The deep pain Mary feels during the trading of insults between supporters of rival clubs when celebrating certain feasts, sometimes even in her honour, resurfaces in her heart.
Shifting her head in another direction with a sorrowful heart, Mary’s eyes meet those of a woman inaudibly addressing her, with tears in her eyes. The woman happens to be the mother of two grown-up sons who are not on speaking terms and livid at each other because, due to peer pressures, they ended up blindly supporting opposing political parties.
Then, very near, she observes the anguished face of a young mother who is a victim of domestic violence, accompanied by her three-year-old son and her anguished father, who is deeply troubled by the thoughts engulfing his mind about the mean partner of his daughter.
Mary perceives sentiments of pique, animosity and envy, not of good will, affability and love- Charles Buttigieg
“No wonder,” Mary reflects, “that the bishops, in their Lenten Pastoral Letter, stressed that it would be good for people to pray for the gift of unity among couples, families, within parishes and also within the Church.”
During her pilgrimage through the streets of the island, Mary continues to notice people and situations that remind her of a series of ailments hitting various members of the community.
These include victims of drug barons or usury sharks; persons caught in the clutches of the addiction to gambling, fomented as it is by certain contradictions that exist in our society; and people whose lives are destroyed by false witnesses or untrue and malicious accusations, such as through the abusive use of the traditional or social media.
They also include children caught in the turmoil of an indignant head-on clash between their parents; mothers weeping loved ones lost in construction mishaps, sometimes rooted in reckless behaviour; victims of irresponsible driving; good people who have suffered the traumatic experience of personal violence.
She also sees, with a very heavy heart, the dwellings of greedy and devious individuals; wrongdoers with their dirty hands full of bribery money or gifts; speculators whose god is money and who hold no love for the environment; wicked persons who deceive and double-cross even those who are good to them; cheaters in business activity or as taxpayers; people who speak peace to their neighbours but have evil in their hearts; spiteful gossipers; miserable humans who don’t know how or don’t want to forgive; and so many others who forget her Son’s commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Then, in front of a bar where some of those present are anxious to see her procession move on because they start feeling uneasy in their conscience, Mary overhears a man boasting that he never prays because he stopped believing; another maintaining, in a racist tone, that he never feels anything for boat people who die at sea because what happens is only their fault; and another, who has just arrived, swearing because his car broke down.
A little later, she also hears a chuckling guy speaking insensitively about the terrible happenings, deaths, suffering and ravages that the world has witnessed in the past months, in her beloved Palestine.
Mary returns to the church more sorrowful than ever before.
Positioned in front of an image of her crucified Son, the prince of love, mercy, healing and peace, she looks warmly at Him and heartily begs Him: “Dear Son, please continue to be patient, merciful and forgiving. Enlighten the minds of the brethren who lose their way. Reach out to their hearts. Grant them the graces they need to repent and return to your loving embrace.”
Charles Buttigieg is a former refugee commissioner.