Gozo bishop Anton Teuma invited Gozitans and foreign residents in Gozo on Sunday to not shy away from any questions or feelings they may be experiencing, particularly during COVID-19 times but to seek the presence of God in their concerns.

In a pastoral letter, Teuma said: “Even today, God lends us his ear and makes our troubles and afflictions his own. That is what he did with the Jewish people during their slavery in Egypt and later during their exile in Babylon. For this to come about we must acknowledge that left to our own devices we can never provide adequate answers to searing questions.”

He urged Gozitans and residents to participate personally whenever possible in the celebrations held in parishes in preparation for Christmas, even online.
“The period leading up to Christmas, which we call Advent, of itself entails the posing of questions and an active waiting. In the prevailing uncertain times, it is very easy to conclude that God has abandoned us to our fate! Or that he does not exist! Or that if he does, then he simply does not care. 

“Could it be that these conclusions denote that up till now we have always carried on under our own steam? Could it be that taken up as we are with the hectic lifestyle forever immersed in work, we have been tricked into believing that we can do it all on our own? Could it be that God comes to mind only when things go awry,” he asks, along with a series of other questions.

Teuma says that in the Holy Scriptures, every time the people of God turned to him with questions, God did not disappoint. “The worse that could happen is that we suppress emerging questions and smother profound feelings in our hearts because we have decidedly lost hope,” he says.

Teuma’s pastoral letter can be read, in English or Maltese, in the pdf links below.