Having read the book by Pope Francis 'Let us dream. The path of better future' (Simon and Schuster UK Ltd- 2020), it struck me that, perhaps, the Holy Father had something to tell us Maltese too.

“We are living in a time of trial”, he writes. The same is happening in Malta. The Bible talks of going through fire to describe such trials, like a kiln testing the potter’s handiwork (Sirach, 27:5).

When going through a crisis of crisis, you get both good and bad. In a crisis, there is always the temptation to retreat.

Is Malta, today, in a crisis of faith, principles, values and, especially, direction of where it wants to go?

It is in search of easy principles and inclined to give up the truth, obliterate our history and the beautiful and, instead, build our own ethics on satisfaction, money and power.

We are not able to have priorities. We do not care what others did to build Malta of today.

“In moments of crisis,” the pope writes, “people reveal themselves as they are. Some spend themselves in the service of those in need and some get rich at the expense of other people’s needs.”

We must not be indifferent and the pontiff tells us why:

“Indifference blocks the Spirit by closing us to the possibilities that God is waiting to offer us, possibilities that overflow our mental schemes and categories. Indifference doesn’t let you feel the motions of the Spirit that this crisis must provoke in our hearts. It blocks the chance of discernment.”

I wonder: is this what is happening in Malta today?

Let me quote more of what Francis has to say.

“The media also have their pathologies: disinformation, defamation and a fascination with scandal. Some media are caught up in the post-truth culture, where facts matter much less than impact, seizing narratives as a way to wield power. The most corrupt media are those that pander to their readers and viewers, twisting the facts to suit their prejudices and fears…

“Some wanted to project on to the past the history they would like to have now, which requires them to cancel what came before. But it should be the other way round.

"For there to be true history there must be memory, which demands that we acknowledge the paths already trod, even if they are shameful.

“Amputating history can make us lose our memory, which is one of the few remedies we have against repeating the mistakes of the past. A free people is a people that remembers, is able to own its history, rather than deny it, and learns its best lessons.

“First: we need a respectful, mutual listening, free of ideology and predetermined agendas. The aim is not to reach agreement by means of a contest between opposing positions but to journey together to seek God’s will, allowing differences to harmonise.

Is Malta, today, in a crisis of faith, principles, values and, especially, direction of where it wants to go?- Fr Charles Cini

“Second: sometimes, this new thing means resolving disputed questions through overflow. Breakthroughs happen, often at the last minute, leading to a meeting of the minds that allows us to move forward. But the overflow might equally mean an invitation to change our way of thinking and our lenses, to shed our rigidity and our agendas and look in places we never noticed before. Ours is a God of surprises, who is always ahead of us.

“Third: This is a patient process, which does not come easily to our impatient age when, perhaps, in lockdown, we have learned better how to approach it.”

We have now arrived at a stage: a “time to act”. It is time to face the crisis we are in. To act and make decisions.

It is not wise to remain static because, with such an attitude, we destroy ourselves, our history and, especially, our future. Everyone is responsible for what is happening in Malta and Gozo. But some are powerful more than others.

When Jesus used to talk to the people, He used to be very clear to His listeners.

The Holy Father explains in his book: “This is what Jesus meant when he said you cannot serve both God and money. In our lives, just as in our societies, if you put money at the centre, you enter the pattern of sacrifice: whatever the human cost or the damage to the environment, the tower must go higher and higher. But when you put people’s dignity at the centre, you create a new logic of mercy and of care.”

He continues:

“We need politicians who burn with the mission to secure for their people the three Ls of land, lodging and labour as well as education and healthcare. That means politicians with broader horizons, who can open new ways for the people to organise and express themselves. It means politicians who serve the people rather than who make use of them, who walk with those they represent, who carry with them the smell of the neighbourhoods they serve. This kind of politics will be the best antidote to corruption in all its forms.”

I finish with a message by the pope which invites us to stop, think and decide for our future in Malta.

“When the accumulation of wealth becomes our chief goal, whether as individuals or as an economy, we practise a form of idolatry that put us in chains.”

Jesus said we cannot serve two: God and money. We have to choose God if we want to live happily. We have to build a home and an environment where everyone is the same, with his dignity, rights and originality.

Please, let us take care of Malta and Gozo.

The US Transport Secretary of Maltese descent, Pete Buttigieg, said that “you cannot love your country if you hate half of the people who are in it”.