National disgrace

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Paul Xuereb (‘Mind the potholes’, February 20) is quite right:  many of our streets in inhabited areas take ages – if ever – to be decently resurfaced.

Moreover, manhole covers are either fitted above road surfaces or left to subside beneath the tarmac. Also, pavements, once meant for walking safely, are often dirty, blocked by irresponsible people, badly constructed and hazardous to tread on. 

Joe Busuttil – Swieqi

Sustainability

I was watching the Wednesday evening debate from parliament during which members from both sides of the House bandied about endlessly the word sostenibilità.

But not one single MP had the courage to say that sustainability also comprises “knowing where and when to stop” with an activity.

Do these, our representatives, really know what they are talking about?

John Consiglio – Birkirkara

The teachings of Christ

‘God is dead.’ During these last two centuries, this cry has been loudly and repeatedly heard. With the great achievements in the fields of science and technology, the thought of the Transcendent has become almost irrelevant. Atheism is on the increase, especially among the young.

However, it is mystifying and rather contradictory that there are unbelievers who are reluctant to believe that they are risking ever entering heaven. This could happen not because God is not willing to receive them but because they flatly refuse to go there. How is it possible to accept an invitation to a feast when one does not believe the host even exists? God will never impose Himself on us by forcing us into a heaven which is considered to be a fable. He will always embrace us provided we recognise Him as the Lord.

Surveys often show the dwindling number of people attending church services. The problem is that Christianity is equated solely with Europe and the developed world. However, Christ never tied His church to any particular country or even continent. It all started in a country on the fringe of the Roman empire. But, as in the parable of the vineyard, the Good News was given to others who ‘would make fruit’. Jesus’s followers then moved on to preach the gospel to the pagan world.

Western man is arrogantly convinced that it is only in his world that Christianity could possibly exist. It is not so and other continents, especially, Africa, joyfully accept Christ’s Good News. In Nigeria, where Christians are persecuted and killed, there are the highest number of religious vocations.

Likewise, in pagan Rome, the more Christianity was persecuted the more it flourished.

As for post-Christian Europe, one can only remember Christ’s words that His followers are like the ‘light on a hill’ illuminating and giving hope to our broken, anxious and dysfunctional society.

Jacqueline Calleja – Naxxar