The term ‘prophet’ is derived from the Greek word for someone who speaks in the name of another. In the biblical sense, a prophet is someone who has received a particular mission from God and is enriched by a particular charisma. He speaks to man in the name of God; therefore he is His spokesman.
It is erroneous to think of a prophet as someone who announces the future.
A prophet is a speaker, a herald or, better still, a person who is called by God to speak in His name.
Prophets are the interpreters of God. They proclaim the words of God to the people. They see what is hidden to man, revealing what God wants to communicate. Prophets see what God wants to communicate about the people’s present needs and future events.
Prophets, as God’s spokespersons, do not present themselves to people only to announce divine wishes through words but also to teach and to predict facts that are usually preceded by strange events meant to attract the people’s attention and curiosity.
We have many people who play the role of prophets for young people in Malta. Youth, in itself, is a promise for the future, so we all look at young people with a certain interest.
The most important institutions of our society, like the State, the Church and the family, are interested in young people today.
These institutions are more interested in what they can get in return than in the young people themselves and their efforts towards self-realisation.
One of the problems faced by young people today is truth. Where is the truth or who has the real truth? The prophet used to announce the truth.
At the moment, we are living a culture of crisis and the first to suffer are the young. Very often, they are carried away on the spur of the moment and the decisions they make do not help them realise themselves and build their future.
Young people today do not accept half-measures. They expect messages coming from any institutions to be very clear. But do institutions in Malta respect this? Are they able to speak clearly? Are they authentic in the contents of their messages? Are they false or true prophets to young people today? Young people in search of truth fall into a crisis when they realise they have been deceived.
I think certain important issues in the life of young people will always remain an enigma. They are not addressed because institutions have a lot to lose. We need to be clear with young people if we want them to trust us.
The family set-up offers a good example. Everybody acknowledges the importance of the role of the family in the formation of the future of our young people. But is the family playing the right role in relation to children?
“I am afraid that, sometimes, parents score very poorly in ethics and morality- Fr Charles Cini
What type of witness do children receive from their families? We know that to educate means to walk with, to dialogue, to be at the service of, to love with sacrifice.
Why are Maltese families facing so many problems today?
Young people must be educated to feel secure, to be able to choose, to fight strongly against negative currents.
I am afraid that, sometimes, parents score very poorly in ethics and morality. We seem to have given up the true principles on which we used to build our families.
How can we solve many of the problems we have with young people if we are unable to instil in their hearts a real pattern of life based on true and solid principles?
I am thinking of issues like love, sex, contraception, abortion, marriage, drugs, alcohol and AIDS, which families very often fail to discuss. And because young people are weak by nature, they then turn to false prophets without solving their everyday problems.
Ambiguous ideologies and, sometimes, even anticlericalism are misleading.
Parents have also received a mission from God to speak to their children in His name. They have a duty to see their future and to interpret the various difficult situations that young people will find themselves in. Their task is to identify the needs and realities of their children. What a difficult job it is and how great would be their responsibility if they become false rather than true prophets for their children.
I conclude with a question: Where do we want to lead our young people?
I am sure there is no easy answer but the more we are confused the more our young people will find life awkward.
Let us be sincere with ourselves. Let us shed our inhibitions.
Let us be more dedicated to our mission. Let us put more sacrifice in the art of educating our young people. Let us profess what we believe.
The great moment of truth has arrived for each and every one of us.
We must listen to our conscience, which urges us to act now; to give our young the security they need; to defend their dignity and their rights and to offer them the truth.
Fr Charles Cini is a member of the Salesians of Don Bosco.