Looking to Scripture one notices that, on numerous occasions, Christians are invited to be “witnesses”. Acts 1:8, for example, says: “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. … But what exactly does it mean for one to be a witness? On this matter, St Augustine writes that, “to be a witness for Jesus means that you speak about Jesus to others with your actions and words”. A more expressive definition is the following:

A witness is a person who calls attention to something other than himself, one who is called upon to give—or to be—evidence of something. He gives—or is—witness. All true religious witness is an exteriorization of inner commitment; it transmits truth to others in a living way. A witness is a person totally given to God and his fellow men. There are three elements in this Christian witness: message, signs to convince, divine helps to awaken and draw others to God.

In reading the above, perhaps a level of scepticism could befall us.  In today’s world, how effective is it to ‘attend to something other than myself’? More specifically, how would I be helping others if I ‘exteriorised’ my inner commitment and my personal relationship with God? … How can I authentically do this?

Rajesh Mohur’s Profound Search For God

Born in Mauritius, Rajesh Mohur was a Hindu from a family of the Brahmin caste, the highest Hindu caste. His father was a priest and president of the Hindu Association of Mauritius. He taught his son all the Hindu prayers and instilled religious culture and history in him. Rajesh narrates how: ‘‘[My father] used to teach me from the early beginning about all of their prayers … about the scriptures, Indian scriptures”. Eventually, at the age of 16, Rajesh was sent to Gujarat to continue his studies.

After gaining admission to a university, Rajesh graduated with a degree in physics. During his time there, he was even more fully immersed in Hindu culture and religious practice. ‘‘I’ve been to so many temples. I met so many gurus in the meditation center, and I met swamis”, Rajesh recalls here.  ‘‘I witnessed all of those places. It was peaceful, you know. Nice. But your life doesn’t change. … I was in search of a living God.’’

‘‘My journey was always to find something that … from myself, deep down, I could not fulfil.”

Just as he was about to enrol in a master’s program in England, Rajesh learned of his father’s death. As a result, he soon returned to Mauritius to help his family, who were facing financial problems. Full of anger and bitterness, Rajesh took refuge in Hindu prayer, but was unable to find solace.

‘‘And then I met Carlo, such a small child’’, Mohur remembers.

Touched in the Heart by a Child

Rajesh’s first impression of Carlo Acutis, with his brown curly hair, was that he looked like the little cherubs seen in paintings and sculptures around Milan. On his second day working for the family, Mohur recounts that little Carlo approached him with a big smile and a gift — a piece of chewing gum. And on rainy days, Carlo would sometimes watch videotapes of cartoons based on the Bible and the lives of the saints together with Rajesh, who watched with interest because he had not had much exposure to Catholicism.

After Carlo made his first Communion at the age of 7, Rajesh would walk with him to the church around the corner from his house for Mass or to pray on his way to and from school.  This is because Carlo enjoyed going to church regularly to pray before or after school. It was there that Rajesh witnessed young Carlo’s soul blossoming like beautiful roses in spring!

“His behaviour changed when he was inside the church, with all respect. He knew that there was something different where Jesus lives…. That touched my heart,” recalls Rajesh.

But the young boy’s generosity with others and the way he spoke about his faith was what ultimately converted Rajesh. He confesses, “seeing Carlo’s acts, you know, (the acts) of such a small child, that was what converted me”.

Speaking of God with a “Sweetness”

One particular trait of Carlo was his tendency and eagerness to talk to Mohur about the things that he loved: heaven, the Mass, and the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. He explained everything with ‘‘such a sweetness”, Rajesh writes. ‘‘He always talked about the Eucharist, Jesus, how he suffered for us … sacrificed his life for us’’

‘‘Carlo, told me that wherever you go, you may find Jesus present in Flesh, Soul, and Blood [in the tabernacle].’’ Here, Rajesh would ask Carlo how such a thing could be possible, and then the boy would explain the Eucharist to him, along with other aspects of the faith.

“He did this so sweetly. It felt as if we had already gone up to heaven.”

Finally, as he grew up, Carlo taught Rajesh to pray the Rosary, and explained to him the the importance of the sacraments and other truths of the faith. “He knew the Catechism of the Catholic Church almost by heart and explained it so brilliantly that he managed to get me excited about the sacraments”, says Rajesh. When he then told Carlo that he had been having dreams about Jesus, Carlo responded, “Jesus loves you, Rajesh.”

Encountering the Living God

‘‘So, slowly, slowly … he used to tell me the importance of baptism and so many other things also’ … all those experiences changed my life. And I could see the living God’’. Four years after first meeting Carlo, Rajesh was baptized. He was in his late 30s at the time, and as an adult entering the Catholic Church, he received at once all the Catholic sacraments of initiation: baptism, first communion, and confirmation in a Mass at Acutis’ parish in 1999.

Carlo’s family threw a party afterward for Rajesh and his friends, sharing sweets and snacks at their apartment. Mohur let Carlo pick where to go out for dinner. He said that Carlo proposed: ‘‘Let’s go to the Chinese restaurant today because it’s a special day.’’  Mohur joked in reply: ‘‘It’s special for me, but it’s more special for you because you like Chinese food’.’ Joking aside, Acutis later told his parents: ‘‘There are many people who do not realize what an infinite gift it is to receive baptism’’.

Carlo’s (and our) Role In All This

How did Carlo manage to get Rajesh “excited about the sacraments”? How did he “touch his heart”? How did he help Rajesh discover the “infinite gift of baptism”? Surely, God and His grace played a role in all this. But there must have been something more –

Carlo’s total co-operation with God! This was not a co-operation that was done out of mere ‘duty’, ‘habit’ or ‘ritual’ – but a co-operation done out of love; within a living relationship of love! Indeed, it was not only Carlo’s versed knowledge of the Catholic Faith and the Catechism, it was not only his ability to outline the reasoning behind the Faith with a sweetness – these are all crucial and important – but it was also his living witness to a living God. It was Carlo’s selfless love – which permeated all his actions and thoughts. It was love – integrated with love for the other and for all creation – that healed Rajesh and showed him, ultimately, the true identity of that God whom he had been searching for all his life.

We too are called to ‘attend to something other than our self’. And although we may not be called to do this in the same way Carlo did – we are certainly called to express the same degree of love (if not more)! Learning love’s ropes is an infinite journey in itself, but God never denies our search or any request for help. We may even begin from the very beginning and simply ask God to cultivate within us the desire to love – or to understand what it means to love in a fuller and more holistic way. So, let’s just try to ask. Through love, we shall most certainly be given!

Read More –

Are We All Called to Be Disciples?

Science-and-God

The post From Hindu to Catholic: The Beautiful Effects of Witnessing Jesus! appeared first on Universe of Faith.

I’m very patriotic when it comes to language, literature, and culture, but not so with music. When it comes to choosing between Malta Eurovision Song Contest and Sanremo, I choose the latter. Just to clarify, by ‘following’ I mean scrolling through the songs on my smartphone, since I neither have a television nor enough patience and time to spend in front of a light emitting box.

For the Ariston Theatre, this year’s concert was a good one because many of the songs that made it to the final stage were somewhat beautiful in their style, melody, or lyrics. Even if initially I didn’t give it too much importance, one of the songs that struck me most was Tango by Tananai, which placed fifth.

After hearing it for several times and watched the music video, I realised that this was a contemporary masterpiece. To put you in context, it speaks of two lovers separated by the war in Ukraine. The music video is made up of a divided screen, with clips of her and their daughter (both refugees in Italy) on the left, and on the right, clips shot by him; an inexperienced soldier, back in Ukraine during their daily video calls.

To some extent it’s a typical Italian love ballad, with statements featuring the desire to return to the day they met and reverse the events so that they won’t be suffering of a love-story lived at a distance. However, there are also a couple of disturbing lines that almost shook me and made me struggle to bring out their real meaning after reading through the lyrics repeatedly. The last lines of the pre-chorus and the opening lines of the chorus are as follow:

Lo so quanto ti manco, ma chissà perché Dio

Ci pesta come un tango e ci fa dire

Amore tra le palazzine a fuoco

La tua voce riconosco …

When I heard “God” and “tango” in such proximity, a repressed memory from my secondary school years came to the fore: the stupid song called ‘Lord of the Dance’ which we sang during mass and which I hated wholeheartedly. Moreover, it’s quite weird to imagine God dancing tango, being a Trinity and not a couple (apologies for the blasphemy). But what’s most harsh about these few words is that it’s as if God is trampling on them like in a tango dance because of this horrendous experience they’re going through, and yet the singer somewhat acknowledges that it is God that makes them say, “my love,” even in the midst of broken buildings and explosions.

This paradox has baffled theologians and philosophers for millennia, and they only managed to reach partial answers which are either too logical to touch the heart, or too sentimental to make a cohesive argument. However, I cannot stop listening to these verses because, let’s face it, as we pray in the Our Fathers’—“and lead us not into temptation”—we know that in life we pass through many trials, and ‘faith’ removes nothing from the suffering to be endured.

In a sense, sometimes, only poetry, music, and art can transmit the belief that God is there, even amid our hells, and that it is only love that makes hell bearable, both that of our loved ones and also His love—which is not always easy to see and verify.

Yet God’s love guides our stories, both in their highs and also in their lows. God’s love endures even when we promise that on a Monday we’ll be back, but have little faith that Monday will ever come (Io tornerò un lunedì/Ma non è mai lunedì). Love makes our hearts beat and it itself sows small seeds of love amid deserts.

So, back to the question, “Tananai’s Tango and… God?”… I think this art-piece succeeds at showing that only God, while sometimes apparently trampling on us in the dance of his love for us, makes us capable of loving (i.e., even when we are living through hell on earth). He who is love itself, gives us the grace to not give into doubt, fear, anxiety, or egoism. Indeed, and here, in being transformed into God’s nature, we become selfless like him. Through love and being loved, we become love.

It is only if we sow love that humanity will be able to reap the fruit of love one day. This fruit is not a forbidden fruit, but a fruit that God wishes us to feed on abundantly!

Read More –

Top-popes-quotes-about-sacred-music/

The post Tananai’s Tango and… God? appeared first on Universe of Faith.

Easter has always been my favourite Celebration. Since I was little girl, I always liked to remember the passion of Christ and the deep “love-message” behind it. Unfortunately, I think that we as human beings often forget about the importance of loving, about True Love:

Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other (John 13:34)

A Universal Call to Love

This is the primary message that I think God is telling us this Easter. When we have God “fully alive” inside of our hearts, when we have our eyes on Him, then we are able to see Him in the “faces” of the people around us too. God helps us to see the divinity in our fellow friends (and even of strangers).

This Easter, God is especially calling us to open our hearts to our enemies and to all of the people that are hard for us to love or to even care about.  He is calling us to be more welcoming and less exclusive. Indeed, it is important to remind ourselves of our place on this Earth (of our role as human beings made in God’s image) and of the mission that we are all called to uniquely accomplish.

So along the way, remember to follow God’s steps and to do what He’s calling you to do! A friend of mine once said that following God’s will means loving. If you do things for others with Christ’s love and show it with joy and compassion, then you’re already fulfilling His will.

Love requires Sacrifice

But love also requires sacrifice in different aspects. At the end of the day, love is about sacrifices that are worth making. Even if it feels like it doesn’t make sense, even if it feels painful, even if you don’t feel sure of it, if God is calling you to do it, trust the word of your Lord and reassure your heart with His presence.

Thus, let’s all try to listen to what God is calling us to do this Easter. Let’s try to love more. We must remember Jesus’s sacrifice and see it as a way to be better people.  Not just better Christians, but better human beings. Only with love and a good dedication to others, can we live a fulfilled life! Ultimately, Christ’s love is a guide: a sign to us that proves that love always has the final word – and that Easter is a precious Personal call to Love, a call that leads to Freedom.

To end this reflection of mine, I’d like to leave you with a message, hoping that it might touch your heart and help you to make a change in your life. I strongly believe that we were put on this Earth to live for others, not for ourselves. So make a good use of your love! 🙂

Wishing everyone a happy Easter!

Lisa Grimaldi.

The post Easter – A Personal Call to Love appeared first on Universe of Faith.

If you have had the opportunity to read or instead watch the film Dune (i.e., which if you haven’t yet, you should, considering it stars some incredible actors such as Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya) you might be familiar with these phrases: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain”.

Just from reading this, one can immediately sense that Frank Herbert, the author, had a very profound intuition into the fundamental realities of existence. Indeed, Herbert is here tapping into one of humanities lengthiest struggles since time in memorial.

Fearing Death

We have all in one way or another experienced fear and its detrimental effects. But I think one of the core fears that we must inevitably face is that of death. So much so that it has almost become taboo to even mention in today’s culture.

Yet without sometimes even being aware of it, we incessantly experience ‘little deaths’, as Herbert puts it. Whether it be discontent at the workplace, financial issues, illness, maybe you’re mocked/humiliated or you’re going through countless quarrels at home, or perhaps, even more severe, you might feel worthless and lost – you mention it – all of these can then trigger even more fears within us and the vicious cycle begins. In other words, like Jesus, it might just well be that right now you feel somewhat ‘crucified’ – defenceless, desperate, completely and utterly exhausted.

Jesus providentially spent three hours hanging on the cross, however, most victims would last there for days – potentially even weeks under excruciating (i.e., a word which means ‘from the cross’) torment. How long have you been hanging from your cross?

Remembering The Resurrection

It is at these moments when we recall an event that occurred around two centuries ago which completely revolutionised our reality – the Resurrection. It is through the Resurrection that Jesus conquers one of, if not the most inherent and inevitable fears within us all; in turn giving life to some of the deepest desires within our hearts.

Jesus affirms that the ‘little-deaths’ and eventually the ‘big-death’ is not something to fear but rather a process of attaining the best of ourselves. As Jesus himself allegorises, in order for a tree to grow, the seed must die. From a microscopic perspective, around three-hundred million cells in a human body die every minute in order for new ones to flourish. I also just recently discovered that the pearl of an oyster is in actual fact the result of a healed wound. This is consequentially and literally what Jesus accomplishes on the cross! He gathers up our pains, our sufferings, our loses, our ‘little-deaths’ and ultimately even our ‘big-death’ and, as Tim Odell beautifully sings in his song ‘Heal’, “like an empty sail that takes the wind”, Jesus transforms them into healing, triumph and ultimately life, all through His Resurrection.

As Dr Scott Hahn, in his ambiguously titled book ‘Hope to Die’ articulates, “we were made for life. We were made for joy…and in Christ that life and joy are already ours”. Further on, Dr Hahn remarks that, “we have nothing to fear from the terrors of the world…they cannot rob us of the hope that fills us – the hope of eternal life”. And this is exactly what we all ultimately desire, whether we are aware of it or not, “eternal life”. Therefore, if I could now rephrase Herbert’s quote, “[w]here the fear has gone there will be nothing [left in the tomb]. Only [Jesus] will remain”.

In light of all this, it doesn’t come to much of a surprise that one of the first things that Jesus utters to the women coming to the tomb post-Resurrection is, “[d]o not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:10). Remembering the resurrection, therefore, is more than us recalling a past-event; it entails us immersing our self in the present in the events that Christ himself experienced.

Be Not Afraid

This is not, however, the first time that God has spoken to our subterranean desires, encouraging us to be free of fear. As a matter of fact, within the pages of Scripture, the phrase ‘fear not’ (or equivalent translations) appears only slightly over one-hundred times in the Old Testament, as well as about forty-four times in the New Testament.

This is, in essence, the life Jesus calls all of us to live. To live life knowing that no failure, no distress, no discontent and not even death itself has the final word. It is through this way of life that we can also boldly acclaim, “I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me”.

The post How Easter Speaks To Some Of The Most Essential Desires Within Us appeared first on Universe of Faith.

“The future has many faces”.

Without making any reference to the company that uses this slogan, I found it quite surprising to see such a philosophical statement used as an advert in our useless bus shelters (i.e., unless they’re to be used as greenhouses during summer or as bathroom cubicles during winter).

But at least, by claiming that the future has many faces, the advert departs from a deeply ingrained deterministic mind-set of us Maltese, especially with exclamations such as, “hekk kellu jkun”—that’s how things had to be—or “kienet miktuba għalih”—it was written for him. And this is quite funny because, for such statements to be tenable, we have to imagine a ginormous library with unending rows of shelving racks filled with whole volumes of books that contain all the details of how a person’s life will evolve, or rather proceed.

This reminds me of a film I watched some years ago, The Adjustment Bureau, starring Matt Damon as David Norris and Emily Blunt as Elise Sellas, who play the part of a couple that struggle to go against their predetermined separate plans until they are ultimately granted free-will. Without entering into detail, the movie reflects in a very bizarre way how sometimes we really see things in a contradictory way: everything is predetermined, and yet, at the same time, we are not willing to admit that such belief implies that we don’t really possess free-will. And this is so true because, “free will is a gift, you’ll never know how to use until you fight for it”, as the character Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) well claims.

Returning back to our argument after this digression: what can be the different faces that the future possesses?

I don’t know. Maybe the face of success, as the company surely won’t promote the face of failure. Maybe the face of power that derives from success, because surely it cannot be the face of meekness that is perceived as weakness by society (i.e. since meekness tends towards gaining respect and, consequently, authority—unlike power, which is obtained by control). Maybe the face of fame which tends to peak and then heads toward a torrential downfall.

I don’t know what faces my—and our—future will have. But hopefully—in the sense of ‘full of hope’, and not in the sense of ‘if I’m lucky enough’ or ‘if the gods permit”— it has at least two faces.

Firstly, the face of humanity which, irrespective of our diverging roads, different social standing, and contrasting views, puts us on the same level and, especially in times of crisis, forces us to cooperate and respect each other as members of the same species.

And, secondly, the face of God-made-man who, in his abyssal downfall, showed us what it really means to be human: the ability to look towards the other and see in the other the face of God who’s image we are all created in and by whose incarnate face we were smiled at and redeemed.

Fr Gilbert Scicluna 

Gilbert Scicluna is a Catholic Priest, currently serving at the parish of Christ the King, Paola, and co-editor of the website behold.mt.

The post “The Future Has Many Faces” – A Reflection appeared first on Universe of Faith.

I often wonder where we as human beings went wrong.

In saying this, I have in mind ‘modern architecture’, particularly the boxy and purely utilitarian style that has conquered all of our public and even private spaces. How did we end up at this cardboard box design, when we were once capable of creating marvellous gothic cathedrals whose peaks soared to the skies and their embellishments served as the evocation of heaven itself?

How did we go from even the drabbest of houses being treated as a piece of beauty – to everything suddenly tasting like ashes?

After trying to pin down the reason, an answer came to me. I was reading John Ruskin’s The Seven Lamps of Architecture – a book which, in its essence, explores our devotion to God and our willingness to have our every action directed to the appreciation of his divine love. Although Ruskin does not stop here, I personally think that this – that is, our lack of genuine devotion to God – is the primary point which separates our atheistic architecture from the beauty of the past.

As Christian faith (used broadly) progressively faded from our society, our need to allow everything to be a means to bring us closer to ‘grace’ faded too. My guess is that, for the large part of people’s lives (although one finds exceptions), life is rarely spent honouring God and being grateful for his creation. This is the downfall of our aesthetic appreciation as humanity! Our sensitivity for certain values has deteriorated.

So long as God no longer plays an essential role within the lives of individuals, we cannot direct ourselves toward his worship. The reason why we ‘need’ to engage in worship is because worshiping God helps us go out of our self and receive the unconditional love that God has for us. It is only in receiving this kind of divine love that we will be able to pour it out in our actions – be they works of art, works of love, etc. In this light, as our propensity to worship faded, it seems our need for things to be done well and beautifully faded too.

Living in a time of mass production, most things have become standardised and made cheaply out of poor materials. Before, one would seek to become the master of his craft (i.e, be it woodworks, art, or architecture) because he felt that it was the right thing to do (or the thing which God wants him to do). Indeed, back then, it seems we were not so much bound by our fickle motivation to simply be ‘good’ for ourselves – but rather sought the heights of mastery as a means of prayer, as a means of honouring something greater than our Self.

The presence of God removes the weakness that the human body and mind may have because it places one in the context of divine creation. When we are actively in a relationship with God, everything we might do in our life could be directed towards something beyond our self, toward something eternal and all-powerful which is free from human faults. When this locus is lost, the world around us, the things we produce and see, all these will stop having purpose outside of immediate satisfaction. Today, we rarely feel that buildings need to be permanent manifestations of the divine, or signs of respect and worship for future generations to come. Often, they are temporary solutions that will not matter and can be discarded once they are used up or taken over by a different owner.

In order for us to be able to create beauty, we need to be well aware of what beauty ‘is’. And although a sense of what beauty is, is natural to all humans – plenty of atheists or unbelievers have created beautiful works of Art – the closer one grows to God (i.e., the closer one grows to unconditional love), the deeper their knowledge of beauty becomes. As Hans Urs von Balthasar writes,

Beauty is the disinterested one, without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which both imperceptibly and yet unmistakably has bid farewell to our new world, a world of interests, leaving it to its own avarice and sadness.

Written by Alisa Arturovna Iordan.

Coming from the background in the Social Sciences, Alisa has developed sensitivity towards understanding and investigating matters concerning our society – seeking to understand why we do what we do and what can be done to better our state. In combination with her Catholic faith, this quest attained a new meaning and weight as her curiosity changed from a purely academic one to one also working towards discovering God more.

See more –

Why Care for Our Common Home? – Fr Rob Galea

The post Why Does Modern Architecture Look So Bad? appeared first on Universe of Faith.

There’s a space in the beauty of Creation that only you can fill.

There’s a difference in the world that only you can make.

There’s a particular calling that can only be answered through your will.

There’s a valuable story to be written and told only through your voice.

There’s a process of forgiveness that frees others, which can only happen through your transformative journey of healing.

There’s a particular cross that only you can embrace and bear.

There’s a life of prayer that always awaits for your soul to kneel.

There’s a dance, that the spirit of God gracefully longs to direct your steps in.

There’s a song waiting to be sung through your spirit as it rises to Him.

There’s a love to be shared only through your self-gift.

All you once were, all you presently are, and all you are yet to be, are deeply seen as precious in the eyes of Him, of whom you are lovingly His.

In light of all this, finally, let us try to reflect upon how Jesus himself is a gift to us!

An unconditional love permeates God’s every act. This is expressed in His self-love as a gift to humanity – in Jesus – the wounded healer, the faithful lover – but it is also expressed in all of life that strives to live, it is expressed in a joy that points to more joy, it is expressed in the silence of a world that doesn’t need to exist but continues to, it is expressed in the cries of an infant who breathes fresh air for the first time, it is expressed in the Sacrament of Confession, through which God forgives and heals each bleeding wound perfectly, it is expressed even in pain, since pain (our distaste for it) reminds us of our real home, a home that is free of pain, free of death.

This Christmas, therefore, let us allow the one who has experienced each wound, to heal us, let us allow the one who, against all odds, continued to love, to really love us. Let us be born anew, as more healed, more loving, more human. As Meister Eckhart asked, “what good is it for me if Mary gave birth to the son of God 1400 years ago, and I don’t give birth to God’s son in my person and my culture and my times?”.

We are all meant to be “other Mary’s”. By God’s grace and guidance, we can all birth divinity!

Read More –

The Difference Jesus Makes in my Life – Universe of Faith

Lord I Need You, Where Are You? – Universe of Faith

Is Jesus Fully Human? – Universe of Faith

The post A Letter To You, This Christmas! appeared first on Universe of Faith.

Joy is our companion in life when we seek to be authentic, selfless, and free in the Spirit.

Joy is the genuine smile we express, when we are pondering on how grateful we are for our life.

Joy is the state of mind we experience when things are not necessarily happening as we wish them to be but we still experience deep peace within.

Joy does not need to be shot by a camera or shared on social media. It can be experienced in solitude or in the sole presence of a beloved.

Joy is what a father or a mother experience when their daughter or son who they had a difficult relationship with, now chooses to embrace them.

Joy is the gaze of a friend who looks at you dearly.

Joy are the tears that trickle down your cheeks, tears that come from a place deep within, after feeling deeply appreciated by someone who you have given your all to.

Joy is the person who realises that they have hurt someone, but they still try their best to amend things, even in their weaknesses.

Joy is the cheerful smile of a child who remembers a considerate word you have said to them.

Joy is the person who feels seen and accepted for who they truly are.

Joy is discovering a truth about yourself that you have long been searching for.

Joy is being each other’s messengers of His light.

Joy is finding a new true friend whom you can share your joys and struggles with.

Joy is understanding that even your suffering can have a purpose.

Finally, true joy is discovering that God is real and present in the life you live. It is knowing that God can use even your vulnerabilities to show His (and your) glory!

These blessings of joy do not cost money, but they cost everything.

To experience them deeply, one must offer all they are and all their life for a greater purpose. We must give our all to love purely and in simplicity.

In giving our all for love, we receive all that really matters. We receive God – love itself!

As Raïssa Maritain wrote in one of her diary entries: “joy is being able to call him Father with a great tenderness, to feel him so kind and so close to us”.

Written by Carla Borg

Read More:

What is the Good News of the Catholic Faith?

Spiritual Gifts That Ordinary People Can Give to Our Non-Ideal World

Why Are We Alive? Why Does the Human Race Exist?

The post What Is True Joy? – An Advent Reflection appeared first on Universe of Faith.

1.      You have been pursuing painting and poetry for quite a while now, what role, if any, has faith played in your journey? i.e., have you ever had any moments of spiritual doubt – and if so, what role has Art played in all this?

Sarah: I think that faith has always been combined with my poetry in some way. I have a tendency of writing vulnerable pieces, directly from the heart. Since my faith is important to me, I find myself writing about my struggles with God, my doubts, the times I don’t understand what He is doing in my life and reflecting about who He is and what He has done. I also think that writing about my faith gives me the opportunity to remind myself of why I believe in God and my journey in discovering who He is.

Mark: With Sarah, I’d say that art is a good opportunity to express myself, what I am going through, and what I want to say other than in words. But touching on the point of spiritual doubt, certainly, I too passed through moments of doubt which eventually led to moments of spiritual crisis. Jesus had his own people – who saw Him and who could hear Him speak – that still doubted Him. It is essentially more difficult for us who do not see him physically – Jesus himself noted this with His words to Thomas, “because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Jesus understands our need for evidence, and he is willing to provide it if we ask for it with a humble heart! But believe me, you will find your strength where you least expect it – the secret is to pray, keep believing, and keep pushing through, a day at a time.

2.       Do you think that Art and Faith closely relate to each other? If so, how?

Mark: For me, art and faith have been two distinctive areas in my life, but as I took my faith more seriously, creating art gave me the ‘quiet space’ necessary to be by myself and with God. Art is not just about grabbing a paintbrush and finishing a painting – at first, I used to feel the urge to finish a drawing/painting the same day I started it, and obviously, I would usually end up making a mess. I realized this is a replication of anything in life – including faith. I encourage anyone to be patient with themselves, with the process, with life, and to trust in God’s guiding presence.

Sarah: I agree with Mark. Poetry requires a lot of introspection so I cannot help but reflect when I want to draw inspiration or meaning. I think that struggling through questions of life, about God, and also battling doubts is closely linked to the words of the art I make, because it allows me to filter through the many thoughts and make sense of them.

I even find myself expressing my gratitude, praise, and thanks to God through poetry. I’m very inspired by the Psalms which were in fact songs of praise and poems that expressed every feeling one could have, including despair, disappointment, loneliness, anger, joy, peacefulness and more. I find that the images, parallelisms, and interpretations of King David allow me to formulate my own expression of my faith in poetry, just as he did.

3.       How has Art affected the way you experience Advent?

Sarah: As a creative person, I think that having themes of writing (i.e., themes such as Advent) helps to inspire me in a specific way, providing direction to my thoughts. I cannot help but see signs during Advent and attributing meaning to them. There is something within me that allows this to happen naturally, so I think that experiencing Advent as a writer means adapting the thought process to extract meaning from everything related to this season and developing it into a relatable manner for readers to know how it impacts me and how it could impact them too! That’s also what I tried to do with this poem! (See Sarah’s poem below).

4.       How can Art – any form of Art – help us during the Advent season?

Mark: Over the years, artists always loved including symbols and hidden messages in their artworks – be it Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, and the rest of the greats.

The creative process or the birth of an idea requires patience and waiting. And waiting can be daunting, we do not feel comfortable with that feeling of anticipation! I can relate this to the Advent season because we know something good is coming but Advent gives us the time to re-compose ourselves and wait. And waiting nowadays is something scarce – we want everything now, today, this minute. But I realized that in waiting we learn a lot about ourselves, our surroundings, what makes us comfortable, and we learn to appreciate just standing still. It is in this moment that we really feel vulnerable, alone, and possibly lonely; but it is also in this moment that we can start loving ourselves again, and it is the perfect opportunity to experience the love of God. This is a beautiful form of Art – and it makes Advent itself a form of Art.

So, this Advent, let yourself be made into Art! Allow yourself to wait, to hope, to receive God’s intimate love! 

Holy Cave

I walk in complete darkness as if
the star in the sky is leading me astray
rather than urging me to clasp
my hands to pray.

I long to know that what I’m striving for
will be met by an open door;
stepping blindly into the unknown,
I’m comforted I’m not alone.

While I look for the pieces within me
that seem to be missing,
that seem to be lost,
my heart waits, counting the gaping holes,
the emptiness,
calculating the cost.

Following my heart has never been easy,
knowing I am doing what is right,
and the response within me remains a battle
that would now rather be fight than flight.

When the longing, the yearning,
the patience, the zeal,
bring me to a quiet place, a holy cave,
finally, I am free to open my hands

and heal.

by Sarah Zammit Munro

Read More: 

– “I Waste so Much Time” – Getting Over Guilt of Wasted Time

– Finding Time for God

The post The 𝑨𝒓𝒕 of Becoming – what does Art have to do with Advent? appeared first on Universe of Faith.

By the end of the film I was sure of two things:

i) I wanted to verify whether all this was real.

ii) If it were real, I did not want to be part of it.

As I finished watching the film,  I immediately opened my laptop and visited the Facebook page of the Ocean Ambassador for Malta, Prof. Alan Deidun. He had watched the film too! In a Facebook post, he writes that this film is a “must see”. So I emailed him my questions and did not consume any fish until he replied.

Here is what he told me:

How true is the documentary Seaspiracy?

Prof. Alan Deidun: “The documentary Seaspiracy is factual and credible given that (i) the producer went to great lengths to give the ‘other side’ of the story as well, rather than only peddling his own narrative. (ii) Moreover, the producer consulted with a number of eminent experts in their field, including Dr Sylvia Earle and Prof. Callum Roberts. They are two of the most respected oceanographers and conservation biologists on the global stage.”

Is it true that we do not have models of sustainable fishing at the moment?

Prof. Alan Deidun: “Seaspiracy’s claim that we do not have any examples of sustainable fishing at the moment is true if one looks only at the models of industrial fishing. Such models have a high degree of wastefulness in terms of bycatch which is discarded and thrown into the sea, and over-exploitation of stocks. Within such models, the meaning of the term ‘sustainability’ has been twisted so as to represent only an economically-viable process. This process can be performed year after year for maximum monetary benefits, with little consideration to the environmental impact.”

Can fishing be sustainable?

Prof. Alan Deidun: “Fishing can be sustainable if it is performed at the local level, on an artisanal basis. The documentary Seaspiracy underscores this fact by featuring the difficulties of native western African fishermen.

In Malta, 93% of the Maltese fishermen work on small-scale, artisanal ones, operating from boats which are smaller than 12m in length. This restricts their time out at sea, ensuring that they do not catch much more than they can realistically sell in a few days. That should be the real meaning of sustainability – taking just what is necessary today, rather than hoarding fish so that my competitor does not gain access to it.”

Is it true that dolphin friendly/safe labels are unreliable?

Prof. Alan Deidun: “Regarding the credibility of the dolphin friendly/safe labels: We obviously do not have the investigative means to substantiate such a claim. The onus is now on the certification entity, issuing such a label, to refute the claims made in the documentary. However, what we know as a fact from the scientific literature available, is that at least hundreds of thousands of dolphins of different species fall victim to industrial fisheries each year. Unfortunately, this statistic does not show any sign of levelling off.”

Is the environmental impact of fishing as huge as described in Seaspiracy – bigger than the plastic problem?

Prof. Alan Deidun: “Although I have and still am a vociferous advocate for a ban on single-use plastics, I believe that the ecological impacts being exacted by the over-fishing of our ocean are in fact being downplayed. I think that they are not receiving the immediate attention they deserve. Once again, I stress that I am referring mainly to industrial fishing. It generates exorbitant levels of bycatch. Moreover, the ecological impacts of trawling, which are releasing carbon and pollutants stored in seabed sediments, are contributing to climate change. These changes are also visible from space.

Despite its vastness, there are very few spots within the global ocean which have never taken the toll of bottom trawling. Most of these pristine sites are located close to the poles. The single statistic featured within the documentary which most impressed me concerning fishing subsidies. An estimated 350 billion dollars are being thrown into the fishing industry each year, in the form of subsidies, presumably to keep fish prices low.  This figure outstrips the total needed to fight global hunger (300 billion dollars) as estimated by the United Nations. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 14 calls for an end to such harmful fishing subsidies.”

What are the solutions? Should one stop eating fish?

Prof. Alan Deidun:  “Giving up the consumption of fish is, in my humble opinion, not a viable option given that (i) eating fish is generally healthy (despite it being occasionally laced with contaminants, as claimed in the documentary) and that (ii) a considerable fraction of the world’s population depends on fish as its primary source of protein. You do not simply change the mindset or behaviour of billions of people overnight.

What we can feasibly aspire to achieve, however, is to have consumers opt to go for local catch. One can find fish markets and hawkers almost everywhere, including in cities away from the sea. In Malta, given the small-scale nature of Maltese fisheries, this is possible by taking the pain to verify the origins of the fish one is buying. One ironclad way of verifying this is by buying your fish directly at a fish market or from a local fish hawker, and in season (e.g. purchasing lampuki (dorado fish) during the summer and autumn seasons), rather than from a supermarket.  Even the UN’s SDG 14 advocates the need to support small-scale fisheries on a global scale.”

Now I felt clearer about what I could do as a consumer.

Fishing in On Care for Our Common Home

Until I received the Professor’s replies I had googled again On Care for Our Common Home. There are seven mentions of fishing in this letter. Two notable statements Pope Francis makes are in:

Par 48 when Pope Francis outlines the dwindling amounts of fish in our seas: “the depletion of fishing reserves especially hurts small fishing communities without the means to replace those resources.”

Par 40 when Pope Francis brings up the issues of uncontrolled fishing and bycatch: “What is more, marine life in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans, which feeds a great part of the world’s population, is affected by uncontrolled fishing, leading to a drastic depletion of certain species. Selective forms of fishing which discard much of what they collect continue unabated. Particularly threatened are marine organisms which we tend to overlook, like some forms of plankton; they represent a significant element in the ocean food chain, and species used for our food ultimately depend on them.”

Seaspiracy: A great eye opener

Seaspiracy was a great eye opener for me, both on the issues of uncontrolled fishing, bycatch, death of sea animals due to plastics and abandoned fishing gear, and sea floor destruction. It also alerted me to the other heart-breaking issue of slave labour engaged to catch shrimps in some Asian countries. I appreciate the fact that the director Ali Tahrizi and his team went to great lengths to produce the exceptional footage seen in this film, possibly risking his life at times.

Today, I feel more empowered as a consumer because I do not want to be part of this destruction.  For me, this means no more canned tuna in my Maltese ftira (a flat bread), no more salmon, and shrimps. Opting for local catch (not farmed or caught through industrial fishing) can be more sea-friendly. I’m also trying flaxseed oil to replace the omega 3s etc and look forward to exploring eating sea plants when the opportunity arises.

Read more:
– 4 Maltese Professional Read Laudato Si
– My Covid-19 Experience Poem

The post My Experience of Watching “Seaspiracy” – Should I Stop Eating Fish? appeared first on Universe of Faith.