the alluring call of...New Media :p

The Seminary and University academic year's gradually approaching its end, leaving me with two months of Pastoral work at the Bormla Parish and the Mater Dei Hospital Chaplaincy as well as the prospect that just two years is what remains of my journey towards the priesthood, my reaction to the latter being a resounding "Yikes!" I can't help imagining what the future'll hold for me as regards my assignments upon my ordination...the spectrum

of possibilities seems limitless, and, to be honest, I see my

self fitting in a wide array of areas, making it harder for me to predict. While the post the Archbishop'll "send" me to is as obscure now as it'll be in two years' time, another aspect is slowly becoming clearer, this being, the subject matter of my Licenciate thesis. Once again, in considering this, I'm thinking ahead by quite a bit, there being a whole year left, at the end of which I'll be sitting for my second batch of finals, comprising the work done in flipping five years, before I start working on such a piece of writing proper. Still, some daydreaming, and (why not?) forward-looking's never harmed anyone :p

So here I am, lads and ladies, typing away at my keyboard, surfing from Facebook to myspace to some blog and youtube vid (thinking of getting myself a twitter page), that it hits me: New Media's an awfully captivating topic that opens up all sorts of frontiers, not to mention, a mostly unexplored territory where the Maltese Church is concerned, notwithstanding the fact that some parishes have really efficient websites (tarxienparish.org), other groups having made an impressive job at using the internet's potential as they deemed best (read Y4J (y4jmalta.org), KDZ (kdz.org.mt) and M.U.S.E.U.M. (forza9.com)). Yet on a diocesan level, there's much that can be done, and if I focus on a specific branch of New Media's encounter with Theology (along the lines of Catechesis or Spirituality, Youth Work, Public Opinion or community work) things may get even more interesting. Oh gosh, my adventurous, boyish Peter Pan alter-ego's dawdly emerging even in this project, the lure of the unprecedented and uncommon being too attractive to ignore.

Hehe, I can't wait....

Oh Happy Day!

While Minister Mifsud Bonnici pats his Italian counterpart Maroni on the back for the latter’s “achievement” in deciding to send desperate illegal immigrants back to Libya, I gawk at this news item in disgust. With Malta having tackled the issue admirably since its inception back in the years, it has finally given in to the pressure posed by arrogant Nations, who, having had the fortune of developing as to allow themselves a high standard of living, are ignoring the rest of the world to enjoy their “West-countries” bubble.

 

In the mean time, individuals, whose only option for survival, that is to hold on to their lives, being hunted down in their country of origin and lacking the resources to fight back, was to flee, leaving loved ones and the life they knew behind through the only door left ajar, albeit illegal. Chances were that after having gone through a painstaking journey that pushed their humanity to its limits, having to cross miles of the Saharan desert with as little as a bottle of water and the fierce Mediterranean, their case would be examined for worthiness and they would be allotted their well-deserved humanitarian status on reaching the shores of a civilised state. With this opportunity now being made a forlorn possibility, they might as well hand themselves in to their oppressors and face death, as the Europeans sip champagne through cynical smiles.

 

Oh happy day! Oh happy day indeed

 

ACTing Out For All To See

hey ppl!

am lying in bed, strolling through memory lane with a wide smile on my face as I envision the happenings of these past two weeks...being given an hour and a half to decide whether to join ACT or otherwise--the momentous meeting at M'Scala, with an articulate and mindful Anna, an eagerly smiling Luke, a very apprehensive Jean, an enthusiastic Mario and a continuously dreaming Mizzi who strutted along the promenade with us tailing behind while he recounted his “vision” which he titled EUREKA!! And what if we had kept that name--we wouldn't have taken up "Lemon Tree" for a theme-song, or would've the uri-NA connection have been enough to connote lemon juice lol? I simply can't forget the day spent at the seminary deliberating over our manifesto, name, logo, which animal best represented us, university and everything under the sun, or the photoshoot, where I shook Bev’s hand for the first time and during which we all proved that we could compete with Mizzi’s modelling skills :p 

I can still see Jenny smirk as we trailed towards GW for the press conference that announced our existence to the world, Francesca’s smile lighting up her face as she donned her yellow shirt for the first time minutes before it started. Then came the longwinded KSU A.G.M., the common room being practically divided in half as to who supported who, me, myself and I immediately drawing the conclusion that ACT’s mission was to do the best possible such a bridge between the two would be set up. Soon after, it became official for one and all that uni was heading towards elections, the craziest two weeks of my life ensuing henceforth. My heart simply swells with joy at the opportunity I was given to talk to so many students from all sectors of uni, all of whom did not think twice in voicing their opinion, this being exactly what I was after, Ian, ever the hard-worker with an eye for detail (of course!) scrambling all over the place to catch ACT’s various “moments” on camera, while Owen brightened our day through some timely joke. 

Guys and gals, team members as well as runners, strategists and supporters, the above descriptions do not do justice to the way my life has been enriched through getting to know, work and share ideas with you. As many of you know, from its inception, I regarded this venture as a “Win-Win” situation for all sorts of reasons. Now, almost twelve hours after the results of block votes were made public, I can honestly say that for me this is anything but a loss, the “victories” if you will ranging from personal relationships to viewpoints to, in my case as a prospective priest, an occasion to grow more in love with the idea that each and every instance of my life is to be given up to living with/serving/spreading Truth.

 

I’m sure the action has not been taken out of ACT :)

Cheers all! God bless you always.

waking up to the light

A million things to do...

so many voices to listen to

yet the minutes are so few

that quench the life out of you

Looking out of the window chasing a dream

unaware if the next phone-call's worth d steam

eyes bloodshot peer through the frame

committed to authenticity as their true game

The sun rises on the horizon afar

I draw encouragement from this benevolent star