On Monday, 24th January 2011, Mgr. Charles Cordina, Pastoral Secretary, celebrated Mass for journalists on the occasion of the feast of St. Frances de Sales. In his message, Mgr Cordina said that through his initiation into the sacrament of Baptism, the Christian has a commitment to be as leaven, light and salt in the society in which he lives.
Mgr. Cordina’s message: The media – through printed material, radio, television, internet and other means of social communication – continually offers the possibility for dialogue with society with respect to the realities of human life and how these may be of inspiration and motivation in our daily lives. Authors, journalists, producers and other professional people who are uphold Christian beliefs and whose role it is to offer a valid contribution in the development of the media in our contemporary society, are shouldered with the responsibility of transmitting, through their work, those values which are inspired from the experiences offered to us by Jesus Christ when he lived and dwelt among us. This is the Good News which He spoke about. It is news (that is why it is ‘news’) which serves for the good (that is why it is ‘good’) of mankind who lives today in an atmosphere of uncertainty.
Together with the professionals who work in the media, we too have a responsibility to involve ourselves in this task, that we may take positive advantage of the possibilities which the media presents us with – to write, phone in, send text messages or create an internet page – in order to present to others, our own experiences, which are inspired by Christian values that we hold dear and put into practice.
St Francis of Sales did exactly this. He was creative enought to use the means of writing and printing in order to transmit the Christian message in a way that could be understood by the people.
In this respect, praise is due to all those Christians – both professionals in the field of the media, as well as those who take it upon themselves to offer their humble contribution – who are offering a valid contribution by evangelizing through the media.
With God’s grace, there shall be many more people who, because they recognize the possibilities which the media poses, will follow in their footsteps.
Photos by: Gorg Mallia