Editorial

      Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s work: The Phenomenon of Man, may be summed up as an attempt to see and to make others see what happens to man, and what conclusions are forced upon us, when he is placed fairly and squarely within the framework of phenomenon and appearance. Why should we want to see?
      Seeing. We might say that the whole of life lies in that verb. That, doubtless, is why the history of the living world can be summarized as the elaboration of ever more perfect eyes within a cosmos in which there is always something more to be seen.... To try to see more and better is not a matter of whim or curiosity or self-indulgence. To see or to perish is the very condition laid upon everything that is an element, by reason of the mysterious gift of existence. And this, at a higher level, is man’s condition. (PM, p.31; Fontana, p.35)
      I believe, that this exercise of seeing that Père Teilhard considers vital for every individual, is as vital to us as a Society. Today, more than ever, with the Pope’s strong invitation to go deeper in contemplation, we should all try to be more serious in trying to see not only what God wants from each and every one of us, but more so what God wants from us as a Society. How can we achieve this? The answer lies squarely in what His Holiness told us during his speech at our Central House. The Pope said: “It is in the depths of contemplation that we discover ‘the glory of God which is in the face of Christ’ (2 Cor 4:6) That is why your rule of life urges you to pray often and to meet regularly with your spiritual director.... Like Saint Paul, from contemplation you are called to go forth as missionaries: not just as teachers but as witnesses who can speak with power because you can say, like the first disciples: ‘We have seen the Lord!’ (Jn 20:25)”. If we are caught by this energetic spirit of contemplation, and become truly the people who have seen the Lord, then we will be in a position to make others see. We come to this, not because we deliver the message with oratory or intelligent words, but because we become bearers of the Word Incarnate. The Pope said that this was achieved by our Founder and therefore it can also be lived by us: “This was true of Dun Gorg in a wonderful way, and it must also be true of you, his spiritual children.” Therefore congratulations, we all have some homework to do.

Tonio Caruana sdc.
Blata l-Bajda, Malta