On Sunday, 15th December, at the parochial church of Our Lady of Loreto at Għajnsielem, Mgr Mario Grech, Bishop of Gozo, bestowed the Ministry of the Acolytate to Seminarian Joseph Attard from the Żebbuġ Parish and to Seminarian Mario Curmi from the Xagħra Parish. With this Ministry the new acolytes can give Holy Communion during Mass and at the homes of the sick and the elderly. This ministry is a further step in their formation for priesthood.
In his homily, Mgr Bishop Grech talked about John the Baptist as a model of the virtue of humility. John the Baptist was a man of principle, but still he wanted to strengthen his beliefs in Christ and in himself even though he was in Herod’s prison. Bishop Grech said that this serves as a clear message to the Catholic community during its preparation for Christmas. Having been reared up in a Catholic culture, we run the risk of believing that there is nothing more left for us to know about Christ. However, we too, like John the Baptist, need to know a lot more about Christ and we need to know a lot more also about ourselves, to determine whether or not we are being faithful to our Catholic call.
The example of John the Baptist needs to be followed also by the new Acolytes during their years of formation for priesthood. Knowing Jesus through lessons of Theology during their years of formation and through personal prayer, is not enough. During this phase of discernment they need to pray God to instil in them the virtue of humility and follow John’s example in an unending query about Christ and about themselves. The Bishop ended his homily by saying that this is the prophetical ministry of the Church.
