Hajja Salesjana - May June 2016

4 Carpe Diem, sei ze the day! E D I T O R I A L It is indeed amazing how time zooms past, rushing forward towards the future as seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, seasons and years incessantly tumble away. At a much younger age, I vividly remember being told by my wise grandparents that apparently, the older one gets, the quicker the pace of time is perceived to be. Alas, I have come to realise that this is no mere blurred fiction but sharp reality. Such a fact reminds me of the utter and sheer importance to live one day at a time. To cherish each moment and to spend quality time with those we deeply love, ensuring that we share with them our love, respect and support. What use is it to do so when for more reasons than one, this is too late? Love needs to be shared here and now, by word and deed. Don’t postpone for tomorrow the good you can say and do today. The more we genuinely love, the more we will receive love in return. The more we spread love, the more we authentically live our calling to be disciples and followers of Jesus Christ who is Divine Love incarnate. He himself had taught us that the one who loves as He taught us to, lives in God and God lives in him/her. Love in the midst of our world’s desert of values must be our true Christian identity. This was heroically shown by the four Missionaries of Charity, savagely martyred in Yemen some months ago as they loved and served those in need. They will never be forgotten and their legacy will live on even though the glitzy media chose to ignore their astounding witness by deafening silence. Therefore, let us not postpone sowing, sharing and spreading love for some other preconceived, perfect and appropriate time. The time is now. Seize the day. Grab the moment, live in the now and not in the bygone past or the unknown future. Now is called present because it is indeed God’s present, gift to you. Therefore, decide to love Him now above all and then go, show and tell the ones closest to your heart how precious they are to you and how much they mean to you. It may seem trivial to you but ask those who have lost loved ones how much they yearn to be able to tell them what they never had the courage to say to them when alive because they were too busy! Furthermore, it seems to me that we are spending hours and hours on social networks, walking like zombies on the road as we doodle on our mobiles oblivious to all others around us. Let us put down these gadgets and focus on reality around us. Let us live in our world and not in cyberspace. What a pity it would be to waste time trying to garner more ‘friends’ on social networks and then forget those we live with, share life with, work with, meet on our streets... Although people often lament how fast paced life has become, let us consciously find the time to pause and then opt to appreciate, love, care, support and be with those that are dear to us. You will be so glad to have done so. Carpe diem! Fr. Sandro Camilleri sdb "LOVE NEEDS TO BE SHARED HERE AND NOW, BY WORD AND DEED. DON’T POSTPONE FOR TOMORROW THE GOOD YOU CAN SAY AND DO TODAY."