Catholic Herald March 2012 : Page 3
Find the newness of the evangelizing call today joy and hope his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, and Pope Benedict have urged the church to take up the work of a new evan-gelization in this still young millennium. As they have both clarified, the new evangeliza-tion is not a new message, for Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and always. (cf. Heb. 13.8) The Lord Jesus has given his church the primary untiring mission of evangeliza-tion until he returns in glory. The newness of the evangeliz-ing call today must be found in renewed ardor, new expres-sions and new methods. In the preparation docu-ment for the upcoming synod, the Holy Father presents six challenging dimensions for the work of the new evange-lization: secularization, the phenomena of migration and increasing globalization, the economic crisis and the “grow-ing disproportion” of resourc-es, scientific and technological research, the new global politi-cal situation, and the means of social communication. The revolution in the means of social communication continues to demonstrate an enormous impact on all the other dimensions proposed by the Holy Father for discussion at the next synod. Consider the unleashed fury of whole nations throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East, the so-called Arab Spring. Much of this unrest was roused and managed by the cellular networks. The still unraveling global banking crisis is symptomatic of the complicated web of electronic transactions pulling everyone into a financial vortex. The Web also peddles a gargantuan gob of pornography. Accord-ing to some research, 12 percent of all Internet content is pornographic. We may all feel like the young shepherd David faced against this technological, virtual Goliath. To retire from this field of so much human interaction, we would already be vanquished. We would also betray Christ’s great summon to his disciples, “Go, there-fore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt. 28.19) There is a wonderful opportunity, a mo-ment of grace. Let us remem-ber that we have not been given a cowardly spirit by the Lord Jesus. Stir into the flame the gift of faith lavished upon us by Christ. (cf. II Tim. 1.6-8) I am excited about the new ventures the Diocese of Sacramento is launching in this techno-terrain. I am also reminded by the younger members of my pastoral team that these steps are not so new. We are just beginning. There is still so much more to do while “we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” ( Third Edition of the Roman Missal ) in renewed ardor, new expressions and new methods L ast year, a comic strip in the newspa-per caught my attention. Yes, I am still wedded to the old habits of picking up the morning paper from my front porch. My fingers get smudged with the newspaper’s ink as I thumb through the pages. a group of old friends. We became acquainted when I was a young priest in a work-ing-class parish and most of them were young immigrant parishioners learning their way in America. They are now mostly married with children. Some of their children are grown, married, and giving my friends grandchildren. I was startled to find that I was the only one at the table who was not on Facebook. Some of my friends wondered aloud when I was going to get updated. Others warned me, “Don’t go there. Too much work.” It was clear to me, as I savored my carne asada and beans, that any option I may presume to have is now moot. Those tiny screens glowing up at the faces of people I know, both young and old alike, are a window onto an ever-widening world. My stubborn absence from that world is a peril to my ministry. The command of Jesus, “go and teach all nations” nags me while I sit on the sidelines of this vast, untended field of evangelization. In October 2012, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, will convene the 13th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to discuss the theme, “The New Evange-lization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” Both On one such practice of the morning ritual, I saw a comic of a young person on the telephone declining an invita-tion to go out. The excuse was that some of his friends were coming over so they could all sit around staring at the screen on their cell phones. As absurd as that may sound, it is not too far afield from real life. While visiting with families, out of the corner of my eyes I can see their children’s gaze glued to their smart phones. Occasionally they will bend over and intensely, nimbly peck away at the tiny electron-ic keyboards. The Doonesbury comic occasionally runs a series of two Generation X members of the familiar cast, Zipper and Jeff. Both of them are sitting in a diner sharing some quality time, intently working over their smart phones. They ask the passing waitress about their orders. She then snaps back that they have already eaten it. Not a word passes between them. They are presumably sending messages to each other. These are the symptoms of the “new social media,” as it appears to many of us who are still perplexed by this growing technological fascination and worried that some version of the “Brave New World” is upon us. I recently had dinner with “To him who is able to ac-complish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph. 3.20-21) Bishop Jaime Soto is the ninth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. 3
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