The gospel in sachets
I was happy to learn that in a worldwide survey of priests using the Internet, 94 percent were found to be accessing it for their priestly work.
I wonder though if that percentage is also applicable here in our country. I suspect that it is not. Those in the provinces have little access, without mentioning the likely cultural blocks many priests, especially the older ones, are still suffering. Just the same I feel that more and more young and new priests are going to the Internet.
This is good news, even if the usual precautions and other norms of prudence have to be taken. The digital world can offer tremendous possibilities in terms of spreading God’s word.
This is actually the challenge the Church faces today. The ever-expanding electronic world just cannot be left alone to develop in a technological way, and made use of purely by political, commercial, social interests, etc.
This mega information highway needs to be humanized and Christianized. It too has to be infused with religion, otherwise it becomes a monster. At the rate it is developing, it should be mature enough to acknowledge this requirement. Away with the antiquated attitude that considers religion as irrelevant in some human endeavors.
And so, priests and others working closely in the ecclesiastical world should be in the forefront of evangelizing it with the view of turning it also into an evangelizing tool.
For sure, this is not a matter of setting some kind of trend where specific ideas, fashion or products are hyped and marketed. This is not what priests are for when they preach the gospel.
It’s more of setting the proper tone where in the middle of our human dealings and exchanges, with all the possible variety of views and items, the Christian atmosphere of respect for freedom, earnest search for truth and justice and common good is kept.
This is something that we priests especially have to learn really well. The capacity to distinguish between what is spiritual and what is plainly material, what is moral and what already is being politically partisan, what is inspirational and guiding and what is already ideological, should be sharpened and mastered.
Certainly, this is not an easy goal to achieve. A lot of trial-and-error has to be crossed. To be effective in the digital world, we need to be creative and enterprising, able to focus on a timely aspect of our Christian faith and morals, and attractive enough to grab attention and sustain it.
Still, I must say, that things are not as formidable as can be feared. All that a priest can do in this regard is simply lead a prayerful life that would enable him to assume a constant spiritual and supernatural outlook in life.
Everything that he observes and experiences, alone or with others, will always be viewed and assessed in the spiritual and supernatural sense. And this is what he shares with the others, including those in the digital universe.
He does not have to come up with extraordinary treatises, heavy in academic jargon, to spread God’s word and share his insights. He just has to be direct and simple, brief and as much as possible engaging, to be effective in preaching.
Remember St. Paul’s words: “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 2,4-5)
With the current character of today’s world, what is needed is an abiding presence of God that is developed in an unobtrusive way, much like a leaven, salt or seasoning or light that God’s word is supposed to be.
We priests should be able to package and retail the gospel in sachets. That’s today’s most effective way of selling products like shampoo and other creams in our country. In sachets, the richness of the gospel can go far and wide.
The important thing is that our preaching should be done always and everywhere, but in a way that is acceptable and loved by the people.
This task is obviously delicate, involving God’s grace and our all-out effort, so that our earthly observations and experiences can be distilled to come out with spiritual and supernatural messages.
Again, we should not allow the electronic world to be leavened and enlightened only by its own technical substance to be exploited by purely human ambitions. It has to serve the deepest longings of men, which is our faith.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@gmail.com)
