I've been thinking about what I posted, yesterday. I don't mean whether or not I have more virtual friends, than real. I'm thinking about the Pope's message for World Communication Day. I'm examining how I communicate. That line of thinking brought me to the newsletter I am blessed to edit, eLumen. eLumen is the newsletter sent out for the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic, in the eastern US (Province of Saint Joseph). And I came to realize that eLumen does all that the Pope recommends. Do you think he reads eLumen?
Pope Benedict XVI's message is entitled, Truth, Proclamation, and the Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age. You can find the entire text on the Vatican Archive Site: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20110124_45th-world-communications-day_en.html
B16 encourages Catholics to get involved in the internet. ( Are not we Dominicans encouraged to stay alert to the times in order to preach the Good News?) Throughout the entire message, the Pope highlights the tremendous potential of the internet, its benefits and risks. An example of one benefit would be the way eLumen gives witness, in the life of Christian internet newsletters. B16 asks all Catholics to use this new technology and take what is good from it.
I would like then to invite Christians, confidently and with an informed and responsible creativity, to join the network of relationships which the digital era has made possible. This is not simply to satisfy the desire to be present, but because this network is an integral part of human life. The web is contributing to the development of new and more complex intellectual and spiritual horizons, new forms of shared awareness. In this field too we are called to proclaim our faith that Christ is God, the Saviour of humanity and of history, the one in whom all things find their fulfilment (cf. Eph 1:10). The proclamation of the Gospel requires a communication which is at once respectful and sensitive, which stimulates the heart and moves the conscience; one which reflects the example of the risen Jesus when he joined the disciples on the way to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35). By his approach to them, his dialogue with them, his way of gently drawing forth what was in their heart, they were led gradually to an understanding of the mystery.
eLumen has brought the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic, and its many friends, into a new phase of Dominican life – the digital phase. eLumen allows us to come together in an “e-chapter,” where we share our thoughts and prayers, and communicate along the lines expressed in the Holy Father’s message.
Kinda makes me proud.
2 comments:
From the part of the Pope's message that you quote, it sounds exactly like what the early Dominicans were doing in the medieval cities. The city was where the "new" network of relations was just forming, and it became the integral part of human life.
And eLumen is already there. Yep, you have a right to be proud.
What's the emoticon for blushing?
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