I DON’T think it’s an irrelevant or
irreverent question to
ask. Given the temper of the times, I believe it’s a question that
needs to asked, though some qualifications also have to be made.
While things related to our faith and piety have a
distinctive spiritual, if not sacred, character that should be
respected and not trivialized, it doesn’t mean that they cannot and
should not be applied to the developments and realities of the mundane
world.
It’s precisely in the secular spheres of our life—our
business and politics, our arts, sciences and technologies, our sports
and fashions, etc.—where the doctrine of our faith and Christ himself
are most needed.
This is simply to have some unity of life, some
consistency in our life, avoiding a divisiveness in our life while
respecting the legitimate distinctions of the different parts and
aspects of our life. There has to be some consistency between the
material and spiritual dimensions of our life, the temporal and
eternal, the mundane and the sacred.
And this consistency can only be built on our vital link
with God who is our Creator and Father, who knows everything about us.
He has revealed himself completely to us in Christ, the Son who became
man who continues to be made present in us through the Holy Spirit.
I remember St. John Paul II at the beginning of his
pontificate begging that we open the gates of our human temporal
affairs like business and politics to Christ. “Be not afraid,” he
said. “Open up to his saving power the confines of the State, open up
economic and political systems, the vast empires of culture,
civilization and development...Be not afraid!”
We need to realize more deeply that Christ would not be
out of place in these areas of our life. In fact, he is most needed
there. In the first place, he wants to be there, to purify, humanize
and sanctify them. That’s why the Son of God became man—that he may be
with us to bring us back to God.
For sure, we should not treat Christ as some kind of
superhero in the mould of Superman or Batman or a Jedi or some famous
celebrities in the political, entertainment or sports fields.
Let’s remember that when people wanted to carry him on
their shoulders to make him their human king, he escaped. “I do not
receive glory from men,” he said. (Jn 5,41) And this should also be
our attitude. We need to avoid human self-glorification. All the
saints, starting with Our Lady, fled from human glorification.
But we need to make Christ known to as many people as
possible. In fact, that was the mandate he gave to his apostles before
we went up to heaven: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28,19)
In the context of today’s world, we should also make use
of the new technologies to carry out this divine mandate, doing it
with rectitude of intention and due prudence, always following the
example of Christ.
Since there is already a sizable portion of the world’s
population who are now called netizens, Christ should be made present
there. This is where some “trending” of Christ can be made, creating
all sorts of networks and spreading things about them through blogs,
postings, social media, hashtags, etc.
We need to overcome the initial awkwardness involved in
this effort. And there is always a learning curve that everyone has to
go through, and the mistakes and missteps that can happen along the
way should not stop us but rather humble and encourage us to go
further.
These possible mistakes and missteps are actually
excellent learning moments for us and good occasion to deepen our
humility, and thus grow in virtues like order, and ultimately in
sanctity. Yes, we can talk in these terms in this field that is so
rich of apostolic possibilities.
We obviously need to have a certain discipline so that our
intentions are always made pure, our timing, use of words, selection
of topics, etc., are prudent and effective. This field is full of
temptations and distractions that we need to master, and so we have to
learn well the skills of spiritual struggle.
We have to learn to adapt to the different mentalities of
people without losing our true identity as children of God who want to
be faithful and fruitful. Let’s hope that one way or another, we can
manage to trend Christ in the proper way for the good of all!
ask. Given the temper of the times, I believe it’s a question that
needs to asked, though some qualifications also have to be made.
While things related to our faith and piety have a
distinctive spiritual, if not sacred, character that should be
respected and not trivialized, it doesn’t mean that they cannot and
should not be applied to the developments and realities of the mundane
world.
It’s precisely in the secular spheres of our life—our
business and politics, our arts, sciences and technologies, our sports
and fashions, etc.—where the doctrine of our faith and Christ himself
are most needed.
This is simply to have some unity of life, some
consistency in our life, avoiding a divisiveness in our life while
respecting the legitimate distinctions of the different parts and
aspects of our life. There has to be some consistency between the
material and spiritual dimensions of our life, the temporal and
eternal, the mundane and the sacred.
And this consistency can only be built on our vital link
with God who is our Creator and Father, who knows everything about us.
He has revealed himself completely to us in Christ, the Son who became
man who continues to be made present in us through the Holy Spirit.
I remember St. John Paul II at the beginning of his
pontificate begging that we open the gates of our human temporal
affairs like business and politics to Christ. “Be not afraid,” he
said. “Open up to his saving power the confines of the State, open up
economic and political systems, the vast empires of culture,
civilization and development...Be not afraid!”
We need to realize more deeply that Christ would not be
out of place in these areas of our life. In fact, he is most needed
there. In the first place, he wants to be there, to purify, humanize
and sanctify them. That’s why the Son of God became man—that he may be
with us to bring us back to God.
For sure, we should not treat Christ as some kind of
superhero in the mould of Superman or Batman or a Jedi or some famous
celebrities in the political, entertainment or sports fields.
Let’s remember that when people wanted to carry him on
their shoulders to make him their human king, he escaped. “I do not
receive glory from men,” he said. (Jn 5,41) And this should also be
our attitude. We need to avoid human self-glorification. All the
saints, starting with Our Lady, fled from human glorification.
But we need to make Christ known to as many people as
possible. In fact, that was the mandate he gave to his apostles before
we went up to heaven: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28,19)
In the context of today’s world, we should also make use
of the new technologies to carry out this divine mandate, doing it
with rectitude of intention and due prudence, always following the
example of Christ.
Since there is already a sizable portion of the world’s
population who are now called netizens, Christ should be made present
there. This is where some “trending” of Christ can be made, creating
all sorts of networks and spreading things about them through blogs,
postings, social media, hashtags, etc.
We need to overcome the initial awkwardness involved in
this effort. And there is always a learning curve that everyone has to
go through, and the mistakes and missteps that can happen along the
way should not stop us but rather humble and encourage us to go
further.
These possible mistakes and missteps are actually
excellent learning moments for us and good occasion to deepen our
humility, and thus grow in virtues like order, and ultimately in
sanctity. Yes, we can talk in these terms in this field that is so
rich of apostolic possibilities.
We obviously need to have a certain discipline so that our
intentions are always made pure, our timing, use of words, selection
of topics, etc., are prudent and effective. This field is full of
temptations and distractions that we need to master, and so we have to
learn well the skills of spiritual struggle.
We have to learn to adapt to the different mentalities of
people without losing our true identity as children of God who want to
be faithful and fruitful. Let’s hope that one way or another, we can
manage to trend Christ in the proper way for the good of all!
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