Another amazingly-succinct and insightful pastoral letter has been released earlier this month by Pope John Paul II. His letter The Rapid Development, written to those responsible for communications, exhorts Catholics to not be afraid of the communications media, but to use the media to promote the truth.
the Church is not only called upon to use the mass media to spread the Gospel but, today more than ever, to integrate the message of salvation into the “new culture” that these powerful means of communication create and amplify. It tells us that the use of the techniques and the technologies of contemporary communications is an integral part of its mission in the third millennium."
What does this mean for us? We must work towards finding a way to integrate communications media into our Catholic faith in such a way as to effectively evangelize and promote the truth, while remaining 'removed' from the world and living a 'balanced' life. Too little use of communications media can be a hindrance to advancement of Jesus' Gospel message; too much use can ruin a person's life!
There is most certainly a difference between speaking to a person directly, face-to-face, and indirectly, as through text or pictures on a website, on TV or on the radio, and this fact must be respected. Communications media can help us, but it is by no means a complete solution to evangelization and education. One should not become caught up in the media (watching TV, blogging, writing, reading news, etc.); nor can one ignore it.
John Paul II is spot-on in his analysis of the current situation in the U.S. and many other media-saturated countries:
"The communications media have acquired such importance as to be the principal means of guidance and inspiration for many people in their personal, familial, and social behavior. We are dealing with a complex problem, because the culture itself, prescinding from its content, arises from the very existence of new ways to communicate with hitherto unknown techniques and vocabulary."
This situation can be helpful or harmful: Because of the pervasiveness of the media, Catholics (or anyone else using the media) can quickly spread large amounts of information among many thousands—even millions—of people. Conversely, forces opposed to the Catholic Church are easily able to spread blatant misinformation, lies, and non-truths.
Catholics of the 3rd Millenium (myself included) must find inroads—through blogging, websites, video, audio, radio, television, telecommunications, and other forms of media—by which we can promulgate the Catholic faith. For centuries, our Church has continued to adopt new ways of bringing people closer to Jesus and ultimate fulfillment of Heaven, and the Church will continue to evolve to bring Jesus to millions more.
Another interesting aspect of this letter is the fact that Pope John Paul II, who some in the mainstream communications media have deemed as unfit for the Papacy, is continuing his well-written, sound pastoral letters. In my opinion, the Pope is not the one who is in need of retirement; it is the writers who accuse him of being 'too old'. It is obvious from all the Pope continues to do that he is a blessing upon our Church and continues to share a profound, inspired wisdom.
The full text of John Paul II's apostolic letter can be found here.
Another expression of anti-Catholicism in the media is extremely disturbing. Another reason not to watch the current crop of 'popular' shows promoted by NBC:
During the February 22 episode of the NBC-TV sitcom, “Committed,” two non-Catholics are mistakenly given Holy Communion at a Catholic funeral Mass. Nate, who is Jewish, and Bowie, a Protestant, don’t know what to do with the Eucharist, so they make several failed attempts to get rid of it. For example, they try slipping it into the pocket of a priest, dropping it on a tray of cheese and crackers, etc.
At one point, the priest, who is portrayed as not knowing the difference between the Host and a cracker, goes to grab the “cracker” from a tray of appetizers; he initially balks when he discovers that it is the last one. Then he changes his mind, saying, “Oh, what the hell.” By far the most offensive scene occurs when Nate and Bowie accidentally flush what they think is the Host down the toilet.
Catholic League president William Donohue commented on this today:
“It’s been quite a while since we’ve been deluged with as many complaints as this episode of ‘Committed’ fielded. To say that Catholics are angry about this show would be an understatement—the outrage is visceral and intense. The complaints have come from bishops, college chaplains, pastors and the laity, and they have come from all over the country. With good reason: NBC has made a direct frontal assault on Roman Catholicism, choosing to mock, trivialize and ridicule the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
“What happened was deliberate. According to a January 2 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer, the writers for the series, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline, have been encouraged by NBC executives ‘to push the limits of comedy.’ For obvious reasons, the writers of ‘Roseanne,’ ‘Murphy Brown’ and ‘Ellen’ chose not to push the buttons of homosexuals (or some other protected group), so they decided to play it safe and stay in good standing with their bosses by bashing Catholics.
“More than an apology is needed. This episode should be retired for good, and that is what we will demand.”
Well, maybe my title for this entry is a little untruthful... Does it count if I call myself a critic? I'm not in the show, even though I'm part of it...
Basically, the show's first showing of Couch Potatoes was last night, and it was quite good! I really liked it, and thought it was even better than last year's show, Spam and Cheese: Leftovers Too.
The show lasted about two hours, and will probably be shortened a bit by Saturday, the next time we will put it on. In terms of sound and lighting, we did a pretty good job, in my humble opinion! John (a fellow seminarian) and I were operating the light and sound boards (respectively), with the assistance of some other help for spotlights and other duties. Here's a picture of us right before the show (notice the new shirts with the KLM Logo!).
Many of the acts were even better than I had seen them in the rehearsals, and, even better, Fr. Edward Richard's "Holy Mountain Music" bluegrass band played four songs which were awesome! You can listen to some of their music on their website.
If you are in St. Louis, and would still be interested in viewing the show, there are still tickets available for Saturday Night (the 26th) at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday (27th) show at 2:00 p.m. Call 314-792-6241 to reserve tickets (tickets cost $5 each). Rumor has it that you may find an added bonus during the Saturday show!
