Wonderful words from Pope John Paul II can be found in his Apostolic Letter: The Rapid Development to those Responsible for Communications concerning the proper use of the media by the Catholic Church and the necessary mindset Catholic individuals must foster to bring the fervor and guidance of the Holy Spirit into the vast realm of communications media today.
Do not be afraid of new technologies! These rank “among the marvelous things” – inter mirifica – which God has placed at our disposal to discover, to use and to make known the truth, also the truth about our dignity and about our destiny as his children, heirs of his eternal Kingdom. (14)
In addition to distilling fears about such things as the Internet, television and radio, our former Pope reminds us that we cannot get away with giving or receiving information without taking into account its moral implications (something 'mainstream media' seems to forget):
While the content being communicated must obviously be adapted to the needs of different groups, the goal must always be to make people aware of the ethical and moral dimension of the information. (9)
But can we use the Pope's letter to excuse excessive or improper use of the Internet, TV, music or the like? Of course not! Communication must always be rooted in Christ, the word made flesh:
In the Word made flesh communication itself takes on its most profound saving meaning: thus, in the Holy Spirit, the human being is given the capacity to receive salvation, and to proclaim and give witness to it before the world. (4)
We cannot forget our obligation to be a people grounded in faith, with Jesus Christ as our center. In this spirit, we are able to enter into the vast and sometimes bitter world of communications media carrying the banner of the Lord, shining as a 'light in the darkness.' We all need reminding of the primacy of the communication with God (through prayer) before communication with others.
Surely you can let your work be prayer, but make sure true prayer is also present in your life. You never have 'too little time' to spend some of it with the Lord. You never have an excuse to forget that you are one of God's children—one of his created beings—and that you need him at your side.
Last night, a 5-alarm fire destroyed the inside of the Rock Catholic Church in St. Louis. The Church was over 100 years old, and is known for its limestone exterior. I've driven by it on Grand Ave. many times, and remember seeing some beautiful interior pictures of the Chuch. It is a sad day for the St. Louis Archdiocese; please pray for the parishoners at this very old but vibrant parish, which ministers specially to the area's African-American community. Here's an article describing the fire from FOX News.
The parish will continue to celebrate daily and Sunday Masses in the gym next door (which is, thankfully, undamaged), and the new pastor (who only arrived in town a short while ago) has promised the Church will be rebuilt. Apparently, Archbishop Burke has already pledged an emergency $100,000 grant to help the rebuilding and repair of the Church (thankfully the stone exterior is still intact). The fire is believed to have been started by a bolt of lightning around 6:30 p.m. last night.
This week, I'm spending a few days in the Rocky Mountains near the Rocky Mountain National Park, and I already have a few pictures from the Garden of the Gods outside Colorado Springs. I'll be posting some more pictures as time allows—basically, if I ever feel energetic enough after one of my high-altitude hikes to spend a few minutes posting pictures.
As I write this on my MacBook Pro, I'm sitting on a bus returning from a very enriching and inspiring pilgrimage to Conception, MO, Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO. The pilgrimage began with an overnight stay and day of recollection led by Archbishop Raymond Burke at the beautiful grounds of Conception Abbey (a Benedictine monastery) in a rural area of northwest Missouri. The picture below is from their main church, the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception:
(The picture above was taken with my D40 on the ledge of the holy water font in the back of the Basilica Church, thus the watery reflections).
We then moved on to a visit to the monestary at Clyde, MO, of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, for a tour and to pray the Rosary. There were many beautiful displays of needlework done by the sisters (including some unbelievably detailed priestly vestments!), but, alas, we weren't allowed to take pictures of them. One thing I did take a picture of was this crafty little storage box's insides:
How are those for some virtues? Love and reprimand wouldn't stand up so well in our modern culture... unless you take out the reprimand part :-).
We stayed the rest of our nights at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, and visited some wonderful Churches in the two Kansas City dioceses (Missouri and Kansas), including the Cathedral fo Immaculate Conception, the Church of the Sacred Heart, and St. Peter's Cathedral, inside which I found some beautiful stained glass, like the window pictured here:
There were a few panes, such as the one pictured above, that I hadn't seen the likes of before. (In case you were wondering, the above art is of Mary and Joseph's marriage). You can see all my pictures from the pilgrimage here.
