That was the question put to Father Raymond de Souza today as he addressed Corpus Christi/St. Mark's students at UBC.
The good father, who writes regularly for The National Post, was unhesitant in his response. The Lord, who communicated and evangelized so well with people, would probably not Tweet the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus spoke directly with people, Father de Souza pointed out, and although it's true that in His day the height of written communications technology was parchment and ink, perhaps there's something significant about the fact He chose that time to come to earth. "The path of the Gospel, of Salvation history, is personal," Father de Souza said. "It's one on one."
While he admits he doesn't use Twitter, that doesn't necessarily mean Jesus wouldn't. Modern media can be a bridge in communications, he said. "It might be an imperfect bridge," but where it can help improve communications, it is a positive development.
Modern communications technology makes it easier to find information and can help people feel less alone. Those are positives. "Virtual communities are not real communities, but they're not nothing."
Father de Souza is in Vancouver speaking to priests of the archdiocese of Vancouver about Catholic social communications as part of The B.C. Catholic's expanded readership initiative that will see the paper going into half of Catholic homes within the next couple of years.
Olympic Opportunities with More Than Gold are available for anyone looking to get involved with other Christians during the 2010 Olympics. Check out these opportunities at the More Than Gold website: www.morethangold.ca.
Listen to Archbishop Miller as he takes on birth control, married priests, and even confession as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card for Catholics, as he and CKNW's Jill Bennett have a chat about Catholicism on the station's Faith 101 series. (You'll have to listen to the station's newcast first, but the half-hour interview is worth the wait.)
Can the Catholic faith be expressed as part of a commercial venture? If the answer is no, then the New Orleans Saints in football, the California Angels in baseball, and a particular taqueria in downtown Vancouver may have to rethink their monickers.
A Catholic mother of Latin American heritage wrote to us, upset that a Mexican restaurant on West Hastings is using an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as its logo. Not only is the image on the storefront, but also on the restaurant's printed materials.
The woman writes: "Can our Catholic leaders in B.C do something about this?
For us, Our Lady is a precious treasure, our faith, our everyday light, not to be considered a logo to sell food. We venerate the Virgin, we don't commercialize her."
While I didn't find the image offensive, I did wonder where you draw the line between personal devotion and sacrilege. I asked Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo. Not only is he a canon lawyer, but his Mexican background gives him an understanding of Latin American sentiments when it comes to this topic.
Msgr. Lopez Gallo: "It is extremely difficult to qualify the popular devotion that sometimes falls into very superstitious worship. Yes, many Mexicans (and Latinos), especially uneducated Catholics, long to put images of Our Lady of Guadalupe everywhere to beg her protection. In their candor they do not have the discretion to limit their devotion and avoid usage under trivial circumstances.
Conscious of these religious feelings, business people commercialize religious icons (e.g., Sacred Heart, symbols of the Eucharist and, of course, images of Mary) for the selling of their products to their target market.
For me, this exploitation of religious images may be blamed more on the commercial agents than on the faithful. The reservation of your correspondent shows how hesitant she is to publicize her criticism.
This is extremely common in Mexico and in many Third World countries. The poorer (and more economically desperate) the people, the more they tend to concretize their devotion in pious objects. I don't think we can do anything to remedy the regrets of your reader.
Never at a loss for ways to turn any Catholic story into an anti-Catholic story, many in the media are accusing Pope Benedict XVI of "poaching" Anglicans with his overture to traditionalists. The best is The Times of London's "Rome has parked its tanks on the Archbishop of Canterbury's lawn." Too bad the facts don't bear the accusations out in any way. It's the conservative Anglicans who have been coming to Rome's door for years, pleading for union that might accommodate their liturgical traditions. Presumably if the Pope had delayed any longer, the MSM would be complaining "What's taking so long?" More thoughts in this week's B.C. Catholic editorial.
In his letter for World Mission Sunday this year, Pope Benedict XVI noted that missionary zeal "has always been a sign of the vitality of our Churches." In the hope of helping with that vitality, The B.C. Catholic is publishing a special vocations supplement with an emphasis on missions work. In it, local contributors offer their thoughts on the theme "Mission as Service at Home." If you would like to contribute financially to the Pontifical Missions Society, visit www.missionsocieties.ca or call 1-416-699-7077.
Fall may mark the start of the hockey and NFL seasons, and the CFL season is in full bloom, but fall is also known for baseball's World Series. When you think about it, there's something serene and tranquil about baseball...something...Catholic.
Football has its Hail Mary throws, and hockey has the sin bin (penalty box), but the similarities between Christianity and baseball are truly profound. The relationship between faith and baseball has been pointed out by no less than former baseball commissioners Fay Vincent and Bart Giamatti, and some of them are recalled here.
