Franciscan at Home

In this article, we will explore several quality resources that use developments in media technology to enhance/aid our catechesis. First, we look at the technology available to us to display DVD media.[i] Then, we dive into three specific resources that bring leaven to the new culture created by recent advances in technology.[ii]

In the previous issue of The Sower (April 2009) we began to look at the writings of Dietrich von Hildebrand, and at his reflections on contemporary culture. His essay ‘Efficiency and Holiness’ speaks about the ‘heresy’ of efficiency. He argued that this involved a certain idolatry of work, especially of professional work.

What did he mean? He saw this heresy present in the estimation that is often given to the realm of work, almost considering that it is here that we find the highest pinnacle of human life. Von Hildebrand does not mean in any way to demean the high dignity of work in man’s life, but rather sees the problem as one of shifting our understanding of man’s center of gravity away from the primary vocation to be a person, to that of our work and achievements.

Where work is placed at the centre, the alternative we seek tends to be, not God, but amusement. And because this is not our true centre, other things become distorted as well. ‘Recreation’ and ‘relaxation’ become the label for all that is worth seeking apart from work. Von Hildebrand argued that we begin to approach the question of the good life simply in terms of amusement, so that any understanding of life’s real depth and dignity is frustrated. We neglect the spiritual, neglect the need for recollection. We let ourselves be distracted.

How is this manifested in the realm of faith and catechesis?

En esta nueva serie titulada Tecnología y Catequesis, exploraremos el rango de posibilidades que se nos presentan como catequistas armados con nuevos adelantos en la tecnología mediática. Este primer artículo explora la potencial que se nos ofrece, mientras que los artículos subsecuentes tratarán de aplicaciones más prácticas con ricos ejemplos.

Mientras escuchaba la radio católica durante mi camino a la oficina esta mañana, un popular locutor de radio mencionó que si viviera hoy San Pablo, estaría valiéndose de estudios de televisión y torres de transmisión de la radio en lugar de pluma y papiro. “De veras que sí,” pensé mientras ponderaba las posibilidades que nos presentan y qué tan bien hago uso de estos prospectos en mi propio ministerio.

Debemos de preguntarnos, “Se está comunicando el Evangelio a través de estos varios medios de comunicación?” No solamente tenemos que estar produciendo y usando medios de calidad que compitan con sus homólogos seglares, sino también darnos cuenta que todo este consumo mediático afecta a nuestros estudiantes. Hoy en día, un retroproyector blanco y negro grita: “¡Anticuado!”, mientras que un proyector digital de videos causa sorpresa. Cuando referimos nuestros estudiantes a un sitio web católico con diseño elegante, enseñamos un DVD entretenido y sólidamente catequético, o pasamos una presentación PowerPoint con video clips incrustados, enviamos el mensaje de que el Evangelio es relevante y siempre actual. En un sentido, nos hacemos “todo para todos, para ganar por lo menos a algunos, a cualquier precio” (1 Cor 9:22).

La tecnología tiene la capacidad para mejorar y traer eficiencia a nuestros esfuerzos catequéticos de distintos modos, muy aparte del arte de la presentación. Las hojas de cálculo, los notebooks portátiles, las bases de datos, el software de procesamiento de palabras, los documentos PDF, las redes de área local y el acceso inalámbrico a la Internet son todos adelantos tecnológicos que nos pueden ayudar. Estas poderosas herramientas electrónicas dan velocidad a la diseminación del Evangelio. El sistema de caminos de Roma dio a San Pablo un eficiente medio para comunicarse con un público distante en sus muchas cartas. De modo similar, la carretera de la Internet da alas a las e-pístolas de nuestros obispos para instruir y guiar al rebaño de Cristo.

In this new series titled Technology and Catechesis, we will explore the breadth of possibilities before us as catechists armed with new advances in media technology. This first article will explore the potential before us, while subsequent articles will address more practical applications with rich examples.

As I was listening to Catholic radio during this morning’s commute to the office, a popular radio show host mentioned how if St. Paul were alive today, he would be using television studios and radio towers in lieu of pen and papyrus. “How very true,” I thought to myself as I pondered the possibilities we have before us and how well I am availing myself of those prospects in my own ministry.

We must ask ourselves, “Is the Gospel being communicated through these various forms of media?” Not only do we need to be producing and using quality media that will contend with its secular counterparts, but we also need to realize that all of this media consumption affects our students. Today, a black and white overhead projector screams: “Ancient!”, whereas a digital video projector raises eyebrows. When we point our pupils to an elegantly designed Catholic website, show an entertaining and solidly catechetical DVD, or run a PowerPoint presentation with embedded video clips, we send the message that the Gospel is relevant and ever-fresh. In a sense, we become “all things to all men” so that we “might by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22).

Technology is able to enhance and bring efficiency to our catechetical endeavors in ways apart from the art of presentation. Spreadsheets, portable notebooks, databases, word processing software, PDF documents, local area networks, and wireless Internet access are all technological advancements that can aid us. These powerful electronic tools give speed to the spread of the Gospel. The Roman empire’s road system gave St. Paul an efficient means to communicate with a distant audience in his many epistles. In like manner today, the Internet highway speeds along our bishops’ e-pistles to instruct and guide the flock of Christ.

In our on-going considerations of underlying presumptions and preoccupations of contemporary culture and catechesis I want to consider the thought of a wonderful Catholic thinker, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and what he has to say in an essay entitled ‘Efficiency and Holiness’ (The New Tower of Babel, 1977) In this essay, he discusses what he calls the ‘heresy of efficiency.’ What he says there has deep relevance for our catechesis. Von Hildebrand goes into three different ways this heresy of efficiency can be understood. We will explore aspects of this heresy in this and in the following issue of The Sower.

One way to understand the heresy of efficiency is that it is rooted in an idolatry of man’s achievements. Achieving great things is considered to be man’s greatest value. With this man’s center of gravity has shifted away from what man is to what he does. This idolatry of achievement not only affects the ways in which we judge one another, but also how we judge ourselves. We replace the authentic ideal of holiness with the mere accomplishment of ‘great things’.

Continuando con nuestra reflexión sobre las supuestas y preocupaciones de la cultura y catequesis contemporáneas, quiero considerar el pensamiento de un maravilloso intelectual católico, Dietrich von Hildebrand, y sus aportaciones en un ensayo titulado “Eficiencia y santidad” (The New Tower of Babel, reimp. 1977). En este ensayo, trata de lo que denomina la ‘herejía de la eficiencia’. Lo que allí dice tiene una profunda relevancia para nuestra catequesis. Von Hildebrand detalla tres maneras en que se puede entender esta herejía de eficiencia. Exploraremos ciertos aspectos de esta herejía en éste y en el siguiente número de El Sembrador.

Una forma de entender la herejía de la eficiencia es que está enraizada en una idolatría de los logros del hombre. Los logros grandiosos son considerados como el valor mayor del ser humano. Con esto, el centro de gravedad del ser humano se ha desviado de lo que es el hombre a lo que hace el hombre. Esta idolatría del logro no solamente afecta las maneras en que nos juzgamos, sino en cómo nos juzgamos a nosotros mismos. Reemplazamos la ideal auténtica de la santidad con el mero logro de ‘cosas grandes’.

El 11 de octubre del 2008, el Mons. Olmsted, Obispo de Phoenix, se dirigió a la organización internacional laica, Católicos Unidos en la Fe (CUF) con motivo del Congreso Conmemorativo de su 40° Aniversario en Pittsburgh, Pensilvania, EEUU. Muy gentilmente concede a The Sower el derecho de publicar su ponencia que presentamos a continuación.

Estoy verdaderamente agradecido con la organización Católicos Unidos por la Fe y por el llamamiento a un apostolado activo en la Iglesia y en el mundo que extendió el Vaticano II a los seglares. No obstante, quizá sea de provecho recordar las palabras con las que Juan Pablo II prosigue en su Exhortación Apostólica refiriéndose a las ‘tentaciones’ que enfrentan los seglares en los tiempos posconciliares (#2): “Al mismo tiempo, el Sínodo ha notado que el camino posconciliar de los fieles laicos no ha estado exento de dificultades y de peligros. En particular, se pueden recordar dos tentaciones a las que no siempre han sabido sustraerse: la tentación de reservar un interés tan marcado por los servicios y las tareas eclesiales, de tal modo que frecuentemente se ha llegado a una práctica dejación de sus responsabilidades específicas en el mundo profesional, social, económico, cultural y político; y la tentación de legitimar la indebida separación entre fe y vida, entre la acogida del Evangelio y la acción concreta en las más diversas realidades temporales y terrenas.”

Aunque esto lo comentó Juan Pablo II hace ya varios años, ¿no vemos estas mismas tentaciones aún hoy en día? Si no nos enfrentamos directamente con estas tentaciones, si los fieles laicos desisten de luchar la batalla interna que consiste en conformar sus vidas diarias con la verdad y la caridad del Evangelio, la santidad no se dará. Veamos un poco más de cerca a la batalla que arroja cada tentación.

While I am indeed grateful for Catholics United for the Faith and for Vatican II’s summons of the laity to their active apostolate in the Church and the world, it might be helpful to recall what John Paul II went on to write in his Apostolic Exhortation about “temptations” faced by the laity after Vatican II (#2),

“At the same time… the post-conciliar path of the lay faithful has not been without its difficulties and dangers. In particular, two temptations can be cited which they have not always known how to avoid: the temptation of being so strongly interested in Church services and tasks that some fail to become actively engaged in their responsibilities in the professional, social, cultural and political world; and the temptation of legitimizing the unwarranted separation of faith from life, that is a separation of the Gospel’s acceptance from the actual living of the Gospel in various situations in the world.”

Although John Paul II made these remarks some years ago, do we not still see these temptations today? If these temptations are not faced squarely, if the laity fail to engage in the battle within of conforming their daily lives with the truth and charity of the Gospel, holiness will not happen. Let’s look a little closer at the battle each temptation poses.

This series that examines key features of contemporary culture that characterizes the ‘field’ into which the Word is sown by catechists today.

The soil into which we wish to sow the seed of the Word of God in catechesis is radically influenced by the philosophical mindset of pragmatism, which makes the soil a bit rocky, or even thorny.

Pragmatism is a perilous way of thinking. In his encyclical letter on faith and reason, Pope John Paul II makes this clear, describing pragmatism as ‘dangerous’. He says, ‘No less dangerous is pragmatism, an attitude of mind which, in making its choices, precludes theoretical consideration or judgments based on ethical principles.’ (Fides ET Ratio 89)

This way of thinking, then, neglects truth for the sake of what appears to be practical. Pope Benedict relates this way of thinking to the narrative of the Passion: ‘In Christ’s passion narrative we find Pilate’s question: “What is truth?” (Jn 18: 38). It is the question of a skeptic who asks: “But, you say you are the truth, but what is the truth?” And thus, with truth being unrecognizable, Pilate lets it be understood: we act according to what is most practical, what is most successful and not seeking the truth. He then condemns Jesus to death because he follows pragmatism…’ Here the Holy Father reveals the evil consequences of living according to pragmatic ways of thinking, in which we are willing to ignore larger questions of truth: it results in the death of God the Son.

The sixteenth century in Europe was an axial period in history. Major changes were taking place in society, and in the midst of much strife there was also creativity. The Renaissance was giving way to more serious Christian theology, and the question of education was to receive a major leap forward with the foundation of a number of Teaching Orders. While the great events of the day might have been seen as diets, synods, the Council of Trent and wars, a creative initiative took place within the schools which was to be a major factor in creating a Christian heart in the classroom.

To look at this in the context of Church history, I propose a glance first at the long tradition of guilds, confraternities and sodalities; then at the events of 1563; then the spread and development of the confraternities, and finally the question of what lessons these developments hold for us today.