Franciscan at Home

Fr. Stravinskas argues that young people today are looking for a form of worship that is ennobling and uplifting, based on traditional forms of liturgy.

We hear a great deal today about ‘culture’: the youth culture, the culture of life, theculture of death, the anti-culture. And so, I would like to begin my reflections by demonstrating the connection between culture and worship. As a die-hard Latin teacher, I want to establish the etymological linkage. The word cultura (culture) comes from the word cultus (cult, as in ‘worship’). To enter into a language is to enter into the mindset of a people.

Thus, one can say that for the ancient Romans, ‘culture’ was rooted in ‘cult’ or worship. We can smirk at the Greeks and Romans of old with their thousand little gods and goddesses inhabiting the Pantheon but, for all that, they still lived within a transcendental horizon. In other words, the individual human being was answerable to a higher and ultimate authority. And within that horizon, those peoples forged impressive cultures. Similarly, within the Christian scheme of things, we find that what historians have dubbed ‘TheAge of Faith’– the high middle ages – produced a nearly unimaginable font of literature, art, music and architecture – unrivaled to this very moment.

As a teaching method in catechesis, dialogue is often given a prominent place: it is seen as a ‘democratic’ mode of teaching, enabling a range of views to be heard and considered within a relationship of mutual give and take; it seems to be respectful of the learner, speaking ‘with’ rather than ‘to’ the person, allowing the other into the teaching which is taking place; and it can develop the learner’s potential, encouraging the development of critical and intellectual skills through a mutual and shared engagement with questions.

Many go further, arguing that catechesis should privilege dialogue as the preferred means of communication of the Faith.

The Church documents speak of God’s ‘dialogue of salvation’[i] being at the heart of catechesis, so that ‘The wonderful dialogue that God undertakes with every person becomes its inspiration and norm’.[ii] God speaks his word and seeks the response of his creatures. God reveals to man the plan he is to accomplish and calls for a response in faith to that Revelation. At the beginning of the first part of the Catechism this fundamental orientation of catechesis towards dialogue is implied: ‘The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God. This invitation to converse with God is addressed to man as soon as he comes into being’.[iii] Cavalletti rightly emphasises that in catechesis there is a call to ‘be attentive to the dialogue that is concretized in the covenant’.[iv]

Pope2You.net

A Vatican webpage designed with the aim of bringing the words and messages of Benedict XVI to the youth. This site features the Pope’s message for the 43rd World Day of Communications. From this site, young people can send virtual cards to friends that contain an attractive image of the Pope and a quote from one of his addresses.

Pope2You.net also contains the follow features:

Facebook application
iPhone application
The Vatican’s official YouTube channel (http://youtube.com/vatican)

‘I am conscious of those who constitute the so-called digital generation and I would like to share with them, in particular, some ideas concerning the extraordinary potential of the new technologies, if they are used to promote human understanding and solidarity.’

With these opening words, Pope Benedict communicated his message for the 43rd World Communications Day on May 24, 2009, which held the official title: ‘New Technologies, New Relationships. Promoting a culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship.’[i]

In sum, our Holy Father addressed the reality pervasive in the lives of those popularly identified as Generation Y as well as those born in the 1990’s and the 21st Century in Western or First World countries, whom sociologists now identify as Generation Z, Generation I, or the iGeneration (‘i’ for ‘internet’).[ii] We are experiencing ‘fundamental shifts in patterns of communications’ that affect how we relate to one another. The digital world brought upon us by the advent of the Internet and cellular communications has changed the method by which we converse and relate in our day-to-day lives.

But how is this authentic experience of grace appropriated without the negative side effect of disaffection from communion with the Roman Catholic Church and casting one’s hermeneutical loyalty in the arena of biblical fundamentalism? The answer is to be found in the early Patristic practice of uniting the spiritual sense, a highly personalized appropriation of the biblical message, with the living tradition of the community of faith.[ii] We shall begin by first noting some of the features of fundamentalism, both biblical fundamentalism and a peculiar manifestation of fundamentalism among Catholics.

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’.