Social Media is the new Areopagus of the kerygma by an Evangelized evangelizer

              Last July 14-15, 2012, I, together with Fray Alvin John Salgado, OSA and Asp. Keith Lawrence Ermac, attended the First Catholic Social Media Summit in Renaissance Convention Center in Marikina City.

I am grateful and thankful to our community (San Agustin Center of Studies – Formation house of the Order of St. Augustine – Philippines) for allowing us to participate in the summit. With a positive outlook from our formators, they strongly supported us with this endeavor. For without them, we won’t experience the many wonderful things we encountered and nourished, particularly, the thoughts, ideas, information, trends, workshops, variety of sharing, stories and the people as well.

After that two-day summit, I was blissfully evangelized by the various speakers from the uninterrupted wonderful teachings and information about social media. Listening to them may look tiresome yet I never got bored and fell asleep to their practical and trending concerns of the society. We had speakers like Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC, who talked about becoming a true and authentic Christian in the Digital World, Arch. Luis Antonio Tagle, who shared about the spirituality of Social Media, Carlo Ople from TV5 sharing his marketing experience in the Social Media and finally Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, who shared about winning the Digital World through the Word. Moreover, there are other breakout sessions within the summit especially workshops, a talk show, and a free concert with Rivermaya.

            All the talks were fully loaded with essential content that missing a single part wouldn’t create the puzzle to form an aesthetic value. From the various speakers, I would much want to share my reflection about the thoughts of two speakers: namely Bishop Joel Baylon of the Diocese of Legaspi and Msgr. Pedro C. Quitorio III about the role of social media as the new areopagus for evangelization.

Social Media is the New Areopagus

            Bishop Baylon is the head of the Episcopal Commission on Youth of the CBCP. In a video interview, he asked young people that are very present in the cyber world, (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Linkedin etc.) the social networking sites, to join him in the endeavor to evangelize the world, this cyber world. It has been the recent call of the Church through the Holy Father Benedict XVI that this is the “new Areopagus”, the new place, for us to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, where many young people are present.

            This is the urgent call of the bishop about entering into a new place of evangelization, the Areopagus. This word is derived from the Sacred Scripture that refers to the place where Paul proclaimed the Good news.  “Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said: ‘You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar in inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.” (Acts 16:22-23) At the time of the ancient world, Areopagus is a kind of a cultural center. Areopagus in Athens is a place of access for knowledge. It is where it is popularly known in ancient world. It is considered the birth place of great minds like Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and other great philosophers. Paul went there because a great number of audiences are present. Eventually, he was led by the Epicurean and Stoic Philosophers to go to the Areopagus.  However, what matters here is not the place but the message that was proclaimed by Paul. His proclamation on the Gospel of Christ made the place coined word for evangelization. The same message then should be proclaimed in our time despite the long span of years from Paul’s time and people of the 21^st century.

            The reality of social media in the 21^st century is an undeniable truth that should be considered in the life of many. In our context, social media has dragged people, especially the young, to be involved in this world wide trend, wherein people have all the access to everything in which they need and want to know either one is rich or poor.

It follows then that the Church should go to this place, the social media, as the new areopagus for the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Since we have identified the social media as the new areopagus for the proclamation of the Gospel, it leads us to ask, “How then are we going to preach it?”

           

Kerygma is E2E

One of the highlights of the talk was the six ideas of “Winning the World through the Word: Shaping a Digital Full of HOPE” shared by Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III. Among the six ideas, the third idea was simply relevant and timely for this year’s theme about Kerygma or proclamation. Msgr. Quitorio said that “The Catholic Social Media is the E2E way of proclaiming the Gospel.”

Above all it is called, ‘Catholic’ because it is not only associated to technology but it is also about the content and the unique perspective of truth, which is proclamation of the Gospel. On the other hand, ‘E2E way’ is the means to proclaim the gospel from an Evangelizer to another Evangelizer. Before a person becomes an evangelizer he/she then must first be evangelized. Then, the former is the evangelized evangelizer of the Word of God. E2E way is quite different from the P2P way (the old way) which means “Pulpit to People”. Through this, E2E intensifies the subjective value of the evangelizer rather than sounding objective (the P2P perspective).

Msgr. Quitorio then gave us the best example of an evangelized evangelizer. They are ‘Elizabeth’, the mother of John the Baptist and ‘Mary’ the Mother of Jesus (Luke 1:1-80). Both of them were provoked by the Word of God that was revealed to them through the same angel. As to Mary, she became the first woman to rejoice by praying the Magnificat that the savior of the Israelites is about to be born through her. Elizabeth also rejoiced when John was conceived that despite her being advanced in age she can still carry and deliver a child through the grace of God. Both of them were provoked with the Word but Mary had the greater part since in her womb was the savior of mankind. The Word was viral, in the language of social media, from the positive perspective that made Mary become and evangelized evangelizer. She was the first one to use the E2E way that contains the Gospel, which is our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Above all, a new frontier for mission has been opened to us as young servants of God. With the gift of technology in our generation, we were able to discover our purpose not only as mere active users of the social media but as emphatically as an active Christian Catholic user.

            I think it is clear that the kerygma or the proclamation of the Word of God is to be done in the social media but not as the sole means but one of the many ways.  

            Lastly, I strongly call my brothers in the community and also to you my reader to make use of social media as a means to proclaim the Word of God to people of every nation even when you are just at home.  And as Arch. Luis Antonio Tagle said in his talk on the Spirituality of Social Media let us adhere to call also “Don’t use it in a mere label. But use social media to proclaim the Word.”

Article 1-07-31-12

Blogs about the new areopagus

Benedict XVI's Homily for Solemnity of Pentecost

 http://voiceintheareopagus.blogspot.com/2009/05/benedict-xvi-pentecost-homily.html

A Digital Mars Hill: Beliefnet as a “New Areopagus”

http://blog.beliefnet.com/catholicbychoice/2010/11/a-digital-mars-hill-beliefnet-as-a-new-areopagus.html

THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS FOR AMERICA  A NEW EVANGELIZATION http://www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/magazine/documents/ju_mag_01121997_p-28_en.html  St Paul and the new Areopagus  http://evangelizationplace.blogspot.com/2009/12/st-paul-and-new-areopagus.html

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (John 6:24-35)

Gospel, John 6:24-35 
 24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
 25 When they found him on the other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?'
 26 Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
27 Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.
28 Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's work?'
29 Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you must believe in the one he has sent.' 30 So they said, 'What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do?
31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
32 Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread;
33 for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
34 'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread always.'
35 Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst.

August 5, 2012

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (John 6:1-15)

Gospel: John 6:1-15
Five loaves, two fish

Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large crowds followed him because of the miraculous signs they saw when he healed the sick. So he went up into the hills and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Then lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to him and said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?” He said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”

Then one of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”

Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there so the people, about five thousand men, sat down to rest. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish and gave them as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten enough, he told his disciples, “Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost.”

So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is with pieces of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

When the people saw this sign that Jesus had just given, they said, “This is really the Prophet, he who is to come into the world.” Jesus realized that they would come and take him by force to make him king; so he fled to the hills by himself.

Reflection:

A simple theme of the gospel of today is about sharing. The best act of sharing depicted in the gospel is the child bringing the five loaves of bread and two fishes. His example tells us that instead of taking the food for himself and eat it alone and instead of running away, he gave it up. 

Here are other themes that we might extract from our gospel in the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time of July 29, 2012. 

1. The Eucharist - when Jesus prayed for the miracle 

2. Sacrifice - the boy's action

3. Obedience - when the people reclined

4. prayer - When asking for something from God, pray to him. Jesus did it himself.

5. Good Shepherd - a continuation of the previous Sunday's Gospel, which is about Jesus care for this disciples. 

Psalm 143

 "Let me know your love, O Lord, for I put my trust in you.... to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 6:30-34)

"The apostles returned and reported to Jesus all they had done and taught."

This line plays a significant role for me this week since the previous Sunday. In our Lectio Divina, I chose this line particularly the bold words above. "Returned", for I just came back from a two-day summit, wherein I learned a lot of new things abut social media particularly on the view of Catholic Church about it. "Reported, for I shared to my group mates in just 4 minutes the gist of our two-day summit. Well, of course a time like that can't capture the many good things from the summit. "Taught", for this is the challenge I promised after the summit. I have to fulfill a role of being a teacher to my brothers in the community. I have to talk about the value beneath the society's current trend. 

A Personal Social Media Response

A week past already after the 1st Catholic Social Media Summit last July 14 and 15 in Marikina City and I think the fire is still hot and waiting to outburst further. I gave myself a personal challenge on how I can help my community to make use of Social Media in our category of life. There is an urgency to stay focus in this advocacy. But, how will I start it? There are still many things to consider about fulfilling this novel mission.
On the personal level here are the least things I must follow.

• Edit the interview of Aimark with Fr. Martin Nolan, OSA, who came here in the Philippines on the first week of July. I was the cameraman in the interview about the history of the creation of the Province of Sto. Nino de Cebu in 1984. 

• Create religious typography to be shared in Facebook and friends. 

• Update this blog then from time to time about the initiatives taken by the community on their response to the call of the new Evangelization. 

• I have to seek assistance from my formators in order to update the seminary website specially its content. The content in not updated since a new administration has taken over the seminary since May 2012. 

• Brainstorm concepts for our vocation promotion. A good lapse for promotion is not more than one minute. 

These are just some of the minor things that need to be accomplished or may be at least fulfill. This is a good start for social media awareness.
However, I unceasingly pray for God's guidance to lead me the way. I hope that this endeavor may not harm my social life and community. I also have to remind myself that "I'm not an artist, I am a religious." This is the striking line that I received from a priest while I was the lay-out artist of our school publication two years ago. hehehehehe.... So help me God.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 6:7-13)

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 6:7-13)

The twelve's mission and our mission in the new evangelization

In our gospel for this Sunday, Jesus sent his disciples by pairs. They cast out demons, cured the sick, and even preached on repentance. These are the just some of the important things that the disciples did while travelling around a particular village following the command of Jesus.

As the gospel speaks of being sent, I can also speak of sending in this case for at this time the last day of the 1st Catholic Social Media Summit (July 14-15, 2012) ended. I was like a disciple, who tried to listen attentively to the various speakers talking about the different aspects of social media since yesterday until this Sunday. A command was given to us all delegates by the main celebrant of the Mass, Bp. Baylon, of the Diocese of Albay. He told us young generations of the youth to help the church in proclaiming the Word of God to the people. He said, "Let us win the world through the Word". This phrase means a lot to me being a member of this generation to participate on the call of the Mother Church to continue the mission of the Apostles, which was given to them with authority by our Lord, Jesus Christ, as it was like our gospel this Sunday.

The challenge of the mission is to proclaim God's word through the social media. As in our homiletics class, the sole content of our mission then is just one word, that is, Jesus. He must then be the center of our lives as we engage in this new evangelization that I think was called by Holy Father Benedict XVI to respond in the continuous renewal of the Church after the Vatican II. This is a good start then to anticipate the convocation and Motu Propio of Benedict XVI of 2012-2013 as the Year of Faith, which will start this October, 2012.

Psalm 133:1 - "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live in unity."

Fr. Robert Prevost on the New Evangelization

Interview of the Vatican Radio to Fr. Robert Prevost, OSA on new evangelization on the occasion of the 3rd Augustinian Lay Congress in Rome. 

“As we prepare for the year of faith, there needs to be a new evangelization. A new evangelization that really is not so much documents, so much people talking from podiums, but people talking with one another, hearing the faith, experiencing that God loves them and that again as people together in unity with the love of God people experiencing that I think then can come easily to the truth of faith.”

After the 1st Catholic Social Media Summit what then?

1st Catholic Social Media Summit, Renaissance Convention Center, Marikina City, April 14-15, 2012 - Before we left the venue, we were asked by the organizers to tweet or shout out in twitter and Facebook about our learnings in the 1^st Catholic Social Media Summit. As I thought over it, a one-line tweet won’t describe enough the things I’ve learned from the summit.

Me together with Fray Waway and Asp. Keith.

The three of us with one of the speakers of the summit, Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC.

First and foremost, I am grateful and thankful to our community (San Agustin Center of Studies – Formation house of the Order of St. Augustine – Philippines) for a allowing us to participate in the summit (1^st Catholic Social Media Summit). I, as the head servant, personally approached and proposed to our community to participate in this summit. With a positive outlook from our formators, they strongly supported us with this endeavor. (We were actually three who attended the summit representing our community and the Order of St. Augustine in general). For without them, we won’t experience the many wonderful things we encountered and nourished, particularly, the thoughts, the ideas, the information, the trends, the workshops, the variety of sharing, the stories and the people as well. Above all else, a new frontier for mission has been opened to us as young servants of God. With the gift of technology in our generation, we were able to discover our purpose not only as mere active users of the social media but as emphatically as an active Christian Catholic user.

Secondly, as a religious, I am grateful to the challenge that was given to us. For my interests and passions for social media (the safest way to saying an addict to social networking hehehe) won’t be put in vain. A new transformation of the self is called from being plainly a human vanity to a more godly and holistic vanity.

Thirdly, the means were already provided but we lack content and goal. Now, a goal has been readied or rather has been long given to us since God’s time, but what we then should act appropriately is to pass through the path that will eventually bring me, you and us, to a more meaningful and great end, which is to be with God.

So, I then adhere to the 5 points shared to us by Fr. Stephen Cuyos, MSC to be as principles to observe in the social media.

1. I will pray then before I click.

2. I will share photos to proclaim and inspire.

3. I will foster meaningful friendships.

4. I will post uplifting videos.

5. I leave a digital footprint (of God).

For I need these principles so that I could respond well to the call of Arch. Luis Antonio Tagle on the digital world not only as a means to evangelize but also as a platform, field needed to be evangelized. In this way, we may have a process of communicating people not only from P2P (Pulpit to People) way but also to the E2E way (Evangelizer to an Evangelizer).

Let us do then our mission as OMGs (Online Missionaries of God) for the service of God (ad servos Dei!) with one mind and one heart (anima una et cor unum) intent upon Him, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let Him then be our content and end at the same time as we fulfill our mission even though we are in our own homes. 

So see then next year! More fun and more learning!

Commissioning of the Twelve (Matthew 10:7-15)

As the apostles were sent or commissioned by Jesus to go to mission, he gave many tips and reminders to them on what to do while in a mission. However, the most significant reminder to think of is the sacrifice they made for the mission. They were given authority and power to cure the sick and cast out demons.
In our class today in Bioethics, our professor shared to us the gift of power as a steward. In the principle of stewardship and creativity, we are to protect, preserve, take care and administer nature or even to our fellow human beings. In the language of bioethics, we are given the power to be responsible since we are the only creature capable of doing those tasks.
In relation to the movie of the 4th sequel of Spiderman, the main character was given a power to take responsibility. When he got tired of being a crime buster, she was indirectly and knowingly not told by her aunt that without spiderman social order is chaotic.
Just like the apostles and spiderman, we need gallant people to make sacrifices in order to bring peace and order to the world. We need gallant people like the apostles, who forgot who they are as human beings so that the word of God may spread to the whole world. We need gallant people, like spiderman, who gave up popularity and fame in order to save the city from criminals. We need gallant people to make sacrifices not for personal intentions but for the common good of all.

From a Sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop

The Apostle tells us to rejoice, but in the Lord, not in the world. Whoever wishes to be a friend of this world, says Scripture, will be reckoned an enemy of God. As a man cannot serve two masters, so one cannot rejoice both in the world and in the Lord.

Let joy in the Lord prevail, then, until joy in the world is no more. Let joy in the Lord go on increasing; let joy in the world go on decreasing until it is no more. This is said, not because we are not to rejoice while we are in this world, but in order that, even while we are still in this world, we may already rejoice in the Lord.

You may not object: I am in the world; if I rejoice I certainly rejoice where I am. What is this? Do you mean that because you are in the world you are not in the Lord? Listen again to the Apostle, speaking now to the Athenians: in the Acts of the Apostles he says this of God and the Lord our creator: In him we live and move and have our being. If he is everywhere, where is he not? Surely this was what he was exhorting us to realize. The Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything.

            This is a great truth, that he ascended above all the heavens, yet is near to those on earth. Who is this stranger and neighbor if not the one who became our neighbor out of compassion?

            The man lying on the road, left half-dead by robbers, the man treated with contempt by the priest and the levite who passed by, the man approached by the passing Samaritan to take care of him and help him, that man is the whole human race. When the immortal one, the holy one, was far removed from us because we were mortal and sinners, he came down to us, so that he, the stranger, might become our neighbor.

            He did not treat us as our sins deserved. For we are now sons of God. How do we show this? The only Son of God died for us, so that he might not remain alone. He who died as the only Son did not want to remain as the only Son. For the only Son of God made many sons of God. He bought brothers for himself by his blood; he made them welcome by being rejected; he ransomed them by being sold; he honored them by being dishonored; he gave them life by being put to death.

            So, brethren, rejoice in the Lord, not in the world. That is, rejoice in the truth, not in wickedness; rejoice in the hope of eternity, not in the fading flower of vanity. That is the way to rejoice. Wherever you are on earth, however long you remain earth, the Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything.

Pre-MAT Comprehensive exam

OMG! 34 days to go before the D-day of our comprehensive examination comes. With this allotted time frame, will I be able to give acceptable answer for our MAT comprehensive examination on August 10? The choice deeply depends on me. As early as I now, should I be busy then and spend the entire month for study? I'm the only one who can give an exact answer about it. 

Right now, I'm not in good disposition to study that's why I am writing this random rants from my mind into this blog. What do I need so that I can have the enthusiasm to at least open and read my notes and reviewers? How will I motivate my unmotivated ego? Will I give incentives to my self? Will I look for inspiration? or Will I pray so that God will enlighten me? I think I should do all these things. I have to realize and think of my community or at least the province or the order, who spent thousands to send us to school. So that, we will be equipped with skills, knowledge and power when time comes that we become priest someday. 

I have pay it forward since they had also paid forward. Their hope is our hope and our hope is their hope. My hope is everyone's hope. I should do good then. Good luck to myself. Good luck Gen. God will always be in our midst. We only participate in his will, our choice matters. Everything lies on us either e participate by following his will or not and be like passive rational humanoid, who is always dependent to others. 

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark 6:1-6)

"A Prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house." (Mark 6:4)

For this Sunday's gospel reading, I can relate very well to the message what Jesus tried to tell his people and even to us people of the 21st century. I am a religious seminarian, who aspires to become a religious priest. I am here on earth to preach the gospel of God to his people. I believe God chose me for a reason and I think my purpose is this one. Part of our life as a priest and also as a seminarian is to preach. What Jesus did at his hometown was unimaginable. To preach in once hometown where everyone doesn't want to believe is like us. Although I haven't tried but I believe I can feel the same with Jesus. There's this inquiry, who am I to teach them about God, where in fact I can't even live with it especially with my family. How can I say to them that we need to hear the word of God every Sunday, wherein my parents don't do. How can I say that gambling is a sin, wherein my father loves to bet in lotto or even in Bingo. How can I say to them about good values when I myself doesn't even show it. (not all the time).
They too well know me. It's a question of hope. Will they believe in me, when I try?

The Future of Marriage?

The Future of Marriage?

            “Technology is changing everything.” By 2200, the world seems to have shifted to a new age of thinking and living in contrast from the year of 2012. It is because of technology. Technology has defined everything that human beings wanted and needed for themselves. Almost all of the people are under the influence of technology. Through technology, basic needs like food, water, clothing and shelter are easily engineered.