THIS is the title of the report of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Social Communications that caught my attention for it captures exactly what this weekly column hopes to tackle. The report is about an extensive research study over a span of five years (2014-2019) and is intended to provide us with “a tool that will help upgrade and institutionalize every Diocesan Social Communication Ministry”.
The findings reveal among others that the latest communications technologies remain untapped; no budget allotted and no steady personnel for it. It’s simply not yet then a priority of the church in the Philippines.
And yet we cannot ignore the fact that today the internet, including the social media, has become the hub of human activity and it is here where our young people converge. All those belonging to 18 to 44 years old — not counting those from generation Z and all other post millennials — are increasingly spending more time in the “digital highway”.
The present Covid-19 crisis led us four bishops in Negros to dispense our people from their Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation. All of a sudden, we find ourselves celebrating the Eucharist without our congregation — so painful and sad — but making these celebrations accessible online mostly through live streaming — something that weeks ago seemed difficult if not impossible for us to do in our diocese! We now begin to appreciate and value what a gift social media is for our mission of evangelization.
Hence, I accepted the offer to write this weekly column, fully aware how much this will demand from me. I am inspired and motivated by our diocesan shared vision-mission to be “a listening Church — striving to become a loving family, a just and peaceful community, united in our concern for the cries of the poor, the youth and Mother Earth, as we journey towards Christ....”
What made us decide to choose “BES Chat with Bp G” as the title of this regular weekly column? Using the internet and social media, we consulted our youth until we came up with this name which sounds casual and youthful, more generic and which we hope will last forever! BES is a slang word for best friend so we intend this to be a conversation among close friends on anything under the “sun and stars” but always making an effort to see things through the eyes of faith and also from the perspective of the excluded or ignored.
While writing this, a former student-seminarian called up feeling troubled and confused why in the midst of this pandemic “we are turning our back to Christ when we should all the more come closer to God and to each other.” I can sense his anguish and pain and I know he is not the only one out there going through this inner struggle. We hope to provide space in this column for addressing some of life’s vital questions like this.
For now, let me offer this interesting and timely resource / reference book that was providentially also shared to me today that some of you might look for it in the internet and read it while staying at home: “@ Worship: Liturgical Practices in Digital Worlds”. It is the first monograph dedicated to exploring online liturgical practices that have emerged since the introduction of Web 2.0, bringing together the scholarly tools and insights of liturgical studies, constructive theology and digital media theories written by Teresa Berger, Professor of Liturgical Studies and the Thomas E. Golden Jr. Professor of Catholic Theology at Yale University, USA.
Here’s what the book promises to address: “A host of both very old and entirely new liturgical practices have arisen in digital mediation, from the live streaming of worship services and “pray-as-you-go” apps, to digital prayer chapels, virtual choirs, and online pilgrimages. Cyberspace now even hosts communities of faith that exist entirely online. These digitally mediated liturgical practices raise challenging questions: Are worshippers in an online chapel really a community at prayer? Do avatars that receive digital bread and wine receive communion? @ Worship proposes a nuanced response to these sometimes contentious issues, rooted in familiarity with, and sustained attention to, actual online practices.”