Some Things to Ponder Print
Written by Michael Fones   
Sunday, 04 May 2008 18:55
Given that most Catholic parishes have static (i.e., seldom changing) websites - if they have one at all - and that we're slow to take advantage of podcasting and other forms of contemporary communication, this video is really challenging. Among other things, it points out that information is growing at an exponential rate, as are our abilities to calculate and communicate at greater speed. At the end of the video, the question, "What does it all mean?" is raised. The answer given is completely unsatisfactory: "Shift happens."

Yes, information is being made available to more and more people, but without moral guidelines and without a belief that objective truth exists, how we use the information available becomes a frightening question. More information is not helpful without a moral framework from which to evaluate it. Information must be interpreted, and interpretations depend upon the interpreter and a whole host of variables: personal experience, philosophical worldview, vested interests, fears, desires, goals, vices, virtues, and faith (or the lack of it) all will determine how information is interpreted. The debate regarding global warming is just one issue in which we have lots of information, and very different interpretations of that information.

All the more reason why it is vital for Catholics to have a strong moral compass with which to evaluate all this information, and the fortitude to live according to that compass at work. But even that ability is contingent in many ways upon the life-changing personal encounter with the risen and ascended Lord. Because there will be more and more competing interpretations of the exponentially increasing information we have to deal with, mere "head knowledge" will very likely not be enough to do what is good, right and just in the absence of the personal conviction and supernatural graces that flow from a profound religious experience of the Holy Spirit.

Watch the video - what do you think?

Thanks for the link, Pat!