“Today, when the networks and means of human communication
have made unprecedented advances, we sense the challenge of finding and sharing
a ‘mystique’ of living together, of mingling and encounter, of embracing and
supporting one another, of stepping into this flood tide which, while chaotic,
can become a genuine experience of fraternity, a caravan of solidarity, a
sacred pilgrimage. Greater possibilities for communication thus turn into
greater possibilities for encounter and solidarity for everyone. If we were
able to take this route, it would be so good, so soothing, so liberating and
hope-filled! To go out of ourselves and to join others is healthy for us. To be
self-enclosed is to taste the bitter poison of immanence, and humanity will be
worse for every selfish choice we make.
“The Christian ideal will always be a summons to overcome
suspicion, habitual mistrust, fear of losing our privacy, all the defensive
attitudes which today’s world imposes on us. Many try to escape from others and
take refuge in the comfort of their privacy or in a small circle of close
friends, renouncing the realism of the social aspect of the Gospel. For just as
some people want a purely spiritual Christ, without flesh and without the
cross, they also want their interpersonal relationships provided by
sophisticated equipment, by screens and systems which can be turned on and off
on command. Meanwhile, the Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a
face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which
challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us
in our close and continuous interaction. True faith in the incarnate Son of God
is inseparable from self-giving, from membership in the community, from
service, from reconciliation with others. The Son of God, by becoming flesh,
summoned us to the revolution of tenderness.”
-Pope Francis; Evangelii
Gaudium, An Apostolic Exhortation (Chapter 2, part II, par. 87-88). Read
the entire Exhortation here.
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