The Jubilee of Communication, which last weekend was the first of the Jubilee events of this Holy Year, brought together in Rome tens of thousands of journalists, communicators, media workers, religious and lay people, who every day bring their expertise to the service of society, and in particular of the Church.
During many moments of reflection and sharing, the question that was asked most was ‘How to communicate today?’ and we communicators who work in the religious context paused to reflect specifically on how to spread the Word of God and share our Faith in a world pervaded by violence and destruction. Faith today speaks a language that needs to adapt to the times while remaining rooted in the Everlasting Truth.
We live in an age in which communication is dominated by immediacy, speed, hyper-connectedness and a multiplicity of voices; society is increasingly pluralistic and secularised, and in this context, spreading the Word of God today requires an approach that takes these realities into account.
The language of Faith cannot be static or distant but must know how to approach people, by speaking a language that is comprehensible and capable of touching their hearts.
Faith cannot ‘limit’ itself to expressing itself in a formal or complex manner, but must be able to speak a simple, direct and inclusive language; it needs to use the language of love, hope and compassion.
The Holy Father, in his Message for the 59th World Communications Day, released on 24 January at the beginning of the Jubilee of the World of Communications, invites us to ‘share with gentleness the hope’ so that the listener feels welcomed, understood and can discover or rediscover the Word of God. The world needs communication that does not arouse fear and despair but fosters the flame of hope, that makes us feel that God is with each one of us, always.
We cannot forget, however, that Faith is not only proclamation but also listening, an active listening, capable of welcoming the questions, the uncertainties, and the existential doubts of those who seek God and to whom we can respond using the most powerful language we have: true witness.
Spreading the Word of God today means living a Faith incarnated in the present, capable of entering the meanders of society without losing its authenticity. The mission is to testify that the Word of God is alive, that it speaks to modern challenges and offers profound answers to those seeking meaning and truth.
The Word takes flesh; it has a face, it is a person, Jesus Christ. Not always recognised but not absent. Present in all the other words, also seeking to become flesh. The Word grows and reveals itself in our listening. Listening is about recognising and receiving, often receiving its strangeness and the stranger, for the Word will always be a strange encounter even when we long for it. In order to hear, receive, speak, and give flesh to the Word we need a space – uncluttered – to let it come and ‘indwell’ with us.
The challenge for us all is receptivity, waiting and openness. I think that the deep challenge of genuine communication is precisely the very crowded space of our world and hearts – it is like always being in a crowd where everyone is too busy or preoccupied, too frightened or suspicious to recognise the One in our midst, the One who is speaking our name and walking beside us.
