“Look
at the Iglesia ni Kristo,” one would blurt out, “they have like three channels,
they’re all over! And their
anchors are well-rehearsed performers who stick to the script and wear coat and
tie—mukhang kagalang-galang!” Everybody cheered in agreement.
A
bishop would interject, “Once when I was abroad, my host, a devout Catholic,
congratulated me for this ‘very slick and sosyal
na worship program with a multinational choir’ that he had seen on tv. When
I asked him what program it was, kay
Quiboloy pala! He thought it was a Catholic production
because to him it looked so polished, so grand!”
A
laywoman would admit, “We are Catholics but we watch 700 Club at home; their stories are very inspiring.” Another would say, “Ah, kami, our television is always set
on EWTN; they have solid stuff that make us better understand our religion. What we miss in the Sunday homilies we
get there. And they have programs
for every member of the family.”
Someone
would lament, “So many Christian communities and denominations have their own
regular programs or channels, and they are very aggressive, with impassioned
speakers often putting the Catholic teachings down; how come we have
none?” Another would quip, “Hey,
we have TV Maria! But you’d be lucky to find it because
it’s way out at the tail end of the channels, the last one in our set, after the
foreign language programs nobody cares to watch!”
I’ve
attended a few such discussions, and in fairness, the discussants are sincere
and enthusiastic about wanting to “do something about it”. We feel challenged and bullish,
especially when we know we are counted upon by Church leaders to help. We are convinced that the splendor of
our faith must not be kept hidden under the bed but must be revealed to give
light to the world. We brainstorm
and cook up ideas that establish the Church’s presence in media, and so we
resolve to infect our parishes and families with our enthusiasm.
“Let’s
do this, we have so many talents in our parishes with time to spare, just
waiting to help us! Our problem is
treasures.”
“Money
shouldn’t be a problem. We can tap
our rich parishioners, our well-placed contacts, pull strings to get
moving. Sabihin mo lang, request ng
bishop!”
“I
have a friend in the computer programming business who’s willing to create apps
for free, basta sa Church, libre!”
“The
institution I work for has state-of-the-art recording facilities—in case you
need to produce videos or radio spiels, just give us a call.”
“Let’s
saturate Facebook and Twitter with gospel messages! All my children, of school age, are
techies, I’ll get them all to post bible verses instead of those superficial
stuff!”
“Yes,
let’s spur our techie children to produce videos, movies, even whole television
shows that appeal to the young!
All these New Evangelization efforts are for them anyway, the future
generation!”
“Yeah,
we can go into computer games even!
That’s where the young people are!
We can ask our techie grandchildren to create games using biblical
characters and themes!”
Clap, clap, clap!
We’ve
got to admit that the applause sometimes makes us forget what we’re rooting
for, and that we’re supposed to be rooted in Christ. In our eagerness to ride on the crest of media megatrends,
to look and sound “cool” and therefore prove that we won’t be “kulelat”
forever, we rely mostly on mere technology to spread the Good News. Sooner than later, our role has shifted
from being prophets to horn-tooters, calling attention to ourselves instead of
the Lord.
The
result—even Catholic or Christian advertisements come across as antithetical to
gospel values sometimes. They may
mean well but they do not, for instance, witness to the beatitudes. There was one print ad published a few
years back by a relief agency. In
the photo were several pairs of old sneakers lined up, with a child wearing the
last pair. The child’s legs were
grimy, but the shoes were Nike’s.
The tagline said: “Blessed are the poor.”
What
the heck was that supposed to mean?
Are the poor blessed because the rich give them discarded high-end
stuff? Is it in keeping with
Jesus’ teachings for the haves to create in the have-nots an appetite for
expensive things? Aren’t the rich
“more blessed” because they give while the poor receive?
Solidarity
with the poor certainly never meant the rich can make a trash can out of the
poor. How I’d like to see an advertisement
which encourages the rich to buy new items not for themselves but for the poor.
For a change, let’s ask the rich
to stop making “charity” as an excuse to buy, buy, buy and buy more. Why not try to buy new things to give
to the poor and then wear your old things until they disintegrate? Eat what the poor folk eat; own only
things the poor can afford. Then
you’ll know what it’s like to be poor.
But
this “Blessed are the poor” ad (and others of its kind) helps neither the poor
nor the rich. They don’t question
our motives nor probe the depths of our intentions; they simply cuddle the
false values we already nurse in our hearts. They merely preserve the status quo.
So
we want to be “cool” evangelizers.
Okay, dude, let’s utilize new media, teach our bishops to Tweet and
impress competitors. But let’s
begin at the root of things, not from the incidentals. For evangelization to become a genuine
communication of the Good News, the evangelizer must first embody the message. Yes, as Jesus did. And that’s the truth.
