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| St Francis de Sales |
As Rocco comments,"this year's B16-picked focus on the need for silence in effective communications work alongside that of words. In this relentless age of digital media, suffice it to say, making space for the former can often feel like the greatest challenge of all. While the pontiff's reflection on the topic rolled out this morning......this year's World Communications Day doesn't actually occur until May 20th: always the Sunday before Pentecost, now celebrated in most of the global church as the transferred solemnity of the Ascension."
From the Pontifical Council for Social Communication:
"Silence is the central theme for the next World Communications Day Message: Silence and Word: path of evangelization. In the thought of Pope Benedict XVI, silence is not presented simply as an antidote to the constant and unstoppable flow of information that characterizes society today but rather as a factor that is necessary for its integration. Silence, precisely because it favors habits of discernment and reflection, can in fact be seen primarily as a means of welcoming the word. We ought not to think in terms of a dualism, but of the complementary nature of two elements which when they are held in balance serve to enrich the value of communication and which make it a key factor that can serve the new evangelization."
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 46th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
POPE BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 46th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
Silence and Word: Path of
Evangelization
[Sunday, 20 May 2012]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
As we draw near to World Communications Day 2012, I would like to
share with you some reflections concerning an aspect of the human process of
communication which, despite its importance, is often overlooked and which, at
the present time, it would seem especially necessary to recall. It concerns the
relationship between silence and word: two aspects of communication which need
to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if
authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved. When
word and silence become mutually exclusive, communication breaks down, either
because it gives rise to confusion or because, on the contrary, it creates an
atmosphere of coldness; when they complement one another, however, communication
acquires value and meaning.
Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence,
words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to
and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand
with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others;
and we choose how to express ourselves. By remaining silent we allow the other
person to speak, to express him or herself; and we avoid being tied simply to
our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space
is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible.
It is often in silence, for example, that we observe the most authentic
communication taking place between people who are in love: gestures, facial
expressions and body language are signs by which they reveal
themselves to each other. Joy, anxiety, and suffering can all be communicated in
silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of
expression. Silence, then, gives rise to even more active communication,
requiring sensitivity and a capacity to listen that often makes manifest the
true measure and nature of the relationships involved. When messages and
information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish
what is important from what is insignificant or secondary. Deeper
reflection helps us to discover the links between events that at first sight
seem unconnected, to make evaluations, to analyze messages; this makes it
possible to share thoughtful and relevant opinions, giving rise to an authentic
body of shared knowledge. For this to happen, it is necessary to develop an
appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just
equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds.
The process of communication nowadays is largely fuelled by
questions in search of answers. Search engines and social networks have become
the starting point of communication for many people who are seeking advice,
ideas, information and answers. In our time, the internet is becoming ever more
a forum for questions and answers – indeed, people today are frequently
bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which
they were unaware. If we are to recognize and focus upon the truly important
questions, then silence is a precious commodity that enables us to exercise
proper discernment in the face of the surcharge of stimuli and data that we
receive. Amid the complexity and diversity of the world of communications,
however, many people find themselves confronted with the ultimate questions of
human existence: Who am I? What can I know? What ought I to do? What may I hope?
It is important to affirm those who ask these questions, and to open up the
possibility of a profound dialogue, by means of words and interchange, but also
through the call to silent reflection, something that is often more eloquent
than a hasty answer and permits seekers to reach into the depths of their being
and open themselves to the path towards knowledge that God has inscribed in
human hearts.
Ultimately, this constant flow of questions demonstrates the
restlessness of human beings, ceaselessly searching for truths, of greater or
lesser import, that can offer meaning and hope to their lives. Men and women
cannot rest content with a superficial and unquestioning exchange of skeptical
opinions and experiences of life – all of us are in search of truth and we share
this profound yearning today more than ever: “When people exchange information,
they are already sharing themselves, their view of the world, their hopes, their
ideals” (Message for
the 2011 World Day of Communications).
Attention should be paid to the various types of websites,
applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for
reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and
occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God. In concise
phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be
communicated, as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to
cultivate their own inner lives. It is hardly surprising that different
religious traditions consider solitude and silence as privileged states which
help people to rediscover themselves and that Truth which gives meaning to all
things. The God of biblical revelation speaks also without words: “As the Cross
of Christ demonstrates, God also speaks by his silence. The silence of God, the
experience of the distance of the almighty Father, is a decisive stage in the
earthly journey of the Son of God, the incarnate Word …. God’s silence prolongs
his earlier words. In these moments of darkness, he speaks through the mystery
of his silence” (Verbum
Domini, 21). The eloquence of God’s love, lived to the
point of the supreme gift, speaks in the silence of the Cross. After Christ’s
death there is a great silence over the earth, and on Holy Saturday, when “the
King sleeps and God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping
from the ages” (cf. Office of Readings, Holy Saturday),
God’s voice resounds, filled with love for humanity.
If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover in
silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God. “We need that
silence which becomes contemplation, which introduces us into God’s silence and
brings us to the point where the Word, the redeeming Word, is born” (Homily,
Eucharistic Celebration with Members of the International Theological
Commission, 6 October 2006). In speaking of God’s grandeur, our
language will always prove inadequate and must make space for silent
contemplation. Out of such contemplation springs forth, with all its inner
power, the urgent sense of mission, the compelling obligation “to
communicate that which we have seen and heard” so that all may be in communion
with God (1 Jn 1:3). Silent contemplation immerses us in the source of
that Love who directs us towards our neighbours so that we may feel their
suffering and offer them the light of Christ, his message of life and his saving
gift of the fullness of love.
In silent contemplation, then, the eternal Word, through whom the
world was created, becomes ever more powerfully present and we become aware of
the plan of salvation that God is accomplishing throughout our history by word
and deed. As the Second Vatican Council reminds us, divine revelation is
fulfilled by “deeds and words having an inner unity: the deeds wrought by God in
the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities
signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the
mystery contained in them” (Dei
Verbum, 2). This plan of salvation culminates in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth, the mediator and the fullness of all revelation. He
has made known to us the true face of God the Father and by his Cross and
Resurrection has brought us from the slavery of sin and death to the freedom of
the children of God. The fundamental question of the meaning of human existence
finds in the mystery of Christ an answer capable of bringing peace to the
restless human heart. The Church’s mission springs from this mystery; and it is
this mystery which impels Christians to become heralds of hope and salvation,
witnesses of that love which promotes human dignity and builds justice and
peace.
Word and silence: learning to communicate is learning to listen
and contemplate as well as speak. This is especially important for those engaged
in the task of evangelization: both silence and word are essential elements,
integral to the Church’s work of communication for the sake of a renewed
proclamation of Christ in today’s world. To Mary, whose silence “listens to the
Word and causes it to blossom” (Private
Prayer at the Holy House, Loreto, 1 September 2007), I entrust all the
work of evangelization which the Church undertakes through the means of social
communication.
From the Vatican, 24 January 2012, Feast of Saint Francis de
Sales.
BENEDICTUS XVI
Thanks for the link !!
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