Text and Media as Means of Evangelization

“Text and Media as Means of Evangelization”

January 27-February 1, 2010

In the past centuries, the Catholic Church had focused its evangelization movement through prayer and direct preaching of priests and missionaries to the people. Saint Francis Xavier had truly made countless baptisms through preaching the Gospel in the Far East. On the other hand, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, though hidden in her Lisieux convent, devoted her prayer and sacrifices for the conversion of many non-believers. Thus, both St. Francis and St. Therese were named patrons for the missions. However, from the 20th century on, with increasing literacy among the masses and more advanced printing facilities, the Catholic Church has added text and media as means of evangelization, in addition to direct preaching and prayer. The annual Taipei International Book Exhibition was thus an appropriate venue for making known our faith through textual and electronic materials.

The 8th Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) in the World Trade Center Hall was held from January 27--February 1, 2010, wherein the Catholic Church was one of the participants. Under the banner of the Catholic Church Joint Book Fair organized by the Chinese Regional Bishops’ Conference (CRBC), ten Catholic Media Centers and Publishers in Taiwan joined in this event .

The opening day was graced by the presence of Archbishop John Hung, President of CRBC, and Msgr. Paul Russell, the Vatican Representative in Taiwan. Bishop Philip Huang, Bishop of Hualien and President of the Commission for Social Development, also came to visit.

A new feature was added in the booths. This time books were not just being displayed as five priests and/or theologians were around to answer any questions about the Catholic faith. Hence, there was more interaction between the faithful, as well as non-Christians, and the representatives of the publishers. New books and audio-visual aids were presented and introduced; thus, visitors were free to ask any information they wanted, an answer to the Holy Father’s call for more communication among peoples. In his message for the 44th World Communication Day, Pope Benedict XVI says that:

Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.

Undeniably, what was unique in this Catholic Book Fair was the presence of a “Catholic Spiritual Service Station” where five priests were assigned during the fair:

January 28: Fr. Peter Fei

January 31: Fr. Otfried Chan

January 29: Fr. Jerry Martinson, SJ

February 1: Fr. Willy Ollevier, CICM

January 30: Fr. Mark Fang, SJ

These enthusiastic priests were very interested to reach out to all the guests, being ready for consultations in any area s of the Catholic faith. Several people, both Catholic and non-Catholics, benefited much from the “Catholic Spiritual Service Station”. Questions about faith, liturgy, spiritual readings, conscience, exorcism, moral issues, encyclicals of the Pope, the Catholic Church, etc. were raised and answered.

This interactive experience during the Book Fair really made the people feel the concern, love, and evangelic spirit of the Church: a response to the recent encyclical Caritates in Veritate of Pope Benedict XVI:

Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value. The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties. (No. 9)

Book buyers, curious on-lookers and inquisitive persons who came to the Catholic Church Joint Book Fair felt the warm and welcoming atmosphere . Whether they bought books or not , as long as they came to the book fair, visitors were sure to bring home with them something from what they have seen and/or heard.

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A note on reading

In this world of images, lights and sounds, we might be tempted to give up reading textual materials . And yet, reading has its functions. It is perhaps necessary to know why people need to read. First, the most basic function of reading is entertainment. People read for entertainment: novels, fiction books, detective stories, newspapers and magazines etc. Second, people read to get information through manuals, dictionaries, reference books etc. Third, people read to acquire learning (branches of knowledge): theology, philosophy, psychology, literature etc. Fourth, people read for spiritual growth and deeper knowledge: lives of saints, papal documents, catechism etc.

The Church encourages us to do Lectio Divina (Latin) which means divine reading, spiritual reading or “holy reading”. It is a practice of prayer and spiritual reading intended to promote communion with God and to increase in the knowledge of God’s Word. It is a way of praying with the Scripture that calls one to study, ponder, listen and, finally, pray and even sing and rejoice from God’s Word, within the soul.

St. Jerome said: “Ignorance of the bible is ignorance of Christ.” Reading is a life long affair. It is a personal commitment for personal growth. Thus, the yearly book fair is an occasion to see new reading and media materials that are nourishing to one’s spiritual life and consequently can quench one’s spiritual thirst.

Issue 307, February 2010