Spreading God’s Word

Wednesday, January 25, 2017
1st Reading: Acts 22:3-16 (or Acts 9:1-22)
Gospel: Mark 16:15-18

Jesus told his disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned. Signs like these will accompany those who have believed: in my Name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes and, if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will be healed.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

Wikipedia defines globalization as the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, and popular culture. The historical origin of globalization is still being debated. But Andre Gunder Frank, an economist associated with the independence theory, believes globalization already began with the rise of trade links between Sumer and the Indus Valley civilization in the Third Millennium B.C.
In a way we can say globalization dates back to the time of God who commanded man to “go and multiply”. It was renewed when Jesus sent his disciples to spread out and baptize the whole world. The vision was at the same time Jesus’ battle cry: “That they may be one just as you, Father, and I are one”. In today’s Gospel, Jesus began the realization of this vision by sending his apostles to the whole world to proclaim the Good News.

If Jesus were historically present today, he wouldn’t spare any high-tech communication gadget for this purpose. Surely he would employ the texting technology being the fastest, the most convenient, and the most available, even to the masses. Already in 2006 a Bishop from Australia floated the idea of rewriting the Bible in SMS language. Because this way of writing is fast and convenient it will appeal to the young generation addicted to text. Transcribing the Bible using SMS language will also result to a thinner Bible. “It’s like getting back to the Hebrew style of writing that does away with vowels”, the Bishop said.

The cell phone is the most irresistible gadget in our times. When it beeps, our fingers itch until we swipe its screen to find out who the sender is and what his message is. People may sleep while the priest is preaching at the pulpit. There could be power outage while an evangelizer preaches on radio or television. But with text messaging, a preacher’s message is sure to get through because while the Bible is rarely opened, the cell phone is never shut down.

What recipients do with the message after reading let’s leave to the Holy Spirit. After all, the Holy Spirit is also interested in globalization. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.

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