The end of 2020, a very difficult year for humanity, invites us to renew our hope for the New Year. God provides hope to us through those who believe and through those who love. When we refer to the three theological virtues, the French Poet, Charles Peguy, says: “Between her two older sisters, the little hope pushes on.” Which experiences of living faith and charity help us to feel hope today?
The Samaritans, professing to love our neighbour during the pandemic, are people who work in hospitals and who care for the sick: doctors, nurses, health care workers, maintenance staff… and so many others that have become our true neighbour, offering food, medicine, emotional and academic support and caring for the elderly… thanks to them, we move forward, love embraces us and nourishes us.
The confinement imposed by Coronavirus has intensified, like never before, the use of digital platforms and social networks for a variety of purposes: communication, formation, culture, work, liturgy, prayer, etc. We had never seen so many opportunities to participate on online retreats, courses, talks and presentations, conversations on sciences, education, the arts, etc. The best of the human spirit has travelled throughout the digital world and has entered our dwelling. (However, it is so sad that this hasn’t been the same for everyone due to the existing inequality to access online networks.) Digital media has helped us recognize each other, to establish networks, to know that we need each other, and to share words of encouragement.
In our mission as communicators we need to continue encouraging the spread of hope by sharing our experiences, which is what Pope Francis suggests: “In today’s globalized world, “the media can help us to feel closer to one another, creating a sense of the unity of the human family which in turn can inspire solidarity and serious efforts to ensure a more dignified life for all… We need constantly to ensure that present-day forms of communication are in fact guiding us to generous encounter with others, to honest pursuit of the whole truth, to service, to closeness to the underprivileged and to the promotion of the common good.” (Fratelli tutti, 205)
On the digital networks, we aim to promote an encounter that shares the greatest values in the heart of each individual and each community; an exchange of real generosity that breaks down individualism and opens a different style of public communication that creates communion, fraternity and social friendship.
On this pandemic year, we reinvented love in its purest and simplest forms, in a more humble and closer way. Social networks helped us reach so many people, in so many parts of the world, and to recognize each other as neighbors and brothers and sisters. Let’s continue on this path! Thank you for the love that embraces us, that encourages hope day by day. A happy and blessed New Year to all!
Luis García Orzo, S.J.
México, December 30, 2020