Friday 15 May 2009

Christian friendship

What is the ecclesial role of Catholic blogging? It is easy to see it as being an ability on the part of a blog owner to publish ideas and news without the modification of those ideas and news by the editorial line of another website or print publication, be that modification the result of actual editing or the result of a surrounding context in which the ideas and news are published. As with any web publication of Catholic ideas, blogging can contribute to evangelisation, too - "Google" plays a part in this!


But, in a wider sense, blogging can be seen as being at the service of communion, particularly communion between Catholics, but also communion in its sense as the building of unity among the wider community. Blogging builds communion between those who read a blog and the writer, between those who post comments and the writer. For this reason, I try to treat comments as a means of promoting dialogue. It is also why I post about our days out (here and here, for example) because I think these are a testimony to Christian friendship that can encourage others.

The little magazine Magnificat, which started UK distribution at the end of 2008, includes a meditation for each day. The one for today is entitled "You are my friends", and is taken from Blessed Simon Fidati of Cascia (d. 1348, Augustinian friar renowned for his preaching).
A friend comes to the rescue in time of need, and if he is aware of the truth of friendship, he directs his friend just as if he were himself and puts his own members at his disposal if he has lost his. ... A friend is a lighted coal, and if placed beside it, it can rekindle a dead one. A true friend gives more attention to friendship than to the person with whom he is disposed to be friendly. For indeed the person often disappoints, but the friendship is always the same. ...

Christian friendship is very broad in its generality, for it is extended to all without exception or distinction, and with those with whom one cannot share one's life along the way one hopes rather to achieve this in the fatherland of heaven... For if true friendship is exchanged between God and us, between human beings and angels, between human beings and human beings, true friendship then is love.

[Note to myself: I will do the washing up next time ...]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes blogging is a form of evangelization. Maybe you'd go to You Tube and tap in "The O'Neal twins" when they come up click on "Jesus dropped the charges" (look at a few as 1 clip is very much clearer than the others) then maybe you could put it on your blog and hopefully others could be introduced to the words of it.
There is also a clip of a short history of the O'Neal twins.It seems they travelled America often not having a record co. for backing. The narrator said they just wanted to bring the Gospel to the people.
My brother introduced me to it when I visited, he said he was listening to a radio programme where a guest chooses music and the guest said his wife campaigned for people on Death Row and if i'm not mistaken used this song-how apt.

Joe said...

I have been to have a look at the song clip.

I'm not sure, though, about the correctness of the theology! In the Catholic context, we would want to apply this song to the Sacrament of Penance (Confession) - where it is a question of the forgiveness of sin. I am not sure that the idea of "dropping charges" captures this idea accurately, suggesting that there was "no case to answer" in the first place. I will get back to this after some more thought.