On the Feast Day of St Augustine of Canterbury, Cardinal Vincent Nichols adopted St Augustine as a ‘fine patron’ for the work of communications.
In his homily at the Communications Day Mass at St Patrick’s in Soho, London, the Cardinal said that Augustine ‘showed many of the characteristics that we too need’.
These characteristics include ‘the importance of courage’ and ‘of symbols to get across the very heart of the message’.
The Cardinal said that the saint had a ‘clear strategy’ to face the circumstances of his time. ‘He came face to face with the pagan society not in order to contradict it, but it order to offer its fulfilment. In practice this meant not seeking to empty or destroy the pagan temples, not to undermine the festivals and rhythms of life, but to convert them, to fulfil them, to bring them into the service of the one true God whose Gospel he was announcing’.
Looking at the digital world, Cardinal Vincent said it ' highlights deep longings and desires: the desire to connect and be connected; the desire to have access to knowledge and information - and speedily; the desire for guidance, to follow an attractive person or suggestion; the desire to share what I have and what I receive from others; and, finally, the desire to be entertained, amused, making life a little lighter.'
These desires, he explained, 'are addressed, at the most profound level, by the good news of Jesus Christ. He connects himself to us and connects us to each other in a new life. He is our Truth, a living Truth that we can embrace and by which we can be possessed. He is our Lord, the one above all else whom we can follow with certainty. And he is our joy, our eternal laughter, the Lord of the dance supreme!'
The full text of Cardinal's Vincent homily can be found here.
