April 5, 2005

As some of you may already know, both the friars and sisters have chosen not to have televisions in our friaries or convents. When we tell people this fact, some stare at us with wide eyes as if we said we didn’t have indoor plumbing! Yet, one of the reasons why our houses are full of young enthusiastic vocations is because we have chosen to live a life different from “the world”. This is also the reason why almost everyone who visits us often comments on the deep peace they sense in our simple houses. I do mention to them the absence of television, but then add, “We also live with the Blessed Sacrament – would you care to make a quick visit?”

Yet, there are times like now when I would love to have only two pieces of furniture in the friary: a wide-screen TV and a “Lazy-Boy” lounge chair. Okay, okay, throw in a popcorn maker! Thanks to the generosity of some neighboring Pauline priests (from Poland) who staff Saint Casimir’s parish in Yonkers, a few friars and I were able to spend over an hour watching CNN. I didn’t want to watch EWTN because I wanted to see what the world is watching. If it weren’t for the lack of collars and veils, I would have thought it was a Mother Angelica production! From what I saw, and from what I am hearing, our beloved Pope John Paul II is continuing his new evangelization – even after his death! Not only has there been such a positive outpouring here in the States, but our brothers in London report the same all over England. Could this be the first miracle for the canonization of Saint Pope John Paul II the Great?

More than one person has expressed to me the abundance of both information and inspiration coming over the radio, television, and I presume internet. A friend told me just this morning, “I learned more about Pope John Paul II in two days than I have in his past twenty-six years as Pope!” Not only are we all learning about this Pope, we are learning about our Church – and there is so much to learn! So, here we are, the entire world, everyone from influential world leaders to hard-working washwomen, all with eyes and ears open to something they know is bigger than what they had imagined. It is truly amazing that so many are interested and engaged in something so near and dear to many of us: that is, our beloved Pope, our Church, and our Catholic Faith.

Here we see how television can be used to enhance human dignity. Not that everything on television has to be about religion, but everything on television has to be respectful and truthful. It is the near absence of these two essential elements that has made such a powerful medium so deadly. The poison of pornography affecting young, old, men, women, laity and clergy has already reached inconceivable proportions. Yes, what man’s intelligence and ingenuity creates, his lower nature destroys.

The challenges which await the next Pontiff are immense – growing secularism – indeed paganism, materialism, relativism, biotechnological and sexual issues, militant Islamic initiatives, and fragile national alliances to name a few! This is why it is not very important to see, but rather to pray. If you are spending more time before a television than before the tabernacle – ask yourself, “What would Pope John Paul II ask of me during these historic days?” No doubt, he would tell us just what Our Lord said to his disciples in the garden – “Watch and pray!”

Fr. Glenn Sudano, CFR
Community Servant, residing at St. Felix Friary in Yonkers, New York

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