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An Important Communications Tool |
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Sunday, 09 September 2007 |
How is it that our world is shrinking? How is it that the finite earth is getting smaller? There was a time, when peoples that lived in different regions had no idea about distant lands and distant peoples. But over the course of the centuries, the genius of humanity began to shrink the earth by the various tools of communication, allowing peoples of distant lands to expand their own horizons, getting to know and understand distant lands and distant peoples. The distances between us have indeed been shrinking through the human genius of communication. Today, we have the opportunity to communicate with all the peoples of the good earth.
We see the genius of communication every Sunday, as we hear the Word of God proclaimed. Those that were closest to the Lord Jesus speak to the parish of St. John Neumann about his life and love through the readings...the communication... of the Christian scriptures. This communication allows us to experience the ministry of the Lord and the life of the early Church in our time, in this place. And likewise, we learn of God’s plan for humanity through an appreciation of the history of the people of the Covenant.
Our brother, St. Paul of Tarsus, was a great communicator. For those that did not have the chance to hear his preaching, St. Paul communicated the reality of the Risen Lord through his letters, the letters that make up a large portion of the Christian Scriptures. In like manner, the apostle of the Church of Atlanta, Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory, communicates his ministry of shepherding through the written word. The Georgia Bulletin is an essential tool of communication for our Archbishop, as he seeks to proclaim the Lord in our midst. Next week (15 & 16 September), the second collection at all of our Sunday liturgies will be for the subscription cost of The Georgia Bulletin, the key communication tool for Archbishop Gregory. I ask that along with your regular weekly or monthly tithe to our parish, you offer a gift of $18 (or more) to pay for your Bulletin. We need each of you to accept this invitation of paying your share of our parish’s fair share, of the cost of Archbishop Gregory’s newspaper. Please include $18 or more in that Georgia Bulletin envelope.
Know that if our parishioner’s donations fall short of our fair share of the cost of publishing the Georgia Bulletin, I will be asked to make-up that shortfall out of the parish’s operational budget (that means the funding of ministries and salaries and maintenance). Why? The Apostle of this local Church must have a way to communicate to every parishioner in every parish and mission. The Georgia Bulletin is that tool.
In the same way that my few words in this column reach the minds and hearts of every one reading this column, the Georgia Bulletin allows us to hear the voice of our Archbishop, along with the goings- on of the parishes & missions & schools & outreach of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Communication is the mark of the great genius of the humanity. The printed word does indeed shrink this good earth, bringing us a bit closer to one another. It is no accident, that in describing the Mystery of the Son of God, the inspired author of the Gospel of John writes that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (1.1, 14).
Msgr. David |
