Inside ML

Year 2000 will be the year of the dotcoms. “Dotcom” is Silicon Valley lingo for companies that exist solely or primarily on the internet. Time magazine chose Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos as its man of the year for 1999 because of the significant way in which his creation and its imitators are changing our culture. Something like $6 billion in commerce was done on the internet this past Christmas buying season — double the amount from the year before. As computers and other tools for accessing online information become ubiquitous, American culture will continue to change at an even more accelerated pace than it currently does. And when American culture changes, our religious culture changes.

Change is not always a bad thing. It can lead to growth and renewal. Pope John Paul II recently said to the bishops of Germany,

We cannot speak of the Diocese’s spiritual renewal without also discussing the Eucharist. An urgent task of your high-priestly office consists in emphasizing the vital role of the Eucharist as the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ (Lumen Gentium 11). The ministry of Bishops and priests not only culminates in the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice, but the latter should also be the center of life for all other members of Christ’s Body (Address to a group of German bishops at their visit ad limina apostorlum, Nov. 18, 1999).

Emphasizing the vital role of Eucharist has always been central to the mission of ML. So much activity happens in parishes simply trying to maintain day-to-day functions. With the dotcoms and digital culture causing cultural turbulence in our communities, parish leaders may find themselves stretched even thinner as they try to deal with the shifting values and priorities of society in general and of parishioners in particular.

It will be important for all of us to stay focused on the liturgy as the source and summit of Christian life. Liturgy will never become wholly part of the dotcom culture. But with the diligent work of bishops and pastoral leaders, it can become the soul of the technological revolution. Every issue of ML will continue to help parish leaders plan and celebrate liturgy in such a way that the cultural and spiritual life of the parish, the neighborhood and the world is renewed and strengthened.

ML

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