1. Mediating ‘Church’: the church must get up and mediate Christ to the new world of the
internet just as Jesus came to our world to mediate ‘heaven’ to humanity.
(By Evelyn Onwuegbusi)
19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, 20
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”1
Creation
One divine truth that is generally accepted across many faiths is that God is the architect of
this universe, and in biblical terms, a proud Creator who delights in his own work.2
For the
sake of the divergence implied in the preceding statement, I call this an extrapolation: God is
the creator of the internet, and all that he made is very good.3
Biblical references to God’s
ownership and authority over his own work, which is understandable, abound. However,
focus on these would be outside the scope of this short piece, so I will only mention a few.4
In Psalm 24, the Lord (God) is ascribed ownership of the earth, the world and all their
inhabitants:
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those
who dwell therein; 2 for he has founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the rivers5
While the material world demonstrates God’s creative genius, the creator is himself
immaterial, and it is in his immateriality that we mostly mirror his image and likeness. We
were created for a purpose and our author works hard to ensure that we do not derail from his
original plan and purpose. He conferred humanity with dominion over most of his work – a
1
Matt 28:19-20 [All Biblical quotations are from: Various (2000) Ignatius Bible (RSV). United States: Ignatius Press,U.S.
2
Gen 1:31
3
Ibid.
4
 Lev 25:23-24 The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me.
 Ps 50:12 "If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world and all that is in it is mine.
 Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.
 Hag 2:8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts.
 Ps 65:9-10 Thou visitest the earth and waterest it,
thou greatly enrichest it;
the river of God is full of water;
thou providest their grain,
for so thou hast prepared it.
10 Thou waterest its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
 1 Ch 29:11-18 Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the
heavens and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor
come from thee, and thou rulest over all. In thy hand are power and might; and in thy hand it is to make great and to give strength
to all. 13 And now we thank thee, our God, and praise thy glorious name. 14 "But who am I, and what is my people, that we
should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from thee, and of thy own have we given thee. 15 For we are strangers
before thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. 16 O Lord
our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building thee a house for thy holy name comes from thy hand and is all thy
own. 17 I know, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely
offered all these things, and now I have seen thy people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to thee. 18 O Lord,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep for ever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of thy people, and
direct their hearts toward thee.
5
Ps 24: 1-2

2. tremendous responsibility – to use, and care for and in consequence, become co-creators with
him. In addition to caring for the material world, we are called to care for the immaterial
creation – the human soul, where God’s relational encounter with humanity is experienced.
Human creativity can therefore be said to be one of the hallmarks of the divine artist in his
work, and the other (though not distinct), the immaterial, is expressed in our faith encounter
which is generally expressed through the Church. The Church represents the voice of the
creator and its primary duty is to interpret the mind of the creator, and guide the created on
the path to the fulfilment of the plan and purpose of their human existence.
Technology
Technology is the outcome of humanity’s creative genius. As God looks on the world and
finds it very good, so must we behold technology, in all its forms as having the potential to
improve human lives in a diversity of ways, and in a scope beyond our present imagination.
The internet or the WWW is a new world, created by humanity for its own use. It can be
argued that the creation of the internet is in direct obedience to God’s command to till the
earth and reach out for its yield. If the Church is the caretaker of God’s creation, it cannot
morally be aloof from the internet.
Incarnation
We have not been very good tenants, neither of the material world, nor of the immaterial
soul. When things began to get ugly down here, God left the haven of his Heaven, and
immigrated to our domain to clean up the mess. He, as it were, borrowed flesh and blood, a
body, a Mother and Father, a family, a race. He became incarnate. He entered our strange
domain, explored it, explained the rules, changed a few things, and set new standards. For
example: an ‘eye for an eye’ became ‘turn the other cheek’; ‘love your enemies’; ‘do good to
those who hate you’6
; ‘let he who is without sin cast the first stone’7
. He even shushed the
roaring waves8
! The only time he exalted impartiality was when he showed preference for the
sinner over the righteous who did not ‘need a physician’9
. He did not cling to his divinity10
but
poured himself out completely11
, became a full citizen of the world, ‘like us in all things save
sin’.12
Jesus summed up the commandments into one: LOVE.13
The Church is now faced with the new techno-world into which her children are plunged.
Admittedly, the analogy of the Incarnation is a little far-fetched; yet there are useful points of
convergence. As sin is a threat to the human soul, so is secularism threatens the Church
which is the soul’s custodian. Jesus did not shy away from any human experience, nor did he
6
Lk 6:27-38 [see also Mt. 5:38-48]
27 "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse
you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.
30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. 31 And as you wish that men
would do to you, do so to them.
32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those
who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive,
what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend,
expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the
selfish. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
37 "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it
will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be
the measure you get back." RSV
7
Jn 8:3-11
8
Mk 4:35-41
9
Mt. 9:12; Mk. 2:17; Lk. 5:31
10
Phil 2:6
11
Phil 2:7
12
Heb 4:15
13
Jn 13:34

3. compromise his holiness while treading with sinners. He brought his sanctifying presence to
every human endeavour. He dined with sinners and tax collectors. One of the biggest ironies
of the gospel is that Jesus chose to manifest his glory publicly for the first time by making
wine surplus at a wedding party! It is therefore imperative that the Church takes immediate
steps, even at the level of a universal Church policy, to mandate its members to encourage
use of technology in all forms possible, without compromising doctrine or dogma. Instead of
‘switch of your mobile phones’ people could be encouraged to record and share afterwards,
anything that touched them in a special way while at Church.
Young Christians who feel aloof can readily be sought and won over if the Church stoops
down to ‘their world’.
Many Churches are already in touch and up to date with modern technology and many
Catechists have gone completely digital, and while these efforts are encouraging, the
command of Jesus Christ still resounds “Go out to the whole world [including the
technoworld], and proclaim the good news.14
These links point to a few:
http://vultuschristi.org/
http://digitalcatechesis.ning.com/
http://www.catholictreasury.info/index.php
http://www.universalis.com/
https://verbum.com/
http://www.catholicity.com/links/
http://www.cpx.cts.edu/newmedia/findings/essays/practicing-virtue-with-social-media
http://catholicjules.net/2010/09/10/the-eucharistic-celebration-explained-for-children/
Bibliography.
Various (2000) Ignatius Bible (RSV). United States: Ignatius Press,U.S.
14
Empahasis mine.