One day my grandfather found me seated in front of the computer. Seeing me so engrossed and for such a long time he came up to me and said, “I have heard that through this apparatus much evil is received and done.” I answered him, “It’s the new machine for writing. And also you can use it to find the information you need.” My grandfather did not delay in asking me for some fact. When I gave it to him, he opened his eyes and thanked me. But he left me thinking about what he had said: perhaps evil spreads more easily than good.
Claret knew he was called to be a servant of the Word. In his time, books were the great means of communication – despite the high level of illiteracy. They went everywhere and stayed in houses like permanent gifts. And not just books, also magazines and pamphlets, with words and pictures. But he saw that bad writings abounded.
Today we know what new information and communication technologies mean. By means of the internet we have access to everything imaginable. And here we must recall the advice Claret left us: ‘Use all possible means’. He invites us to spread good through all means within our reach. The missionary creativity obliges us to enter new fields of technology – about which Claret was so enthusiastic. This requires the dedication of time and effort: for some being re-born.
We are all aware of the evil which is transmitted through the media and of the immense power of these means. Claret invites us to react, to be missionaries using these technologies to open the space to good, to spread good.
What are you reading? What are we feeding ourselves with? What use am I making of information and communication media? Am I producing something good through the new technologies?
Lord, may we know how to counteract evil with good through the information technology and mass-media which human ingenuity places within our reach today.