Go ye unto the world and tweet the gospel

Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, was present at the Sunday unveiling of a statue in honor of Fr. Patrick Peyton, a sunny, brogue-filled Irishman who was remarkably successful in the 1940s at encouraging the use of the media to promote faith and devotion to the Rosary.

Cardinal Brady's remarks are all over the internet today because of their direct applicability to this very medium.

“Fr Peyton had a great gift for using the most up-to-date means of social communication. He was pioneering in his use of television to communicate the gospel and the power of prayer through the rosary,” said Cardinal Brady.

“He attracted the support of many famous film stars along the way. I am sure if there had been mobile phones in his day, Fr Peyton would have been big into texting and Twitter. He would rejoice in the power of the internet and e-mail to join people together in prayerful solidarity instantaneously and across the world.”

This is aligned with the direction my thinking has been going. I am a heavy user of various social-connection tools for my work, and I give a lot of consideration to the ways various modes can be applied to businesses and organizations to help them be effective. I've also observed how one of the indirect effects of this involvement is, frankly, that I'm in touch with exponentially more people than I used to be without a proportional cost in extra effort and time.

This has allowed me to observe and participate in many opportunities for either explicit sharing of the gospel or simply doing what God wants me to do -- showing love and concern to the people he's created as they cross my path. Though the utilitarian measurable benefits aren't yet ready to harvest, I firmly believe that if wisely incorporated, Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, Second Life and who-knows-what-else can be successfully used in service of God's kingdom.

What do you think?

Withering the fig tree

woodcut by Johann Christoph Weigel

Today's Gospel reading is Mark 11:11-26. I was ready to hear what I thought of as the prime point of the passage: that "all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours "When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions."

But look at the fig tree story, which is NOT a parable, a little closer. Jesus was hungry and encountered a fig tree that only had leaves, since it was not yet time for figs. He cursed the tree, declaring that it would never bear fruit again! The next day, the tree is found withered to the root, and Jesus teaches the Twelve that whatever they ask for in faith will be done. Presumably, that means that He withered the tree by asking that it happen. Or does it mean that Jesus' desire for food, being a prayer for it to the Father, should have acted upon the tree, causing to produce fruit suddenly out of season? Or?

I used to think of that phrase "nothing but leaves" as a serious warning for those who flourish within the life of the Church, but bear none of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. They sink their roots into the life of the Church, but make no fruit, set no seed. But why the detail about Jesus cursing a tree that wasn't even supposed to have fruit yet? Seems unfair, as unfair as the last-minute guest at the king's banquet who was found to be without a wedding garment. (Setting aside the apologetics arguments about the garment being the garment of baptism - I agree that this is an appropriate description, but the invitation to the unbaptized still brings the same swift trip to the outer darkness.)

Jesus is never unfair, so I'm missing the point here.