This weekend, I would like to share my reflections on the message that Pope Francis wrote early this year for the occasion of World Communications Day. This year he dedicated his message to the topic of story telling. In 2006, I was privileged to attend the Asian Mission Congress in Chiangmai, Thailand. The theme was “The Story of Jesus in Asia: a Celebration of Faith and Life.” The then Bishop Tagle (who is now Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) made the keynote address entitled, “Mission in Asia: Telling the Story of Jesus.” Both this address and Pope Francis's message admit that human beings are story tellers. While Cardinal Tagle's address focused on the role of story telling in mission, Pope Francis focuses on the story itself.
Pope Francis's message focuses on five points. Let me share my reflections on each of these points.The first point is about weaving stories. The pope explains that our lives revolve round stories. We are influenced by them; we use them to tell others who we are; we use them to protect our lives; we use them to motivate ourselves in the challenges of life. My father was a great story teller. He was only fourteen when the Japanese attacked and eventually occupied Singapore. A few months before the Japanese Occupation, my grandfather had died and my father became the man of the house. He used to tell me about a family friend who was pursued by the Japanese soldiers and the various ways he eluded capture. He told me how he survived during the occupation when his family lived to Senai in Johore. Those stories told me the kind of experiences, both good and bad, that he had gone through. His stories convinced me not to complain too much. My life was more privileged than my father's. Whenever I can, I will relate my experiences in my homilies, hoping that they would help to motivate others to be more Christian despite the challenges in our present era. Yet, the stories we tell are double edged swords. They may reinforce our identities and they may leave us vulnerable to those who would wish to hurt us.
In his second point, Pope Francis reminds us that evil can enter into stories. Stories laced with half truths can lure us into a false security which can lead to tragic results. Stories that tell us that wealth is the only thing that can lead us to happiness are not telling us the complete truth. I remember one man who worked very hard to provide comforts for his family. Then, within a week, his business failed and he lost almost everything. He had been the owner of a business but now he had to seek employment. He had to sell his detached house to pay his debts. During the few weeks he was going and out of the house for interviews, he had the opportunity to spend time with his young children. His young son remarked that he was happy despite not having a big house because he was having fun with his daddy. This struck the man very hard because, as he explained to me later, he had never realised that his children preferred to spend time with him rather than having nice things. This man’s sharing has strengthened my understanding of Jesus's beatitude: Happy are the poor in spirit. It has also reminded me that there are falsehoods in the marketing statements in many advertisements. There is no certainty that using a certain product or brand will bring about happiness or success.
The third point Pope Francis writes about is the Scriptures. He calls it the Story of Stories. As Catholics, we believe that God is the creator of all, including the stories of the summit of God’s creation: humanity. If our own stories help us forge our own identities, then the Story of Stories forges our identities, not merely as God’s creatures but as God’s children. As Catholics we believe that the Bible is the Word of God. We believe that the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself. Instead of waiting for us to seek Him out, God seeks us out and tells us about Himself. He tells us how much He loved His chosen people, Israel, in the Old Testament. The Gospels relate the story of Jesus. Jesus Himself uses stories in the form of parables when teaching. The acts of Jesus reveal to us the just but compassionate Son of God. Through the Gospels, we are able to come to know the person of Jesus. When we use the Gospel to pray, we develop and, in time, strengthen our relationship with Jesus.
The fourth point reminds us that there are generations of people who have had connected with Jesus in faith. The first persons were the apostles which we read in The Acts of the Apostles. The letters that form part of the New Testament also reveal the stories of the first Christians and how they relied on Jesus. From there, in history, we have many saints that have lived their lives connected to Jesus. Their stories can also help us in our relationship with God and His Son. The Pope also mentions more recent titles that were not written by saints but help us understand the human condition.
Finally, the Pope arrives at the point of stories and communication. Our stories are not pre-written. The way our stories move depends on the decisions in our lives. There would be wrong decisions that might cause our lives to become more tragic. However, there are also decisions that we can make that might bring more light to the story we weave. In his words, the Pope reminds us that even though our lives may seem like a boring tragic drama found in many of the fictitious stories that flood the world today, we can re-direct our stories by making decisions with God and Jesus. God has given us many opportunities to redeem ourselves by the redemptive grace won for us by Jesus. A quarter of a century ago, I stood in front of the late Archbishop Gregory Yong, making promises that could be easily broken. In fact, every time I allow a lustful thought to enter my mind, I am transgressing the vow of celibacy that I made. Every time I grumble about a decision my superior makes, I am breaking the promise of obedience to the bishop. Yet, God has continued to be part of my story, enabling me to remain a presbyter despite the struggles I experience in my life. Without admitting God and Jesus in my story, my story would have been the predictable tragedy that we can read in cheap novels. However, with God, I can still hope that there would be a happier ending to the story that is me. Every time we make use of the cellphone or the internet to tell our story, we make use of the modern tools of communication to evangelise.
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