General Intention for the Month of January 2010

(December 31, 2009) Before we proceed further, here is the General Intention of the Holy Father for the month of January: That young people may learn to use social communication media for their personal growth and in preparation to serve society. During this month the Holy Father asks us to pray especially for the young people who use the new communication media, like mobile phones and computers connected to the Internet. They have grasped the enormous capacity of the new media to foster connectedness, communication and understanding between individuals and communities, and they are turning to them as means of communicating with friends, existing and new. The Pope’s approach toward these technologies is overwhelmingly hopeful, not fearful. In his message for the World Day of Communications in May 2009 the Pope had said that we should not be surprised by the popularity of the new communication technologies. He considers them an opportunity for young people all over the world to grow in holy love for one another. It is a great opportunity to engage in a “genuine and mutual search for truth, to promote understanding and tolerance.” It is also an opportunity to proclaim the “Good News of a God who became man, who suffered, died, and rose again to save all people.” For “life is not just a succession of events,” the Pope continues, “it is a search for the true, the good, and the beautiful.” Only in them do we find happiness. “We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by those who see us merely as consumers in a market of undifferentiated possibilities, where choice itself becomes the good, novelty usurps beauty, and subjective experience displaces truth.” So the Pope tells us that while we pray for the good the new media can do, let us also pray against evil. Our prayer is that our young people will not use these media to tell lies, speak abuse, or exploit people. On the other hand it must enable young people to grow in wisdom and grace as they prepare to serve society in this challenging new century.