Communication is the essence of mission itself and is the task of every baptised Christian, Bishop Tim Norton SVD told participants in the 4th SVD Australia Province Webinar to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word.
The webinar explored the theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone - From a Social Communication Perspective.’
Bishop Tim, who is the Bishop of Broome in Western Australia, was the keynote speaker, with Fr Kasmir Nema SVD, the Communications Coordinator for the SVD Generalate in Rome, giving the response.
Bishop Tim said that Christian people would understand the invitation to Witness to the Light to mean witnessing to the light of Christ in the world.
“And witnessing for the light or trying to communicate Christ's presence in our world is actually the work of every baptised Christian person, and involves all our efforts, whether individual or collective, verbal, non-verbal, active or passive,” he said.
“Our task is to help make present the kingdom or the reign of God that Jesus came to preach, and indeed, to live this tension between the kingdom's present manifestation and its future finalisation.
“So, as Christian people on mission … we work hard to build up a collegial and social ministry that serves everyone, but especially the poor, the little ones referred to by Jesus in Matthew 18.”
Bishop Tim said Christians are called to not only announce the good news of salvation, but do so in ways that people might relate to in their own cultural milieu.
He framed his presentation according to four areas highlighted in a paper by former SVD Superior-General Fr Tony Pernia SVD: From activism to contemplation; From individualism to collaboration; From superiority to humility; and From evangelising to also being evangelised. And he explored those themes using examples from his missionary life, including among the poor in Mexico, in prison ministry in Australia, his time working in retreats and interculturality in Italy, and his mission as a Bishop in Brisbane and now in Broome, a diocese with a large indigenous population.
“As baptised people, we are obliged to witness to the light that is Christ in the world,” he said.
“And we look for signs of God that are already present in our world, and we try to bring these signs to other people in the way that we share, ways that we talk, the ways that we move ourselves, the people that we relate to, the ways that we live, and, importantly, the ways that we collaborate with others.
“Our context will surely give us clues, because God talks to us through context, talks to us through where we find ourselves in the world.
“We aim to be active contemplatives in a collaborative effort to communicate the Good News with people who already have the seeds of the light in their lives, in their life experiences, and so we can discover those things together, and we nurture those seeds, we water those seeds, and we do it together. We remember that we do not own the gospel. We are just stewards or servants of the gospel.”
In responding, Fr Kasmir said that for him, Witnessing to the Light is “a communication of communion”.
“Bishop Tim offers a spiritually profound and pastorally relevant roadmap for missionary witnessing in our fine an era shaped by fragmentation, digital saturation, saturation and cultural diversity,” he said.
“His insights invite us, I believe, to reimagine how we embody and communicate the light of Christ in a rapidly changing world. He proposed a re-centering of mission on dynamics of encounter, communion and mutual transformation.
“I wish to enter dialogue with Bishop Norton by further unfolding his vision through the lens of missionary communication. So, I propose that to Witness to the Light today, as Bishop Tim mentioned, is not simply to proclaim, but to communicate communion, to embody relational, sacramental and intercultural ways of being Church in wounded, yet Grace filled world.
“In this light, I suggest a fifth paradigm shift: From Analog to Digital Mission in the Digital Continent to complement the four proposed by Bishop Tim Norton, emphasising the urgent call to evangelise, not only in but through digital culture with authenticity, presence and pastoral creativity.”
Fr Kasmir also said the Church must recover contemplative communication, witnessing through silence, attentive presence and Eucharistic stillness.
“In such a framework, the missionary becomes a sacrament of encounter, allowing the presence of Christ to sign through base gesture and silence. So, for me to evangelise is not merely to proclaim, but to become living sign of the gospel.”
To do so, the Church must be present in the digital realm.
“The Church, first of all, must inhabit the digital world as a missionary presence, forming authentic online communities, creating liturgical expressions suited to digital platforms, and engaging with the spiritual hunger of digital natives,” he said.
In this context, Tiktok, Facebook, Whatsapp and AI algorithms are not distractions from mission, but frontiers of mission.
“Missionaries are called from everywhere for everyone,” Fr Kasmir said. “Our vocation is to become pilgrims of hope and listeners of the world, not only with our voices, but with our lives.
“So, let us walk forward, then into the Jubilee with hearts open, feet dusty, ears turned to the Spirit, and lips ready, not merely to speak but to listen, accompany and be transformed.”
The final instalment of the Province’s Jubilee Webinars will take place on Monday, September 1 with Archbishop Mark Coleridge as the keynote presenter, on the theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone – a Synodal Perspective.’
PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: Bishop Tim Norton SVD addresses the Jubilee Webinar from Broome, WA.
MIDDLE LEFT: The flyer for the Webinar, highlighting the theme: 'Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone - From a Social Communication Perspective.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Fr Kasmir Nema SVD presents the response to Bishop Norton, from his office in Rome, where he is the Communications Coordinator for the SVD Generalate.