A Communicating Community

IN today’s celebration of the 49th World Communications Sunday, Pope Francis chose the theme: “Communicating the Family: A Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.” Inspired by the Gospel passage about the visit of Mary to Elizabeth (Lk. 1:39-56), Pope Francis emphasizes that communication, which starts at the womb, “is a dialogue intertwined with the language of the body.”

When we are born, the family still serves as the womb where the giftedness of communication happens. Prayer, the most basic form of communication is handed down in the family. In the midst of each one’s uniqueness, openness and forgiveness leads to sharing and closeness.

Only when we learn to talk to one another in the family, when we can spend time together in silence and when we witness the beauty and richness of relationships can communication become a blessing. The media must present the family as “a communicating community,” “a community which provides help, which celebrates life and is fruitful.” We must look at the family “as a setting where we can all learn what it means to communicate in a love received and returned.”