Things are slowing down a little for me, and I was so glad to be able to read Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications: Speaking with the Heart “The truth in love” hot off the press. It was SO GOOD — tons of mic drops (see what I did there, communication, mic drop? :)) and aligned perfectly with the culmination of a leadership program that I’m wrapping up.
For this post, I’ll share some excerpts and thoughts:
Once we have practised listening, which demands waiting and patience, as well as foregoing the assertion of our point of view in a prejudicial way, we can enter into the dynamic of dialogue and sharing, which is precisely that of communicating in a cordial way.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications
Speaking doesn’t come first. Speaking comes AFTER waiting and patience. Speaking comes AFTER trying to get our point in front of the other. This tied to principles on “See-Hear-Speak” and empathic listening.
We should not be afraid of proclaiming the truth, even if it is at times uncomfortable, but of doing so without charity, without heart.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
Woof. This has taken a decade plus of work (and is still ongoing) but so valuable. In my college years, I can’t count the number of times I was exposed to adults who spoke disparagingly against those who disagreed with them. Their interpretation of faith, their preference on the Mass style, their prioritization of God’s legislative agenda. Even as someone aligned with them generally, I was repelled by referring to those who disagreed in such disparaging terms. These days, I keep a postcard up in our prayer area that states: “You have never looked into the eyes of a person whom God does not love.” Let us remember this always, but especially when in dialogue with those whom we disagree.
In a historical period marked by polarizations and contrasts — to which unfortunately not even the ecclesial community is immune — the commitment to communicating “with open heart and arms” does not pertain exclusively to those in the field of communications; it is everyone’s responsibility. We are all called to seek and to speak the truth and to do so with charity. We Christians in particular are continually urged to keep our tongue from evil (cf. Ps 34:13), because as Scripture teaches us, with the same tongue we can bless the Lord and curse men and women who were made in the likeness of God (cf. Jas 3:9).
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
Every conversation is an opportunity to charity and love. As I frequently have to remind myself from Bambi, sometimes it truly is better that “if I can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
<Speaking about St. Francis de Sales> After all, one of his most famous statements, “heart speaks to heart”, inspired generations of faithful… One of his convictions was, “In order to speak well, it is enough to love well”. It shows that for him communication should never be reduced to something artificial, to a marketing strategy, as we might say nowadays, but is rather a reflection of the soul, the visible surface of a nucleus of love that is invisible to the eye.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
The way we communicate reflects out soul. This has taken a lot of work and undoing. How we act is a reflection of how we think. I had to move away from an “us and them” mentality to a mentality of “seekers together”. I had to stop with the sarcasm, interruptions, unkind comments, dehumanizing statements, in my brain so that love for others was firm in my mind and my heart. When this is true, no bad fruit (actions) can come from those divisive thoughts. (This even applies to sports rivalries!)
As I have emphasised, “In the Church, too, there is a great need to listen to and to hear one another. It is the most precious and life-giving gift we can offer each other”. [4] Listening without prejudice, attentively and openly, gives rise to speaking according to God’s style, nurtured by closeness, compassion and tenderness.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
OK I’m sitting down. The. Most. Precious. And. Life Giving. Gift. I think of how valued this is to my children. How listening communicates: You Matter, You are Worthy of Respect. How God Himself makes Himself accessible to us through listening to us at any time and in any manner of communication we make to Him.
We have a pressing need in the Church for communication that kindles hearts, that is balm on wounds and that shines light on the journey of our brothers and sisters. I dream of an ecclesial communication that knows how to let itself be guided by the Holy Spirit, gentle and at the same time, prophetic, that knows how to find new ways and means for the wonderful proclamation it is called to deliver in the third millennium.
A communication which puts the relationship with God and one’s neighbour, especially the neediest, at the centre and which knows how to light the fire of faith rather than preserve the ashes of a self-referential identity. A form of communication founded on humility in listening and parrhesia in speaking, which never separates truth from charity.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
Mic drop. Lord, let me never ignore/dismiss a truth from faith in order to preserve my self-referential identity. I see the white sepulchers clearly here! Lord, let me put my sisters and brothers above any need to be right, let me be humble always, and risk being “wrong” to be charitable!
We need communicators who are open to dialogue, engaged in promoting integral disarmament and committed to undoing the belligerent psychosis that nests in our hearts, as Saint John XXIII prophetically urged in the Encyclical Pacem In Terris: “True peace can only be built in mutual trust” (No. 113). A trust which has no need of sheltered or closed communicators but bold and creative ones who are ready to take risks to find common ground on which to meet.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
This resonates with the idea of cultivating “safe spaces” and psychological safety. How can we affirm the dignity of the human person when a person is in fear? Also, how can we move from “Safe spaces” to “Brave spaces”.
As Christians, we know that the destiny of peace is decided by conversion of hearts, since the virus of war comes from within the human heart.
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Social Communications (emphasis mine)
Another mic drop. I think, therefore I am. As our heart is turned, so will our speech, our behavior, our demeanor, our posture, our spaces.
Let us pray:
Lord, make my heart like yours.
Lord, let peace prevail in me,
That I may bring peace to my spaces,
And contribute, in that small way,
In bringing peace,
Bringing You,
To the world.