In the Garden of the Bloggists

Approchons-Nous De La Table has started an interesting discussion on Catholic Lay Apostolates and the blogosphere. Is blogging "real"? Is it an "apostolate"? Does the electronic nature of blogging prohibit it from being called an "apostolate" of the Church? I don't think so.

Like anything else, if you are not also living your faith, then merely blogging is not enough.

"Faith without works is dead." James 2:20

But, the availability of so much faith information, while being both a blessing and a potential curse, can be a great boon to spiritual people in the 21st century.

The Vatican II document, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, tells us that:

The apostolate of the laity derives from their Christian vocation and the Church can never be without it. Sacred Scripture clearly shows how spontaneous and fruitful such activity was at the very beginning of the Church (cf. Acts 11:19-21; 18:26; Rom. 16:1-16; Phil. 4:3).

Our own times require of the laity no less zeal: in fact, modern conditions demand that their apostolate be broadened and intensified. With a constantly increasing population, continual progress in science and technology, and closer interpersonal relationships, the areas for the lay apostolate have been immensely widened...

This document was published almost exactly 40 years ago, on November 18, 1965 and could not have foreseen the extent to which technology would change the face of the world in the years following.

I thank God that we have access to information about our Church and what it teaches, at the click of a mouse.

As Renaud says in one of his comments, "Voilà une petite pierre dans le jardin des blogues..." (Here is a small stone in the garden of the blogists...)