Bratislava, October 2018 – Right before the opening of the Synod on Young People, the Redemptorists have presented a series of ten video reflections titled “When God sends you back in the game“. It is devoted to the questions of the existence of man, the meaning of life, and the relationship with God – i.e. to questions, that are interesting also for the “digital“ generation.
Since June, young people could find a daily project of Pope Francis’ quotations on Facebook as preparation for the October Synod of Young. Another project of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer before the beginning of the Synod was a 10-part series of reflections of father Rastislav Dluhý titled When God sends you back in the game concerning the existence of man, the search for the meaning of human life or the discovery of a relationship with God. The videos were specially prepared for today’s “digital“ young people. The first part of the series with the subtitle “Am I shot out of a sling?“ Redemptorists have posted on 1st October on their YouTube channel. “Today we are reminded by Saint Therese of Lisieux, the patron of missions and missionaries. She writes in her diary that she learned from newspapers that God answered her prayer for a criminal convicted of death, who converted on the way to the gallows. During her life – in the second half of the 19th century – one of the prominent vehicles of information were daily newspapers; today this function fulfills social networks. That’s why we, the Redemptorists, address to young people in this digital age through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter,“ said F. Rastislav Dluhý C.Ss.R., Media Coordinator of the Bratislava-Prague Province and added: “Searching people in the ‘digital world‘ is important; there is a majority of young people and a lot of older people, too. But it’s only one of the many ways, how to meet a person in the virtual world, and to invite him to enter into real life and come out of the realm of the digital community. “
The series of videos were published here: http://bit.ly/KedtaBohvraciadohry.
At the end of June 2018 in his letter to confreres and lay collaborators, Michael Brehl, Superior General of the Redemptorists, wrote that the younger generation does not speak today through traditional media and oftentimes nor in the church or during the parish missions. So, there is no other way than to boldly step into the digital world, which is a natural environment for today’s young people.
The Episcopal Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment called by Pope Francis took place in October 2018 (3rd – 28th). The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was represented there by General Superior Michael Brehl as Representative of the Union of Superiors General, Bishop of Hallam Ralph Heskett as Representative of Great Britain (England and Wales), Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon Bryan J. Bayd as Representative of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and as a consultant Sabatino Majorano, Professor Emeritus of moral theology from Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, archbishop of Newark, who was also in the pontifical nomination, asked the Holy Father to grant him a dispensation, as he did not, in his own words, imagine to be absent now in his diocese for a month and move away from the people who were entrusted to him, at the time of the current crisis of the American Catholic Church. Pope Francis replied that he understood why he had to stay close to home and granted his request.
