The Challenge of Communication

I often noticed that when we speak of communication, the first thing that comes to mind is media. Most of us tend to reduce communication into media instruments like television, radio, film and the like. It is true that media are part of this process of communication. However, the aspect of communication is much broader in meaning than mere technology. As a matter of fact, it encompasses the whole spectrum of our life, the spiritual, psychological, economic, and political aspect as well.

One of the many challenges we are facing in the coming third millenium is the rapid development of communication. As one author would express it, the world had become one great village. Our communication has become global, reducing distances, creating virtual neighbors among various nations.

This evolution in communication is always challenging us to change mentality. In contemporary term, we call it paradigm shift. The new generation lives in a world shaped by media. Whereas before words alone would suffice; now it is entirely a different thought. What matters today in communication are the speed and the images, these create impact on the audience.

I had a very interesting experience years ago when I was still in college. Being a member of the missionary club of the school, we used to go out to public schools to teach catechism. I was assigned two classes to teach which really exhausted my creativity (not to mention my patience) to the limit. I used to think that my dislike of the teaching profession started out of this experience. At any rate, I discovered how easy it is to get the full attention of the kids and for them to assimilate faster when the lesson was taught audio visually.

It is a reality that people today, (and that also include me), are fascinated by the image. We want to be audio-visual in our way of communicating. We unconsciously look for it when we are in conversation with others or when we listen to speakers. That’s why we dismiss, as boring, anyone who does not come up to our expectations.

This kind of attitude poses a great challenge to our Church communicators today. It is one thing to have something good and solid to communicate but it is equally another thing to be able to communicate it effectively. Angela Ann Zukowski (an American Nun and former Chairperson of International Organization of Film and Audiovisual), mentioned in her writings that it is very important for Church Communicators to “retell the stories of Scripture and our Catholic heritage within the human stories of today, or, alternatively, to discuss the spirituality of human situation in the light of Scripture.” “The Gospel,” according to her, “must be communicated in symbols, models, images and words that are easily understood by people. Otherwise it does not get communicated at all. ” In other words, there is a challenge for us Church Communicators, to identify new perspectives and possibilities in our way of communicating the Word in order to become more effective in our world today.