Think before you press “ENTER”
Dear Parishioners,
Think before you press ENTER
or speak out. From the happenings of this week I think we can learn something vital.
By now I’m sure most would be aware of the single incident of a verbal threat made from a passing motorist to a School Staff member near the School crossing that occurred on Tuesday afternoon.
As we know from our Church Press Release the Police were notified and attended swiftly and are fully investigating and this is where the matter should have rested in their very capable hands and resources.
By Wednesday morning a series of texts and posts started circulating through social media. Some of those texts had formulated their own version of the truth and others were fuelling hateful and unnecessary comments and emotions and this contributed to drawing high media attention.
In response I asked Parishioners, as faithful Australian Maronites, to act on the TRUTH only. I asked that our parishioners not respond to or circulate any other version of the truth on social media as it creates unnecessary panic and can fuel hatred and intolerance. This is very im-portant when it comes to media, as media can do more than just report the news, it can also drive it, even when the ‘news’ is not the truth,.
With the help of Mr Joseph Wakim, the College’s spokesperson for this matter, and the good management of the Maronite Sisters and Staff at the School and our Parish resources and media committee the truth was explained and some balance and calm restored. Thank the Lord no other incident has occurred since Tuesday afternoon and all School and Parish events including ten parish Masses, a College Mass and three Funeral Services and a wedding were conducted all without any incident.
As Christians, we need to always reflect on how we respond to or circulate news. Once we press enter, what we spread can be very damaging and have wide reaching effects. Catholic author and educator, Matthew Kelly, calls all of us to become the best version of ourselves. He challenges us to be counter-cultural. When so much of the culture around us inspires values in stark contrast to our core Christian values, we need to stand out and be ‘revolutionaries’ like Christ. Christ did not promote untruths, use violence or spread hate. Christ promoted love, peace, forgiveness, joy and hope. We all have the opportunity to become counter-cultural followers of Christ, promoting His message.
So next time before you hit the “enter” button, ask yourself - am I being a counter cultural follower of Christ? Am I turning my life over to Christ? Is this what Christ would do? Is this Christ’s mission for me? There is no time like the present to “enter” change!
Something wonderful is the supportive messages the College and Church has received from our fellow Australians from different ethnic Communities including a Muslim father who went to the trouble to PERSONALLY bring a card and arrangement and flowers to the Church saying how very upset, embarrassed and disgusted he and his family felt at the behavior of these individuals who do not reflect the attitude of the overwhelming majority of their community.
We pray for all communities at this time experiencing any form of persecution and hardship and we also pray that we can under all circumstances always respond to difficulties according to our Christian faith values.
