Singing Nun and The New Evangelisation

Sister Christina in The Voice Italy blind auditions

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)

I attended a talk last night on Creative Evangelisation in the new media by Father Francis from the Philippines. During the course of that talk, I was deeply reminded of the above Bible passage, a technique that is very useful especially during unsure times.

At first I resented Sister Christina for making such a public display of herself, for in my mind back then, nuns should be locked up in cloisters and those who came out should only be on pilgrimages or giving talks and seminars. But now, in the context of New Evangelisation, especially on the rapidly developing platform called digital media, I think I am starting to understand what Sister Christina is trying to do. You go Sister!

If you have watched the above video, you would have seen all four of the judges turning their chairs and had tears in their eyes almost for the whole of the video. What brought you here? To The Voice? asked Raffaella Carra, one of the judges. And Sister Christina answered in a simple and profound way, I have a gift, and I'm giving it to you! As if that weren't enough, she added, Shouldn't things be this way? Spot on, Sister. In her short response, she reminded the world, if the world isn't too distracted by all the flashy lights and noises on the program that we should share our gifts, what little we have, to others. And if you're lucky, you might be called to share it to the whole wide world! What we have received from God, we must share, it was never ours to begin with! It is a complete gift of grace.

A comment made by J-Ax made me think about a story about Saint John XXIII. J-Ax said to Sister Christina, had I saw you at mass when I was a boy, now I would be Pope! Well, you have seen her now, and it is never too late for God. But I cannot help thinking that if Saint John XXIII were there, he would ask J-Ax to remain in the music industry.

The story goes like this. He once visited some children in a hospital and asked one little boy what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy answered, "A policeman or the Pope." Pope John answered him, "I would become a policeman, if I were you. Anyone can become pope - even me!" Such was the humble faith of the Good Pope, Il Papa Buono.

There has always been a notion that the Church should not entangle itself with the things of this world, we can go out to the people, sure, but we shouldn't be on secular TV and the sorts. But no, this is not how it should be. The Church is for the world to begin with! We should go all out, as Sister Christina did, not being afraid of the new media, of the standards of this world. Sister Christina did just that. She went on The Voice and yet maintained her dignity as a daughter of God and still acted in a way that reflects her person, and as a Sister. She did not move with any poise or style and you can really tell that here is a woman who devotes her life to Christ, to the Church. She did not revel in all the applause and cheers given to her but seemed rather detached from all those praises. There were some points in her performances that you can catch her pointing and looking upwards, which is the general direction of heaven.

Sister Christina set quite the example for us to follow. We should stand right there stark in the middle of the secular world and preach there, shout in the wilderness, as Saint John the Baptist did 2000 years ago. As Jesus came down from all the splendour and flawlessness of heaven, into this broken and corrupted world. Just as Jesus invoked the presence of God on Calvary, in the midst of seeming Godlessness. If we can use a TV show to evangelise, why not? If we can use a brothel to preach repentance to the prostitutes and customers, why not? Saint John Paul II once said that no means is foreign to us. We have to use every single avenue to get this message out to the world.

The New Evangelisation, after so many years of its conception, I think I am only just beginning to scratch the surface of what it truly means.

I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ - and you will find true life.

-Pope Benedict XVI-