We live in an era where privacy has become a rare pearl, for nowadays, one can hardly define what does, or does not, belong to the public domain. This is the situation we find ourselves in, majorly due to the outgrowth of the means of communication and the ever-expending freedom of expression for which it is becoming harder and harder to determine its delimitations. Of old, people used to rely on mass media outlets for updates on the happenings around the world. But with the emergence of social media, step by step we are getting out of this traditional means of communication, since everyone can act as a journalist or reporter even without the required credentials. People communicate any time and from anywhere, regardless of the ethos and sensibilities that define the deontology of the job.
For some of us, somehow influenced by the gospel morality, we find it a challenge to publicize our achievements just for the sake of doing so. We wish to live our humble successes just like Jesus called on his followers to not put on sackcloth and dismal faces because they have fasted. In Jesus words, we are to be so discrete to the extent that even our left hand should not know what our right hand has done.
Such are the instructions of our great master. Jesus does not want us to boast ourselves about whatever kind of realizations we have accomplished. And taking this injunction literally, we wonder where we will fit in the contemporary world where anonymity is something of the past, and discretion no longer an added value to anyone’s progress and developmental aspirations.
Fair enough, our Father Saint Ignatius has anticipated the dilemma of our time and instructed us to keep our eyes always to the Lord. We remain anonymous, that is behind the scene, because in our achievements, we see the hand of God. Our successes and work output are to be celebrated only because they are real signs of honoring God and accomplishing his will in the everydayness of our lives. Whence Ignatius’ timeless wisdom which stipulated that we as individuals on the mission, we fall and rise “for the greater glory of God.” Even Saint Paul will not contradict it, for he was the first to remind us that we should not shy away from boasting in the Lord.
Therefore, the new website for Jesuit Urumuri Centre (JUC) is something to celebrate with loud trumpets. It is a platform that enables us to boast about the mighty works of the Lord through the instruments He has chosen to collaborate in the mission of this Centre. Besides, that responds to Jesus’ other injunction which called his disciples to be the light of the world. Through www.juc-rwb.org we will let the fruits of our efforts in the vineyard of the Lord enlighten the World, as we strive to bring the Light of the Gospel to the reality of our daily lives.Warmest welcome to www.juc-rwb.org!
Fr. Patrice Ndayisenga, SJ
Director, Jesuit Urumuri Centre
