In continuity with that which was his own life, Claret invites us to use all means for the apostolate. God must be well known, loved and served. In order to achieve this, all imaginable resources must be put into action. An apostle has to be the wise and creative person who does at all times whatever is most necessary, opportune and effective.
The ways of the mission are complex. One is to give the most effective diffusion possible to a message that boasts of being the best: it is the Good News that Jesus Christ, God made Man, has saved all humanity by giving himself to die on the cross. And we must all look for the best remedy to the negligence that has prevailed in this field.
The best message demands the best means for its diffusion, and preachers who using these means present in a transparent and clear manner the heart of this message: Jesus, the Son of God made man. There are obvious means: the Liturgy of the Word; catechesis ; social mass-media ; the sacraments ; personal communication; and popular piety … More sensitive to today’s mentality are the efforts for peace, justice, integral human promotion ; and the conservation and integrity of creation.
Claret puts the accent on something else. He insists on apostolic wisdom in written publications, the medium in which he exceled. He used it profusely, conscious of its effectiveness. But Claret considers more important the testimony of one’s life oriented to reflect the life of Jesus, even with the limitations of the human condition; this testimony takes its shape in the attention given to the people and the exercise of charity towards those in need, just as in the life of Christ.
In the context of today, what place does the Apostolate of the Press occupy in my Apostolic preoccupations?