TV, Y2K and y-o-u

Discussion of Y2K problems on our computers, thoughts about where we will be on the next New Year's Eve and even weariness over the amount of chatter about 2000 can overwhelm the underlying meaning of the event: the 2,000th birthday of Jesus.

The world is celebrating more than the arrival of a bunch of zeroes, as if the global odometer were turning over to an even number. We are -- or are supposed to be -- marking the Incarnation of the Son of God. If Catholics don't hold to that thought, I think they will wake up sometime during 2000 with the realization that they missed a golden opportunity to deepen their faith.

Pope John Paul II has declared 2000 as a Holy Year, which will start on Christmas Eve 1999 and run through the Feast of the Epiphany in 2001. As we begin 1999, we should think of ways to dedicate the next 12 months to preparing for the arrival of the Holy Year -- a sort of year-long Advent.

So what does this have to do with a television column? I offer the following TV-related ideas as suggestions for tube-addicted Catholics who want to approach the Holy Year with a better spiritual attitude:

1. Think of your five favorite TV shows. Why not swear one of them off for the next 12 months and replace the time you spend watching it with spiritual reading? Local religious bookstores are crammed with titles about saints, prayer, Scripture and other subjects that might interest you. Secular stores as well are stocking up on more and more volumes about religion. There are certain to be topics that could refresh or inform you.

2. Religious programming turns up regularly on such cable channels as A&E, Discovery, The Learning Channel and The History Channel. They have shown a series about the papacy, specials about the first 1,000 years of Christianity, biographies of saints and other faith-related shows. Each month during 1999, opt to watch one such program instead of something meaningless on the other networks.

3. Add up the number of hours you spend every week watching television. For many Americans, that number can be as high as 30 or 40 or even 50 hours. Subtract just one of them and use the time to attend a Church-related event, such as a lecture, workshop or prayer service. The many possibilities open to you are regularly listed in your parish bulletin and this newspaper. By the end of 1999, you will have added 12 hours of inspiration or information to your time-sheet of religious education, which has probably been on hold for years.

4. From your parish or diocesan library, or through a religious goods store, select a videotape on religion for yourself and/or your family. It might be a film about the life of a saint; it could be a documentary that takes an historical look at the Church; maybe it's a panel discussion on some aspect of spirituality or doctrine. Watching it once instead of "Titanic" or "The Lion King" for the 18th time will benefit you greatly.

5. In an average week, which do you do more often: Watch TV or pray? In an average month, which do you more often: Watch TV or read the Bible? One way to change the ratio for the better is to place a book or magazine about spirituality, or a copy of Scriptures near the TV Guide. When you reach for the latter, grab the former. Think of how often you say, "There's nothing on" and then watch that nothing. This year, click off the TV and use the gift of that half-hour to read the New Testament or to pray in your own words, thanking God, asking for what you need or simply listening to what He might have to say to you. Maybe He hasn't been able to get through over the din of "Friends" and "E.R."

If you make a change in your life that leads you to become a better Catholic by the time the Holy Year begins, I think you'll be proud of yourself -- and ready to mark Jesus' 2,000th birthday in a far more enriching way.

(01-07-99)