Cardinal  Felipe Arizmendi , Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and responsible for the Doctrine of the Faith at the  Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) , offers Exaudi readers his article.

FACTS

“What a strange title for this article!” someone might think. Obviously, in Jesus’ time, no one could have imagined what we are experiencing today in every aspect, especially in technological advancements. Not only was there no  Artificial Intelligence , but they didn’t even have electricity; much less cell phones, cars, and similar things. Culturally, his era was very different. However, his example and his teachings have never lost their relevance, not even now. He is the epitome of human perfection. Loving God and neighbor as oneself never goes out of style; rather, it is the criterion for discerning what AI can do for us and what can harm us. AI is not the new idol before which everyone bows down, but a human creation that should help people grow in humanity and not become enslaved to what AI dictates.

Over forty-five years ago, I wrote my will, not because I have a great deal to distribute—for I have chosen to live with only what is necessary—but to express the most important lessons of my life experience. I wrote: “ As I approach forty years of age, and knowing that the Lord could call me at any moment, I want to express the following: IT IS WORTH LISTENING TO THE LORD!!! What He tells us and the path He proposes is the surest way to be happy, to become someone, to give life meaning. I have become convinced of this through my own life experience. And having had the opportunity to know many people on a very deep level, I can say with complete certainty that unless someone decides to listen to the Lord, unless they accept to practice His Word, they will never find total inner peace, they will never be truly happy, no matter how many things, how much money, or how many emotional experiences they may have.”

At the same time, I can say that when I have let myself be swayed by my surroundings or my own inclinations, and have not lived according to His Word, I have felt sad, alone, anxious, fearful, and without inner peace. But He understands me better than I understand myself; He gives me new strength, and with Him, I fight and triumph.

From my life experience, I can assure you that IT IS WORTH LISTENING TO THE LORD. How I wish everyone knew Jesus, that they would experience letting themselves be guided by Him… Their whole life would change. And for those who don’t believe me, I would simply suggest they try it.”  What I wrote then, I stand by to this day.

LIGHTNING

Pope Leo, in the conclusion of his great encyclical  Magnifica Humanitas,  in which he insists on following Jesus as the criterion for our lives, states:

“The truth we must not lose sight of is the truth of God and of humanity, as Christ has revealed it to us”  (237) . “Let us invest in education that begins with ourselves! We all need to be formed to live in the digital world in a human way, as an integral part of education in faith and in the virtuous life of the Gospel”  (238).  “In the humble fidelity of each day, even the age of AI can be a step in which the Spirit brings the civilization of love to maturity in our lives; the Lord continues to make all things new and keeps open for every age the possibility of becoming a history of salvation in the light of the Incarnation”  (245).

“At the heart of it all is the mystery of the Incarnation: the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. The flesh of the Son, poor and vulnerable, evokes the flesh of so many brothers and sisters stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence. The Father shows us the true humanity of a life that is realized in openness and communion, to the point of making us desire that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven”  (231).

“In the promises of transhumanism and some posthumanist currents, which pursue an enhanced and almost disembodied humanity, we recognize a desire that challenges us: the need for a fuller life, less exposed to fragility and suffering. But the Incarnation opens a different path. While old and new ideologies push man to the technical overcoming of limits and to rise above others in order to consolidate a dominion, the mystery of the Son of God who enters into our condition narrates an opposite movement: the living God who descends into our history to free us from all slavery, assumes our weakness and transforms it into a place of salvation”  (232).

“Union with Christ is at the same time union with all others to whom he gives himself”  (234).  “And while new economic and technological networks can generate exclusion, isolation and dependencies, the Church, nourished by the Eucharist, is called to make visible another kind of measure, safeguarding the bonds, giving voice back to the invisible and directing the processes towards the dignity of persons”  (235).

ACTIONS

Let us draw closer to Jesus, and He will make us more human. Let us meditate on His Word, speak with Him in prayer, receive His grace in the sacraments, and do what we can to be close to those who suffer physically or morally.