READING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Abstract

The Vatican II Document Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the
Modern World) obliges the church in reading of the signs of the times
in relating with the modern world. Gaudium et Spes, # 4 states:
To carry out such a task, the Church has always had the duty of
scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light
of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she
can respond to the perennial questions which people ask about this
present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one
to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world
in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic
characteristics.2
This document itemizes or enumerates the actions needed in
reading the signs of the times such as “scrutinizing” and
“interpreting”, “recognize” and “understand” as a duty of theChurch in relating with the world so that it can aptly respond to the
relevant questions that people ask. Thus, the document tells us what
to read – the signs – of the times. The document advises the people to
read the signs of the times supposedly from the perspective of faith.
Unfortunately, the document fails to show the people how to read
these signs. Thus, there is a gap between the question on what and
the question on how that the document glosses over. We are left
groping in the dark on how to read these signs since they are not selfevident
or self-explanatory signs; in fact, they are not simple but
complex signs that we need to decipher. If this is the case, then we
need a reading strategy in dealing with these signs. The absence of
the how in reading the signs of the times in the document seems to
suggest that reading the signs is taken for granted or the how of
reading the times is entrusted to the people. In this way, the church
seems to presume that the how of reading the signs of the times is
unproblematic.