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“We need to be more present on social media; that’ll get more people involved in the church. The youth will love it. It’s evangelization.”
—Excited Parishioners
It’s important to evangelize people. Pope Paul VI emphasized that “The Church exists in order to evangelize.” Evangelization is the vocation of the Church and all her members. The problem with social media is that it promises connection, but often delivers isolation.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
— Matthew 7: 7
This verse has always given me a mental image of prayer that looks like this: I am standing in front of a giant door, the door to Jesus' house, waiting for Jesus to open it and let me in; the assumption of course is that Jesus is just on the other side, waiting for me to knock; just watching. He knows I'm out here. Why doesn't he simply let me in? Is this really how God operates?
It's funny how everything becomes silent and still before the experience of impact. "Oh *BLEEP*." These were the not-so-poetic words that permeated the silence before my car accident in 2011. Two words. A simple prayer. "Lord, help!" probably would have been more appropriate, but Jesus heard my intention, even if the articulation of my request fell short (Good news for someone so often lacking). At the last moment
Anyone who has worked in the field of ministry has experienced the tension between providing effective ministry and proving that they deserve their salary. In the interest of the latter, we often strive for busy ministry and call it a great achievement when we find a program that gets 60 people out to the parish regularly on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Meanwhile, 1500 families are registered at our parishes, and only 400 people show up to Mass on the weekend.
We see this poor Mass attendance and think...
