Click to Pray
How do you even begin blogging about a tech-savvy priest? Like this.
Catholics get a bad rep for being old school in their ways. The traditional and conservative rituals of Catholicism, Mormonism, and other old religions are perceived to be too broken down for the modern lifestyle. But there’s nothing old school about this priest.
Meet Fr. Mike, a Jesuit priest and co-director of Magis Alumni Relations at Seattle University. For many years, I have admired Fr. Mike’s homilies during mass at the Chapel of St. Ignatius (for you non-Catholics, a homily is a summary of the gospel during mass that priests use to translate the scripture in ways we can spiritually apply them to our daily lives). I’ve always wondered how I would be able to share his thoughts with the world without making the message sound too religious or cult-like, because that’s exactly how it would be perceived.
Thanks to the most tech-savviest priest I know, I won’t have to wonder anymore. For the past year, Fr. Mike has been posting his homilies on Facebook, the social networking platform he uses to connect with the SU community. I’ve been impressed with his ability to build a spiritual community online, especially among college students who often spend time on social networking sites to share their latest pictures and innuendos from last weekend’s rager. Not only is he sharing his human and discerning reflections about spirituality and life, he is facing the stigma that has loomed over the priest community for many years with a simple commodity: Transparency.
Being transparent about things can help bring down walls in many situations. The less you share, the less people will know, and the more you share, the more people will know. It’s as simple as that. But I’m not trying to condone that being fully and always transparent is good. There are benefits to keeping profiles private (as I do with Facebook) to a closed network of people you personally know, but that discussion can be saved for another time.
What I do want to share is Fr. Mike’s willingness to embrace technology to invite people to have a modern conversation within a community that is commonly perceived as being too structured and traditional. I know there are contemporary religious groups that have already embraced new technologies, but I think it is easier to incorporate them with a congregation based upon 20th century roots. It is commendable to see a religious leader going against the reputational grain within a religious community that is perceived to have high adversity to change.
In addition to enlightening homilies on Facebook, Fr. Mike has joined the latest social phenomenon of Twitter and he plans on launching a blog this summer. If I could make a personal request, I’d love to subscribe to a podcast of all homilies from the Chapel of St. Ignatius. Imagine the possibility of a cultural and religious movement if priests around the world invited people to listen through new communication mediums!
Because religious or not, I’m pretty confident someone is willing to listen.
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