The New Mission Fields

In the beginning, there was no internet. I know it’s hard to believe isn’t it. Now days to some that’s all there is, the work wide web. This blog and the blogs that follow are all about the rise of New Media. We have reached new age, and a new landscape for evangelization. For young adults, teens, and pre-teens, and now increasingly young adolescence, the internet is how we are plugged in. From the comfort of our home we bring the world to our computer screens.A New Mission Field looms.

Consider this the average American spends 66 hours per month on a computer outside of work . YouTube visitors watch over two billion videos every day. Seventy-two percent of Americans- including 87 percent of teens communicate through text messaging.

We live in a world that has dramatically embraced new media. It’s the new home for the majority of Christians. There is a new space where if we hit the ground running we have a new and better way to reach people than ever before. But more over we also have a way we can reach young people.

I know it may seem like a daunting task. Especially with the speed that life travels today. But the way to get people in the pews now a days in more and more often to reach them at their computer seats.

I would like to start with starting a dialogue with the un-churched. If we look we can see that Religion in the U.S at least is rather falling down the not so wonderful rabbit hole. Especially with people my age. Of college age. The God-Man that was sent to save us is now just a cool guy. It’s funny I thought people followed “cool guys”. With the help of Father Robert Baron from Word on Fire; I hope I can get this blog series a good start. To read more on the subject of the church and Media, I’ll point you to Brandon Vogt’s book The Church and New Media.

The Church in the U.S is in a bad state of affairs. A pew forum study showed that in 2008 the fastest growing religious group in America is the “nones”. Or people with no religious affiliation. Another Pew Statistic is that 27% of Americans don’t expect to have a religious funeral, and numbers in regard to attendance is not very pretty, somewhere between 20 -30% of Catholics attend the liturgy on a regular basis, and if you want to remove immigrants, like Hispanics and Vietnamese, the numbers would sink to European lows.

In the words of Fr.Baron. “ We have become largely inept at telling our distinctive story, and so the world found it exceptionally easy either to co-opt our story or simply dismiss it out of hand”.

We can become toothless in the face of attacks, of hostile questions, especially with the rise of “New Atheism”. There have been a slew of new attacks on anything religious but mostly when it comes to Christians. But with this universe that is the internet we can now have a pretty fair shot at refuting, (in a hospitable way) the claims. Fr.Baron has noticed four trends being on you-tube and face book and through his Word on Fire Ministries. These he calls the “ YouTube Heresies”. These are basically confusion about interpreting the bible, the relationship between science and religion, the meaning of the word “God”, and finally the confusion about the rapport between religion and violence.

In my future blogs I will go into more detail about these. 

I just wanted to give a proper introduction to this blog series. But most importantly is the why I’m doing this. It isn’t just because we need to fill the pews with kids from 18-25, it’s not about feeling “beat” by Atheist, or especially now with the holidays feeling the urge to speak up about keeping Christ in Christmas. It is really about love. I can’t tell you how much sadness I am filled with when I see what is going on with my generation. The sex, the disappointment, the hate, the drugs, it makes me wince at all the utter fallacies I hear said online about the dangers of religion, how bigotry is in the Church, the list goes on and on. We have a generation that is so disconnected from each other, any relationship that isn’t short and fast is an inconvenience. Not to mention our complete disregard for the dignity for human life.

I don’t know if I should be asking for a miracle. But I’m trying to take a stab at it. If I stand alone that’s ok for I stand with God. I know I’m not perfect; I am outrageously far from it. But if it’s a crime to care, to love than I’m a criminal. But this road we are on leads to ruin, so I’m using this great resource to try and stand on the digital soap-box. I want to cry at what is happening to my Country. We as Catholics know the greatest love there is. That love that is Jesus, for there has never been a greater death. Please take up the cup, don’t be afraid, I am tired of being afraid, and as much as it may hurt, the sting doesn’t last, but now is our time to act. With love. After 2000 years… well I’ll let Morpheus finish this. After 2000 years…

Those to Follow

Picture courtesy of http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/115012

Now that the fall is coming, and school is in session, I like to take some time to talk about educators. It is not that teachers are the only educators. All through are lives there are people that mold us, that pass on experiences, rules, practices, ways, traditions, etc. In the hopes that we have what we need to better our lives and the lives of others.

As Catholics, we have a great teacher. The greatest teacher in history. I believe I am right in saying that teaching itself is a calling. The best teachers, or the best arbiters of knowledge are always the ones who's main interest is to better the brains at the desk's, and not how much their tenure will be worth. I feel we are truly blessed to have so many great teachers in the Church. The early fathers, and men such as Augustine, and Aquinas. When we learn, we are taking part in the love that God has for us. It is up to us to not waste it on petty things.

I know for some classes may be hard. Maybe you are in a big class at a major university. Maybe on a regular basis you get busy work as it is called. Work that really you do the same thing over and over that really doesn't accomplish any lasting thing. Even as we go on to become upper class men and women. We always end up being able to think of things that are much better to do than listen to a person up at a board talk for a couple of hours. Or when out professor goes off on a tangent we feel he has nothing meaningful to say.

As Christians, we have the knowledge placed before us that we are part of something great. Something cosmic, something Eternal. Every day we wake up on this earth there is one more thing in infinity that we could learn. Our ceiling does not end at the scientific method. Our intellect does not end at the closest star or farthest away galaxy. We are able to learn because we are loved.

Now let me move away from the classroom sage. Let me move into more out of class room mentors. I type this because I want you all to know that there are many people in our paths, that help us become more fully us. As students, but even more so as young Catholics we have a duty to seek them out, and to mode not only our behavior out in the world but also take it to the classroom to where can plant seeds.

TV has had a rough patch as far as hero's go. This isn't the days of McGiver anymore. Plus most of our lives are spent well "plugged in", a great article about this about E-Slavery can be read at Catholic Answers. Any way I know of a T.V character that can really show us what a good man, as well as what a good teacher can give us. This man is none other than Leroy Jethro Gibbs. The boss of the NCIS team, a Marine Sniper, and a craftsman in his spare albeit sparse spare time.

I think the biggest reason I want to point him out is because of his Conviction. His foundational person is rooted in conviction, a value too few of us have or understand. He is like Peter, the rock. Gibbs is set in his ways, but weather some may meet him and think other wise he is selfless and strong. He shows what it means to stand up for what is in your heart. or in Gibbs' case, your gut. Wherever he is, he always takes himself with him, and he always brings him back.

He also in his way mentors, and raises his team up to be the best they can be, he brings out in them all the qualities that make them great agents, and he always reminds them about the path they walk on this road of life. he also passes down to them the way that Mosses gave us the 10 commandments, well of course God gave them to us but you know Mosses still brought them down from the mountain; the "rules" we heard about these on many occasions, we know how they were in homage to his late wife, and he has kept them close to his heart. They are the well Rules. In this way he reflects Christ ministry although in a more blunt and less depthful way, in the parables Jesus told.

We should go through this time between two eternities look for people like him. Even though we have Christ, God has brought people into our lives to better us, and try to bring out the person we are able to be. Have open ears to hear the wise words spoken by teachers. A little bit may go a longer way than you think, and little more time can open up vast new avenues of information.