{"id":11059,"date":"2012-02-08T10:41:46","date_gmt":"2012-02-08T16:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=11059"},"modified":"2012-02-08T10:43:48","modified_gmt":"2012-02-08T16:43:48","slug":"social-media-and-the-full-impact-of-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/social-media-and-the-full-impact-of-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media and the Full Impact of the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technology. The definition from the Dictionary (as cited from http:\/\/www.dictionary.com<\/a>)
\ntech\u00b7nol\u00b7o\u00b7gy [tek-nol-uh-jee] noun:<\/p>\n

1. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and\u00a0use of technical means and their interrelation with life,\u00a0society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects\u00a0as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.<\/p>\n

Everywhere we look at any time throughout the day we can see various types of technology\u00a0being used. Various forms of Social Media have come forth from advances in the technological\u00a0field. People are constantly texting, \u201cplugged into our personal dj\u2019s\u201d (what one of my best\u00a0friends calls iPods), chatting on cell phones, using laptops or iPads, etc.\"\"<\/p>\n

First, let me be the\u00a0first to say, I LOVE my gadgets. I hate to admit how lost I would be without my iPhone\u2014I am\u00a0always using it to check my e-mail, text, make phone calls, tweeting\/updating Facebook, and\u00a0of course, I love to play Angry Birds. But something dawned on me the other day. By using all\u00a0of these cool methods of communication, are we causing more harm than good through these\u00a0potential distractions?<\/p>\n

People can use Facebook and Twitter for all kinds of things; information is passed and received\u00a0much faster now because of it and now, in America, you are a minority if you don\u2019t use some form of social\u00a0networking. Another person who was a huge fan of social media? It was Blessed Pope John Paul\u00a0II. He said in 1989 (which if you think about it, was waaaaay before Facebook even existed) on\u00a0World Communications Day:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in
\nthe street can grasp a religious message but how to employ the communications
\nmedia so as to let him have the full impact of the gospel message” Source<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, we live in a time where we are told to do or say whatever we want. This is where\u00a0Blessed Pope John Paul II challenged us. He encouraged youth to use social media to help spread\u00a0the Word of God and to evangelize to our peers. This can mean posting status updates about\u00a0your Catholic faith or by just setting a good example when online. Like St. Francis of Assisi\u00a0said, \u201cPreach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.\u201d Examples of this can be\u00a0watching what we say: no cussing or gossiping, engaging in arguments, or cyber-bullying.<\/p>\n

I took twelve of my students to the annual Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference this past\u00a0weekend and was overjoyed to see them all post status updates talking about their experiences\u00a0and being excited about their faith. They took the theme of the conference \u201cUnafraid\u201d to heart\u00a0and by posting these updates and maybe evangelized some of their friends. They have responded\u00a0positively to John Paul II\u2019s challenge to use technology for the good and to further advance the\u00a0message of Christ through new channels of communication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technology. The definition from the Dictionary (as cited from http:\/\/www.dictionary.com<\/a>) tech\u00b7nol\u00b7o\u00b7gy [tek-nol-uh-jee] noun: 1. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and\u00a0use of technical means and their interrelation with life,\u00a0society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects\u00a0as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. Everywhere we look at any time throughout the… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[154],"tags":[589,285,590],"class_list":["post-11059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-youth","tag-high-school","tag-social-media-2","tag-teen","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128036,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/confessions-of-a-technocrat-reflections-on-laudato-si-part-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":11059,"position":0},"title":"Confessions of a Technocrat: Reflections on Laudato Si, Part I","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"July 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a reflection on Pope Francis' new Encyclical Laudato Si addressed to every person living on this planet and added to the official Catholic doctrine. 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I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Justice"","block_context":{"text":"Social Justice","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/social-justice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"800px-Pope_Francis_Photo_2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/800px-Pope_Francis_Photo_2-550x364.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/800px-Pope_Francis_Photo_2-550x364.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/800px-Pope_Francis_Photo_2-550x364.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":247293,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/mercy-technology-panel\/","url_meta":{"origin":11059,"position":1},"title":"Mercy and Technology Panel","author":"ATX Catholic","date":"May 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This audio is from the first panel at the ATX Catholic Day of Reflection 2016 at Our Lady of Schoenstatt Shrine in Austin, TX on April 30, 2016. 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Many times, this is for good reason and, truth be told, good to not be swept up in the latest fad. In the realm of communications, however, by definition, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":249894,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/catholic-life-online-today-panel\/","url_meta":{"origin":11059,"position":3},"title":"Catholic Life Online Today Panel","author":"ATX Catholic","date":"May 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This audio is from the second panel at the ATX Catholic Day of Reflection 2016 at Our Lady of Schoenstatt Shrine in Austin, TX on April 30, 2016. 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