{"id":815,"date":"2011-03-11T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=815"},"modified":"2011-03-10T20:47:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T02:47:52","slug":"new-media-for-the-new-evangelization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/new-media-for-the-new-evangelization\/","title":{"rendered":"New Media for the New Evangelization"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why do we need New Media?<\/p>\n

What do blogs, podcasts, web sites, viral videos and other virtual expressions of faith have to add to the mission of the Church?\u00a0\u00a0After all, we went almost 2,000 years without access to these means of communication and the Church has done pretty well for herself, hasn\u2019t she?<\/p>\n

There is a part of me that asks these questions seriously and another part of me that asks them in jest.\u00a0\u00a0As a Catholic, it\u2019s hard not to look at our faith and think it\u2019s pretty incredible.\u00a0After all, we offer people the opportunity to stand in the ACTUAL presence of Christ every day, and to directly follow his commandment by receiving his body and blood in the Eucharist.\u00a0\u00a0What can all of the bells and whistles of the modern age offer that could even come close to that?<\/p>\n

The answer, if we\u2019re honest, is nothing.\u00a0\u00a0New media, in the Catholic sense, has nothing new to add to Catholicism.\u00a0\u00a0That is not to say, however, that it isn\u2019t vitally important to the future of the Church.<\/p>\n

A recent\u00a0article in the National Catholic Reporter<\/a> cited that there are now more than 22 million ex-Catholics in America.\u00a0\u00a0By that calculation, the article said, one in three Americans raised Catholic have left the church.<\/p>\n

Looking at these startling numbers, we have to ask, \u201cWhy?\u201d and \u201cHow can this be true?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If our church has so much to offer and holds the full truth of God and his incarnation in Jesus, why is it that so many are walking away?\u00a0\u00a0We cannot and should not blame God for the decline in the number of faithful Catholics.\u00a0\u00a0Rather, we have to look inward and ask: how did we let them slip through our fingers?<\/p>\n

Ever since John Paul II called for a New Evangelization, the Church has discussed just what this charge entails.\u00a0\u00a0Is it a renewed effort in sending out missionaries?\u00a0\u00a0Is it a new way of understanding the overall mission of the church?\u00a0\u00a0Or, is the New Evangelization a determination to reclaim the truth of the church and take back the message from a world that has, for too long, sought to undermine her message of love and peace?<\/p>\n

In one way or another, we have failed to share the good news, not just with the world outside, but with those who fill our pews.\u00a0\u00a0Expressions of the Catholic faith through new media are an opportunity to put authentic Catholic perspectives into formats that are accessible and familiar in the digital age.\u00a0\u00a0As more and more American\u2019s flee traditional media, which has long taken an antagonistic position towards the church, New Media might be just the opportunity we\u2019ve been looking for to put the Church back where it belongs in the cultural conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few\u2026\u201d (Luke 10:2).<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s get to work!<\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do we need New Media? What do blogs, podcasts, web sites, viral videos and other virtual expressions of faith have to add to the mission of the Church?\u00a0\u00a0After all, we went almost 2,000 years without access to these means of communication and the Church has done pretty well for herself, hasn\u2019t she? There is… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"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,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":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":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t