I’m still excited about the concept I talked about in my last post on the enrichment of faith.
To me, this CNS article on Catholic mom bloggers was a perfect example of how powerful blogs can be in keeping faith real.
Here’s three ways the social web contributes to the enrichment of faith and forms an essential element of the new evangelization.
1. Blogs convey a personal faith
One of the main ingredients of keeping faith real is relating the personal aspects of faith.
When readers respond positively to one of [Mary DeTurris] Poust’s blogs, maybe one she based on a personal life struggle, she said, “It really affirms what I’m doing — using social media tools to reach people who aren’t necessarily in the pews or churches,” she said. They’ll email or comment and say they are going through the same thing and feeling alone on the journey,” said Poust.
It’s not enough to simply convey the facts of Catholic truths, you need to tell your audience how that truth affects you, what it’s done for you, and how it’s transformed you…made you better.
Blogs do this in a special way. They are usually (though not always) deeply personal expressions of the writer’s thoughts, feelings, and faith.
2. Blogs can give a sense of community
Blogs can also create a sense of community and Catholic friendship when there’s none to be had locally. This is especially true because it’s not just a one-way conversation. Readers can dialoge and interact with the author and other readers.
Rebecca Teti, of the Coffee Talk blog on CatholicDigest.com said:
Many Catholics don’t have the advantage of like-minded Catholics being nearby in their neighborhood who support and pray for each other.
It’s almost like getting together with the neighbors and talking about your problems:
An example of a recent Coffee Talk blog post came from a reader expressing her dismay over her 14-year-old son’s reluctance to receive the sacrament of confirmation. Several readers chimed in with suggestions about the importance of keeping the lines of communication open between parents and children, advice on the best catechetical resources, as well as promise of prayers for the woman and her son.
I remember when I was a kid, my grandmother had coffee every afternoon at 3:00 pm and all the neighbors would come by to talk. I would sit in and listen just to feel grownup. That’s where I got my first taste of coffee and learned to drink it.
From what I remember, it was mostly gossip at my grandmother’s table. But I’m sure they talked about the deep stuff when I wasn’t there.
3. Blogs extend the personal outside the church walls
The other thing about blogs is they reach into places many faithful Catholics can’t go–the living rooms (and bedrooms) of non-Catholics and non-believers.
Jennifer Fulwiler, of Conversion Diary is a perfect example. When she had questions about religion, she started investigating faith through blogs. That search eventually led her into the Catholic Church because the online Catholics presented their faith so well.
I think this reach, combined with the personal, makes blogging an amazing tool for the conveying the faith in a real and authentic way. Blogging and online publishing definitely only get bigger and more wide-spread and more and more people awaken to the social web.
Although it will never replace one-on-one, face-to-face conversation, blogging and online media is and will continue to be an essential part of the new evangelization.
What are some other ways online media keeps the faith real? Can you think of some examples where this is done really well? Share them in the comments.
Photo Credit: h.koppdelaney via Compfight cc
It’s true, what you say and number three is one I especially relate to as when I make art and my art my focus on my blog, more than commentary on such and such Church matter, teaching, news, et cetera, that’s when the comments come and a good number of them from people who are neither Catholic nor Christian of any stripe. When I further extend this to social networking that whole scene increases. When it comes to faith and religion matters being sparked in the mind of a guest such as I’ve described, they most often contact me off-the-grid by e-mail to chat further.
With that in mind I plan on merging the two sites I have [ http://owenswain.com/1/ http://owenswain.com/2/ ] back into one in order to simply stop trying to play to every audience and simply be who I am [in-Christ] and let whatever happens, happen, God willing it will be to his honour.
I think art is one of the truly untapped avenues of evangelization. It’s so much a part of our Catholic heritage and our Catholic sacramental worldview too. It really should be explored much more. Art conveys emotion and life so powerfully. And, good art has to come from the heart of the artist so he’s strongly conveying the personal through this expression of faith. I love that focus. And, in the end, you can only really be who you are for authentic art and evangelizing witness flourish.
Thanks for this comment Owen!
Excellent Marc! I shared this to Catholic Pinterest and will share it on twitter and FB.
People can come to the internet and to blogs on their own time and read when they are receptive. There are many sites and blogs that I go to for spiritual nourishment. #Cathmedia can be used for good.
Thanks Allison! And thanks for the shares!
Marc, Well put. I will be adding your blog to my blogs’ links page. Keep up the great work. While I am here, I encourage your readers to check out my blog.
– Joe
Thanks Joe! I really appreciate the link. I’ll check out your blog.
Yes re blogs, you never know who you may reach. Well, sometimes you might:
“Also, I’ve been lurking at Smaller Manhattans for several years now, and your posts on the Mass as explained to children made me long to be Catholic.”
“I started reading regularly in order to flick your posts on to someone else I thought might benefit from them, with no thought of taking them on board for myself, so there’s a laugh.
So, thank God for blogrolls and Catholic interconnectivity. If you find one good site, you’ll find them all, because Catholic sites link to each other in a way that Protestant sites just don’t, since they approach other Protestant sites with caution, if not downright suspicion. Typically they’ll link to one or two close friends and to their pastor, so they largely prove to be dead-ends. Or so I found.”