March 11, 2009

Young people temper use of technology for Lenten fast

By Anna Maria Basquez

Denver resident Carole Conley was getting upwards of 30 Blackberry alerts a day from Facebook.com telling her when people on her friend list would add pictures, change their profiles and update their status.

Then she made a Lenten decision to fast from Facebook.

“I’d say that’s probably one of my biggest challenges—giving up technology,” said Conley, who is using e-mail only for work and family and staying off the online social networks including Facebook.com and MySpace.com.

“It’s like giving up a phone,” she said. “It’s a way to communicate with friends to try to get together, which can be good, but sometimes just distracting. It’s hard because Facebook is kind of addictive, yet it’s a fun thing.”

Conley’s decision is part of a trend of technology fasting to make room for God and prayer, at the same time finding temperance for indulgences like text messaging, Web surfing and online social networks in the Catholic church for the Lenten season.

Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 Lenten message, which addressed the traditional penitential practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, emphasized fasting.

Some faithful are minimizing their use of text messaging, Web surfing, personal e-mails and/or online social networks, among other things.

Edward Sri, provost of the Augustine Institute, asks his students to give up as many forms of media as they can each Lenten season, including listening to the radio in the car, television watching, Web surfing, online social networks and personal e-mailing.

“One of the challenges is the saturation of media in our lives,” Sri said. “Mother Teresa said ‘God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts.’ Many young people today are afraid to be alone with their God. I’ve had people come to me years later and say, ‘This has changed my life.’

“We know what’s going on out there in the world,” he said, “but do we really know what’s going on in the world of the people who are in our lives or the world of our kids’ lives? All this keeps us from being with the people God has placed in our lives.”

Conley’s message to her friends on Facebook is to call her cell phone, which her page references.

Kim Bradica, 26, of Littleton, said she has noticed text messages distort relationships. She opted to give up texting for Lent.

“It’s not reality,” she said. “Reality is, you say what comes to your head when you’re in a friendship. Whether or not it’s good or bad, you accept your friends for who they are, not just because they say really cool stuff all the time.”

Bradica said she has noticed many of her girlfriends having “texting relationships” with men they are interested in.

“The guy isn’t really doing anything to ask them out or anything, but they’re flirting over texting,” she said. “It’s not a real relationship. Even in today’s society where it’s more acceptable now for women to ask guys out, the guys need to pursue the woman and the woman needs to be pursued. Otherwise, the relationship’s distorted.”

Bradica last year gave up playing music in her car.

“The media, the Church has said, can serve a great good,” Sri said. “But there are certain dangers to having it. It often leads to greater isolation in our homes. We have to make sure the time spent on media doesn’t creep in on the time we spend with the people in our lives.”

Sri said giving up some form of media helps take away the noise and make people comfortable in silence: “It’s time for self-reflection, to think about where we are going in our lives and to hear God speak. We have very little time for silence in our lives today.”

The pope’s message to the Church is that the purpose of Lent is to help give of oneself, said Father Alvaro Montero, pastor at St. Mary Church in Littleton.

“Technology sometimes refrains us from that,” Montero said. “The Internet is a good thing, but we need to learn how to use it. Like anything, like food or drink, we need temperance. First thing in the morning, last thing in the evening should not be the Internet. It should be God.”