Faith and social media

The internet can draw you away from God or bring you closer. It all depends on who is in charge: you or the screen.

Saint Paul wrote: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and gracious — think about these things (Phil 4:8). That advice applies to everything that comes in through our eyes on our phones every day.

Saint Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who died in 2006 at the age of 15, liked video games and computers like any young person. But he used that talent to evangelize: he built a website on Eucharistic miracles that still travels the world today. He shows that you can be connected without losing your soul.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Does what I see on social media leave me more at peace or more anxious?

• How much time do I spend on my phone, and how much time with God?

• Does what I post help someone, or does it only feed comparison?

A practical idea: start your day with prayer before opening social media, and use your profile to share a prayer, a line from the Gospel or an invitation to an encounter.

To pray

Lord, may I use my time and my screens for good. Free me from what draws me away from You and make me a sign of Your light, online too. Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us. Amen.