Broadcasting Our Faith

Reflection by Fr. Earl Valdez for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Photo from New York Post

This may sound like an ironic opinion considering that I publish my material on a Catholic website, but I look with a tinge of skepticism over the notion of a “Catholic influencer.” While on one hand, we as a Church have celebrated the great talent that we have in making the faith present in the realm of social media; however, on the other hand, there are times in which certain ways of “evangelizing” that end up becoming gimmicks that do not at all communicate the essence of the faith. While there are very interesting ones, funny even, that communicate several aspects of our faith, there are also some which just end up as pieces of self-advertisement or worse, of promoting ideologies and one’s own image of what the Church should be or should do. 

While I still believe in the power of these Catholic influencers in social media and what they bring to the Church, what seems to be more important than this is the quality of the way that we witness our faith. Our readings this Sunday remind us of that, as both the Prophet Isaiah and St. Paul said in the readings. Being a true Christian is not primarily about the number of views or likes in social media, or the number of interesting content and trivia about our faith, or how we should (and should not) celebrate the mass or the sacraments. In most cases, we end up posting and making trends of ourselves, our thoughts, and (hopefully not) our own agenda. 

Photo from TribLive

Yes, they are important things to remember, but what is the most important one that should define all our activity, not just in social media? It is the way that we open ourselves to conversion, and the way that we try and change our old selfish ways to become more charitable and merciful. It is the way that what and who we are become less about ourselves and our messages, and more of what Christ says and does. It is trusting in the wisdom of God, becoming open to His message and His will as we experience them and discern over them. 

That is exactly the kind of lamp that the Lord asks us to bring with us, allowing the Lord’s light - not ours - to shine in every step of the way. As the Lord tells us, the true end of our lives is to glorify the Father. And in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist, in which we receive the true light of our lives, Christ Himself in the blessed bread and wine, may we also receive the grace to be the beacon of light to others, one that truly enlightens and inspires, more than just views and likes that become trends for days or weeks before becoming dim and irrelevant. 

St. Peter and St. Paul stand out as the genuine “Catholic influencers,” who proclaimed not themselves but Christ. Photo from Aleteia