Prayer, Technology, and Looking Ahead

I'm praying a chaplet during this Lent. That's routine for me. (February 17, 2013; February 22, 2012)

While I pray, I usually wear a longish hood-and-collar thing that covers my head and shoulders. It's similar to what my European ancestors probably wore, five hundred to a thousand years ago.

There isn't anything particularly 'spiritual' about that hood, although it looks a little like the top part of the uniform for many monastic orders. It's a practical bit of clothing.

I'm often at my desk when I pray. It's near a north window, a cool and drafty spot during winter. My oldest daughter made the (hood?) to help keep me warm.

Looking Forward, Not Back

Being Catholic doesn't mean trying to live in the 15th century, Or the 11th. Neither of which were particularly tranquil times, and that's another topic.

Some folks, Catholic and otherwise, present the 'good old days' as a model for how we should live. I don't, partly because I remember some of the 'good old days.' (January 27, 2012)

Besides, Matthew 28:18-20 doesn't tell us to maintain the status quo.

Wrenching myself back on-topic: We've seen quite a lot of change over the last fifty years; and over the last two hundred or so. Some of it involved new technology. (January 27, 2013)

It's small wonder that some folks seem to see today's problems as the result of smog replacing manure as an urban pollutant. On the whole, I'd rather have catalytic converters and emission standards. (July 9, 2011)

Technology and Prayer

I could be Catholic without an Internet connection: folks did so for two millennia. But Information Age technology doesn't keep me from following my faith. In some ways, it makes it easier.

For example, the Apostle's Creed is part of that Lenten chaplet. I got the words, in my native language, after a quick search on the Internet. I copied the text and pasted it into a file that I display on my computer's screen while I pray.

The same file has a short list of prayers for the Divine Mercy chaplet, another habit I've started for Lent.

I could writhe in anguish and torment myself for not memorizing the prayers, or using new technology, or not wearing shoes while I pray: but that doesn't make sense. Not to me.

For one thing, there's nothing liturgical about these prayers. I'm doing this at home, by myself. There's a discussion going on about liturgical use of 'prayer apps,' and that's almost another topic.

Being Human, Being Catholic

Learning about this astounding creation, and developing tools, is part of being human. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2293) By themselves, science and technology are neither good nor bad: what matters is how we use them. (Catechism, 2292-2295)

If there were no disease, if love of neighbor made crime impossible, and if poverty was unknown, there would be no reason to change the status quo.

That's not the way the world is. Not even close.

A "scandal of glaring inequalities" demands that we change the world. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1928-1942, 2419-2442)

There's no point in trying to turn back the clock. There is no perfect society in history. We need to face forward, not back: keep what works; change what doesn't; and build a world that's better than today's.


(from http://raredelights.com, used w/o permission)

And that's another topic. (March 14, 2012)

Related posts:

• Catholicism
  • "Digital Liturgy?"
    (August 12, 2012)
  • "Spreading the Gospel, Social Media, a 10-Point List, and All That"
    (July 8, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Social Media, Passing Notes, and Spreading the Gospel
    • Eschew Obfuscation, and Other Good Advice
  • "New Media; Old Documents; Origen isn't Origenism"
    (June 15, 2012)
    Particularly
    • Goodbye VIS, Hello Changes
  • "Horses, Gothic Cathedrals, and a Faith That Matters"
    (July 9, 2011)
    Particularly
    • Gothic Cathedrals: Geodesic Domes of the 12th century
  • "A Catholic Blogger In the Digital Continent"
    (November 15, 2010)
    Particularly
    • Movable Type is Not the Work of the Devil - - -
• Technology
  • "Science, Technology, and Being Human"
    (January 27, 2013)
  • "Advanced Technologies and Responsible Stewardship"
    (January 14, 2013)
  • "Common Sense and New Light 'Bulbs' "
    (December 3, 2012)
  • "Truth, Justice, and Texting With My Son"
    (August 12, 2012)
  • "Modernism, Luddites, Catholicism, and Godzilla"
    (April 7, 2011)
  • "Mirrors, Television, and MP3 Players"
    (November 6, 2010)
• Change
  • "Taking Life a Thousand Years at a Time"
    (June 10, 2012)
  • "Marching Through Time"
    (April 1, 2012)
  • "We're Huge, Ancient, and Changing the World"
    (March 14, 2012)
    Particularly
    • 'The Good Old Days,' Or Building a Better World
    • Practical Love
  • "Hope, Joy, and Working for a Better World"
    (September 13, 2011)
    Particularly
    • The Future Looks Pretty Good - - -
    • - - - And We Have Work to Do
    • "Make Society Better?!"
  • "The Catholic Church: 19 Centuries of the Great Commission"
    (March 21, 2009)
    Particularly
    • Ancient Roots
    • 19 Centuries And Counting

More:

• Information Technology Center (C.E.D.)
  Vatican Library
• "Pope John Paul II Brings the Vatican Online"
  - For Dummies website
• "Un gigante squarciato incombe su Venezia"
  NEWS.va (Italiano) (November 22 2012)