Social Media & Lent – “Let your Speech always be Gracious”

A Pastoral Letter on the roles of social media in modern life was recently issued by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). It offers a reflection on both the good and harm which social media impacts individuals and communities. As we prepare for Lent, it may inform our decisions around fasting and of almsgiving related to our use of social media.

Social media serves humanity as a mode of communication. It should exist to promote a fundamental human good: the building of bridges among people by the sharing of information. However, its exponential growth has not necessarily resulted in promoting our human dignity. Even if we do not use social media ourselves, we are impacted by the role it plays in the spread of misinformation, the coarsening of civil discourse, the radical of political systems and the mental health crisis that is especially prevalent among our youth. (Pastoral Letter #3)

This past week, the CEOs of major social media corporations testified at a recent United States Senate hearing where they were confronted with the statements that their companies have not been doing enough to protect children from sexual predators, bullying, while contributing to addictive behaviours, suicide, eating disorders, and distorting the image of beauty, sexuality, and the dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God as male and female.

​Social media can be used as a platform in service of the vision of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. Communication can enhance global friendship and promote a civilization of justice and peace.

​Although we might be creating “digital continents” of people, we must not lose sight of ensuring that our online presence, choices, and conduct give witness to Christian virtues. In doing so we must ensure that this is done with humility, prudence, and in a way that reflects both the truth and love of the Church’s teaching. 

​In this pastoral letter, the CCCB Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace invites all of us who use social media to make the following seven commitments as a way to witness to core Christian values and help build a healthy online environment that serves the common good. (Pastoral Letter #8)

• Check for Accuracy - the commitment to truth lies at the centre of the Christian life. Speaking the truth in love must be the guiding principle in presenting the truth that expresses the Church’s teaching on social and moral issues.
• Seek Greater Perspective - reality can be accessed from various dimensions and also disciplines of study, which broadens our understanding. It prevents us from accepting to listen to a narrow set of like-minded voices that simply confirm preconceived ideas or unchallenged biases.
• Value Human Dignity – a conversation through social media platforms can often lose sight of the personhood that should be expressed in the posts, tweets, likes and dislikes. “It is easy to forget that behind those thoughts and ideas are real people who just like us have bad days and good days, experience a wide range of emotions, make mistakes, and lead complicated lives.”
• Bring Curiosity into the Conversation – Humility in social online conversations begins not by making contrary statements but by first being curious and asking questions. Real dialogue involves being deliberate and calm, having the ability to be silent and listen to others. It will be achieved in conversations that are often offline and face-to-face.
• Distinguish between Intention and Impact – the impact of posts that are offensive, hurtful, ignorant and lacking in common decency may obscure the intentions of the person who chooses to mean well but unfortunately cause harm or hurt to others.
• Privilege “IRL” Encounters – We can become distracted, fragmented and absorbed in a world which pretends to be real through social media. It is more important to be enriched by “in real life – IRL” encounters and a social environment that is often much slower and human.
• Tend to our Time Spent Online – The use of our time and the choice of activities which fill that time impacts not only our physical but spiritual lives. For young people in their formative years, the overuse of social media can lead to addictive behaviours, isolation, sleep deprivation, not being comfortable with silence and contemplation and negatively impacting their normal maturity and integral human development. 

​These seven commitments concerning the use of social media can be a source of reflection concerning the decisions that we will face in our Lenten journey.

​This year in his Lenten message, Pope Francis stated that when our God reveals himself, his message is always one of freedom: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex 20:2). The call to freedom is a demanding one. It is not answered straight away; it has to mature as part of the journey for every Christian, which is renewed each year in Lent.

If our celebration of Lent is to be concrete, the first step is to ask the Lord to open our eyes to reality. Lent is a season of conversion, a time of freedom." 

"It is time to act, and in Lent, to act also means to pause. ​.. Slow down and pause! In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers."

"The Church's synodal form, which in these years we are rediscovering and cultivating, suggests that Lent is also a time of communitarian decisions, of decisions, small and large, that are countercultural." (Message of the Holy Father Francis for Lent 2024)

​This may be the year we are being invited to make a decision regarding our use of social media. To have moments in Lent set aside to rethink our lifestyles, a time to examine our presence on social media, and through this discernment to make our decisions going forward for the common good or our society, and the dignity of the human person.

• "Let Your Speech Always be Gracious" - CCCB's Pastoral Letter on the Use of Social Media
• Read Pope Francis' 2024 Lenten Message

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Written by Bishop William T. McGrattan

​February 6, 2024