Where Two or Three are Texting: Incarnation and Sacrament in a Virtual World The young people in our schools

and parishes are increasingly citizens of a virtual world where they carry out many traditionally physical activities, including living out their faith! Other Christian communities are experimenting with online church. W hat is an "online church" and is it an option for Catholics? How does the "digital continent" influence the way we prepare young people and catechumens to receive the sacraments? This webinar will explore these questions and offer some avenues for appropriate use of digital technologies in living our faith. 1. Opening Prayer (Pour forth we beseech thee, O Lord...) 2. Introduction a. Bio b. Outline 3. Farming Digital Dirt: Living in a Virtual World a. Thomas McDonald story (God and the Machine blog): Simulating mundane tasks i. Flight Sims ii. Farm Sims iii. Garbage Truck Simulator?! b. People are increasingly interested in moving formally physical activities to the virtual world c. Yes, people are playing, interacting, praying online i. Pastoral leaders -- especially catechists -- need to reflect on implications as these people look to engage their Catholic faith online 1. What is the role of digital faith communities in the universal Church? 2. What limits are there to Catholic faith practices online? 4. How are people experimenting with faith practices online? a. Curated faith resources online i. Most simple ii. Little in way of actual interaction iii. Allows faithful to peruse, read, listen, watch b. Online faith discussion groups i. Im currently facilitating an online book study ii. Facebooks groups c. Online prayer i. Twitter Angelus d. Broadcast of live services

E.g., televised Mass Some Protestant communities experimenting w/ virtual consecration 1. Bread and/or wine placed in front of screen and consecrated by officiant e. Online church i. Virtual space in which avatars gather ii. Text or audio recitation of readings iii. digital Eucharist f. Types of participation i. Lurking ii. Participation 1. Varying degrees, from liking to conversation to content creation iii. Leadership 5. What challenges does this bring to the Catholic faith? a. Participation in online activities has accelerated Enlightenments disintegration of mind and body i. Enlightenment: I think therefore I am 1. Self first identified with thought, absent any embodied experience 2. Has developed into modern conceit that the self consists on the brains activity a. Sci-fi: human brain transferred into a robotic body remains the same person ii. Christian belief = persons are embodied consciousness, ensouled bodies 1. CCC: The human body shares in the dignity of the image of God: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul (no. 364) 2. CCC: the unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the form of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures unified, but rather their union forms a single nature. (no. 365) 3. Our physical nature is intrinsic to our being a. God fashioned Adam out of physical matter, breathed life into him b. Sacred Scripture regular attests to the wonder of our

i. ii.

creation by God -- not just in spirit, but in physical form i. Potter and clay (Jeremiah) ii. God cares for the hairs on our heads b. People online tend to exist as in an Enlightenment ideal as disembodied conciousness i. No physicality in the digital world 1. Not unlike the Matrix! 2. Mediated through immediate senses a. Sight (screen) b. Sound (speakers) c. Touch (keyboard) 3. But easy to forget the mediation a. People who play video games know this b. Koreans have played to death while on binge sessions playing MMORPGs ii. May inhabit a digital avatar (think Second Life or World of Warcraft) which are temporary, highly mutable 1. Contrast to permanent, harder-to-change physical bodies (e.g., I cant lose weight!) iii. Example: man who saw no conflict between having a RL wife and a Second Life wife c. What does it mean to participate with others online? i. Full, conscious, active participation one of the hallmarks of the teachings of Vatican Council II. ii. What does this mean when people arent physically present? 1. Christs promise to be there where two or three are gathered 2. Is this true in cyberspace? 3. E.g., I am more present to you than you are to me a. You can see, hear me b. I cannot see or hear you c. Only interaction through text relayed by Jared iii. Recent catechetical article: participated w/ people in Rome during conclave via Twitter 1. Review of her Twitter account shows that she didnt add anything (in fact, shes only tweeted 3 times, all after election of Pope Francis) but only observed 2. In what meaningful way was she present if others didnt notice her lurking?

Put another way: digital spaces make it harder (but not necessarily impossible) to be authentically present to one another 1. digital self is almost always an idealized self a. World of Warcraft, Second Life avatars rarely if ever reflect the real bodies of their controllers b. Facebook profile pictures are deliberately chosen to make us look good c. Even the picture I showed at the start of this presentation doesnt reflect how I look most of the time (and certainly not first think in the morning!) 2. We present ourselves online in a way that highlights our best features and minimize our flaws 3. As a result, we are less likely to be confronted by images of the poor, the neglected a. What does this mean for a Church of the poor? v. This idealization applies not just to ourselves, but the representation of physical activities in a digital space 1. Digital farming is an idealized version of farming a. No smell of cow manure b. No birthing livestock in freezing temperatures c. No drought or flooding endangering your livelihood 2. Online prayer can be idealized a. Avatars all use same gestures i. images a uniformity not present in live churches b. No dust on the digital pews 3. Faith example: Digital candles do not burn a. In many digital churches avatars can light a digital candle to represent their prayer b. Lack of a physical candle robs symbol of one of its most poignant aspects i. Candles gives of itself in order to provide light ii. Digital candles illumine without sacrifice 1. loses connection to the crucifixion 2. digital candles symbolize a Christ without the cross iii. This is why electric candles in churches are less ideal than a real wax candle d. Can we celebrate the sacraments online? i. Does not appear so

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1. Sacraments require form and matter a. Baptism: water b. Eucharist: bread and wine c. Holy Orders: laying on of hands d. Matrimony: man and woman 2. No such thing as a disembodied sacrament 3. USCCBs 1997 statement on televised Masses 6. How can we bridge the gap between virtual faith and physical faith? a. Cultivate online communities i. We shouldn't be afraid of people living their faith online 1. online communities are not bad a. can be a true good in the lives of people b. particularly those who are isolated, in minority Catholic communities c. can help connect them to their local communities or to wider Church ii. B16: we must evangelize the digital continent 1. Word 2. Deed b. and invite them to participate in person i. Physical community is the most best 1. where we are most present to each other in our humanness: body and soul ii. Online communities should, ideally, lead to greater participation in the Churchs life: 1. liturgy 2. faith formation 3. apostolic works 4. personal prayer and devotions 7. Q&A 8. Closing Prayer