Living in a digital world can challenge our understanding of what it means to be human and lead us to feel lost in a world of angry rants, misinformation, and comparisons. Following Christ promises “the good life” that comes from virtuous living. Examining our own digital media use through Catholic practices will help us to discover balance and hope by being authentic missionary disciples of Christ in the digital age.

1. Digital Authenticity:
Living “the good life”
SR NANCY USSELMANN, FSP | PAULINE CENTER FOR MEDIA STUDIES | BEMEDIAMINDFUL.ORG

2. Spirit of Wisdom, you breathe life into humanity to discover and create technologies
that promote global communication through the sharing of information and
entertainment. These gifts of God give expression to the desires and yearnings of
humanity through the art of popular culture.
Teach us to engage mindfully with the media, discovering the seeds of grace present
there, while critically examining the needs of humanity today, always ready to propose
Christ as the ful
fi
ller of all our hopes and longings.
Assist us with your grace, O Divine Spirit! Help us to use these means to discern the
signs of the times, to search for a Christian response, and to derive motives for
prayer. We ask this through the perfect Communicator, Jesus Christ our Master and
Lord. Amen.
PRAYER TO BE MEDIA MINDFUL

3. “Communication has the power to build bridges, to enable encounter
and inclusion, and thus to enrich society…Words can build bridges
between individuals and within families, social groups and peoples. This
is possible both in the material world and the digital world.”
-Pope Francis World Day of Communication 2016
DISCIPLES OF
CHRIST

4. mediaapostle.com
BLESSED JAMES ALBERIONE
“Where or toward what is this humanity moving, this
humanity that is constantly renewing itself on the face of
the earth? It is like a great river
fl
owing into eternity. Will it
be saved or will it be lost?”
WHERE IS HUMANITY GOING?

5. NEEDS OF HUMANITY PRESENT ON DIGITAL INTERACTIONS
desire for connection/friendship
POSITIVE FEELINGS
DESTRUCTIVE FEELINGS
diminished humanness and empathy burnout

6. “IT IS NOT TECHNOLOGY WHICH DETERMINES WHETHER OR
NOT COMMUNICATION IS AUTHENTIC, BUT RATHER THE
HUMAN HEART AND OUR CAPACITY TO USE WISELY THE
MEANS AT OUR DISPOSAL.”
POPE FRANCIS

7. TIPS TO LIVING WELL WITH OUR DIGITAL MEDIA
DIGITAL
AUTHENTICITY
Discipline and Balance
Responsibility
Critical Inquiry and Discernment
Silence

8. d i s c i p l i n e &
b a l a n c e
SEEKING HAPPINESS | WELL LIVED LIFE OF BALANCE AND REASON
RESPONSE TO LIVING AUTHENTICALLY WITH
SOCIAL MEDIA

9. VIRTUES ARE ACQUIRED HABITS FOR THE GOOD OF OUR WHOLE
SELVES THAT LEAD TO HAPPY LIVING
“Virtue is essential to a well-lived life of
balance and reason.” —Aristotle
VIRTUE

10. DISCIPLINE & BALANCE
TO LIVE THE GOOD LIFE
1. What sort of person do I want to become to
be happy?
2. What sort of habits do I want to cultivate in my
behavior so as to develop my reason that lead
to greater harmony in myself and with others?
VIRTUOUS LIVING
FRAMEWORK

11. r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
RESPONSE TO LIVING AUTHENTICALLY WITH
SOCIAL MEDIA

12. EXAMINATION OF MY ONLINE LIFE
How do I practice balance in my online life?
Is my internet use put at the service of the common good? If so, how? If not,
what do I need to change? Do I respect other people and their opinions?
Does my online activity move toward the integral development of persons,
both myself and others?
Does my online presence re
fl
ect my authentic self or do I try to hide behind a
false persona?
What are some of my current online behaviors that I need to re-evaluate at
this time? Do I engage in pornography?
Are there other challenges I face in my online life? How might I practically
address them?
Might I bene
fi
t from taking about my online challenges with someone, a
trusted friend, family member or confessor?
INTERMITTENT
MEDIA FAST

13. “True wisdom is the fruit of self-examination, dialogue and
encountering persons. It is not acquired by a mere accumulation of
data which eventually leads to overload and confusion, a sort of
mental pollution…” —Pope Francis
LIVING THE
EXAMINED LIFE

14. c r i t i c a l i n q u i r y
& d i s c e r n m e n t
RESPONSE TO LIVING AUTHENTICALLY WITH
SOCIAL MEDIA

15. MEDIA MINDFULNESS
CHALLENGE
VALUES:
1._____________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________
GOSPEL VALUES:
1._____________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________

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DOLORE FEUGIAT
FACILISIS
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duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

17. MEDIA MINDFULNESS
CHALLENGE

18. s i l e n c e
RESPONSE TO LIVING WELL WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

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DOLORE FEUGIAT
FACILISIS
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dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue
duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

20. TIPS TO LIVING WELL WITH OUR DIGITAL MEDIA
DIGITAL
AUTHENTICITY
Discipline and Balance
Responsibility
Critical Inquiry and Discernment
Silence

21. PASTORAL CARE IN A DIGITAL AGE
“Listening makes possible an exchange of gifts in a context
of empathy.”
—General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops 2018
SPIRITUAL SUPPORT TO OTHERS - “FIELD HOSPITAL”
“The impartiality of media is merely an appearance; only those who go
out of themselves in their communication can become a true point of
reference for others. Personal engagement is the basis of the
trustworthiness of a communicator. Christian witness, thanks to the
internet, can thereby reach the peripheries of human existence.”
—Pope Francis, World Communications Day Message 2014

22. bemediamindful.org
MEDIA MINDFULNESS CHALLENGE

23. how can you live
well with your
social media?
BEMEDIAMINDFUL.ORG

24. DISCUSSION
01
02
03
How can social media be a vehicle for digital
authenticity?
In what ways do you live well with your digital media?
Is silence possible within our digital milieu?