This blog is written as part of the NCEA Social Media Influencer Contest.
Before one can be a digital disciple, one must first be a DISCIPLE of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines a disciple as, "The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it" (CCC #1816). To be a digital disciple means that we do all of these things DIGITALLY, which includes: everything online, social media, TV, and radio. We need to be disciples of Christ when we engage and interact with anything online on the Internet, whenever we watch something, or whenever we listen to something. That's A LOT! Luckily, if we are truly Christ's disciples, we are putting Christ in the center of our lives. And our lives already include a LOT of digital stuff (at least my life does). Therefore, Jesus is already at the center of our digital living. Let's explore this.
How is Jesus present in our digital watching? Think about everything we watch: Netflix, YouTube, Grey's Anatomy.... Part of being a Digital Disciple is putting Jesus at the center of our digital watching choices. Since Jesus is at the center of my choices, as I have Christ at the center of my life, I choose to not watch certain stuff. There's the obvious choices to avoid, like porn and pagan Netflix shows like that Sabrina remake. However, there are also other choices to avoid because they take away from the truth of Christ. And it is important to recognize the truths (or lack thereof) in very entertaining shows like Grey's Anatomy.
How is Jesus present in our digital listening? Think about everything we listen to: the radio, podcasts, news... Part of being a Digital Disciple is putting Jesus at the center of what we listen to. Are we focusing on our faith and encountering Jesus in our listening? Or is it totally mindless chatter. I listen to praise and worship music in my car on my long drives to and from my Catholic school. I also listen to podcasts to hone my teaching craft and leadership. I focus on the positive and intentionally choose joy.
How is Jesus present in our social media usage? Social media is an important collaborative tool for teachers to develop relationships, share best practices and ideas for teaching, and promote the charisms and Catholic identity of their particular Catholic school.
My love of and dedication to Catholic education is a direct result of my zealous and immense love for Christ and His Church. I am a tenacious follower of #CatholicTwitter, and I feel that if more Catholic school teachers were united to the mission of Catholic education, which is to form intentional and missionary disciples of Christ. I love Jesus, and I love working in a Catholic school. My goal is to intentionally lead other Catholic school teachers to love their teaching vocation too by tweeting my joy for Catholic education.
Here are the topics provided by NCEA for the final weeks of the NCEA Social Media Influencer Contest. Follow along by following the hashtag #CathEdSocial! I am immensely enjoying tweeting, posting, and blogging about each week's topics regarding the awesome things happening in our Catholic schools. I have learned so much, connected with many Catholic school educators, and have increased the joy for my teaching vocation.
Here are the topics provided by NCEA for the final weeks of the NCEA Social Media Influencer Contest. Follow along by following the hashtag #CathEdSocial! I am immensely enjoying tweeting, posting, and blogging about each week's topics regarding the awesome things happening in our Catholic schools. I have learned so much, connected with many Catholic school educators, and have increased the joy for my teaching vocation.
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