Youth can imitate St Francis today — on their cell phones!

The other day, I was talking to a Franciscan friar and complaining that young people today only think about video games, social media, and cell phones. This robs them of various skills, I said, and in my view, it is a tragedy.

The friar asked me, “If you needed to have delicate surgery, would you accept one of these video game-playing young people to perform it?” I replied that there was no way.

Then he added, “What if the surgery were performed by a robot and required a kind of joystick to perform the procedure? Would you trust the skill of those hands?” I replied yes and laughed, thinking that I don't know how to use a joystick and don't have the skills for an activity that requires the use of that kind of device.

The same thing is true with cell phones. We see young children using tablets or cell phones and are amazed at how skilled they are. In my company, for example, clocking in is done on each person's smartphone. The younger workers clock in quickly without looking; we older ones have to stare at the screen, hold the device at a distance, and concentrate to clock in correctly. 

In Catholic communities, teenagers and young people also have their own way of doing things. For example, at Sunday Mass, I see young people who don’t use the hymn book to follow the songs; they use their smartphones instead. Visiting a monastery, I saw an elderly monk with his books for reciting the divine office and a young man who took his cell phone out of his pocket to pray. Once I sat next to a bishop emeritus with my breviary for vespers, and the bishop took out his tablet. “I'm too old to pray with books,” he said! As it turns out, he could actually see better with the electronic device, which had higher contrast and scalable text. 

Young people communicate with each other through their devices, and they also use them to communicate with God. They live their faith rooted in their culture, which is cyberculture.

We could describe St. Francis of Assisi pre-conversion as a young influencer in his city. He walked the streets setting trends, aspired to be a knight, and had friends and followers.

When he converted, St. Francis sought solitude and isolation. However, he understood that God hadn’t called him to close himself off from the world, but to preach. Thus, St. Francis didn’t leave his culture, but sought to evangelize in that social context. St. Francis was an influencer of youth, and he began to influence even more with his testimony of a holy life.

St. Francis had a contemplative life, but he also preached, traveled, and met people. He also wrote many letters. Can you imagine if the internet had existed in the 13th century? Can you imagine St. Francis' profiles on social media? His followers? His blogs? 

The challenge for us today is to be like St. Francis on social media; to be like St. Clare in our contact with others; to ensure that our profiles on social media reflect the “face” of Jesus.

For teenagers and young people of faith, this challenge is a reality. Just as “joystick youth” can be skilled surgeons, so too the youth of the Church are the ones who have the ability to evangelize in the virtual world. Like St. Francis, they can influence the culture in which they live, rather than distancing themselves from it. 

We’re afraid of haters, misunderstanding, and perhaps a lack of professionalism. Totally justified questions arise in our mind: why get involved in such novelties? Isn't it enough to prepare church activities well, such as catechesis, daily homilies, celebrations, and meetings with groups? And besides, we see that social media is dangerous.

However, we need to make God present in that environment. It’s in the skilled hands of young people to bring faith and the Church into cyberspace in the best possible way. And now they have a St. Francis-inspired saint, Carlos Acutis, to lead the way.