Scottish Catholic Observer

I’M a terrible cook. It is fair to say that in the kitchen I lack both imagination and skill. The giveaway in my house that it’s me who’s cooking is that the smoke alarm is going off.

Sometimes, after my cheese sauce has split, my roast has roasted a bit too much, or my attempt at a Victoria sponge has collapsed (again), I feel like walking away from it all and surviving on frozen ready meals and takeaways.

However, hope is offered in this technological age through the internet.

The online world has proven to be my saviour when it comes to learning about new dishes I can make and how to make them successfully.

There are numerous websites, blogs and online videos put together by those with the culinary know-how that offer much needed guidance to those challenged in the kitchen like me.

Not only can you read, listen to and watch those gifted in the art of cooking, but through social media you can interact with them too.

Whether they be a celebrity chef or just your normal dinner-making mum, if you want to know how they do something you can directly message them on Facebook, Twitter or one of the various other platforms for connectivity.

The online cooking community brings me back to the kitchen when I feel defeated, keeps me trying and helps to sustain the love I have for trying to make good food.

I often wonder that if St Paul was around in today’s digital world would he have a Twitter account. I think he most certainly would, and that the relentless preacher would see social media as a powerful tool for evangelisation.

In this era of instant, worldwide communication, one Tweet or Facebook post has the potential to reach a vast audience.

The Holy Father’s English language Twitter account (@Pontifex) boasts an impressive 9.9 million followers. It is exciting to think that with one click the news of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed to millions.

Any person of faith who shares generously the love and truth of God through their witness is an evangelist. Human encounter is where evangelisation takes place and since social media has become a place of vast encounter we should be mindful of the great potential for good that comes along with it.

It is in this culture of encounter that we can get to know one another, love one another and journey together. The new evangelisation calls for not just the preaching of the Gospel to those who do not have a relationship with Christ, but for Christians to preach to those whose relationship with Christ is undernourished, damaged or needs ignition.

A digital faith community can often be a source of support for people when they have big questions, are going through troubling (or joyful!) life events or are struggling with something.

This could perhaps be because for so many, the social media user is the face of the Church, their link to God. That role is not to be taken lightly and should be treated with the importance and respect it deserves.

The searching questions over Twitter or Facebook, answered with the truth in a spirit of love and support, could get people back through that church door, or through that door for the first time.

Last year I started ‘Catholic Clara’ on Facebook and then on Twitter. The idea was that I would make little images that would inspire prayer and reflection; my own attempt at new evangelisation. I’ve connected with so many different people from around the world through word, picture and prayer. God is good!

A year on, the way I use social media for evangelisation has evolved, but the mission remains the same: to inspire prayer and reflection, to bring people to God and to nourish the faith life of others as well as my own.

Recently I went on pilgrimage to Lourdes and before I travelled there I posted on both Twitter and Facebook asking that if anyone had any prayer intentions they wanted delivered to the Grotto to message me.

When it came to the day of taking the petitions to the Grotto I was overwhelmed at the number of people for whom on that occasion I had acted as a point of contact with Our Lady and her Son. Some of these people I knew—family, friends and colleagues—but many I did not. When strangers entrusted me with their prayer to the Blessed Virgin for their sick friend, deceased family member, for their pregnancy or their vocational discernment it really hit home just how powerful social media can be in bringing people to God.

Social media has a crucial role to play in evangelisation.

Just like the online cooking community can encourage me when I feel defeated, give me confidence to try again and sustain me in my efforts, so too can the online Catholic community encourage those who are feeling lost or defeated in their faith, sustain and nurture people’s spirituality and even bring the love of Jesus Christ to those who previously did not know it.

Follow @CatholicClara on Twitter, and at Facebook.com/CatholicClara