Bringing Christ’s love into digital media was the focus of a trip to Rome Mackenzie Hunter, a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, took in July.
Celebrated July 28-29, the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers centered on using digital platforms to share the Catholic faith and the message of the Gospel. This jubilee was part of the larger Jubilee of Youth, which was held July 28-Aug. 3.
That the Vatican hosted this specific jubilee for hundreds of attendees “gives me a lot of hope, which is perfect in the Jubilee Year,” said Hunter, 26. “I really felt validated, like there is a place for everyone. Each of us are so inherently unique and God is using all these different types of media.”
In 2018, Hunter started a blog, describing her writing there as “an overflow from my prayer.”
“I loved writing, and it was just kind of an outlet for me, a creative outlet,” she said of the site. As she noticed more people gravitating toward social media, she created the A Caffeinated Catholic account on Instagram in 2019.
“I think a lot of my content is good for people who are newer to the faith, or they’re curious about it, or just don’t really feel like they have a lot of people around them to see it being lived out,” she explained. “It’s a mix of my life and reflections on the faith.”
Hunter sees the Holy Spirit at work as she’s watched A Caffeinated Catholic’s audience grow (including a jump from roughly 6,000 followers to roughly 20,000 last May).
“I just show up and I’m open, and (I’m) seeing how the Lord is able to use that,” she said.
Hunter said she’s received messages and questions about the faith from people living in, and outside, the United States.
“(T)he digital age has given us so much more connectivity. And there’s pros and cons to that,” she said. One “pro,” she said, is “if it’s a question I do feel like I can answer, it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s cool that they felt like they have someone they could go to, to ask that.'”
When organizers of the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers reached out to Hunter to see if she was interested in attending, one of the organizers’ words stuck with Hunter: “She was like … ‘this is one of the biggest chances you’ll have to have an actual impact on the trajectory of the Church.'”
“I was like, wow, that is major,” Hunter said.
Most of the jubilee’s attendees were young adults, Hunter said. During the two-day event, Hunter said speakers gave exhortations “on the faith and how the work we are doing is really important.” She said there were opportunities to learn from panelists “who are working in the digital space,” as well as small group gatherings during which attendees would talk about the “direction (we) want the Church to go, in this (digital) space.” Attendees also “consecrated our digital mission to Mary” at a recreation of the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican gardens, Hunter said. “That was really special.”
A private Eucharistic adoration at St. Peter’s Basilica after hours was one highlight of the jubilee for Hunter: “It was just surreal.”
Another highlight was the address Pope Leo XIV gave to those gathered on the jubilee’s second day: “The energy was insane,” Hunter said.
In his address, Pope Leo XIV spoke about being missionaries of peace in digital spaces.
“You are here to renew your commitment to nourish Christian hope in social networks and online spaces,” Pope Leo XIV said. “Peace needs to be sought, proclaimed, and shared everywhere, both in the places where we see the tragedy of war and in the empty hearts of those who have lost the meaning of life and the desire for introspection and the spiritual life. Perhaps, today more than ever, we need missionary disciples who convey the gift of the Risen Lord to the world.”
In addition to promoting peace on online platforms, Pope Leo XIV referred to “a second challenge” in the mission of digital evangelization: “always look for the ‘suffering flesh of Christ’ in every brother and sister you encounter online. Today we find ourselves in a new culture, deeply characterized and formed by technology. It is up to us — it is up to each one of you — to ensure that this culture remains human.”
Hunter said Pope Leo XIV’s message about Jesus’ call to weave nets resonated with her. In his address, the pope said, “Jesus called his first apostles while they were mending their fishing nets (cf. Mt 4:21-22). He asks the same of us today.
“Indeed, he asks us to weave other nets: networks of relationships, of love, of gratuitous sharing where friendship is profound and authentic; networks where we can mend what has been broken, heal from loneliness, not focus on the number of followers, but experience the greatness of infinite Love in every encounter.”
Hunter said, “I feel like that has been sitting with me because it really brings it back to (the fact that) there’s souls behind it … and to approach social media with great care.”
Hunter said the jubilee gave her an opportunity “to re-evaluate and make sure
that I’m always praying through my content” and a chance to be “really clear on what my strength is and what my mission is.” It was also a reminder, for her and other attendees, that “the work we’re doing here is good. I think it’s easy to get discouraged sometimes. So, I walked away like, ‘OK, yeah, this is a good mission.’”
Hunter is encouraged to see the Church embrace digital tools in a more modern way of sharing the faith. “The Church has always found a way to grow and adapt through the years, while holding onto the truth,” she said. “We’ve got to keep ourselves grounded in that. The ways of the world are addictive, social media is addictive, and so staying grounded in the truth is hugely important.”
