ZAPPED!

“Father, the movie was sooo ugly!” Ethan squirmed in disgust.

“What was the title,” I was curious what streaming video they just watched.

“I don’t know…!!!” He shrugged his shoulders and dug into his spaghetti again.

“Oh, okay, then what was it all about,” I asked Javi, who was Ethan’s classmate.

Javi gave me a blank stare and rolled his eyeballs and said, “I also don’t know, Father!”

“Neither do I,” Ethan seconded him a full mouth.

“These kids have been ZAPPED!” I said to myself.

* * * * * *

Pope Francis in Gaudete et exultate, observed that we are living in a “culture of zapping”. He pointed out that there is a great need for discerning what stems from God and what comes from the devil.

This applies not only to the ability to discern between what is good and bad but also orienting oneself toward greater perfection and fruitfulness in this earthly life in view of eternal life. But this is not easy when we are immersed in a culture of zapping.

The Pope describes zapping as follows:

“All of us, but especially the young, are immersed in a culture of zapping. We can navigate simultaneously on two or more screens and interact at the same time with two or three virtual scenarios. Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend. (no. 167)”

He continues explaining the importance of discernment:

“We need it at all times, to help us recognize God’s timetable, lest we fail to heed the promptings of his grace and disregard his invitation to grow. Often discernment is exercised in small and apparently irrelevant things, since greatness of spirit is manifested in simple everyday realities. (no. 169)”

To grow in discernment, Pope Francis suggest that we develop the habit of “examination of conscience”. It is that sincere effort to allow God’s light to reveal to us how to fulfill “His loving plan for us” and “to make us move beyond mere good intentions.”

There are two ways to practice the examination of conscience: one is to strive to engrave a pure intention in everything we do. This is done by offering up what whatever we do for God, putting our very best in what we are doing and abandoning the results (both good or bad) to God.

The second, is the more tradition approach of capping the day with a brief self-examination in God’s presence. St. Josemaría Escrivá summarized it as follows: say thank you for the good reaped today, say sorry for what we have lacked in and ask for the grace to love God more than today, if He grants us tomorrow.