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12.04.2022 09:04:38 2891x read.
INSPIRATION
The Divine Hope Through Technology (Bro. Justinus Juadi)

The Divine Hope Through Technology

 Bro. Justinus Juadi

 

The growth and development of one’s faith this present time are not done by parents, priests, brothers and monks only! The advancement of technology in human life also contributes to the development of someone’s faith. How is that possible?

Sharing the Hope

Human life cannot be separated from technology. The growth of technology greatly helps human work. Technology has succeeded in helping humans to interact and share the good tidings of Jesus Christ. Through technology, one can share the hope by means of prayers, guidance, meditation, reflection, teaching, counseling, and so on. Nowadays, people are fast and excited about looking for information, intellectual knowledge, knowledge on our faith through social media rather than going to the bookstore. People now find it easier to seek for both scientific references and things related to human and God in social media (read: pray). For instance, those who are sick or in pain and are expecting healing can seek for treatment for all kinds of diseases. Those longing for spiritual peace can seek for meditation or prayer guidance. Two years ago, I started sharing my prayer experiences on YouTube channel ‘’Doa Katolik-Juadi FIC’’. This channel has several prayer types that I write on my own, but there are also church and general prayers. One of the most viewed prayers is ‘’One Hour Prayer for Healing from the Bible’’. In five months the number of viewers reached 380.000. This is followed by Night Prayer, Rosary for Healing, A Prayer for Healing through Intercession of Mother Mary, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and so on with a total of 2.996.142 viewers. From the data, it turned out that there are many people who are longing for healing. They are facing some struggles and are expecting a miracle from God through prayers. One of the means through which they obtain God’s mercy for their struggles is prayer (also by doing medical treatment). They also perform the hope on Divine Lord through technology. This can be seen from the comments section on the YouTube channel. 

            From the comments received, I believe that when someone is going through struggle, he has the biggest hope of recovery (especially for those who are in pain). For instance, from the comments on YouTube channel ‘’Doa Katolik-Juadi FIC’’, I have the following:

‘’O Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Reach out Your hand, O Lord, Jesus. I hope in you, heal me. Save me and heal me from the minor stroke, ataxia cerebellum and asphyxiate.’’

‘’O Lord Jesus Christ, You are Lord, the Almighty. Heal me and save me from the pain that I suffer.’’

From the expression of their hearts seen in the comments section, there are three things that happen within them when they are expecting healing. First, a desire or longing. We look for things that we expect. Secondly, believe. We believe that things which we expect are possible. Thirdly, hesitation. We hesitate that things we expect might not happen. Lewis B. Smedes in his book ‘’How Can It Be All Right When Everything Is All Wrong’’ writes "expectation is wanting something that we do not have yet." Just believing that certain things will happen in future does not mean they will surely happen.

 

Hoping is believing. We believe that what we want in the future is still far from being true. Hope is built on possibilities. If we are sure that we will not recover, we don’t need to expect healing. We may expect things that are still possible even though not certain. If we expect, it means we are also hesitant, yet anxious. We cannot dispel doubts because we are not sure. Hesitation is the third dimension of hope. If a team has the possibility of winning a game, it means they might also lose. If there are possibilities to find medicine for tumor, there are also possibilities to fail in finding the medicine. We expect and believe; at the same time we are anxious and hesitant. It is so human. That is what we do when we expect something. ‘’Now hope does not disappoint’’ (Rome 5:5). The divine hope of Christians is a blessing from God. We have hope not because we deserve it. Hope is not obtained because of the ability to read the signs of times. 

Preaching through Social Media

There are many things that we can do to encounter God on social media. Nowadays, almost all dioceses, congregations, parishes, schools, ecclesiastical institutions use social media to preach, especially on YouTube. We may join the holy mass by live streaming. We can take part in spiritual activities like seminars and prayer sessions by live streaming. The FIC congregation owns a YouTube channel Bruder FIC. This channel has 1.550 subscribers with 66.184 viewers. If this channel is used for faith preaching through uploading daily reflections and prayer, we can preach God effectively and reach out to many. 

As part of our mission as FIC we can partner with Jesus Christ in giving hope, happiness and affirmation to people through technology or social media. Then, let Jesus do the rest. Helping people encounter God through social media is our duty as followers of Jesus. All of us have an important task: to preach the gospel and heal the sick. Every follower of Jesus must preach the gospel with no exception. Jesus tells us: ‘’Go out into the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’’ (Mark 16:15). Jesus said:” they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’’

Our presence to the sick really influences their emotions. If we frequently visit sick people, they will truly feel our sympathy. If we cannot be with them physically, we can show our presence in prayer through social media.

With No Boundaries

Someone who wants to share the hope through social media must encourage himself to open his heart. If some of us want to share that hope, let us do that. “Judge not, that you be not judged.’’ (Mat 7:1) and do not give labels to others for it is inappropriate, not proper.

Preaching through social media has no boundaries. We can reach out to as many people as possible. We can reach thousands of people that we do not even know. This means the faith we proclaim is not limited to the pulpit. Technology has become a new means to draw people closer to the divine God. Let us not reject technology because through it, Jesus goes on preaching all the time.

[Bro. Justinus Juadi lives in Tanjung community, Kalimantan Barat]








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