Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Cyberspace & Faith

Raised with a set of loose reins in the Catholic faith, I eventually grew up into a young adult who lacked the spiritual and ethereal connection with God that appeared to be present among so many others in my community. Prior to the virus, I had come to a point in my life where I did not often attend Sunday mass with my family, as I had proclaimed a more secular sense of religion in the later years of my teens. Nonetheless, when COVID-19 hit my local Catholic Church causing it to move all of its practices online, including Easter services, it was as though we were enduring a micro-revolution. From friends around my age reaching out personally to ask about donating blood, to my grandmother’s friends leading community zoom calls among the elderly in an effort to maintain morale, a new class of leaders had emerged from a congregation once lacking in motivation; or more aptly a call to action. Furthermore, with the transition to so many cyberspace venues and constant presence in the realm of social media, there has been a reemergence of people who had loose affiliations within the church, such as myself, which in turn has motivated those who were simply once weekly attendees of mass, to stand up and create even more ways in which the religious experience can be shared. Quite frankly, it’s almost as though the priest at my church has faded into ambiguity while youth leaders have made social services and bible study accessible for what appears to be 24 hours each day.

May 1, 2020

Catholic

Texas

church