During this Jubilee Year, we have been following the Jubilees of different groups and communities throughout the months, the first days of August we closely followed the Jubilee of the youth, and so each month we have been inviting different groups to go on pilgrimage to Rome.
Today we would like to dwell on one of those jubilees, since on July 28 and 29 the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers was celebrated for the first time, a celebration that marks a milestone in evangelization through digital media. A space for meeting, formation and inspiration for those who, with creativity, courage and faith, proclaim the Gospel on social networks, channels, blogs, apps and other digital environments.
But what does it mean to be a digital missionary, and how does it involve us Daughters of Jesus?
A mission that crosses screens
Being a missionary of hope means accepting Christ’s call to bring the Good News to every corner, even the digital ones. It is to sow words of life in a world of algorithms, to make the Gospel a close presence in the devices where millions of people – especially young people – seek answers, meaning, consolation and truth. It is to communicate faith, tenderness, beauty, listening and commitment.
The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries seeks to make visible and recognize the enormous evangelizing potential of the networks and to support those who are already committed to this form of mission.
During the meeting, Pope Leo XIV greeted the participants in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and expressed: this is a time that “calls us to give witness of peace to the world,” especially in a world marked by divisions, polarization and disinformation. He went on to exhort us to “repair the networks”, not only the digital ones, but also the human ones; to be agents of communion capable of overcoming the logic of division and individualism, centered on Christ, in order to create networks of truth, love and justice in the face of “fake news” and frivolity.
A resonance with our life and mission as Daughters of Jesus
Although the Jubilee brought together several creators of Catholic content, including musicians, priests and nuns, it is also good to stop and look at how this invitation to inhabit the digital territory takes place in the midst of our congregation.
Many Daughters of Jesus are already inhabiting the digital world with simplicity and creativity. Ana Peña fi shares vocational messages to make the Congregation known, Mari Carmen Jiménez fi publishes a daily image with the Gospel in her statuses.
On the other hand, Silvia Rozas fi, journalist and currently assistant secretary general of CONFER, contributed her professional and ecclesial experience, recalling that “it is more than a profession, it is a vocation and a mission, and communicators have a fundamental role in today’s society, in the narration of facts, and in the way of telling them”(Full presentation here).
Other daughters of Jesus and lay people keep alive the RRSS of the provinces, regions, educational centers… sharing in their RRSS what gives life, meaning and hope in their daily lives. In a simple way, they manage to fill the feed of followers and friends with “another type” of content that helps Life.
They are different gestures, but united by the same conviction: even in the digital world we can be missionaries of hope.
A shared quest in institutional communication
This desire to be present on the digital continent is also connected to the search that, as a Congregation, we have been carrying out in the area of institutional communication. At other times there were teams that animated this serviceand, since February of this year, the responsibility has been in the hands of the International Communications Commission (CIC)The Commission is made up of Guadalupe Galeano (laywoman) and Mari Carmen Jiménez fi.
Both meet weekly virtually, and on August 11 they had the opportunity to meet for the first time in a face-to-face meeting. From August 8 to 10, they also participated in the transmission of the determination in La Plata with the Region of Argentina, accompanied by Graciela Francovig fi.
This service is complemented in a very valuable way by the collaboration of various Daughters of Jesus who serve as liaisons in each province. They are the ones who help to build bridges, to maintain fluid and close communication between local life and the general congregational level. With gratitude we name those who have been carrying out this service in their provinces: in Andean America, Pola Mendoza fi; in Brazil-Caribbean, Consola Matos fi and Ivelisse Tavárez fi; in East Asia, Magda Zhang fi; in Indian-Pacific, Nori Marquez fi; and in Spain-Italy, Silvia Rozas fi.
CIC has many plans and projects ahead of it and, although it works from a distance, it does so with a heart close to all and fully committed to the mission.
An invitation to all
The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries is not only for those who manage networks or create content, but for all of us who, in one way or another, communicate every day. Whether from a pastoral team, an educational community, our personal social networks or even in how we interact in a WhatsApp group, we are all called to offer a different message: one that builds peace, that sows hope, that reflects the Gospel.
We invite you to take a fresh look at your way of communicating. We invite you to ask yourself: what words am I sowing? What face of God do my digital gestures reflect? How can I be a missionary of hope today, even in my daily life? Can I contribute something more as a digital missionary?
Every message counts and even in the digital world, we can be a living presence of Love.
