Bishop Robert Barron is one of the great evangelists of our time. He applauds the powerful reach that social media has in our culture but also witnesses the dangers that it presents to those of us who are not watchful. He has excellent advice as to how we can differentiate the good from the bad on the internet.

Bishop Barron quotes Galatians Chapter 5 where St. Paul teaches about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit versus the Works of the Flesh. Just as we can distinguish good people and bad by their fruits; the same strategies can be applied to recognizing positive and negative cyber spaces that are created and administered by people. The positive Fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you go to a site and see those qualities exhibited, there is a good chance that the Holy Spirit is operative there.

In contrast, the Works of the Flesh are immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. Those are the Marks of the Dark Spirit; if websites exhibit those characteristics, it is indicative of darker spirits at work. Bishop Barron also teaches that the devil has two names in the New Testament, “The Scatterer” and “The Accuser.” If we look at a website with a lot of dividing and accusing, we know which spirit is behind it.

Jesus’ teaching on this is recorded in Luke: “A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit… A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil.”  As disciples we should use every opportunity to consume and bear only good fruit.

Now that AI is such a concern, Pope Leo wrote his first encyclical on this topic: Magnifica Humanitas. It is important for the Church to inform and teach the world how to live our faith in the modern age with all the unprecedented changes that can confuse and mislead us. And it is equally important that we listen.

Scripture: Read Luke 6:43-45. Reflect on the good and rotten fruits around you.

Call to Action: Fr. Joachim will be unpacking Pope Leo’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas on June 16 and 23. Join us. See bulletin for details.