I was home today when I received a call from a friend that there was “White Smoke”.
Within seconds I turned on the TV and with the world, I was waiting to be greeted by our new Pope. As I watched the audience in the square, there were numerous people holding up iPads, cell phones, and digital and video cameras as they recorded the announcement of “Habemus Papam” and the first greeting to the world by our new Pope Francis!
Within minutes, people were tweeting, emailing, blogging and announcing to their family, friends, and colleagues the historical event they were witnessing at this moment. Of course, the media giants were there as well. Yet, every one of us today has the capability (if we want) to communicate to our friends and families the top story of the day! What a wonderful and incredible world we live in!
If you were paying attention to the tweets, you would have noticed that there were tweets from President Barack Obama, Cardinal Dolan, Catholic Sun, John L. Allen, Jr., Father Shane Johnson, CBS News, and everyday folks like you and me. Regardless of where you were at – in Rome, in the USA, in South America, in Africa or wherever – the whole world was sharing and chatting with one another.
And this evening (3/13/13) I used Google Images to see what photos I could find about our new Pope. Of course, these images were downloaded to a variety of locations, and yet within a short period of time, they were e-catalogued and available to the world! Here they are…
Within minutes, there are photos, comments by others, and more available online for others to view and read. Even his first remarks are available to the world to go back and read, especially if you missed this historic moment.
I was especially moved by his reflection–
Now let’s begin this journey, bishop and people, this journey of the church of Rome, which is the one that presides in charity over all the churches — a journey of brotherhood, love and trust among us. Let us pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there be a great brotherhood. I hope this journey of the church that we begin today — and I will be helped by my cardinal vicar, here present — will be fruitful for the evangelization of this so beautiful city. (Pope Francis)
We have the capability today, to be brothers and sisters to one another despite the geographic distances that we often allow to separate us. We truly can be Digital Disciples, evangelizing one another in ways we have never imagined before!
