Brett Robinson on Recent Shifts in Digital Media

10/20/20 • 29 min

Our reliance on digital technologies and media accelerated dramatically beginning in March 2020. When we could no longer gather in offices for work, in schools for learning, or even in churches for worship, we found ways to make do through screens and chats and webinars. Even as communities and institutions started to open back up in the late spring or summer months of 2020, the increased reliance on technology persisted and continues to influence how we live, work, pray, and communicate.But that shift was not new. Again, it was an acceleration of trends that started long ago. Without diving too much into the historical factors, I wanted to share a conversation in today’s show about that focuses on what we’re seeing in especially the digital landscape, what is going on with us in our everyday lives, and what this might mean for where we’re heading.So I invited my friend and colleague, Brett Robinson, who is a media scholar to talk a little bit informally about all these things.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.

Previous Episode

Mike St. Pierre on the State of Catholic Campus Ministry

For Catholic Campus Ministries across the nation, the unprecedented interruptions to both typical campus life and the traditional ways of ministering to young people have generated frustration and trials, but also the possibility for rethinking approaches to ministry in terms of what is possible and what is most important. My guest today works with Catholic Campus Ministries across the country to help them sustain and enrich their work with young adults, and to meets the personal and spiritual needs of students in times certain or uncertain.Dr. Mike St. Pierre is executive director of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association. The mission of his organization is to connect, equip, and inspire ministry professionals, so that they can evangelize, catechize, and nourish the faith lives of students in private and public colleges and universities. In addition to his work in campus ministry leadership, Dr. St. Pierre also writes regularly on topics such as rest and focus, breaking from an over-reliance on digital media, and prayer, both on his blog at mikestpierre.com and in his book, The 5 Habits of Prayerful People. Mike joins me, Leonard DeLorenzo, on Church Life Today, a production of the McGrath Institute for Church Life. And I’m very happy you’re joining us, too.------Live: www.redeemerradio.comFollow Redeemer Radio on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@RedeemerRadioFollow McGrath Institute for Church Life on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:@McGrathNDSubscribe to the Podcast:iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud

Next Episode

Nancy Cavadini on Stories in Light

Every year more than 100,000 people visit Notre Dame’s Basilica of the Sacred Heart (though of course, the year 2020 may be an exception). Nevertheless, those who walk in the basilica’s doors, discover a worship space that is immaculately maintained, utterly impressive, and completely orderly. But the order and intentionality of that church is not merely a matter of polishing and tidying up; it is in fact written right into the space itself: a space that was intentionally designed and ordered with a theological and spiritual vision. That vision is perhaps most visible in the light that bends through and illuminates the 44 stained-glass windows that contain 220 scenes throughout the basilica. Those windows tell the stories of the radiance of God’s love in the lives of his saints and the events of salvation history. These are Stories in Light. Nancy Cavadini is co-author of the new book Stories in Light: A Guide to the Stained Glass of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. This is a beautiful book, both in how it is written and how it is presented, replete with full-color photographs of these windows. This work of art history and theology undertaken by Nancy Cavadini and her co-author Celicia Davis Cunningham, brings the stories of this remarkable church and its resplendent stained-glass to both those who have visited the Basilica and those who have not yet in a fresh and indeed illuminating way.