Our God is a God of surprises. When we open our hearts and allow our lives to be led by Him, He takes you on an amazing adventure. I’ve come to learn that when we offer God one small “yes,” we soon discover that despite setbacks and challenges, God uses our brokenness to bring His love and compassion to the world in need of His healing.
My journey working for the Archdiocese of Washington has been one of surprises. When I started in the Office of Young Adult Ministry, I never imagined that one day I’d be leading our digital evangelization efforts. And today, I find myself saying “yes” to God’s call to accompany people across the digital highways.
We live in a moment of history where many people have drifted away from the Church. If we are serious about discipleship, we can’t just sit in the church and wait for people to come back to us. We must go out. We are blessed in the Archdiocese of Washington to be led by a shepherd who not only believes in the call to go out to the peripheries, but also teaches us how to set sail on the digital highways and lead others to an encounter with Jesus.
Cardinal Wuerl, who tweets from @Cardinal_Wuerl, publishes on the Seek First the Kingdom blog, and regularly sends emails to his e-letter distribution list, is by far my chief digital instructor. In his pastoral letter on the New Evangelization, Cardinal Wuerl wrote, “Our outreach requires an infusion of creativity and faithful imagination.” If we are to lead people back to Jesus, we must find the words that meet people where they are, in order to lead them to the Truth.
Cardinal Wuerl has taught us that in the face of injustice, it’s no time to be silent. We must raise our voices – both in prayer and in advocacy efforts. We need to be a voice for the voiceless, to take a stand for life, and in the face of senseless violence, respond to evil with love.
Cardinal Wuerl has taught us that the joy of being alive in the Lord is something we must share. It’s our turn now. Every moment becomes an opportunity to connect another person with a hope that does not disappoint.
Translating these lessons into a digital strategy has yielded amazing fruit. The Archdiocese of Washington is the leading archdiocesan social media presence in North America. In collaboration with the various ministries across the archdiocese, the digital media office manages over 20 websites, built the CapitalCatholic app, connects with followers across a variety of social media platforms and utilizes text messages and email campaigns to help others encounter God’s love and mercy. All of this combined digital evangelization leads to over 1 million moments of engagement each month. That’s over 1 million moments of bringing Christ’s light to a broken world.
Cardinal Wuerl invites each of us to manifest the kingdom of God here in our corner of the world. Say “yes” to this invitation and allow God to surprise you. Come to know Him and find the courage to joyfully share His story. Jesus died; rose from the dead and our Heavenly Father claims us as His adopted children. This is a story worth sharing. Turn your digital footprint into one that answers Jesus’ call to go and make disciples of all nations.
Sarah Yaklic is the director of digital media for the Archdiocese of Washington. She tweets from @WashArchdiocese and @DMediaMission. To learn how you can download the CapitalCatholic app or connect with the Archdiocese of Washington on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, Vine, Periscope, Flickr and Storify visit http://adw.org/social-media/.
