Dear Ones,

We are United in the Lord—One Spirit, One Body, with Him and each other.

Twice a month, we have an “all hands-on deck” Bible study and staff meeting that lasts about two hours. When everyone is there, there are about thirty of us, as interns seasonally grow our team. The first hour of the meeting is devoted to continued formation in the Word of God or another resource for Catholic truth, and we spend the second hour updating one another on what is happening throughout the ministry and celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions.

This summer, we took a brief break from studying the Bible to consider a very serious problem we are all facing: the daily flood of “notifications” from text messages, emails, social media posts, YouTube videos, and all kinds of other apps and communication tools.

I recently read “There’s a Good Reason You Can’t Concentrate” by Cal Newport in The New York Times. (Yes, I do read it, fully aware of its incredible bias, to see what those outside our circle are doing and saying!) This article focuses on the very measurable cognitive decline that has reduced our ability to pay attention, particularly in young people. This decline, which has accelerated over the past two decades, limits our capacity to read and to watch anything that isn’t frenetic in its pace, but perhaps more importantly, it limits our ability to be still, to listen, to reflect, and to pray.

I asked each of our staff to read the article and send me their reflections on how it personally applied to them and their thoughts on how it applies to what we are doing as a ministry, as we use YouTube, social media, television, radio, podcasts, email, and printed materials to share the Gospel. Some of our team reported that reading and reflecting on the article was a challenge, just as the article states.

Everyone shared an excellent reflection, and we spent three recent staff meetings discussing this topic. Most of the staff said this is a huge challenge for them. Many admitted to spending more time than they wished scrolling from one interesting feed to another. They shared that their desire to pray was impacted by their “addiction” to constantly checking their cell phone or their smart watches.

Here is what some of them said:

“
Reading it, I became mournful. I regret the amount of time I’ve spent on a screen, flipping through videos and the effects it’s had on my own motivation. I can’t imagine how the teenagers I serve, who know nothing else but this technology, must feel.

“
I really agree with the article that short-form content from Instagram or Tik Tok effects cognitive performance. This is something I have found to be true. After having used apps that present short form content, I find myself significantly less able to focus and significantly less able to simply just be. I have since deleted these apps, and I find my desire to read has grown, I am better able to form thoughts, and my brain fog and overall distractedness has gone away.

“
The loss of the ability to concentrate has far ranging and yet to be fully realized effects. How can someone contemplate God if they can’t be still, silent, and focused? How can we hear God’s voice, experience gratitude, love the person in front of us? I think we have a real obligation as an organization to address these things. I really like the idea of the government treating social media like alcohol or cigarettes — not an outright ban, but clear enforceable rules and guidelines. I still think we can still utilize these platforms strategically to teach, bless, encourage, strengthen, and inspire people because I don’t think they are intrinsically disordered.

Some agreed with the way England and Australia have recently enacted bans for minors using social media while others thought it needed to be parental and personal responsibility to limit the use of these technologies and its impact.

I know many of you are dealing with similar questions and concerns about the impact of these technologies. We will continue to address these concerns in how we make use of these technologies as a ministry and in our personal lives.

Let’s continue walking together in this amazing journey to the Father’s house that Jesus has invited us to make with him, in him and through him!

Your brother in Christ,

Ralph

P.S. I was thrilled to read the first review of The Coming Judgment: Are We Ready? on Amazon:

“This passionate, well-researched book shows that the judgment spoken of by Christ and in the Nicene Creed is real and coming for all of us. The neglect of this reality has caused many to fall into tepidity or, worse, never repent. The neglect of teaching the four last things is one reason why much preaching is so banal today. Could this be Ralph Martin’s best book? I think so.”

And I was honored to receive this message from an Archbishop in Eastern Europe:

“This book comes at exactly the right time.”

One highlight of the many opportunities to do radio and video interviews about the new book was spending a long afternoon with Matt Fradd in his new studio with The Daily Wire in Nashville. He told me this was my sixth time on his show! We spent three hours talking about the book, and I was grateful for the opportunity to talk in-depth about the book and to catch up with Matt. Less than one month after the episodes from this recording were released, there were over a million combined views on YouTube and Instagram. View the full-length interview on YouTube: The Truth About Hell Every Christian Should Know (Dr. Ralph Martin) | Ep. 589