Our family regularly gets together throughout the course of the year. With our five kids and their spouses, and our 7 grandchildren from 2 months to 13 years of age, these events are the way we celebrated family events – and sometimes just celebrate nothing other than that we are family.
Because these “FamJams” are woven into the fabric of our way of being a family, they have been sorely missed by us all. So last weekend, enabled by technology, and having completed little video’s to share as part of a “Virtual Talent Show” – we met via a group video conference, and thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see each other, to share with each other, to laugh and enjoy each other’s ‘virtual’ company.
Was it the same as our old FamJams? No. Will we ever have those again? Yes, at some time in the future we will, when it is safer. Does that mean we won’t need to do our virtual get-togethers?
Well, having experienced what it is like to just gather together for an hour or so, and not worry about driving or getting the kids ready, or preparing food (or tidying up the house for whoever is hosting!) – I suspect that our virtual encounters will still be a part of the fabric of family going forward. Indeed, they can even become a way to encounter distant cousins who we would rarely see.
I sense that many of the new family ‘rituals’ we are creating during the pandemic will in the future become part of the way we will relate as family.
So too, some of the ways we have connected as a workplace, as a community, and as a church, will become part of the way we will connect in the future.
The technology that allows us to live-stream Mass during our quarantine can be used going forward to connect to those who are unable to attend Mass ….. our shut-ins and those in long term care facilities or hospital, for example.
The same technology can also be used so that relatives and friends who are unable to attend weddings, baptisms, funerals and other events will be able to feel that they have been a part of the event.
And perhaps it can allow people who otherwise would be unable to attend prayer sessions, or scripture studies, or discussion groups to participate more in the life of the Church and our parish community.
Will this technology-focused approach replace our face to face celebrations as a faith community? No, not at all. But it can enable a broader, more inclusive approach to how we minister, and I for one look forward to seeing how our experiences with technology during this time will become part of who we are as a parish community in the future.