Fasting is a pillar of Lent, and Father Dave welcomes Sister Nancy Usselmann to discuss how fasting from the digital world can impact our faith. Sister Nancy is a Daughter of Saint Paul, the Director of Pauline Media Studies, and the author of “Media Fasting: Six Weeks to Recharge in Christ.”
“How much time do we spend on our devices? That’s the question,” Sister Nancy begins. “A media fast is asking, what is [our media] doing to us? How do you feel when you’re engaging with your media, non-stop?” She notes that it does not need to be a complete detachment from the world, but rather, “fasting from that one thing that’s the most problematic for you.”
RELATED: Why I’m Committing To a Digital Sabbath This New Year
The book offers a six-week plan to assess one’s relationship with media and technology. Father Dave says, “Early on [in the book], you talk about our most formative laws from God, when he says in the Ten Commandments, ‘Don’t have other gods.’ We think that means if you melt something down and make a cow out of it. These days, he probably meant our phones.”
Sister Nancy adds that it is not just about taking distractions away. “When we remove something for [a] fast, like a media fast, what are we doing in its place? Then, how do we go back to it more intentionally? The way to do that is inviting Christ into the experience,” she says. “It’s opening our hearts and turning them more to God.”
“[For example], consider prayer time in place of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning. Take 10 minutes of a little meditation or examination in preparation for the day,” she says. “It changes your whole outlook on life; your whole emotional state, but also your spiritual state. The whole point is to be more intentional users of media, rather than letting it just take over us.”
LISTEN: Navigating Artificial Intelligence, Humanity, and Faith With Dr. Joseph Vukov
Sister Nancy’s religious order, the Daughters of St. Paul, are nicknamed the “media nuns” for their mission to “proclaim the Gospel to the world through the most effective means of communication.” Father Dave says, “Your ministry is not to say, ‘all media is bad, and let’s unplug the phones and go live in the woods.’ Rather, like any good gift, media can be abused or we can be intentional about it.”
Sister Nancy suggests praying over our media and intentionally seeking Christ in pop culture. “When you’re watching a TV series that talks about redemption, start drawing that out. It can be a moment for us to reflect on the great gift of Christ’s redemptive act for us in the passion, death, and resurrection,” she says. “It’s putting on a sacramental lens basically on the culture, and seeing how the symbols and signs communicate something deeper in life.”
