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| I think St. Philip would enjoy a good laugh over Pokemon Go. |
I'm a little bemused by the Pokemon craze, but it seems a harmless game. When I first heard about it and how it's played I came to the conclusion that it's similar to geocaching except that the Pokemons are virtual rather than real. So instead of finding a "treasure" and swapping little trinkets, you "capture" a virtual Pokemon. I was intrigued when I read this bit from the article above which quotes a priest from my own diocese:
Fr Patrick Posey, pastor of St James Parish in Falls Church, Virginia, sent a letter informing parishioners about the six Pokemon stops on the church property. He welcomed players to visit the church but asked them to be respectful. He also encouraged players to celebrate the feast day of St James with parishioners at their July 25 ice cream social.
“Hopefully, once a person finds the Pokemon, they will enter the church and find Christ,” Father Posey told the Arlington Catholic Herald, diocesan newspaper.
“Just to be clear, I do not believe there is anything wrong with playing Pokemon Go. However, I do think people are happy to search for Pokemon and reluctant to search for Christ because he calls us to give more of ourselves.”
I love the idea of meeting these young people in church parking lots and chatting them up with an invitation to make a visit. Some of these youngsters may have never had contact with a priest before. "Hey, Father isn't such a bad guy. Maybe I'll stop and talk to him some day about this problem I have."
Maybe Pokemon will turn out to be a disciple of Christ. I think St. Philip Neri would be amused.
Finding Christ while searching for Pokémon? Well, stranger things have been known to happen. Lol.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of something that happened to me a few weeks ago.
While traveling, my family and I stopped in Tupelo, MS, overnight. Never having much interest in Elvis Presley, I had not realized, until we stopped there, that Tupelo was his birthplace. I always equated him with Memphis.
Anyway, I told my wife and daughter that we should take a few minutes to go over to see the museum and birthplace just so we can say we've done it, as we would probably never do it again. It was only a couple miles away from the hotel. And who wouldn't want to visit "the King's" birthplace? A piece of Americana.
In looking at the map, however, I noticed a Catholic church nearby, which was even closer than Elvis' birthplace, but in the opposite direction from where we needed to go.
I immediately felt guilty. I was going to see the birthplace of "the King" but not going to see the real King?
My conscience wouldn't let me do it.
We first made a stop at the church for a short visit and then proceeded to Elvis' birthplace. Didn't stay there long, wasn't much to see. There were crowds of people there though, more than at the church.
Love your story; thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteSad, ain't it that poor Jesus is left alone? Reminds me of the little shepherd Francisco who always wanted to console the "hidden Jesus."
But the Lord takes us where we are even if we're with Pokemon or Elvis.