https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SluHpft13IE

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday and it’s not uncommon on this occasion, in the age of social media, for people to take selfies of themselves with ashes on their foreheads. In fact, there was even a hashtag coined by someone to encourage the practice.

And when I saw that this was trending, at least in Catholic circles, I have to admit, I found it a little off putting so I posted something on Facebook saying that it struck me as contrary to the spirit of penance and then I asked if I was wrong about that and there were quite a few responses in the comments both endorsing and opposing my reaction.

So, that gave me some more insight into why people think it’s a good idea and why not so I thought it would be worth exploring in a video. But, there’s a risk in commenting on something like this after the fact, because we’re much more likely to attempt to justify what we did or did not do than try to see the arguments or principals objectively.

So I’d invite you, if you’re watching this, to try to be as honest and objective as possible and know that I’m not trying to wag my finger at you or condemn anyone for their actions. Instead, I think this is a really important conversation about how we share the faith and evangelize because this is a massive struggle in the Church and so I think it’s really important for us to talk about it even if it means an honest look at our own behaviour.

[intro]

If you went to Ash Wednesday mass, then you would have heard the Gospel reading which is helpful for providing a starting point to this conversation, so I thought I’d read that to begin with.

Read MT 6:1-6, 16-18.

OK, so at face value, without any rationalizing or contextualizing, it’s pretty obvious that Jesus is saying that when we do pious acts of penance or mercy, especially as they relate to our spiritual improvement, that we should avoid showing off and that if we do show off, the recognition we get now is our only reward.

And it’s hard to deny that something akin to that is going on when we post pictures of ourselves doing something that is supposed to be an act of penance, an act of reparation for our sins. And that’s really important to note because our penances are performed as an ingredient in our justification and that’s exactly how Jesus relates it in that reading.

He talks about those acts as being something that can offer reward in Heaven or a loss of that reward. A penance is something that is done with sorrow and contrition, not with celebratory fanfare.

But the resounding common theme among the comments that disagreed with my take was that this is a good way to witness the faith and evangelize non-Christians and if I’m honest, that struck me as a bit odd.

Put yourself in the shoes of a non-Christian. Do you honestly believe that seeing someone else making a show of their religious practice is really the kind of thing that is going to attract them to want to explore Christianity for themselves?

Like, whenever I see people posting pictures of themselves meditating or doing a yoga pose, if I’m honest, and I’m sorry if this is insensitive, but I don’t tend to react with feelings of attraction and admiration. It honestly just looks like showing off to me.

And religious practice is already a divisive thing. People don’t like having unfamiliar religious practices shoved down their throats. And I know that’s not the intent of anyone posting an innocuous photo, but I think there are more than a few people that would see it that way. As often as it inspires a positive response, I’m sure it would also provoke a negative one.

My point is, I don’t think we should take it for granted that simply depicting our religion any chance we can on social media is an effective way to evangelize. Subtlety and shrewdness would go a lot further to achieving those ends especially considering how defensive and polarizing people can be about religious beliefs.

Like, imagine someone posting a selfie of themselves receiving the Eucharist. I think most of us would look at that and say, that’s inappropriate. And I’m not saying that posting an ashtag selfie is the same thing, but it does reinforce the fact that not every attempt to publicize your religious practice is a good thing.

For the same reason most people don’t want you to knock on their door to tell them about your religion, they probably don’t want you invading their social media feed with acts of unfamiliar piety.

Lastly, let me say this. There’s always going to be a rationalization for our behaviour that will insist there’s a loophole or an exception to something that is otherwise fairly plain in scripture or in Church teaching. Maybe you can rationalize something by saying, “it’s ok because I’m evangelizing.”

But, if something could even possibly be sinful or compromise an act of piety, is it really worth it? If you can’t be totally sure, isn’t it better to not flirt with something that could be seen as sinful or undermining the effectiveness of a religious act?

Christ used some pretty strong language in that passage of scripture. I’d want to be absolutely sure that I wasn’t risking betraying his teachings before I decided to cross that line.

Like, in ancient Israel, the Jewish people, as well as contemporary observant Jews, were so afraid of accidentally breaking the first commandment and using the Lord’s name in vain, that they wouldn’t even dare to say his name at all. They would say, “The Lord” instead. I think there’s something in that that we could learn from.

A penance serves a purpose. It helps us experience true sorrow and contrition for the things we’ve done, it helps us grow in humility and sanctity, and if there’s even a remote possibility that we could undue that by showing off or performing an act of vanity in place of something that is supposed to be an act of humility, why even take that risk?

Lastly, I’d love to hear from anyone who isn’t Catholic or Christian. How would you react to someone posting a selfie like this? Would it annoy you? Would it inspire you? Would you just be indifferent? I’m open to correction on this, so I’d love to see some feedback in the comments.