Too Much Content
One
Paul’s Preaching at Athens
When Paul was on his missionary journey in Athens, Greece, some men took hold of him and brought him to the center of the town square. They were really interested in what he had to say. And this is why they were interested: St. Luke tells us, “all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.” (Acts 17:21).
So, Paul stands up in the town square, in this packed Areopagus, and he gives this super-sermon, this incredible evangelical appeal to all the pagans. And what’s the result? Luke tells us, “Some of them burst out laughing; others said, 'We would like to hear you talk about this again.’”
Some thought it was comical, some enjoyed it. But almost no one changed their life. So, Paul left. Because just consuming Catholic content without changing your life, is a waste of everyone’s time.
Two
The Danger of Too Many New Insights
We were made for truth and we were made to be surprised at truth so there’s nothing wrong in being delighted by new insights. That’s good, intellectual stimulation is good. But the danger comes when we flood ourselves with good content without giving ourselves time to digest and assimilate it, to sit with it, understand what it really means, recognize what it means for us personally, and then put it into practice so that it changes our lives for good.
The person who watches this, then listens to that, and then goes on to the next thing and next thing is like someone who eats nonstop. You’re supposed to eat regularly, but not continually. You need time when you’re not eating to digest, and use the food you’ve taken in. So when the Athenians would do nothing besides listen to or talk about new ideas, we know something was wrong. Because we aren’t just supposed to go from one stimulating insight to another. We’re supposed to take time over insights, and, most importantly, we’re supposed to let insights change our lives.
Three
Insight without Resolution is Dead
St. James says that faith without works is dead. It’s not good to have faith if you don’t translate it into action. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you?... the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!”
Good Catholic Content, religious insight, is worthless unless you can translate it into a resolution, into action. And this is the great danger of becoming a connoisseur of religious content. If you get to the point where you’re just absorbing new ideas, you won’t have time or mental energy to figure out how, concretely, you’re going to put it into practice.
Just like the Athenians, who had gotten so used to hearing stimulating ideas, that they’d lost the capacity to let those ideas change their lives. If all you have is insight after insight, it will only increase the odds that those insights will remain dead insights. That’s why resolution, especially at the end of daily meditation, is so crucial. It makes sure those insights become concrete actions that transform our lives.
Four
Catholic Content without Sanctity
There is a lot of Catholic content online. And there’s a lot of solid stuff online about life-hacks, and relationship advice, and just general psychological and physical wellness tips. And, again, a lot of it is really good stuff. Really thoughtful, and really informative. But here’s the scary thing. A lot of us who listen to all this good advice, all this good content, all this super-insightful stuff, a lot of us aren’t getting any happier, or healthier, or holier.
We consume and we consume, but our lives aren’t changing, really. And, of course, that kind of defeats the purpose of listening or reading to all this life-directional content. We have to stop this. We have to stop putting in hours and hours and hours of consuming, without becoming better.
Truth is meant to be lived. If we just like listening to it, we’re turning it into nothing more than entertainment.
Five
Resolution
So, what resolution should we make today?
Mary has asked us to pray the Rosary every day. But the Rosary is not meant to be merely the repetition of prayers. It should be a meditation on the Word of God and the Word of God must be put into practice. So, during this Rosary, choose one thing that struck you. Then turn it into one specific, concrete action, your resolution, and do it today. Tonight, during your examen, ask yourself whether you did it.
The danger of too much good content is that no one can deeply assimilate and put many new insights into practice at once. So take one truth, think deeply about what God is saying to you, and act on it so that it changes you. It is far better to live one truth than merely to collect ten more.