Our Lady of Pokemon Go

The shrine of the Blessed Mother on the grounds of Saint Mary Church has become a popular pilgrimage destination this sum­mer as groups of young people have been gathering at Our Lady’s Shrine in quiet concentration. I was somewhat stunned the first time I looked out the rectory window to witness this phenomenon as half a dozen young people were seemingly taking shifts maintaining a vigil at the site. After some inquiry, I learned that Our Lady’s Shrine has become a magnet for Pokemon Go hunters. I vaguely remember Pokemon as one of the first and most rudimentary com­puter games thirty years ago, but now Pokemon Go has brought the earlier game to a higher level of technology as the characters are not confined to computer screens, but occupy public spaces that are searchable by smart phones!

I saw something positive in this phenomenon as young people were actually walking around town in groups during the summer months, rather than depending on parents to chauffeur them from one pro­gram or planned activity to another. I was reminded of my own childhood summers roaming the neighborhood finding things to do with my friends. I was a bit concerned that the Pokemon Go search parties stay attentive to their environs and raise their eyes regularly from the phone screen so to avoid walking into telephones poles or moving traffic. I was also pleased that the existence of a search site on our parish grounds reminded the young people of the location of the church during the summer months!

Could this Pokemon Go phenomenon be elevated to a reflection on a higher level if we put God in the place of Pokemon characters and seek to discern His invisible presence with the same diligence and perseverance. God is everywhere! His presence is not restricted to particular locations, but it takes the ‘eyes of our souls’ to recognize the myriad ways in which God is present in our world and in our lives. We continually need to attune our ’eyes of faith’ to this rec­ognition of the wondrous ways in which God is constantly reveal­ing Himself to us even when we are distracted or disinterested and fail to discern His presence. It is one of the primary missions of the Church to catch our attention and help us to attune our eyes to rec­ognize the invisible presence of God all around us at all times!

We are entering a new school year over the next few weeks. The Faith Formation Opportunities sponsored by Saint Martha Parish and Saint Mary Parish will soon become more active after a sum­mer hiatus. Our young people will return to their Religious Educa­tion classes, which hopefully will attune their eyes to recognize the presence of God in the days of their youth. We will be building on the summer successes of the youth ministry program with opportu­nities for additional retreats, service trips and social events for our teenagers. We will be bringing back the popular ‘Theology on Tap’ series for young adults in their 20’s and 30’s that was intro­duced last year at Mr. Dooley’s Olde Irish Pub. We will also initiate a series of monthly gatherings at ‘The Unlikey Story Bookstore & Cafe’ in Plainville entitled ‘Faith Matters’ for adults of all ages. This will present speakers addressing current events through the ‘eyes of faith’ with an opportunity for informal discussion over refreshments and your beverage of choice. There will once again be the graced opportunity of our ‘Lenten Mission’ in the spring and some additional opportunities for Bible Study throughout the year.