Fr. Stephen, MSC

Twitter is the third most used social network in the planet. It is reported that it gets 55 million monthly visits from all over the world. I first tweeted in October 2007. My very first tweets were updates of my whereabouts and what-abouts. Then in May 2008 I began tweeting inspirational quotes from well-known authors. Five months later I started posting biblical quotations as tweets. Last July 16th I posted my first prayer tweet. Since then I’ve been tweeting nothing else but prayers.prayertweet

My Twitter and Facebook accounts are linked in such a way that every time I post something on my Twitter account, the tweet automatically appears as my status in Facebook. Many of my Facebook friends respond to the prayer tweets, and based on their comments and on the “who likes this” list I feel that the online prayers have made a difference in their lives. Some of them respond with an “Amen” or another prayer. While some others ask me to include them in my prayers. There are also those who say that they will live out the prayers.

The prayer tweets have not only deepened my relationships with my online friends, they have also allowed me to minister to them. Praying for and praying with people can be as authentic an experience online as it is in the real world.

This experience convinced me that Twitter is a useful tool for evangelization. I am aware that a good number of people are already using Twitter to spread God’s Word. If you are planning to use Twitter to evangelize others, here are some topics/themes that you might want to focus on:

1. Passages from the Bible
2. Thanksgiving prayers and intercessions
3. Quotes from saints and pontiffs
4. Inspiring words from Christian authors
5. Excerpts from Catholic Social Teachings and other Church documents
6. Your personal reflection on faith and life