Lent isn’t about giving up chocolate. It’s about giving up whatever keeps us from God. And if we’re honest, for many of us, the thing that distracts us most isn’t dessert, it’s distraction itself.
Our phones buzz. Notifications flash. News cycles spin. Social media scrolls endlessly. Somewhere amid that noise, it becomes harder to talk to the Lord, much less hear. Lent is an invitation to unplug. Not because technology is bad, but because constant connection can leave us spiritually disconnected.
Silence feels uncomfortable. Stillness seems unproductive. But throughout Scripture, God speaks in the quiet. Elijah didn’t encounter God in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but rather in a whisper. Jesus regularly withdrew to lonely places to pray. After his baptism came forty days in the desert and deserts are quiet.
What if this Lent we fasted from more than treats and sweets? What if we put our phone away for the first thirty minutes of our morning, turned off notifications that don’t matter, logged off social media one day a week, or chose silence in the car instead of noise? Not as a productivity hack, but as a spiritual discipline. When we unplug, we introduce silence and create space. And when we make space, God fills it. We may discover that what we’re reaching for in our phone was actually a deeper hunger for peace, connection, or purpose.
Here at Nativity, we’re offering a full slate of opportunities to use that silence and that space well. Prayerful attendance at the Eucharist will be the most significant way to unplug from technology and turn to the Lord. For our part we will be simplifying our use of technology at Mass and even “unplugging” some of our music. Other opportunities include daily “quiet” Mass, Confessions, and Eucharistic Adoration. Check out the full schedule for the season [click here]. Silence and space should also provide more opportunity for personal daily prayer and scripture reading.
And then there are small groups. Lent is personal, but it’s not meant to be private. When you unplug from distraction and plug into community, something powerful happens. Small groups create space for honest conversations, accountability, shared prayer, and real friendship. In a world built on curated feeds and filtered images, small groups offer something different: authenticity. Instead of scrolling through everyone else’s highlight reel, you sit across from real people with real stories, and you see how God is working in their lives too. Click here to sign up for a small group at Nativity!
The irony of our time is that we’ve never been more connected digitally and never more lonely relationally. Lent invites us to reconnect in the ways that matter most. This season is about creating space for God to do what only God can do. When we unplug from what distracts us, we plug into what transforms us.
