To the Band of Brothers: March 3, 2025

I recently deleted Instagram. A bold move considering the world gets so much of its information from it. It’s not the only way to stay informed, but it’s definitely one of the more popular ways. I understand the allure of it. In small, concise bits, the application gathers your scrolling history to determine those things you like to read and spend time with. In addition, you inform Instagram of your “favorites,” those people, places, and things you want to follow. The concept is amazing and very practical. So, why delete it?

A few months ago, my iPhone informed me my screentime was over an hour of what it usually was for the week. I couldn’t even imagine how that happened. I didn’t think I had spent any more time than I usually did on my phone. I decided to examine my week and see if I could pinpoint where the increase had possibly come. It didn’t take long to identify the source.

Almost unconsciously, I started a routine of scrolling through Instagram as I lay in bed before going to sleep. It was just a few minutes at first, but then the sessions became longer and longer. Because Instagram knew what I liked and didn’t like, it lassoed me in and dragged me down deeper and deeper, longer and longer. So much so that after growing tired, I would simply put my phone on the nightstand and go to sleep. In other words, the last thing on my mind as I dozed off was not God, Jesus, the Blessed Mother, or any number of holy thoughts, but instead the Miami Dolphins, Dave Portnoy’s One Bite pizza reviews, and highlights of Jack Nicklaus’s historical win at the 1986 Masters.

But there was more. I noticed there came a point when the convenience of bedtime was simply not enough. I had expanded my scrolling time to other moments during the day. When I sat in my office between appointments, I would scroll. During halftime at a Belen basketball game, I would scroll. In the waiting room at the dentist, I would scroll. And even once, I embarrassingly confess, in the confessional between penitents… I scrolled.

That prayerful examination of my week of Instagram use opened up a can of worms. I had to face a harsh reality. It seemed as if I was not totally in control of it; it was in control of me. Now that prayer had made me aware of it, I understood I had to do something about it. At Mass last week, we read from the gospel of St. Mark (9:41-50). At one point, Jesus says, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire” (v.43). Jesus continues a few more verses referencing other body parts. You get the picture. So, I cut it out (Instagram, not my hand).

Let me be clear, this reflection is not about arguing the pros and cons of social media, calling for its elimination or promotion. I am the first to understand its usefulness and potential. This reflection is about being empowered to take control of social media and making sure we keep it. It’s about making a choice. A choice for the good in our lives. Not the immediate good, but the ultimate good. I don’t intend to sound dramatic, but it’s a choice that contributes to the salvation of our souls. 

This uncomfortable exercise is at the very root of our Jesuit upbringing. In the first reflection St. Ignatius offers in the Spiritual Exercises, the Principle and Foundation, he says that man was created to love and serve God. He then says all other things were created by God to help man attain this purpose. Then, he says this, “From this it follows that we are to use the things of this world only to the extent that they help us to this end, and we ought to rid ourselves of the things of this world to the extent that they get in the way of this end.” So, here is the question that needs to be asked, “Is scrolling through Instagram making me a better, holier person, or not?” If it is, then scroll away. If it’s not, then cut. For me now, it’s cut. 

Auspice Maria