Rafael Llanes
(ZENIT News / Mexico City, 05.03.2023).- The mobile phone application called Hallow, with suggestions for prayer, was the most used this past Ash Wednesday, surpassing Netflix, Spotify, Instagram and Tik Tok. What is the background of this popular reaction, which is not promoted by commercial interests?
Hallow started at Notre Dame University in 2018 and has spread to 150 countries, reaching 100 million prayers in 2022, supported in its service.
Alex Jones, its founder, said to Daily Wire that they didn’t expect such a great response. In a world with a minimal presence of prayer and spiritual cultivation in the big news and televisions channels, of a marked secular tone, millions of individuals seek prayer and closeness following the example that Jesus offers of fasting and dialogue with God. Could it be that the heart’s inclination to closeness with God is greater than what the widespread atheist culture affirms?
This digital event reminds that every priest and pastoral agent receives the invitation to respond to people’s current spiritual needs, often hidden and silent.
To promote prayer, penance and generous charity in this liturgical time of Lent has become a necessity demanded by a great majority of silent people open to mystery.
