Br. Norbert Keliher, O.P., on Faith-Augmented Reality

"Augmented reality is the cutting edge of mobile games and wearable tech, a fancy term for looking at the world through the lens of technology. You've probably heard about the Pokémon Go app by now, the biggest entertainment craze of the summer. Br. Irenaeus wrote about what he saw in Providence, RI, and similar scenes have played themselves out in cities across the country. In New York's Central Park this summer, some of our brothers were taking a walk and heard someone shout, 'Look, a Psyduck just spawned!' A crowd of gamers coalesced and lurched past them across the grass, cellphones extended in hopes of catching the pocket monster.

"What is it that draws us to games like Pokémon Go? On one level, it’s a desire to enter a reality different than what God has created. For another way to satisfy this longing, we can look at Christian art. Close to Central Park is the Frick Collection, a gem of an art museum that has several world-famous paintings. One of them is Bellini's St. Francis in the Desert, which captures a different version of reality, one that has captivated viewers across the centuries. It's reality 'augmented' by Christian faith."

In a recent commentary, Brother Norbert Keliher, O.P., reflected on how our faith "'augments' the world not by adding something to it, but by revealing that everything is part of God's loving plan for us."

To access Br. Norbert's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: Faith-Augmented Reality (2 SEP 16)