The application that connects you 24 hours with priests

I have not confessed for too many weeks. The global pandemic and lockdown have made staying close to the faith more difficult.

I can talk to my spiritual director, but on the phone or whatsapp it is not the same. It is true that spiritual communion is very good ... but seeing the mass through the screen is not the same either.

I have been suggested to write this article about an application called Amen. The first thing I think is that it could be one more piece of news among many others about the thousands of ‘religious’ or spiritual applications that exist. But instead of reading me the information and that's it, I decide to download it to my mobile.

I unlock it. ‘App store’ (I have android). I click on the search engine and write: A - m - e - n. And I remember the hundreds of 'Amen' comments on social media posts.

Found. I start to download it. It has a blue logo, with a sandwich - from the comic books, not from bacon - with a cross inside. Not bad.

After struggling with wifi and internet speed, it finally downloads. I open it. It asks me to create a user, I put my name, my email….

It's free (good) and so far everything normal. A modern application, agile, beautiful design, with a simple bottom menu. Perfect.

And my skepticism ends when I start testing the app. In the lower menu you have five buttons. One is the configuration one, but the one in the center catches my attention… it is a book with a cross on the cover.

It looks like it's a Bible so I press. And the Gospel of the day appears on the screen. "Good!" I think, because I haven't read it for days.

"Whoever wants to come after me, let him renounce himself, carry his cross ... and follow me." It is the Gospel that I read as I write this article. And indeed it comes to my hair ... to follow him. And I keep exploring.

Next to the Bible there is a church. And when I press a map with the churches that is registered around it appears. Useful of course. To the right of the Bible an 'M' crossed by a 't' ... or a cross? I click and I get messages of the day, the saint of the day, different prayers ...

But the main course is to the far left, on the button that has the same logo as the application as an image. When I click I am surprised that nothing appears, a blank page. But at the top right is a pen. "Let's try".

Let me write a message. And I remember: "Whoever wants to come after me ..." So I put the first thing that comes to mind. What I need. "I want ..." No. Delete. Better: "I would love to be able to confess."

And he's done. It only remains to wait for the reply message. And I think: "Hey, this application is not bad at all." An app that helps me pray, sends me notifications with the gospels of each day and prayers ...

And it also helps me find parishes and priests near me. And the reality is that it is a necessity for many on many occasions.

"In Amen you can contact priests and religious 24 hours a day, from wherever you are, easy, free and with geo-location." It is the presentation of the app that you can find on its website. And the slogan is: "A priest within the reach of a click!"

And they end with a quote from Pope Francis that is very relevant: “The Internet can offer greater opportunities for encounter and solidarity, among all; and this is a good thing, it is a gift from God ”.

The app has just been born and is in its infancy, but it certainly looks very good. The coronavirus has taught us that the digital world can be a very good bridge in our relationship with God. And I hope to be able to confess again today thanks to Amen.

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