Hi, I'm Edward Sree, and welcome to all things Catholic, where real faith meets real life.

I'll never forget what happened when I got my first iPhone.

I had resisted getting a smartphone for many years, and I was satisfied with my simple little flip phone,

but eventually it broke down. I needed to get an upgrade, and all my friends and colleagues were saying,

you need to get a smartphone, get an iPhone, it'll make your life so much easier, so much better,

and finally I broke down, and I got my first iPhone, and it was a lot of fun.

I was excited learning how to use it, and one day I wanted to show off with Beth. She hadn't had a smartphone yet,

and we were driving through downtown Denver and discussing date night.

We're on the big interstate, I-25, and we finally come up with a date, where we can go out together,

and all of a sudden I wanted to show off with her, and I said, hey Siri, schedule a date night with Beth

at seven o'clock on June 17th, and I'm smiling all proud.

Look at what my smartphone could do, and she's looking to be saying, wow, it can really do that,

and then I was humbled when Siri replied, saying, which Beth?

Siri came back and said, which Beth that I was like, aw, pretty humiliated at that moment.

Well, having a smartphone certainly comes with many advantages.

I can't imagine managing my life, managing my pilgrimages, my travel, my calendar, without a smartphone,

so I'm very grateful for the technology that we have.

But it also comes with certain costs, especially for not careful in how we use it.

It can affect our prayer life, it can deeply affect our spiritual life, if we're not careful,

it can affect our marriages, our family life, our friendships, or just how we live and how we look at the world.

I once wrote an article comparing the smartphone to the ring of power in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings,

and the article was called my iPhone, my precious.

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