I suppose it spans the whole course of life.
It’s all about communicating in the world we live in: a world of frighteningly powerful information technology. Can we learn how to be Christians--how to be human persons--in this dangerous world? We must! The love of Christ compels us. Wherever words are uttered, Christ must speak. We--members of His Body--must learn the art of speaking to each other in these new languages; we must learn the art of loving with the love of Christ in these new "places" where so many desperate people dwell. If we build communion on the internet, we will be given the grace to "speak" to the world in new ways. Wherever human persons go, we must go (provided that it is possible morally: i.e. we don't become bank robbers in order to preach to the bank robbers; but wherever it is possible to go without losing our Christian and human dignity).
It is possible to be present as Christians in the new media, and to expand that presence in the measure that it useful for bearing witness to the truth. The Church calls on us to use communications media, whether we like them or not (personally, I'd rather be playing with my kids than messing around with the internet, but this is part of my vocation as a communicator--a teacher and a writer). We have not been brought together in the Church so that we can sit around and look at each other and say, "isn't-it-great-that-we're-Catholic." We have been brought together to meet Jesus Christ, to come to know and love Him more, and to go with Him into the world...together. It is not easy: "tools" like the internet can suck us in and distort our life, but this doesn't have to happen! We can use these tools if we help each other. Finally, it’s about love. These words are being written for love, because whoever is reading these words is loved by Jesus.
