By Terry Poplava
April 6, 2026
Is leisure time overrated? Health experts tell us we need to take a break from work activity. Our media is filled with suggestions for self-care. You may be like me, grabbing time when you can, but not really conscious of how you’re using it. And I do not typically connect the concept of leisure with my time at Mass.
In our 2025 ACST American Beliefs research, we explored the concept of free time and the emotions we experience during it. When asked what positive emotions people experience from their favorite free-time activities, enjoyment and happiness were at the top of the list. However, belonging, giving back, and community lag far behind:
This came into sharp focus in a webinar conversation with Brett Robinson, Associate Director of Outreach for the McGrath Center at the University of Notre Dame, and Chris Kehayias, ACST Senior VP of AI and Innovation. In the conversation, Robinson refers to what he calls a “new solipsism,” where we retreat into our own minds and imagination, engaging with AI versus other people–outside of the tribe. With social media, we started to divide ourselves into groups based on interest or viewpoint. Now, with AI, we are operating individually with a bot or agent reacting to our innermost personal thoughts.
Wow. This makes sense if you consider that much of leisure time is spent less often interacting with other people than it is sitting with our screen scrolling through the content of our choice. So it’s no wonder we might experience enjoyment, but not belonging or community.
Yet the trends in our AmericanBeliefs research indicate that we are searching for warm and friendly encounters, which, when we dug into the meaning, are all about connection, community, and belonging:
Is leisure time overrated? Not at all, but perhaps we are thinking about it the wrong way! Robinson offers this, from philosopher Josef Pieper: the highest form of leisure is worship. He adds “and the only true and pure rest is in the Lord, in worship, is with other people”.
This puts leisure into a very different light! Rather than a way to fill time, it is a time for inspiration and connection to our faith and to each other. Our AmericanBeliefs researchers concluded that “Practicing Christians report higher levels of happiness, peace, and contentment from their leisure activities”. Our time in worship informs the way we spend our leisure. In these times of loneliness and disconnection, our parishes provide the way to connection and to peace through encounters with Christ. I know I will be placing even greater priority on time at church!
As we experience the (to most of us) abstract concept of AI and the bots and agents we interact with, we must also be clear that there is the mystical experience of our faith that offers the connection and comfort we areso desperately seeking. Our parishes can be the place of refuge and connection, and our Catholic schools can provide the foundation in humanities and philosophy that are lost in digital algorithms.
I am encouraged and inspired by the great examples of parishes and dioceses across the country who are experiencing an increase in vocations and in conversions. Many of you are using your systems to make time for personal interactions, which in turn brings us together in strong community!
