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Online This Week
March 6-13, 2010

WATCH...
…a video presentation of this week’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22445388-gospel-for-sunday-march-7th-2010.html
…this week’s Vatican Report, pending sainthood for Pope John Paul II:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/48-in-the-world/22445389-vatican-report.html
...a U.S. Catholic interview with the president of the Catholic Health Association:
http://uscatholic.org/video/5-questions-sister-carol-keehan-dc-health-care-reform

THINK MORE ABOUT…
…learning to turn the other cheek:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-22-can-you-turn-the-other-cheek/
… “what every Catholic needs to know” about Catholic social teaching:
http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6085/In-Focus-What-Every-Catholic-Needs-to-Know-about.aspx
…the context for the new Roman Missal:
http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2010/03/02/the-genius-of-the-roman-rite-by-keith-pecklers-sj/
…Pope John Paul II’s theology of the laity:
http://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/225395/Hai_Christifideles_GH.pdf

REGISTER FOR...
...Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association's 12-week online course based on Fr. Robert Rivers' book, From Maintenance to Mission:
http://www.pncea.org/events/frommaintenancetomission.aspx

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s editi0n of  American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=311
…Fr. James Martin’s introduction to Ignatian spirituality, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1149
Vatican Radio’s interview with Fr. Timothy Radcliffe:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=361866
…a Christopher’s podcast with author Steven Covey:
http://www.christophers.org/Page.aspx?pid=740
…Lou Nanni’s reflection on a life dedicated to service:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Lent/Entries/2010/3/6_Christian_Service_(Lou_Nanni).html

REFLECT ON...
…a contemporary Way of the Cross from CatholicIreland:
http://www.cilent.ie/waycross
…”Brothers Wind and Air,” week three in Fr. Richard Rohr’s Lenten Retreat, Falling in Love with Creation:
http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/lenten/2010/week3.php
…stories of hope, compiled by The Christophers:
http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/lenten/2010/week3.php
…Linda Douty’s “litmus test for letting go”:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/books_books/litmus_tests_of_letting_go.php

CHECK OUT…
...NCR's profile of "a very 21st Century bishop":
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/him-or-not-denvers-chaput-very-21st-century-bishop
…the Iowa Catholic Conference’s latest legislative update
http://www.iowacatholicconference.org/bins/site/templates/splash.asp?NC=812X
…resources for understanding the new Roman Missal from the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy:
http://liturgy.nd.edu/webcatechesis/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…details of the Vatican’s upcoming visitation to religious communities of women:
http://ncronline.org/news/women/apostolic-visitator-details-site-visit-guidelines
…how George Carlin’s Catholic heritage shaped his career as a comic:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/george-carlins-last-words/
…Holden Caulfield’s moments of grace:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/holden-caulfields-moments-of-grace/

READ…
…the National Catholic Reporter's five-part series on the controversy over liturgy:
http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/battle-lines-liturgy-wars
...Pope Benedict's Wednesday catechesis on St. Bonaventure:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28527?l=english
…Barbara Mujica’s profile of St. Teresa of Avila, a saint for our times:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/teresa-%C3%A1vila
…the March issue of Catholic Update, “Evolution and the Catholic Church”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU.aspx
…Ilia Delio’s review of John Haught’s new book, Making Sense of Evolution:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12171
…a Fordham Center on Religion and Culture forum on Donna Frietas’s book, Sex and the Soul:
http://www.fordham.edu/images/undergraduate/centeronreligionculture/oct%2028%20sex%20soul_transcript.pdf

WORTH QUOTING...
“’About suffering they were never wrong, the Old Masters: how well they understood its human position; how it takes place while someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along. (W. H. Auden, Musée des Beaux Arts)’  What Auden wrote about suffering and art is also true of art and miracles. To portray a miracle convincingly, an artist needs to understand its human position, how it takes place amid the ordinary business of living. While it’s happening, someone walks dully past it, and someone else nearby is ‘eating or opening a window.’ Real miracles…do not compel the whole world’s attention, much less its credence. Something changes, but few notice, and even fewer believe. Meanwhile, everything else goes on as before.”
--Matthew Boudway in a review of Lourdes, online at:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=7121

•   •   •

Online This Week
February 28-March 6, 2010

MORE LENTEN RESOURCES…
…the meaning of the Transfiguration:
http://thinkingfaith.org/index.htm
…the Center of Concern’s daily calendar of Lenten reflections:
http://www.coc.org/

… Friar Jack’s Stations of the Cross:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=28
… the daily readings for Lent seen through the lens of contemporary movies:
http://www.catholicchurch.org.uk/catholic_church/events/lent_and_easter/lenten_reflections
…weekly Lenten reflections on our commitment to peace and justice:
http://www.osjspm.org/lentenreflection.aspx
a self-directed "Intimate Path" to deeper faith:
http://lifeaftersunday.com/intimatepath
…suggestions on how to create a “quiet space” for prayer:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/books/contemplative_by_design.php
…a guide to journaling through Lent:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/books/contemplative_by_design.php

WATCH…
… a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22445304-gospel-for-sunday-february-28th-2010.html
… this week’s Vatican Report on the Pope’s Lenten retreat:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=2&Itemid=14
…a Boston College C21 webcast about mixed-faith marriages:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

THINK MORE ABOUT…
…the power of art to move the soul:
http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=13
…the spiritual value of self-mortification:
http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6055/Sacrifices-of-the-flesh.aspx
…the danger of economic inequality:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/02/21/its_money_that_matters/?page=full
... the need to understand the role of religion in world affairs:
http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/taskforce_details.php?taskforce_id=10
…the economic impact of immigration reform:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/01/raising_the_floor.html
… the dangers of mixing religion and sports:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/22/time-for-a-separation-of-church-and-sports/

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=310
…Coach Lou Holtz’s “gameplan for faith”:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Lent/Entries/2010/2/28_Gameplan_for_Faith_(Lou_Holtz).html
…this week’s Speaking of Faith discussion of “Einstein’s God”:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/einsteins-god/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
… Christianity’s modern-day martyrs:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,680349,00.html
…what life’s like when you’re living on food stamps:
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/26/real-life-on-food-stamps/
… the most influential English-language blogs that discuss faith and public life:
http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/religion-blogosphere/religion-blogosphere-3/

TAKE TIME TO REFLECT ON…
…why we can’t live without mysticism:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/dry-bones
…20 quotes that inspire healing:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/2010/02/Quotes-About-Healing.aspx
…21 ways to give up a bad habit:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/09/21-Ways-to-Give-Up-a-Bad-Habit.aspx
…death and dying through the eyes of a ten-year-old:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/living-and-dying-with-tuck-everlasting/
…a  Catholic perspective on consumption:
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/articles/goodlife.shtml

REGISTER FOR…
…Fr. Richard Rohr’s March 27 webcast “In the Footsteps of St. Francis, Awakening to Creation”:
http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/conferences/webcast/2010-series/footsteps-of-francis/index.html

READ…
…the U.S. bishops’ latest letter to Congress on health care reform:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-035.shtml
…E.J. Dionne’s column on why health care reform is stalled:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/elephant-health-care-summit
…Rand Richard Cooper’s review of Crazy Heart:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/pitch-perfect
…Martin Marty’s call for a “faithful conversation on sexuality”:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11344
… an excerpt from Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s book, What to Do When Life Doesn’t Make Sense:
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2006/bgroeschel_ardsinners_dec06.asp
…the transcript of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture’s symposium on how Latino Catholics are transforming the American church:
http://www.fordham.edu/images/undergraduate/centeronreligionculture/latino%20transcript%20slides%20ed.pdf
... Patrick Deneen’s defense of being “religious not spiritual”:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2010/02/spiritual_not_religious.html#more

WORTH QUOTING...
"A fast is not the same as a reducing diet.  A diet wants a visible, personal return at the end: Will I be slimmer, more youthful, healthier, more attractive? Will people see me as a success or as a 'big, fat loser,' as the popular television show would suggest?  A fast—especially the kind the prophets prefer—asks a different set of questions: Will this help me to love God with all my heart, mind and soul? Will I be better able to love my neighbor as myself? Will this enable me to recognize my neighbor in those that others ignore? Giving up food is the standard procedure for fasting, as hunger pangs are a ready reminder of our inability to sustain ourselves, of our reliance on God and the divine generosity of creation. But we can also shape our spiritual side by giving up behaviors and actions that weaken our discipleship and by taking on new practices that transform us into more loving people.  This Lent, inform your fast with a prayerful examination of conscience. How are you being called to love God and the world more deeply? What must you let go of? What must you embrace? Lent is the perfect time to be spiritually creative. The goal isn't a perfect life, but rather a life that is more beautiful and more loving."
--From Operation Rice Bowl's weekly reflection on Lent, available onli
ne at:
http://donate.crs.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=16602.0

•   •   •

Online This Week
February 21-27, 2010

LENTEN RESOURCES…
Sr. Joyce Rupp's weekly Lenten reflection:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/open-my-eyes-what%E2%80%99s-important
PaxChristi USA's weekly Lenten reflections:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_Events_more.asp?id=1969
…Lenten reflection series from the Paulist Fathers:
http://www.paulist.org/reconciliation/lent_ash_wednesday.php
…Paula Huston’s essays on the ancient practices of lent:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/lent/lenten_practice/index.php
…week one of Fr. Richard Rohr’s Lenten series “Falling in Love with Creation”:
http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/lenten/2010/
Explorefaith’s “Lenten Toolbox”:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/lent/lenten_toolbox.php
…week one of the Days of Deepening Friendship Lenten Retreat:
http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/
…week one of the Seven Weeks for the Soul Lenten retreat:
http://ignatianspirituality.com/lent/seven-weeks-for-the-soul-first-week-of-lent/
…Lenten resources from U.S. Catholic magazine:
http://www.uscatholic.org/lent
...Iowa Interfaith Power and Light's prayer and action guide for Lent:
http://www.iowaipl.org/sr_lenten_caring_for_creation_carbon_fast.htm

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22445178-gospel-for-sunday-february-21st-2010.html
…this week’s Vatican Report: the church and sports:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/48-in-the-world/22445163-vatican-report.html
…Fr. Rosica’s reflections on the meaning of Lent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qlhW5gTkQE&feature=player_embedded
…Thomas O’Connor’s presentation, “Shaping the Church of the Future”:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

TAKE TIME…
…to find out why meditation works:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-21-why-to-meditate/
…and learn more about contemplative prayer:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faces/holy_lives/contemplative_prayer_with_thomas_keating/index.php

REGISTER FOR...
...Boston College c21's two week mini course on catholic spiritual practices
http://www.bc.edu/sites/c21online/spiritual_practices.htm

LISTEN TO…
…Fr. Pat McGrath’s Lenten reflections:
http://jesuits-chgdet.org/lent2010/
…Fr. Gerald O’Collins’ “Waiting for Faustus”:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=357866
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=309
…part one of America Magazine’s annual Oscars podcast:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1146
…Krista Tippet’s interview with an Israeli and Palestinian who are tired of taking sides:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/no-more/
…an Everyday Faith podcast on how to “refocus” on marriage:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2010/2/19_A_Lens_For_Marriage_(Mary_Jo_Pedersen).html
…Craig Detweiler’s discussion of faith and video games:
http://wjkradio.wjkbooks.com/2010/01/wjk-radio-12-craig-detweiler-offers-his-expert-take-on-video-games-and-religion.html

THINK MORE ABOUT…
...results of the Pew Forum's new study on the religious attitude of the "millennial generation":
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=510
...a Vatican theologian's perspective on the veneration of relics:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7027842.ece
…the lessons of Shutter Island:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movieDetail.cfm/i/E6BD057A-915B-4CC4-EAE7600DF84D3881
…conversation as a paradigm for theological reflection:
http://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/225385/Ranson_Tracys_Response_GH.pdf

READ….
…John Allen’s conversation with “the most talked about nun in America”:
http://ncronline.org/news/women/mother-millea-speaks-about-visitation
…David Gibson’s analysis of the sex abuse scandal in the Irish Church:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/17/after-clergy-abuse-scandals-ireland-needs-a-new-st-patrick/
…Gary Smith’s perspective on the faith of America’s founding fathers:
http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2010/02/the-founders-how-christian-were-they.html
…Elizabeth Drescher’s counterpoint to the Pope’s message on social communication:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/mediaculture/2293/the_pope_and_social_media%3A_a_digital_counter-reformation__
…a chapter from Mary Healy’s Men and Women Are From Eden:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=T16700&ref=2&sample=Chapter&page=1

WORTH QUOTING...
"Some years I look forward to the ashes….  Other years, when I know there might be a major transformation around the corner, I hesitate when Lent approaches. I know I’m ripe for some major internal work. Maybe I have to forgive someone for doing something that seemed to ruin my life. Maybe I have to let go of something (or someone) being taken away. Whatever it is, I know it’s time for me to dive in… and I know it’s not going to be pleasant. At least not at first. It’s going to shock my system. But the time for standing on the shore is over. I need to plunge in. I need the waves to knock me silly. I need to stroke, stroke, stroke until I start to feel right again… because it’s been a long time since I exercised my soul."
--
Lisa Calderone-Stewart, in a blog for U.S. Catholic at:
http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/2010/02/dont-sit-edge-pool-plunge-lent

•   •   •

Online This Week
February 14-20, 2010

GET IN THE MOOD FOR LENT…
…Fr. Jack Mahoney’s overview of the Lenten season:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20100211_1.htm
..."Lent Lived after the Ashes":
http://www.loyolapress.com/lent-lived-after-the-ashes.htm?utm_campaign=on-the-horizon_feb-2010&utm_medium=email&utm_source=oth&utm_content=lent-lived-article
...Friar Jack's e-inspiration on Lent:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=27
Christophers News Notes on "Finding the Joy in Lent":
http://www.christophers.org/Page.aspx?pid=291
…Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s reflections on fasting and prayer:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/archive_display.php?rec_id=500
…Joe Popracki’s “40 Ideas for 40 Days”:
http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/2010/02/09/lent-40-ideas-for-40-days/
…how fasting fuels spiritual growth:
http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6016/How-fasting-fuels-spiritual-growth-charity.aspx
…”Seeing the Word,” a unique verbal and visual commentary on the Sunday readings during Lent:
http://www1.csbsju.edu/sot/seeingtheword/WeeklyResources.htm

REFLECT ON...
…watching the Olympics as a spiritual practice:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/features.php?id=18309
…how not to talk about God:
http://www.uscatholic.org/node/5076
...Annie Karto's "Come Home (to the Father)":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yo2nI2ING0
...the work of Catholic Relief Services in Lesotho:
http://orb.crs.org/countries/lesotho/

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22445060-gospel-for-sunday-february-14th-2010.html
…this week’s Vatican Report on the World Day of the Sick:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/48-in-the-world/22445052-vatican-report-world-day-of-the-sick.html
…a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly report on the debate over reiiki:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/february-12-2010/reiki-and-the-catholic-church/5683/

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=308
…a USCCB staff member’s analysis of the prospects for health care reform:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1144
Vatican Radio’s update on Haiti, one month after the quake:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=356507

CHECK OUT…
…a list of Jesuit classics:
http://predmore.blogspot.com/2010/01/recommended-jesuit-readings.html

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…the daily examen:
http://ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/
…the latest survey of Catholics under 30:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1000600.htm
…how world religions explain human suffering:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1000585.htm
…what we have learned from the financial crisis:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj1002&article=a-bad-morality-play

REGISTER FOR...
...Paulist Evangelization Training Institute's four-week e-course, "Paul: the Man and His Mission":
http://www.pncea.org/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=210&DEPARTMENT_ID=68
…the University of Dayton Virtual Learning Community’s seminar on adult faith formation:
http://vlc.udayton.edu/calendar/course.php?course=23

READ...
...Cardinal Kasper's assessment of the state of ecumenical relations:
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14286
…a review of Ladislas Orsy’s new book, Receiving the Council:
http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2010/02/09/ladislas-orsys-new-book-receiving-the-council-theological-and-canonical-insights-and-debates/
...an interview with German theologian Manfred Hauke on concerns about the Marian apparitions in
Medjagorie:
http://catholiclight.stblogs.org/archives/2010/02/hauke-on-medj.html#more
…Robert J. Daly’s update on the theology of sacrifice:
http://www.praytellblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Daly_Spring09.pdf
...an excerpt from Merold Westphal's Whose Community? Which Interpretation?
http://www.bakeracademic.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780801031472.pdf

WORTH QUOTING...
"Our Catholic identity is rooted not in a political ideology, a policy position, or a social affiliation. It is created by one thing only: our common initiation--the Baptism that creates us as God's people, the Confirmation that seals the grace of Baptism, and the Eucharist that deepens our communion as the Body of Christ. Finding our Catholic identity in anything else, even positions on certain moral problems sometimes referred to as "non-negotiables"--an expression that does not appear in official church teaching--is less than Catholic and at worst sectarian....  We can debate which groups best exemplify our Catholic tradition--and tempers may flare--but what none of us can do is exclude those on the other side from the church. Charity further demands that we presume each other's good will."
-- Editor Bryan Cones in the March, 2010 U.S. Catholic magazine online at:
http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2010/01/certifiably-catholic

•   •   •

Online This Week
February 7-13, 2010

GET READY FOR LENT...
...read Pope Benedict's Lenten message:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28253?l=english
...join the Lenten carbon fast:
http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Lenten-Carbon-Fast-Calendar-2010.pdf
…read Susan Mountin’s reflection on the meaning of Lent:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12127
…think more about unhealthy attachments:
http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/
…sign up for Operation Rice Bowl’s weekly email reflections:
http://newsletters.crs.org/site/PageServer?pagename=email_orb_signup
…register for an online Lenten Retreat from the Days of Deepening Friendship, a spirituality blog sponsored by Loyola Press:
http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/lenten-retreat/
...register for Spirituality & Practice's Lenten e-course, "Practicing Spirituality with Ed Hays":
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=94&key=sp

PUT THE SUPER BOWL IN PERSPECTIVE...
…with this background report and links:
http://www.religionlink.com/tip_100202.php

REMEMBER HAITI…
…the challenge of protecting Haiti's children:
http://ncronline.org/news/global/protecting-haitis-children
…the challenge of incorporating local expertise:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12114

CHECK OUT…
…the U.S. bishops’ new website on immigration:
http://justiceforimmigrants.org/index.html
Beliefnet’s “ultimate gratitude list”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/Gratitude/The-Ultimate-Gratitude-List.aspx

WATCH…
…the video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22444940-gospel-for-sunday-february-7th-2010.html
…this week’s Vatican Report:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/48-in-the-world/22444935-vatican-report.html
…Cardinal Schoenborn’s Catholic University address on the church’s role in the world:
http://live.cua.edu/ACADEMICS/PHIL/card-schoenborn.cfm
…a U.S. Catholic interview with author Karen Armstrong:
http://www.uscatholic.org/node/5454
Hollywood Jesus’ “spiritual review” of Avatar:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movieDetail.cfm/i/04D88DD8-A968-B460-4695E330AEF0231A/a/4

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=307
…Vatican Radio’s tribute to Cardinal John Newman:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=354440
…a musical version of Psalm 23, “Shepherd Me O Lord”:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/XzSANU

THINK MORE ABOUT...
…the freedom of commitment:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-20-nonnegotiables/
…faith beyond belief:
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/05/faith-beyond-belief-dogma-without-deeds-is-dead/
…what is and isn’t socialism:
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/05/what-is-and-isnt-socialism/
...the long-term impact of the national debt:
http://ncronline.org/news/politics/rising-debt-could-cripple-economy-analysts-say
…how immigration reform could help all American workers:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/01/raising_the_floor.html
…the cost of personal "security":
http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/we-dare-call-god-lamb
…kids who are “wired out of creation”:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/by-topic/popular-culture/richard-hague-wired-out-of-creation/5635/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…the Sisters of Life:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jan2010/Feature1.asp
… what’s happened to love in the (post)modern world:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100208/markowitz/single
…how you can cope with workplace stress or depression:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/Emotional-Health/Depression/12-Workplace-Depression-Busters.aspx

READ…
…Fr. Ed Hays’ take on “holy consumerism”:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/holy-consumerism
…Fr. James V. Schall’s essay on “why anything and everything exists”:
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2010/schall_freewill_feb2010.asp
…E.J. Dionne’s Hecker Lecture on Catholics in politics:
http://www.paulist.org/pressroom/hecker-lecture-2010-e-j-dionne-jr/
…Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s open letter to inactive Catholics:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/columnarchive/archive_display.php?rec_id=499
…Rita Ferrone’s observations on welcoming back “lapsed” Catholics:
http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2010/02/03/gathering-the-scattered/
…Frederic Brussat’s review of If the Church Were Christian:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=19643

WORTH QUOTING...
"What then is the justice of Christ? Above all, it is the justice that comes from grace, where it is not man who makes amends, heals himself and others.... [H]ere we discover divine justice, which is so profoundly different from its human counterpart. God has paid for us the price of the exchange in His Son, a price that is truly exorbitant. Before the justice of the Cross, man may rebel for this reveals how man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully. Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need – the need [for] others and God, the need [for] His forgiveness and His friendship."
-- Pope Benedict XVI. 2010 Lenten Message online at:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28253?l=english

•   •   •

Online This Week
January 31-February 6, 2010

CATCH UP...on health care reform:
...text of the U.S. Bishops' latest letter:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/HC-Letter-to-Congress-012610.pdf
...dealing with the complexity:
http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2010/01/complexity-of-health-care-reform.html
...Commonweal magazine editorial:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/prolife-yes-pro-reform
...David Gibson's analysis:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/27/catholic-bishops-to-congress-ditch-the-politics-pass-health-ca/

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22444793-gospel-for-sunday-january-31st-2010.html
…this week’s Vatican Report:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/48-in-the-world/22444796-vatican-report.html
BustedHalo’s latest segment of Busted Borders:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-borders-benita-mexico-video-2/
…Historian Thomas O’Connor’s view of the Church in Boston:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

THINK AHEAD…
…and order fair-trade chocolate for Valentine’s Day:
http://www.crsfairtrade.org/products/chocolate-overview/buy-chocolate/

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=306
…a Speaking of Faith segment on “patient capitalism,” a third way between investing for profit and aid:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/different-kind-of-capitalism/
…Fr. Ronald Rolheiser’s recipe for taming restlessness:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2010/1/27_Taming_Our_Restlessness_(Ron_Rolheiser).html

REFLECT ON…
nothing:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2010/01/Famous-Quotes-About-Nothing.aspx
…and everything:

http://peopleforothers.loyolapress.com/

…Fr. Ed Hays’ “Psalm for a Stalled Heart”:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/psalm-stalled-heart
…author Mary Gordon’s experience of “reading Jesus”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-mary-gordon/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…”praydreaming,” the key to discernment:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/preview.aspx?id=235
…Phil Lenahan’s strategy for managing debt:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC/preview.aspx?id=225
…the risks of doing good:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/unintended-consequences/

DOWNLOAD…
…a February calendar of Saints:
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/bydate.aspx

CONSIDER…
The Tablet’s opinion on “Vatican II’s irreversible changes”:
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14221
...Fr. John Bartunek’s article on why people of faith still doubt:
http://rcspiritualdirection.com/blog/2010/01/27/47-why-do-we-doubt-mt-1422-36
…Carl Olson’s perspective on truth and religious relativism:
http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2010/01/we-have-met-the-confused-the-indifferent-and-.html
…religious perspectives on President Obama’s State of the Union address:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/category/blogs/one-nation-religion-politics-2008/
…Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s view on Haiti and God’s love:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/

SUBSCRIBE…
…to weekly Lenten reflections by Sr. Joyce Rupp:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/psalm-stalled-heart
…to a Lenten e-course on Benedictine spiritual practices offered by Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery:
http://abbeyofthearts.com/teaching/lenten-e-course-benedictine-spiritual-practices/

READ…
…Fr. Thomas Reese’s commentary on “compassion fatigue”:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2010/01/despair_and_compassion
_fatigue.html#more

… Molly McGuire’s review of Matthew Kelly’s Seven Levels of Intimacy:

http://www.catholicsoncall.org/considerthis/recommended-readings/3book-review-seven-levels-intimacy-matthew-kelly
…Sandro Magister’s commentary on a step forward in discussions between Rome and the Orthodox Church:
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1341841?eng=y
…Fr.
Anscar Chupungco’s concerns about the “reform of the reform” of the liturgy:
http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2010/01/25/fr-anscar-chupungco-osb-on-%e2%80%9creform-of-the-reform/

WORTH QUOTING...
“Much of society votes horizontal but thinks vertical. Our political process offers choices of left, right, and center, but our assessment of social reality often stands in the vertical middle between top and bottom, constantly looking up in aspiration to power and blaming down in eschewing policies that affect the least of these. The president is right: service, not ambition ought to be leadership’s aim. But ambition is the aim of the American middle, which can never settle for being anything less than number one. Why should leadership be any different?  The painful awareness that those on the margins, for whom Hebrew and Christian scriptures declare God’s special affinity, could only peek through the cracks of the address says something more about us than it does the president or the address itself.”
-- Theologian Harold Dean Trulear’s commentary on the State of the Union address for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly’s "One Nation" blog at:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/by-topic/politics/harold-dean-trulear-%e2%80%9cof-the-middle-by-the-middle-and-for-the-middle%e2%80%9d/5575/

•   •   •

Online This Week
January 24-30, 2010

DON'T FORGET...the disaster in Haiti:
…latest updates, resources and information about how to help:
www.waterloocatholics.org/adultfaith/haiti.htm

REFLECT ON...the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision:
…a nun’s reflection on the state of the debate:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/pro-life-or-pro-active/
National Catholic Reporter’s coverage and commentary:
http://ncronline.org/news/justice/pro-life-challenges-change
…change in attitudes and tactics:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/01/roe_anniversary_new_opportunity_for_civility_
and_common_ground.html

…time for a new approach:
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/node/21386

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22444658-gospel-for-sunday-january-24th-2010.html
…this week’s Vatican Report:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/48-in-the-world/22444666-vatican-report.html
…a history of the Creed:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=ee1b9b41b6ac40dea83a

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=305
…an America magazine podcast on relief efforts in Haiti:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1141
…an Everyday Faith segment on “Spirituality—Our Link to Life”
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2010/1/19_Spirituality%3A_Our_Link_to_Life_(Michel_Drisdelle)_.html

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…how to pray:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC.aspx
…how to promote vocations:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-008.shtml
...the U.S. bishop's campaign for immigration reform:
http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/5863/US-bishops-set-sights-on-immigration-reform.aspx

…the Church’s response to the sexual abuse of children by clergy:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Feb2010/Feature2.asp
…what’s happening to the “Pope’s newspaper”:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/16/the-popes-newspaper-goes-pop/

REGISTER…
…for Joe Paprocki’s Feb. 9 Lent “webinar” and daily Lenten blogs:
http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/lent-webinar/

SHARE YOUR OPINION…
…about the morality of nuclear weapons:
http://www.uscatholic.org/nuclear

EXPLORE…
…the Smithsonian Institution’s new exhibit about American sisters, “Women and Spirit”:
http://www.womenandspirit.org/index.html
ExploreFaith’s guide to contemporary saints, prophets and spiritual guides:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faces/saints_prophets_and_spiritual_guides/index.php

READ...
...Pope Benedict's affirmation of the Church's commitment to ecumenism:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28080?l=english
...the Pope’s call for healing between Catholics and Jews:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28074?l=english
…Thomas Reese’s tribute to religious women in America:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2010/01/women_spirit_catholic_sisters_in_america.html#more
...Russel Shaw's analysis of the President's first year and his relations with Catholics:
http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/5873/The-good-and-bad-of-Obamas-first-year.aspx
Church 21’s spring issue, “Growing faith for an evangelizing church”:
http://issuu.com/church21/docs/spring-2010
...a chapter from John Howard Yoder's posthumous book, The Blood of the Lamb:
http://www.brazospress.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9781587432606.pdf
…Monica Helwig’s reflection on “A Spirituality of Action”:
http://ignatianspirituality.com/what-is-ignatian-spirituality/a-spirituality-of-action/?utm_campaign=e-magis-jan-2010&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cff&utm_content=spirituality-of-action&utm_term=link

WORTH QUOTING...
"It is clear that if relativism is considered an essential element of democracy, one risks viewing secularity solely in the sense of excluding or, more precisely, denying the social importance of religion. But such an approach creates confrontation and division, disturbs peace, harms human ecology and, by rejecting in principle approaches other than its own, finishes in a dead end. There is thus an urgent need to delineate a positive and open secularity which, grounded in the just autonomy of the temporal order and the spiritual order, can foster healthy cooperation and a spirit of shared responsibility. Here I think of Europe, which, now that the Lisbon Treaty has taken effect, has entered a new phase in its process of integration.... Noting with satisfaction that the Treaty provides for the European Union to maintain an "open, transparent and regular" dialogue with the Churches, I express my hope that in building its future, Europe will always draw upon the wellsprings of its Christian identity."
--Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, Jan. 12, 2010. Online at:
http://www.zenit.org/article-28011?l=english

•   •   •

Online This Week
January 17-23, 2010

RESPOND TO...the earthquake in Haiti
…latest updates from Catholic Relief Services:
http://www.crs.org/
…U.S. Bishops’ statement:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-009.shtml
…Archbishop Hanus’ letter:
http://www.arch.pvt.k12.ia.us/home.html
…Pope Benedict’s appeal:
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=25801&lan=eng
…Apostolic nuncio’s testimony:
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=25793&lan=eng
...destruction by the numbers:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CB_HAITI_BY_THE_NUMBERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
…vignettes of what's happening:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1000179.htm

…images of the devastation:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/slideshows/haiti/index.html
…how Catholic relief agencies are responding:
http://ncronline.org/news/global/catholic-agencies-prepare-long-term-relief
…a short history of Haiti: one disaster after another:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/14/the_unluckiest_country?page=full
…how to donate to Catholic Relief Services’ relief efforts:

   • Online at www.crs.org/
   • By cell: text RELIEF to 30644 and follow the instructions

REMEMBER...Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
…an archive of inspiring King quotes, prepared by Beliefnet:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2010/01/Martin-Luther-King-Quotes.aspx
…the link to immigration reform:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MLK_IMMIGRATION?SITE=OHCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
…reflections on King’s legacy—the faith to move mountains:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faces/saints_prophets_and_spiritual_guides/martin_luther_king/index.php
…what’s left undone:
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/01/15/hearing-mlks-full-message/

WATCH…
…the video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22444498-gospel-for-sunday-january-17th-2010.html
...this week's Vatican Report--who guards the pope?
http://www.h2onews.org/english/52-holy-see/22444499-vatican-report.html
…a video history of the Catholic Charismatic movement over the past 40 years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-QDOcDGDWA
…a inspirational video on the sanctity of life:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/?ct=store.details&pid=MM-STE-0040
…a video archive of interviews with Dorothy Day:

http://www.youtube.com/user/4854derrida#p/u

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…the Vatican’s investigation of women religious with U.S. Catholic’s special section:
http://www.uscatholic.org/womenreligious
…the Lutheran Church’s “Stand for Welcome” campaign for immigration reform:
http://www.lirs.org/site/c.nhLPJ0PMKuG/b.5542979/k.846E/Stand_for_Welcome_Campaign.htm
…St. Luke’s Gospel with resources from Loyola Press:
http://www.loyolapress.com/articles-about-the-gospel-of-luke.htm
…Paulist Press’s new lectio divina Catholic bible:
http://www.paulistpress.com/lectio_divina.shtml

LISTEN TO…
…this week’s edition of American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=304
…Matthew Kelly’s views on parents as leaders:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2010/1/12_Parents%3A_Are_You_Leaders_(Matthew_Kelly).html
…Krista Tippet’s Speaking of Faith interview with a former radical Islamist:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2010/former-islamist-extremist/
…how the “forgotten books” of the New Testament shaped early Christianity:
http://wjkradio.wjkbooks.com/2009/12/wjk-radio-11-lee-mcdonald-on-the-forgotten-scriptures-of-early-christianity.html

CONSIDER…
Beliefnet’s ten ways to make peace on earth:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/2008/09/10-Ways-to-Bring-Peace-to-the-World.aspx
…Patrick McCormick’s U.S. Catholic review of Avatar:
http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/art-and-reviews/movie-reviews/2010/01/fighting-blue-sad-tale-avatar
…how Catholics struggle with mental illness and the church’s response:
http://www.uscatholic.org/node/5811
...the possibility for common ground on abortion:
http://pewforum.org/news/rss.php?NewsID=19481
…Sandro Magister’s comments on the Pope’s address to diplomats:
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1341681?eng=y
…Friar Jack’s perspective on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=25

READ…
…how the eco-skeptics are “spinning” Pope Benedict’s environment message:
http://ncronline.org/news/ecology/eco-skeptics-put-spin-benedicts-message
Peter M. J. Stravinskas’s defense of the new Roman Missal:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12097
…the latest Christophers News Notes, “Stand Up for Life”:
http://www.christophers.org/Page.aspx?pid=1094
Ekklesia’s efforts to envision a positive secularity:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/4860
…David Gibson’s analysis of the crisis in Jewish-Catholic relations:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/15/the-jewish-catholic-crisis-how-bad-is-it-and-why/
…Charlotte Allen’s perspective on the "death of dissent":
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704586504574654282563939764-lMyQjAxMTAwMDEwNTExNDUyWj.html

WORTH QUOTING...
"
…To what kind of God can one pray in such circumstances?  Only to that God who, as St. Paul wrote, “spared not his own Son” the pain of the cry of why. If he gave his Son to die for us, Paul argues, it is impossible that he should refuse us anything that will help or bless us, since he has nothing he values more than His Son (cf. Romans 8, 32). I do not want an explanation for why this God allows these tragedies to happen. An explanation would reduce the pain and suffering to an inability to understand, a failure of intelligence so to peak. I can only accept a God who “co-suffers” with me. Such is the God of the Christian faith.  But faith or no faith, Christian or not, our humanity demands that the question “why” not be suppressed, but that it be allowed to guide our response to everything that happens. This is the only way to a possible redemption of our humanity."
--
Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete, commenting on the earthquake in Haiti on America magazine’s blog at
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=53156969-3048-741E-8444699973070021

•   •   •

Online This Week
January 10-16, 2010

START THE NEW YEAR…
…by finding your own way to pray:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC.aspx

…with a prayer for the new year:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/?ct=store.details&pid=MM-CEN-0010
…using Explorefaith’s suggestions on learning to be still:
http://www.explorefaith.org/livingspiritually/being_still/index.php
…with Loyola Press’s 30-day “learn to pause” strategy:
http://www.loyolapress.com/learn-to-pause-in-the-new-year.htm
…by taking time to “re-think”:
http://www.spirituality.org/is/174/01.asp

…reflecting on Catholic Relief Services’ “Year in Photos”:
http://www.crs.org/united-states/2009-in-photos/

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22444354-gospel-for-sunday-january-10th-2010.html
…Fr. Michael Himes’ presentation, “A Future Full of Hope”:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html
…a Catholic Focus segment on Eastern Catholic churches:
http://www.saltandlighttv.org/prog_slprog_focus.html
…a reflection on winter:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/?ct=store.details&pid=MB-HYP-0004

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
… the Church in Latin America:
http://www.usccb.org/latinamerica/
…the U.S. bishops’ campaign for immigration reform:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-003.shtml

CHECK OUT…
…”Pray Tell,” a new liturgical blog from St. John’s Abbey:
http://www.praytellblog.com/
…the Pew Forum’s ranking of how "religious" the states are:
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=504

CONSIDER…
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/united-states/prayer-lines-1001/
BustedHalo’s evaluation of the spiritual impact of famous people who died in 2009:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/faithful_departed
…Fr. John R. Barker’s overview of the Gospel of Luke:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jan2010/Feature2.asp
…Frank Schaeffer’s critique of the “Left Behind” craze:
http://killingthebuddha.com/mag/dogma/spaceship-jesus-will-come-back-and-whisk-us-away/
…the life-force behind Handel’s music:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/348yjpcs.asp

THINK MORE ABOUT…
… Michael Sean Winters’ suggestions for a more visible collegiality:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12092
…the key to peace in the Middle East:
http://www.caritas.org/activities/peace_reconciliation/PeaceMiddleEast.html
…Charles Morris’ evaluation of health care reform:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/modest-miracle
…Katherine Marshall’s thoughts on the connection between charity and the common good:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2010/01/charity_a_mosaic_for_today.html

STRETCH A BIT…
…with Mark Jordan’s perspective on ‘tradition’:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religionandtheology/2165/%E2%80%98traditional%E2%80%99_christianity_vs._%E2%80%98liberals%E2%80%99_it%E2%80%99s_not_that_simple

LISTEN TO…
…an NCR pod cast with Fr. George Coyne, director of the Vatican Observatory:
http://ncronline.org/taxonomy/term/178
…this week’s American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=303
…Fr. Greg Friedman’s “Sunday Soundbite”:
http://franciscanradio.org/SundaySoundbites/sundaysoundbite.asp?LectNum=21&cycle=C
…Vatican Radio’s report on “The Great Schism”:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=345401

READ…
…this month’s Catholic Update on “The Holy Family”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/preview.aspx?id=233
…Fr. John Kavanaugh’s impressions of how the last decade has changed our society:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12091
…Sr. Sandra Schneider’s perspective on the diversity among women religious:
http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2009/11/sisters-mercy-arent-mcdonalds
...an excerpt from Merold Westphal's Whose Community? Which Interpretation?
http://www.bakeracademic.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780801031472.pdf

WORTH QUOTING...
 "...All isolation is ice-olation,
    frigid to human flesh,
    cold and lifeless to the touch,
    untrue to our most basic unity, community.
 And whenever I act single-handedly,
    apart from an awareness of my sisters and brothers,
    I become a deformed, divine disciple.
 And tribeless, O God, how can I tread the path
    that you have designed as companion course?
 Ah, the wisdom, so divine,
    in your Genesis words,
    spoken to perfectly made, fully automated Adam,
 
'It is not good for one to be alone.'"
 -- Fr. Edward Hayes on his Spiritual Reflections blog at
 http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/psalm-icy-awareness

•   •   •

Online This Week
January 3-9,
2010

CELEBRATE...the new year
a guide to personal prayer:
http://www.loyolapress.com/personal-prayer-life.htm
...
Spirituality & Practice's 21-day online e-course on how to change personal habits and routines:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=89&key=sp

...U.S. Catholic's suggestions on how to "stretch your soul," one day at a time:
http://www.uscatholic.org/life/2008/12/new-year-new-you?page=0%2C0
Beliefnet’s “10 ways meditation can transform your life”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/2009/11/Ways-Meditation-Can-Transform-Your-Life.aspx
…tips on how to discern what God desires:
http://www.loyolapress.com/discernment-making-inspired-choices.htm
…Fr. Nicholas Ayo’s introduction to Patterns of Prayer:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=134782233651&ref=mf
...the 50 best spiritual books of 2009:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/features.php?id=19213

WATCH...
...a video presentation of this Sunday's Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/2244454-gospel-for-the-solemnity-of-the-
epiphany-of-the-lord-2010.html

...the Vatican Report's summary of the past year:

http://www.h2onews.org/english.html

...the Frontline public television series, "From Jesus to Christ":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/watch/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=proglist&utm_source=proglist
...excerpts from the Independent Lens presentation, "Scenes from a Parish":
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/scenes-from-a-parish/film.html

CONSIDER…
...what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/united-states/prayerlines-12-27/

CHECK OUT...these i-Pod applications
...for the Liturgy of the Hours:
http://www.cultofmac.com/ibreviary-prayers-for-iphone-ipod-touch/4936
...for the Rosary:
http://www.opicury.com/

...for a directory of Catholic churches in the U.S.:
http://www.catholicweb.com/media_index.cfm?fuseaction=view_article&partnerid=56&article_id=4152

THINK MORE ABOUT...
...the spirituality of science:
http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scientific-investigation-spirituality
...the changing face of the church in America:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC/preview.aspx?id=223
...possibilities for a more just economic system:
http://www.otherworldsarepossible.org/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT...
...the Foundation for the Sacred Arts:
http://www.thesacredarts.org/
…survival tips for family care-givers:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/Health-Support/How-to-Care-for-a-Difficult-Relative.aspx

REGISTER NOW
...for Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association's winter on-line courses, "Spiritual Grandparenting" (not for grandparents only) and "Biblical Spirituality."
http://www.pncea.org/store/index.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=68

LISTEN TO…
…Krista Tippet's Speaking of Faith interview with Jean Vanier, the founder of l'Arche communities:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/wisdom-of-tenderness/
...a Speaking of Faith segment on varieties of prayer:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/approaching-prayer/

READ...     
...Pope Benedict's letter to the international conference "God Today" Dec. 11-13 in Rome:
http://www.zenit.org/article-27811?l=english          
...Sr. Sandra Schneiders' five-part essay, "Religious Life As Prophetic Lifeform":
http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/schneiders-explore-meaning-religious-life-today
…Cardinal Camillo Ruini’s speech, “A Positive Secularism for the Future”:
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1340010?eng=y
...John Allen's list of the ten biggest Vatican stories of the decade:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/biggest-vatican-stories-decade
…Rich Heffren’s review of Robert Wick’s book, Bounce:
http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/make-difference-world-being-resilient
...John Haldane's review of John Cuttingham's Why Believe?:
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/review/478

...a two-part interview with Christopher West about the theology of the body:
http://www.zenit.org/article-27657?l=english
http://www.zenit.org/article-27660?l=english

WORTH QUOTING THIS WEEK...
“It should be evident that the ecological crisis cannot be viewed in isolation from other related questions. . . Prudence would thus dictate a profound, long-term review of our model of development, one which would take into consideration the meaning of the economy and its goals with an eye to correcting its malfunctions and misapplications. . . Our present crises – be they economic, food-related, environmental or social – are ultimately also moral crises, and all of them are interrelated. They require us to rethink the path which we are traveling together. Specifically, they call for a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity, with new rules and forms of engagement, one which focuses confidently and courageously on strategies that actually work, while rejecting those that have failed.
-- Pope Benedict XVI. Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, #5.
Text at:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20091208_xliii-world-day-peace_en.html

Excerpts at:
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/worlddayofpeace-quotes-website.shtml

•   •   •

Online This Week
December 20-26, 2009

CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS...
…reflection on the Nativity from the editors of America:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12058&comments=1#readerscomments
…the festival of lessons and carols from King’s College London:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/december-18-2009/festival-of-lessons-and-carols/5267/
…Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s perspective on chastity and Christmas:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/

…Mahalia Jackson’s interpretation of “Silent Night”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QGj2xgnN8A&feature=related
…a monk’s reflection on not-so-happy family Christmases:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/monks-and-trees/
…a Catholic Radio segment on St. Francis and the Christmas crib:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=301
…Fr. Richard Rohr’s thoughts on “the eternal Christ in the Cosmic story”:
http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/eternal-christ-cosmic-story
…Fr. Ed Hays’ reflection, “Too Wondrously Incredible”:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/too-wondrously-incredible
…Robert Watson’s homily, “Understanding the Incarnation”:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/christmas/understanding_the_incarnation.php
…Barack Hardley’s video reflection:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/?ct=store.details&pid=MM-EIG-0002
…”Songs in Waiting,” a selection of Middle Eastern canticles:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/christmas/songs_in_waiting/index.php
…the origins of December 25:
http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/christmas.asp

…the story of a popular medieval Christmas hymn, “Angelus ad Virginem”:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=342873
…contemplating a "feminine Incarnation":
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/12/15/contemplating-feminine-incarnation/
...tips from U.S. Catholic on how to have a (fairly) happy family holiday:
http://www.uscatholic.org/life/2009/11/twas-fight-christmas
…Anne Robinson’s reflections on grieving during the holidays:
http://www.explorefaith.org/lifeissues/challenges_to_wholeness/holiday_stress/grief_during_the_holidays.php

WATCH...
…the video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/224411-gospel-for-sunday-december-20th-2009.html
...a video about the homeless in Des Moines:
http://www.youtube.com/user/soundslikesouth1#p/u/6/RuAKSy-AJ14
…a Boston College C21 webcast on “Sex and the Spirit”:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html

CONSIDER…
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/zimbabwe/prayer-lines-12-13/
…images from the “Sacred Made Real” exhibit at Britain’s National Gallery of Art:
http://www.nga.gov/press/exh/2871/images.shtm

REGISTER NOW...
...for the University of Notre Dame Satellite Theological Education Program's winter online courses:
https://shop.nd.edu/C21688_ustores/web/store_main.jsp?STOREID=19&SINGLESTORE=true

LISTEN TO…
…an interview with Fr. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1136
…Fr. Dave Dwyer’s take on upcoming changes in the Mass:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/videoandaudio/whoa-whoa-whoa-changes-to-the-mass/

READ...               
…Archbishop Migliore’s intervention at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference:
http://www.holyseemission.org/17Dec2009.html
…survivors’ stories from the 2007 Asian tsunami:
http://www.crs.org/india/tsunami-survivor-stories/
…Frederic Brussat’s review of Avatar:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=19534
...the transcript of a 1989 audience between Pope John Paul II and the Soviet Union's
Mikhail Gorbachev:
http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/inside-the-john-paul-ii-gorbachev-meeting/
… Friar Jack’s take on Peter, “the failure only Jesus could love”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=23
…Rich Heffren’s review of Fr. Richard Rohr’s new book, The Naked Now:
http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/reality%E2%80%99s-clash-contradictions

WORTH QUOTING...
“Behold, dear friends, what true joy consists in: It is feeling that our personal and communal existence is visited and filled by a great mystery, the mystery of God's love. To be joyful we do not just have need of things, but love and truth: We need a God who is near, who warms our heart, and responds to our profound desires. This God is manifested in Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary. This is why that Baby, whom we place in the stable or the cave, is the center of everything, the heart of the world. Let us pray that every person, like the Virgin Mary, may welcome into the center of their lives the God who became a Child, font of true joy.”
--Pope Benedict XVI's remarks before the Angeles Prayer, Dec. 13.
http://www.zenit.org/article-27827?l=english

•   •   •

Online This Week
December 13-19, 2009

PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS…
…with Fr. James Martin’s reflection on John the Baptist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skf6X0IrtuI&feature=player_embedded
…video of a (different) Christmas prayer:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/?ct=store.details&pid=MM-FLO-0039
...Helen Siegl's Advent mosaic:
http://www.gratefulness.org/calendar/advent_mosaic.htm
…Vatican Radio’s reflection on the Advent O-Antiphons:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=340956
…articles from U.S. Catholic magazine:
http://www.uscatholic.org/2009-advent-section

CATCH UP WITH…the Copenhagen Climate Conference
…Catholic Climate Covenant update:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5256/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1109789&t=
...the Vatican's role:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8LID2v7P2c
…updates from the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns:
http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=6eb379bed1d769d3f0142d581&id=d494bc924a&e=70f4eb613c
…video appeals for climate justice:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/12/03/climate-justice-clips-countdown-to-copenhagen-day-5/
…the Caritas International blog:
http://blog.caritas.org/category/climate-change/copenhagen-summit/
...The European Jesuits' blog:
http://ignatianeconet.wordpress.com/
…Krista Tippet’s interview with Bill McKibben:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/moral-math/

AND…the President’s Afghanistan decision
…Catholic News Service: “Catholics hopeful, dejected”
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0905331.htm
...Tom Heneghan: "Nobel Theology Prize"
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/12/10/thoughts-on-obamas-nobel-theology-prize-speech/
...Fr. John Deer: "Our New War President"
http://ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/our-new-war-president
…David Gibson: “Of Niebuhr and Nobels”:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/12/of-niebuhr-and-nobels-divining-obamas-theology/
…Jim Wallis: “A New Approach—This Isn’t It”
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/12/02/we-needed-a-new-approach-in-afghanistan-and-this-isn%E2%80%99t-it/

REMEMBER...
...Thomas Merton with Br. David Steindl-Rast's reflection:
http://www.gratefulness.org/readings/dsr_merton-crack1.htm#

WATCH...
…the video presentation of this week’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/english/50-gospel/22489-gospel-for-sunday-december-13th-2009.html
…Benita’s story, the latest segment in BustedHalo’s "Busted Borders" series:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-borders-benita-mexico-video-1/
...the history of the church--in four minutes:
http://catholicfaitheducation.blogspot.com/2009/12/church-history-in-4-minutes.html

REFLECT ON...
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/philippines/prayer-lines-12-7/
...the "Round Dance of the Angels":
http://www.gratefulness.org/angels/fra_angelico/Vigils.html
...a music video, "One Pair of Hands"
http://catholicfaitheducation.blogspot.com/2009/11/one-pair-of-hands-video.html
Beliefnet’s Hanukkah reflections:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/Hanukkah/Hanukkah-How-to-Create-Hope-and-Light.aspx

SUBSCRIBE...
...to a weekly reflection from the Thomas Merton Center for Contemplative Living:
https://www.mertoninstitute.org/weekly_reflections.php

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT...
...John Henry Newman:
http://www.newmanstudiesinstitute.org/

CONSIDER…
…Catholic Relief Services’ year-end appeal:
C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Local Settings\Temp\fcctemp\Attach0 4.htm
…Beliefnet’s suggestions for a “Christmas Without Cash”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/2008/12/Christmas-Without-Cash.aspx
…the Pew Center’s latest report on American religion:
http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=490

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS…
…about this bishop’s proposal to solve the priest shortage:
http://www.uscatholic.org/ordainelders

READ...
…the U.S. bishops’ reaction to the Senate’s action on health care reform this week:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-256.shtml
…the Pope’s Wednesday catechesis on Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20091209_en.html
...an excerpt from Scott Hann's book on Pope Benedict's approach to Scripture:
http://www.brazospress.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9781587432699.pdf
…Cardinal Mahoney’s appeal for immigrant health care:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/opinion/08mahony.html?_r=3&th&emc=th
…an NCR Editorial on the bishops’ role in the health care debate:
http://ncronline.org/news/bishops-spotlight-return-culture-wars
…Sally Cunneen's posthumous article on Mary’s role in the early church:
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/maximus%E2%80%99s-mary

WORTH QUOTING...

"Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light. To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!"

-- Henri Nouwen

•   •   •

Online This Week
December 6-12, 2009

CELEBRATEthe Feast of St. Nicholas
…with a St. Nicholas Day e-greeting:
http://www.catholicgreetings.org/Create.asp?card=592
…a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly segment on the St. Nicholas tradition:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/december-4-2009/saint-nicholas-tradition/5147/

PREPARE FORChristmas
…with an inspirational video from Catholic Media House:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-STE-0038
…Advent prayers from Explorefaith.org:
http://www.explorefaith.org/prayer/prayer/prayers_for_living/advent_prayers.php
…“Prepare Ye the Way” from John Angotti's Welcome Home for Christmas:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/hifwkT
…inspiring gifts they won’t return:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/2008/12/Inspirational-Gifts.aspx
…and alternative gifts from Catholic Relief Services, Work of Human Hands and SERRV International:
http://gifts.crs.org/
http://www.crsfairtrade.org/crafts/buy-handcrafts/
http://www.serrv.org/

WATCH...
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22341:gospel-for-sunday-december-6th-2009&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
…the opening of this year’s National Catholic Youth Conference with John Angotti:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/pfjX4U
...a video about Mother Theresa's last day of life:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=29c2afe9cae03f197568
…Kim Lawton’s interview with ethicist John Carlson on the moral implications of the President’s Afghanistan strategy:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/december-4-2009/john-carlson-extended-interview/5174/

FIND OUT…
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/el-salvador/prayer-lines-11-30/
…how to raise tolerant children:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/Family-Values-Toolkit/Family-Values-Tolerance.aspx

LISTEN TO…
…a pastor’s suggestion for the new Roman Missal:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1135
…testimonies from the Mary’s Touch radio program:
http://www.marystouch.org/
…Henri Nouwen’s thoughts on living and dying well:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/11/27_Dying_Well_(Rebecca_Laird).html\

THINK AGAIN ABOUT…
…the spiritual value of being on time:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-17-being-on-time/
…the end of the world:
http://www.americancatholic.org/community/editorial.aspx?id=40
…and what happens to animals when they die:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=22

REFLECT ON…
…Jackie Francois’s new song, “My Soul Rejoices”:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/AOmviE

READ...
...Pope Benedict's Nov. 22 address to artists:
http://www.zenit.org/article-27631?l=english
...Brian Cones’ suggestion for the culture wars ("Use Your Church Voice"):
http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/2009/10/use-your-inside-voice
...a Franciscan perspective on jobs and unemployment:
http://www.franciscanaction.org/Upload_Module/upload/2009-11-25_I%20Still%20Desire%20to%20Work_Couturier.pdf
…David Cortright’s perspective on the war in Afghanistan:
http://peacepolicy.nd.edu/2009/10/01/is-afghanistan-good-war/
...an interview with David Clayton on the connection between liturgy, beauty and truth:
http://www.zenit.org/article-27718?l=english
…Fr. John Haught’s perspective on Charles Darwin:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/11/darwin
_god_and_the_drama_of_life.html#more

WORTH QUOTING…
"High are the walls that guard the old,
the tried and secure ways of yesterday
that protect me from the dreaded plague,
the feared heresy of change.

"For all change is a danger to the trusted order,
the threadbare traditions that are maintained
by the narrow ruts of rituals.

"Yet how can an everlastingly new covenant
retain its freshness and vitality
without injections of the new,
the daring, the untried?

"Come, O you who are ever-new,
wrap my heart in new skin,
ever flexible to be reformed by your Spirit.

"Set my feet to fresh paths this day:
inspire me to speak original and life-giving words
and to creatively give shape to the new.

"Come and teach me how to dance with delight
whenever you send a new melody my way."

-- Fr. Ed Hayes in his NCRonline blog at:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/psalm-new-wineskins

•   •   •

Online This Week
November 28-December 5, 2009

PREPARE FOR CHRISTMAS…
…with resources from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
http://www.usccb.org/advent/index.shtml
…resources from American Catholic:
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/advent.aspx
…resources from ExploreFaith.org:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/advent/index.php
BustedHalo’s Advent Surprise Calendar:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/advent-calendar-2009/
…an Advent essay on listening:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=337684
…A daily three-minute retreat:
http://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreats-daily-online-prayer.htm
…and suggestions for alternative celebrations:
http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
http://www.rethinkingchristmas.com/

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22173:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
…a Vatican Report on Pope Benedict’s Wednesday audiences:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22172&Itemid=14
…A Religion and Ethics Newsweekly report on hunger in the U.S.:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/november-27-2009/u-s-hunger-on-the-rise/5117/
…a video tour of Thomas Merton’s heritage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgeOzL1h6Lk&feature=PlayList&p=26E66B3A45F3ABBA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5
…the spirituality of Catherine Doherty:
http://www.saltandlighttv.org/prog_slprog_focus0907_doherty.html

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
… what the Church teaches about the end of the world:
http://www.osv.com/Portals/0/images/pdf/120609InFocus.pdf
… the Pope’s Wednesday audiences:
http://catechesisofthepopes.wikispaces.com/
…Catholic authors:
http://www.catholicauthors.com/

EXPRESS YOUR OPINION…
…about the bishops and immigration reform:
http://www.uscatholic.org/immigration

CHECK OUT…
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/rwanda/prayer-lines-11-23/
American Catholic’s calendar of December saints:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/bydate.aspx

LISTEN TO…
…An NCR podcast on gratitude with Br. David Steindl-Rast:
http://ncronline.org/taxonomy/term/178
…an interview with Amy Uelman about Focolare:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1132
Spirituality for Today’s “Prayer for the Laity”:
http://www.spirituality.org/
…”Fourth Wall Falling” by Clare Hagan:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/FIuzlF

THINK MORE ABOUT…
…the “right war gone wrong” in Afghanistan:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/november-20-2009/the-right-war-gone-wrong/5104/
…the deaths of the Jesuit missionaries in El Salvador, twenty years later:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/international/2038/massacre_of_jesuits_in_el_salvador%3A_20_years_later
…Fr. Ed Hay’s thoughts about “continuous communion”:

http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/continuous-communion

…David Bruce’s “Hollywood Jesus” review of New Moon:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movieDetail.cfm/i/BB0216E7-BE4E-CBE2-46C6976A30013E81/a/4
…what The Twilight Saga says about people’s spiritual journey:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2009/11/Twilight-Lesson.aspx

READ…
…Pope Benedict’s speech to artists:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20091121_artisti_en.html
…David Gibson’s commentary on the U.S. Catholic bishops:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/22/catholic-bishops-look-to-get-their-house-in-order/
... Richard Gaillardetz's review of John Allen's The Future Church:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12023
…”How Losing My Faith Led Me to God”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/how-losing-my-faith-led-me-to-god/
…Frances Murphy’s essay on faith and evolution, “Made in the Image of God”:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091126_1.htm

WORTH QUOTING...
“I think sometimes it's a lot easier to believe that Jesus is present in the bread and wine than to believe that Jesus is present in you or me or the person next to us, isn't it? It doesn't take much, but it doesn't cost any effort really, to say, ‘Yes, I believe Jesus is present,’ but to look at your brother or sister here in this church or in your neighborhood or anywhere and say, ’Yes, this is the very image of God in this person,’ and to love that person and refuse to do anything to hurt that person, that's the challenge.”
--Retired Bishop Thomas Gumbleton in “The Peace Pulpit” on NCROnline at
http://ncronline.org/blogs/peace-pulpit/very-image-god

•   •   •

Online This Week
November 22-28, 2009

CELEBRATEThanksgiving
…with a table prayer from American Catholic:
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/thanksgiving/prayers.asp
… a thanksgiving segment from American Catholic Radio:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=296
BustedHalo’s “Gratitude List”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-16-the-gratitude-list/
…an inspirational Thanksgiving video:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-STE-0037
…a Thanksgiving song:
http://pray.nd.edu/

CATCH UPon the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting
…reports from the USCCB:
http://www.usccb.org/meetings/2009Fall/
…text of Cardinal George’s opening address:
http://www.usccb.org/meetings/2009Fall/president_address.shtml
…text of the pastoral letter, Marriage—Love and Life in the Divine Plan:
http://www.usccb.org/laity/LoveandLife/MarriageFINAL.pdf

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22053&Itemid=14
…presentations on T.S. Eliot, Simone Weil, C.S. Lewis and others from Notre Dame’s fall 2009 Catholic Culture series:
http://ethicscenter.nd.edu/discussions/index.shtml

REFLECT ON…
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/sudan/prayerlines-11-16/

THINK AGAIN…
…about BustedHalo’s guide to the health care reform debate:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/health-care-reform-and-catholicism-revisited/
…about Katherine Marshall’s perspective on faith and farming:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/11/were_seeing_many_calls_to.html#more

FIND OUT MORE…
…about how Afghan women support their families by joining self-help groups sponsored by Catholic Relief Services:
http://www.crs.org/afghanistan/self-help-groups/
…results of a new study of clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/18/new-catholic-sex-abuse-findings-gay-priests-not-the-problem/
…what happened to Liberation Theology:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10625

EXPLORE…
…”The Heart of Prayer,” the Christophers’ latest newsnote:
http://www.christophers.org/Page.aspx?pid=1075
…Dr. Edward Peter’s website about Canon Law:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6707659.html?nid=2287&source=title&rid=16791584
Publisher’s Weekly’s Catholic bestsellers for November:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6707659.html?nid=2287&source=title&rid=16791584

REGISTER FOR…
…Boston College’s C21 two-week online course, “Encountering Jesus in Scripture”:
http://www.bc.edu/sites/c21online/Encountering%20Jesus.htm

LISTEN TO…
…An America magazine interview with Sr. Doris Gottemoeller on the Vatican’s investigation of women religious in the United States:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1129
…an interview with Linda Douty, author of
How Can I see the Light When It Is So Dark? Journey to a Thankful Heart:
http://www.explorefaith.org/livingspiritually/a_thankful_life/how_can_i_see_the_light.php
…”The Call” from William Lee Ellis’ album, God’s Tatoos:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/music/grace_notes/hearing_gods_call.php
…”What Child Is This” from John Angotti’s new album, Welcome Home for Christmas:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/MLatS4

READ…
…An America magazine symposium on Pope Benedict’s encyclical, “Charity in Truth”:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12021
…Fr. Ronald Rolheiser’s current column on learning to respect other opinions in a polarized world:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
…a chapter from Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa’s Beatitudes—Eight Steps to Happiness:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=T16922&ref=1&sample=Chapter&page=1

WORTH QUOTING…
“[A] virtue of the Gothic cathedrals consists in the fact that the entire Christian and civil community participated in their construction and decoration, in different but complementary ways: the lowly and the powerful, the illiterate and the educated all participated, because in this shared house all believers were instructed in the faith. Gothic sculpture made the cathedrals a "Bible in stone," representing the episodes of the Gospel and illustrating the contents of the liturgical year, from the Nativity to the Glorification of the Lord….  We can better understand the meaning that was attributed to a Gothic cathedral by considering the text of the inscription carved on the central doorway of Saint-Denis, in Paris: ‘Passer-by, you who wish to praise the beauty of these doors, do not be dazzled by the gold, nor by the magnificence, but rather by the painstaking labor. Here shines a famous work, but may heaven grant that this famous and shining work give splendor to souls, so that with the luminous truths they may walk toward the light, where Christ is the true door.’”
-- Pope Benedict XVI, Weekly Wednesday Audience, Nov. 18, 2009.
 

•   •   •

Online This Week
November 15-21, 2009

PREPAREfor Advent:
…subscribe to Loyola Press’ online Advent retreat:
http://www.loyolapress.com/online-advent-retreat.htm
…listen to “We Await You Lord” from John Angotti’s new album, Welcome Christmas:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/o9iqBa
…read “The Face of Hope” from Fr. Daniel Harrington’s new book, Daily Reflections for Advent 2009:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=B16918&ref=3&sample=Chapter&page=1

STAY IN TOUCHwith the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting
…live streaming on Telecare:
http://www.telecaretv.org/
…updates on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/usccb
…official texts of conference statements:
http://www.usccb.org/meetings/2008Fall/statement_president.shtml
…posts on the U.S. bishops conference blog:
http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21798&Itemid=14
…a webcast of Fr. Michael Himes’s Boston College presentation, “A Future Full of Hope”:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html  > type “future full of hope” into the search box
…a virtual tour of St. John Lateran Basilica:
http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/san_giovanni/vr_tour/index-en.html
…a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly report on Muslims in the military:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/november-13-2009/muslims-in-the-military/4949/

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
…the controversial Stupak amendment to the House of Representative’s bill on health care reform:
http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/11/bart-stupak-who-just-might-have-saved-health-care-reform-and/

…the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s annual appeal, “Families are Hurting, Faith is Calling”:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-211.shtml
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=295
…how to deal with fears and funks with the “Welcoming Prayer”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-15-the-welcoming-prayer/
…why married Anglican priests will remain an exception to the rule:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0905047.htm

CHECK OUT…
…a review of R. Crumb’s comic version of the Book of Genesis:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/culture.cfm?cultureid=74
…Friar Jack’s take on where God is when we need Him [sic]:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=21
…this month’s Every Day Catholic newsletter on mental illness and depression:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC.aspx
Beliefnet’s tips for how to discover wonder and awe:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/10/How-To-Have-An-Awesome-Life.aspx
…Sr. Sandra Schneider’s essay on the foundation of women’s ministerial religious life today:
http://ncronline.org/news/discerning-ministerial-religious-life-today

LISTEN TO…
… Sr. Doris Gottemoeller’s suggestions for the Vatican’s visitation of women religious:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1129
…Krista Tippet’s interview with “the happiest man in the world”:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/
…a Christopher Closeup podcast with songwriter Paige Armstrong:
http://www.christophers.org/Page.aspx?pid=740
…football coach Lou Holtz’s reflections on how faith has shaped his career:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/11/9_Gameplan_for_Faith_(Lou_Holtz).html
…(or read) Mary C. Earle’s daily reflections for people living with illness:
http://www.explorefaith.org/lifeissues/challenges_to_wholeness/days_of_grace/meditations_one.php
…U-2’s “Jesus Christ”:
http://www.4marks.com/videos/details.html?video_id=2151

READ…
Fr. James Martin’s blog, “What Should a Gay Catholic Do?”
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=81913739-3048-741E-5405178212524077
…Christopher Lasch’s Boston College address, “Reflections on Catholic Teaching”:
http://issuu.com/church21c/docs/michael_buckley_celebration
…Dr. Christine Whelan’s perspective on the “hook up” culture:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/pure-sex-pure-love-100-defining-the-hook-up-culture/
…Fr. John O'Malley's review of John Allen's new book, The Future Church:
http://ncronline.org/node/15634

…a Thinking Faith essay on “Faith in the Workplace”:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091113_1.htm

WORTH QUOTING…
The reign of God isn't a place; we can't think of it as a place. It's our relationship to God and how God enters deeply into our life, how God is effective in my life right now. We need only to open ourselves to God, follow the way of Jesus, and we're within God's reign, that relationship that beings to bring to us the fullness of God's life. So that's why these beatitudes are so marvelous. If we live gently, nurturing others, not trying to dominate, then too the reign of God is ours. We hunger and thirst for justice. We try to make sure that everyone has a full human life, they have everything they need for that full human life."
--Bishop Thomas Gumbleton in “The Peace Pulpit” blog at
http://ncronline.org/blogs/peace-pulpit/were-bound-together-one-communion

•   •   •

Online This Week
November 8-14, 2001

GET READY FOR…Advent
…November’s Catholic Update, “A Season of Surprises”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU.aspx
…John Angotti’s “We Await Your Lord” from his new album, Welcome Home for Christmas:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/o9iqBa
Beliefnet’s “Ten Ways to Donate this Christmas:”
http://www.xt3.com/library/view.php?id=826&categoryId=24
…“Easy ways to make a difference:”
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/412790/easy_ways_to_make_a_difference_
at_christmas.html?cat=46

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21639:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
…a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly segment on the Church’s role in the fall of the Berlin wall:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/november-6-2009/the-church-and-the-fall-of-the-wall/4842/

CATCH UP ON…the health care reform debate
…the U.S. bishops’ letter to Congress:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-228.shtml
…a bulletin insert from the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/hc-bulletin-insert-10-23-09-final.pdf
…an interview with ethicist Daniel Callahan on the common good:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/november-6-2009/health-care-and-the-common-good/4848/
…when bigger is better:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2687
…an editorial in St. Anthony Messenger magazine:
http://www.americancatholic.org/community/editorial.aspx?id=30
…some thoughts from BustedHalo’s Phil Fox Rose:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/health-care-reform-and-catholicism-revisited/

MAKE TIME…
…for “Living the Eucharist,” an online retreat from Catholics on Call:
http://www.catholicsoncall.org/programs/onlineRetreat/living-the-eucharist-week-one

REFLECT ON…
…What the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/ethiopia/prayer-lines-11-2/
…an All Souls Day video:
http://pray.nd.edu/
…”Driftless—Stories from Iowa” and other photo essays in a new series In Our Own Backyard co-sponsored by Catholic Charities USA:
http://americanpoverty.org/photoessay/index.html
…”What Now?” a reflection on the Dismissal Rite:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-CEN-0007
…heaven, hell and purgatory:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20091102_1.htm

THINK  MORE ABOUTScience and Religion
…resources from the Pew Forum:
http://www.pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=470
…John Haught’s review of Galileo Goes to Jail:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11974

LISTEN TO…
…Fr. Kevin Burke’s discussion of the American missionaries killed in El Salvador in 1989:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1127
…"Music from the Vatican," featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtfqFMnd9GY
…Krista Tibbet’s interview with author Karen Armstrong:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/armstrong/

REGISTER NOW...
... for Spirituality & Practice's 40-day e-course, "Practicing Spirituality with Joyce Rupp":
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=88&key=sp

READ…
…Pope Benedict’s ideas about theological discussion:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0904900.htm
…John L. Allen’s perceptions about the emerging generation of Catholic leaders who are charting a middle-course between “Catholicism-Lite”  and “Taliban Catholicism”:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/next-generation-catholic-leaders
...the California bishops’ support for women religious:
http://ncronline.org/news/women/california-bishops-offer-support-us-women-religious
…Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s column on discipleship’s ultimate test:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
…a chapter from Fr. Leonard Foley’s Believing in Jesus:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=B16939&ref=1&sample=Chapter&page=1
…a U.S. Catholic interview with liturgy expert Fr. Robert Taft SJ:
http://www.uscatholic.org/church/prayer-and-sacraments/2009/11/mass-instruction-fr-robert-taft-liturgical-reform

WORTH QUOTING…
In the south of Thailand some years ago, a famous abbot was building a new hall in his forest monastery. When the Rains Retreat came, he stopped all work and sent the builders home…. 

"A few days later a visitor came, saw the half-constructed building and asked the abbot when his hall would be finished.

"Without hesitation, the old monk said, 'The hall is finished.'

"'What do you mean, "The hall is finished?"' the visitor replied, taken aback. 'It hasn't got a roof. There are no doors or windows. There are pieces of wood and cement bags all over the place….' 

"The old abbot smiled and gently replied, 'What's done is finished,' and then went away to meditate."
— Ajahn Brahm in Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? quoted in the Spirituality & Practice newsletter.

 

•   •   •

Online This Week
November 1-7, 2009

CELEBRATE...The Feasts of All Saints and Souls
...with a video from James Martin SJ
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/the-saints-on-halloween/
...music from American Routes:
http://americanroutes.publicradio.org/
…and a report from Vatican Radio:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=330359

WATCH…
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21439&Itemid=14
…a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly profile of a Benedictine monastery in Atchison, Kansas:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/october-30-2009/the-monastic-life/4760/
… a video report on the icon which has been selected as the official symbol of the Year for Priests:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGVsjNCi1bc&feature=player_embedded=

CONTEMPLATE...
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/india/prayerlines-10-25/
...words and images from Stephen Behren's Planet of Grace:
http://www.actapublications.com/images/small/actaPlanetGrace.pdf
…a thought-provoking video, “Mother Teresa—The Exchange”:
http://www.4marks.com/videos/details.html?video_id=2098

THINK ABOUT…
“Viewing America Through Michael Jackson,” BustedHalo’s conversation on celebrity, race and pedophilia:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/viewing-america-through-michael-jackson/

LEARN MORE ABOUT…
...church history:
http://www.explorechurchhistory.com/
…another impending natural disaster in East Africa:
http://www.crs.org/ethiopia/drought-to-floods/
…how to teach kids to be honest:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/Family-Values-Toolkit/How-Kids-Learn-Honesty.aspx

LISTEN TO...
…“You Have Made All Things New,” from Sr.
Kathleen Deignan's, album The Gift:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/x3shHW
…an interview with Robert Ellsberg, editor of The Duty of Delight--The Diaries of Dorothy Day:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1126
…an interview with Fr. Thomas Morrow, author of A Catholic’s Guide to the Spiritual Life:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=294
…”Secularity Is Our Child,” an Everyday Faith interview with Fr. Ron Rolheiser:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/10/30_Secularity_is_Our_Child_(Ron_Rolheiser).html
…Krista Tippet’s interview with stem cell researcher Doris Taylor:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/stem-cells/

REGISTER FOR...
...the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association's Nov. 19 online seminar, "Finding Grace in Bereavement":
https://pncea.peachnewmedia.com/store/seminar/seminar.php?seminar=3068

READ...
...more on Pope Benedict’s decision to welcome traditional Anglicans into the Catholic Church:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/catholic-beliefs-might-give-anglicans-pause/
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/10/who_should_be_welcomed_in_the_catholic_church.html#more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/23/AR2009102302403.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
...Bishop Trautman's concerns about a "slavishly literal" translation of the Roman Missal:
http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/slavishly-literal-translation-missal-criticized
…"Friar Jack’s" reflections on the Apostles Creed:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=20
…Sister Paula Gonzalez’s opinion on “Why we should celebrate Darwin”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Nov2009/Feature2.asp
...an excerpt from Graham Ward's The Politics of Discipleship--Becoming Postmaterial Citizens:
http://www.bakeracademic.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780801031588.pdf
…an interview with W. Scott Poole on the history of Satan in America:
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/rdbook/1977/a_secret_history_of_satan

WORTH QUOTING...
"Concern for the fate of the great rivers of the earth must lead us to reflect soberly on the model of development which our society is pursuing. A purely economic and technological understanding of progress, to the extent that it fails to acknowledge its intrinsic limitations and to take into consideration the integral good of humanity, will inevitably provoke negative consequences for individuals, peoples and creation itself. Authentic human development likewise calls for intergenerational justice and practical solidarity with the men and women of the future, who are also entitled to enjoy the goods which creation, as willed by God, is meant to bestow in abundance upon all.  ...Christians are called to join in offering the world a credible witness of responsibility for the safeguarding of creation, and to cooperate in every way possible to ensure that our earth can preserve intact its God-given grandeur, beauty and bounty."
--Pope Benedict XVI in a letter to the International Symposium on Religion, Science and the Environment, "Restoring Balance: The Great Mississippi River," Oct. 12.
http://www.zenit.org/article-27307?l=english

Online This Week
October 18-24, 2009

WATCH...
…a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21090:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
…U.S. Catholic Conference videos explaining the American bishops’ position on health care reform:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/video.shtml
...Michael Moore and Sean Hannity discuss capitalism -- and their Catholic faith:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv9OiCv0v2Q
…a video of Fr. Ronald Witherup’s presentation on
the biblical foundations of the priesthood:
http://live.cua.edu/live-y4p.cfm
…a Focus TV feature, “Life in the Spirit”:
http://focustvonline.com/index.html

LISTEN TO...
…an America magazine podcast with John Donaghy, an American missionary from Ames, in Honduras:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1123
...a series of interviews about Centering Prayer with Fr. Thomas Keating:
http://ncronline.org/podcasts
…Michael W. Smith’s music video, “Never Been Unloved”:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-IGN-0002
...Matt Brouwer’s “I Shall Believe”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYht-Fpvu4g

DISCOVER…
…which saint’s life most resembles your own:
http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/easyquiz/quiz.php?quiz=voices-of-the-saints

REGISTER FOR...
...an online discussion Oct. 21 about the Church's role in African peacemaking:
http://donate.crs.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=3660&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS
...Thomas Groome's online study, "What Makes Us Catholic":
http://www.bc.edu/sites/c21online/catholic.html

…a Spirituality & Practice’s 40-day e-course, “Practicing Spirituality with Joyce Rupp”:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=88

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT...
...this week's events in Rome:
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/roundup-weeks-events-rome
...the Little Sisters of the Poor, founded by St. Jeanne Jugan:
http://www.littlesistersofthepoor.org/
...the U.S. bishops' proposed pastoral letter on marriage:
http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/bishops-draft-pastoral-warns-dangers-marriage

REFLECT ON…
…what the world is praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/philippines/prayer-lines-10-11/
…Ten Life Lessons from The Wizard of Oz:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/2009/10/Wizard-of-Oz.aspx

READ...
Bishop Hubbard's letter to the National Security Advisor:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-202.shtml
…a Catholic Update summary of Pope Benedict’s encyclical Charity in Truth:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/preview.aspx?id=231
…Friar Jack’s “musings” on the role of mothers as theologians:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=19
…a Catholic Relief Services worker’s impression of the earthquake aftermath in Indonesia:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/impressions-of-a-quakes-aftermath/
…the Introduction to Richard McBrien’s The Pocket Guide to the Popes:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061763663
…a HollywoodJesus review of "Where the Wild Things Are":
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movieDetail.cfm/i/B9EE4DA5-9642-B0D1-E5EA4427C67381D7/a/1
…Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s current column, “The Perils of Safety”:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/

WORTH QUOTING…
"A mentor once told me that the best thing to happen in his career was botching the first major decision he faced. The best thing? Yes, he said. Life went on, he picked himself up, he survived, and he learned that we can often correct mistakes and that life frequently offers second and third chances—not always chances to undo past mistakes, but chances to do other good things. So, from that time, he was never afraid to make a decision and never afraid to take personal risk. He lived proactively and modeled a world-loving, world-embracing attitude."
-- Chris Lowney in Heroic Living, quoted at
www.IgnatianSpirituality.com

•   •   •

Online This Week
October 11-17, 2009

WATCH…
… a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20918:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
… Catholic Relief Service’s efforts to promote conservation farming in Zimbabwe:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatholicRelief#p/a/u/0/U7er3YMvXXQ
… a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly segment on St. Damian of Molokai:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/october-9-2009/father-damiens-legacy/2030/
… a Catholic Focus interview with songwriter and hermit John Michael Talbot:
http://www.saltandlighttv.org/prog_slprog_focus.html
… a Focus TV segment, “Why Believe in God?”:
http://focustvonline.com/infocus/thisweek.html

CHECK OUT…
St. Anthony Messenger’s October calendar of Saints’ feast days:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/bydate.aspx
… what Catholics are praying for this week:
http://www.crs.org/philippines/prayer-lines-10-5/

CATCH UP ON…
… health care stories from around the country collected by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good:
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/health-care
… relief efforts in the Asia-Pacific region:
http://www.crs.org/indonesia/earthquakes-typhoons/
BustedHalo’s Digital Pilgrimage Video Blog:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-halos-digital-pilgrimage-video-blog-1/

TRY…
… Phil Fox Rose’s advice and turn off the local news:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-13-turn-off-the-news/

CONSIDER…
… these thoughts on balancing prayer, work, rest and play:
http://www.explorefaith.org/livingspiritually/benedictine_spirituality/attaining_balance.php
Beliefnet’s “Nine Ways to Find Peace of Mind:”
http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/Emotional-Health/Nine-Ways-to-Find-Peace-of-Mind.aspx
… Katherine Marshall’s reflections on the “Roots of Prejudice”:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/10/roots_of_prejudice.html#more
… Vinita Wright’s reflections on finding God in our personal history:
http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/

THINK BIG…
… and share your ideas on how to solve poverty:
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1861

LISTEN TO…
… Krista Trippet’s Speaking of Faith interview with Eckhard Tolle:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/tolle/
… Author Paul Moses discuss the historic meeting between St. Francis and the Sultan al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1121
… an Everyday Faith interview with Mary Beth Bonacci on her message to teens about chastity:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/10/5_Chastity_(Mary_Beth_Bonacci).html

READ…
… the Vatican’s reaction to President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0904519.htm
… the U.S. Bishops’ concerns about health care legislation in Congress:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0904507.htm
… Fr. Richard McBrien’s summary of what the Church teaches about health care:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/essays-theology/what-church-teaches-health-care-reform
… Daniel Callahan’s article on “Health Care and the Common Good”:
http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2659
...
Sr. Rose Pacatte's commentary on what Michael Moore's new film says about his Catholic faith:
http://ncronline.org/news/justice/moores-new-movie-capitalism-explicit-catholic-themes#
… a chapter from Philip Yancey’s book, Skeptic’s Guide to Faith:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780310325024

WORTH QUOTING...
"...[T]he upcoming Copenhagen Conference on climate change will test the ability of the international community to work together to attend to a problem which has both global causes and consequences.  At the heart of the climate change debate is the moral and ethical need for individuals, companies and States to recognize their responsibility to use the world’s resources in a sustainable manner. With this responsibility comes the duty of all States and international corporations that have somehow disproportionately used and abused global resources to shoulder their fair share in solving the problem.”
-- Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations, in an address to the UN General Assembly Oct. 7.
http://zenit.org/article-27092?l=english

•   •   •

Online This Week
September 27-October 3, 2009

CELEBRATE ... the feast of St. Michael the Archangel (Sept. 29)
... with Lino Rulli’s report on the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel in northern France:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuBjw4kfUKQ&feature=player_embedded
... and a chapter from Mike Aquilina’s book, Angels of God:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=T16898&ref=2&sample=Chapter&page=1

COMMEMORATE the tenth anniversary of a joint statement on justification signed by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation on Oct. 31, 1999:
... watch a statement by Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOtfVgY2AVU&feature=channel_page
... read a report from the U.S. Bishops Conference:
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-187.shtml

WATCH…
… a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20492:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14#
… a statement on health care reform from Bishop
William Murphy, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee for Domestic Justice and Human Development:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKByGyTlgRc&feature=player_embedded
… a Realfaith TV report on the the pros and cons text-messaging:
http://www.dottube.org/video/311/Texting-Opportunity-or-Barrier
… Albert Einstein’s answer to the question, “Does God Exist?”
http://www.4marks.com/videos/details.html?video_id=1906
… a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly report on the rituals of Yom Kippur:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/september-25-2009/rituals-of-yom-kippur/4352/#

CHECK OUT…
… resources for celebrating the Feast of St. Francis at:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/default.aspx?id=16
... an American Catholic Radio interview with
Fr. Jose Rodríguez Carballo, General Minister of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=288
... Publishers Weekly's list of Catholic bestsellers for September:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6698250.html?nid=2287&source=link&rid=1907483783

CONSIDER…
… Eileen Flanagan’s reflections on the Serenity Prayer and learning how to “know the difference”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Prayer/2009/09/Living-the-Serenity-Prayer.aspx
… Phil Fox Rose’s suggestions for learning how to cope with choices:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-12-freedom-from-choice/

THINK ABOUT…
… John Feister’s comments on health care reform in St. Anthony Messenger:
http://www.americancatholic.org/community/editorial.aspx?id=30
… a CharitiesUSA issue on the impact of the recession:
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=289
… Fr. Ed Hayes’ Autumn Equinox Prayer
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/autumn-equinox-prayer#
...Fr. Peter Knott's article on how an appreciation for art leads us deeper into the mystery of God:
http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090106_1.htm

LISTEN TO…
… Fr. James Martin’s observations about the deeper meaning of the popular TV series “Mad Men”:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1119
… a LifeTeen podcast, “What Makes Catholics Different?”:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/YrcJ3W
Rachmaninoff's "Bless the Lord”
http://www.4marks.com/audio/details.html?audio
_id=826

REGISTER FOR...
... The University of Notre Dame's Satellite Theological Education Program fall semester, featuring  online courses like "The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day", "American Catholicism Since Vatican II," "Reading the Book of Revelation," "The Doctrine of Salvation," "Eucharist--Source and Summit of Christian Life, and "Theology of the Body:"
http://step.nd.edu/

READ…
… the National Catholic Reporter’s interview with Mary Klauke, until recently director of rural life for the Archdiocese of Dubuque:
http://ncronline.org/news/people/rural-ministry-varied-life-itself#
… Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s column on God’s judgement:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
… an interview with Fr. Uwem Akpan, author of Oprah’s latest bookclub selection, Say You’re One of Them:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/books/author_interviews/uwem_akpan.php#
… a Canadian Catholic perspective on health care reform:
http://www.catholicregister.org/content/view/3428/852/
… Fr. Thomas Reese’s article on “The Green Pope”:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/09/the_green_pope.html#more
… Jonathan Merritt’s article on the possibility of reducing abortion while it’s still legal:
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/reject-apathy/features/18322-abortion-reduction
… a chapter from Fr. Henri Nouwen’s The Way of the Heart:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060663308

WORTH QUOTING...
"The figure of the Child Jesus, the tender infant, brings home to us God's closeness and his love. We come to understand how precious we are in his eyes, because it is through him that we in our turn have become children of God. Every human being is a child of God and therefore our brother or sister, to be welcomed and respected. May our society grasp this truth! Every human person would then be appreciated not for what he has, but for who he is, since in the face of every human being, without distinction of race or culture, God's image shines forth."
 -- Pope Benedict XVI, during a visit to the Shrine of the Infant of Prague, Sept. 26.
 
http://www.zenit.org/article-26968?l=english

•   •   •

Online This Week
September 20-26, 2009

CELEBRATE… Catechetical Sunday
… with these reflections from Joe Paprocki:
http://www.loyolapress.com/catechetical-Sunday-2009.htm?utm_campaign=on-the-horizon_september-2009&utm_medium=email&utm_source=oth&utm_content=cat-Sunday-article

REMEMBER… World War II
… with this week’s Vatican Report, on the anniversary of the German invasion of Poland in 1939:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20349:h2onews&catid=48:in-the-world&Itemid=14
… and Vatican Radio's exclusive recordings of Pope Pius XII:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=317100

THINK MORE... about health care reform
… Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl’s argument for health care reform:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/16/health-care-reform-a-moral-imperative-but-must-cover-immigrants/
… David Gibson’s analysis:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/16/debating-health-care-the-catholic-center-pushes-back/
… an editorial in America magazine, “No Waiting Room”:

http://americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11869

… an open letter from Catholic academics:
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/node/21100

WATCH…
… a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20364:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
… “The Gospel in Mosaic,” filmed at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC:
http://www.catholictv.com/shows/episode-listing.aspx?seriesID=17
… a Focus TV segment on “The Father Wound”:
http://focustvonline.com/index.html
… a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly primer on life – and faith – in the virtual world of Second Life:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/september-18-2009/second-life/4243/

CHECK OUT...
BustedHalo’s tips for helping someone who’s grieving:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/pure-sex-pure-love-96-faced-with-bereavement/
Beliefnet’s guide to forgiving:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Judaism/2009/09/How-to-Forgive-and-Receive-Forgiveness.aspx

REFLECT ON…
… the “power of pause:”
http://www.loyolapress.com/landing/power-of-pause-assessment.html?utm_campaign=on-the-horizon_september-2009&utm_medium=email&utm_source=oth&utm_content=pop-online-assessment
… and God’s abundance:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/

STUDY…
…  “Faith and the Economic Crisis--Understanding the Issues,” a discussion guide prepared by the Center for Responsible Lending:
http://www.responsiblelending.org/allies/issue-guide-economic-crisis-financial-reform-sept-2009.pdf

LISTEN TO…
… an NCR podcast with Fr. Richard Rohr OFM, “Seeing with God’s Eyes”:
http://ncronline.org/news/podcasts/fr-richard-rohr-seeing-gods-eyes-part-1-3
… Krista Tippet’s interview with Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/john_odonohue/

READ…
… Friar Jack’s column on “Eucharist—the Promise of Life”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=17
…David Gibson’s analysis of the narrowing “God Gap” between Republicans and Democrats:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/18/the-god-gap-between-republicans-and-democrats-closed-values/
… a tribute to Iowa native Norman Borlaug, father of the “green revolution”:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/09/14/feeding-the-hungry-remembering-norman-borlaug/?continue
… Jim Wallis’s commentary on racism in America:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/09/17/what-racism-still-in-america/

WORTH QUOTING...
"The health of their own citizens belongs to the authorities, to the central government. And so I have been 16 years in the States and I was wondering why a big portion of the American people is deprived, have no health assistance at all. I could never explain this….  And you know that everywhere in the world it is a concern of the government first of all, and after there are possibilities also on the private sector, but those who are without anything… the central government must provide to that. So I cannot but applaud this initiative.”
-- Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in an interview with Catholic News Service Sept. 15.
http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/cardinal-martino-applauds-universal-health-care-initiative/

•   •   •

Online This Week
September 13-19, 2009

WATCH…
… a video presentation of this Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20238:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
… “The Peace Table,” a ritual of sharing for the mentally or physically disabled:
http://live.faithstreams.com/site/49daf7df1a415008?topic_id=f7156e790af037b2
… a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly segment on the High Jewish Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur...
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/september-11-2009/jewish-high-holidays/4177/
… and the “Laser Monks” at the Cistercian Abbey in Sparta, Wisconsin:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/september-11-2009/laser-monks/4175/

EXPLORE…
… a website dedicated to Fr. Damien de Veuster, who will be canonized in October:
http://www.fatherdamien.com/

CONTEMPLATE…
… what football can teach us about prayer:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/site/store/details/v/pid/MM-BEA-0031
Beliefnet’s “21 Ways to be Inspired”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/09/21-Ways-to-Be-Inspired.aspx

CHECK OUT…
… a ReligionLink guide to the health care debate:

http://www.religionlink.com/tip_090908.php

REGISTER FOR...
... a new six-week online retreat, "Living the Hours," sponsored by Spirituality & Practice and A Network for Grateful Living.
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=86
… the University of Notre Dame’s Satellite Theological Education Program. Online courses begin Oct. 12.
https://shop.nd.edu/C21688_ustores/web/store_main.jsp?STOREID=19&SINGLESTORE=true
… the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation. Online courses begin Oct. 18.
http://vlc.udayton.edu/

LISTEN TO…
… America magazine’s update on the health care reform debate:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1116
… an NCR podcast with Sr. Elizabeth Johnson on the “Quest for the Living God”:
http://ncronline.org/taxonomy/term/178
… this week’s Speaking of Faith program on the Muslim experience of Ramadan:
 http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/ramadan/
… a Vatican Radio report on the Church and art:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=315483

READ…
… an analysis of how the media reports the bishops’ statements on health care:
http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html
… Fr. Thomas Reese’s commentary on what the bishops want:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/09/catholic_bishops_health_care_reform.html#more
… this month’s Catholic Update on “The Creed—Gateway to Grace”:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/preview.aspx?id=229
… Phil Fox Rose’s advice on discernment--learning to trust your “internal compass”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/what-works-11-your-internal-compass/
… Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s column on why we need liberals and conservatives:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
… Friar Jack’s summary of the Gospels in a nutshell:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/newlayout.asp?id=15
… a chapter from theologian Harvey Cox’s new book, The Future of Faith:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061755521

WORTH QUOTING...
“The Catholic bishops continue to work for health care that is accessible, affordable, and respects the life and dignity of every human being from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death….  Health care is an essential good for every human person.  In a society like ours, no one should lack access to decent health care….  I urge you to join the bishops in advocating for health care reform that is truly universal and protects human life at every stage of development…."
-- Most Rev. William F. Murphy, annual Labor Day Statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2009.
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2009.pdf

•   •   •

Online This Week
September 6-12, 2009

OBSERVE... Labor Day
… the U.S. Catholic bishops’ annual Labor Day Message:
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2009.pdf
… how Catholics feel about work:
http://www.uscatholic.org/life/2009/08/your-faith-working
... perspectives on work and workers from the National Employment Law Project:
http://www.nelp.org/

REFLECT ON…
… “Who Is My Neighbor?” a prayer and reflection guide from the Catholic Relief Service series The World on Campus:
https://www.renewintl.org/RENEW/eStore.nsf/vFiles/CRS_Participant_
Introduction.pdf/$FILE/CRS_Participant_Introduction.pdf
… Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s thoughts on the the iconic nature of religious language:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/

THINK MORE ABOUT... Health Care Reform
... the Catholic Charities USA home page
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1782
… a summary of recent comments from Catholic bishops:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903989.htm
… a controversial intervention from the bishops of Kansas City:
http://ncronline.org/news/kc-bishops-sound-alarm-about-%E2%80%98socialization%E2%80%99-health-care
… a Catholic doctor’s view:
http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/ethic-life/2009/08/our-health-system-needs-heart-transplant
… five top distortions:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/214254/page/1
… personal stories gathered by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good:
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/storymap
… more commentary on the health care reform debate:
http://ncronline.org/news/justice/who-speaks-bishops-health-care
http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/13584

WATCH…
… a video presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20093:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
… a video about the world hunger crisis:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-HYP-0009
… a Boston College encore video on “Handing on the Faith in the 21st Century”:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/webcast.html
… a Religion & Ethics Newsweekly interview with master chef Fr. Leo Patalinghug:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/september-4-2009/father-leo-extended-interview/4132/

PONDER...
… what science is revealing about “the God Who beckons”:
http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/god-who-beckons
… how the recession is affecting young adult relationships:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/pure-sex-pure-love-95-responding-to-recession-romance/

PREPARE…
… for World Peace Day Sept. 21 by downloading a prayer service from Catholic Relief Services:
http://crscollege.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/Prayer-for-International-Day-of-Peace-2009.pdf

LISTEN TO…
… an American Catholic Radio feature on “real stewardship”:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=286
… an America Magazine podcast with ethicist Thomas Massaro S.J. on the legacy of Robert McNamara and Ted Kennedy:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1117
… “I’m Stranded on the Bank of Ole Jordan”  from the album Angola Prison Spirituals:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/music/grace_notes/finding_the_sacred.php
… a Vatican Radio report, “The Green Pope”:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=313587

WEIGH IN…
… on what you think it means to be “pro-life”:
http://www.uscatholic.org/pro-life

SIGN UP…
... for a Sept.14 webinar on poverty in America and what the faith community can do about it:
http://fightingpovertywithfaith.com/f2/

READ…
… The Iowa Catholic Conference newsletter
http://www.iowacatholicconference.org/bins/site/templates/default.asp?area_2=pages%2FICC+Web+Site%2FE%2DNews2FNews+Full+Page&norelay_place=page&objectid=16DB0C220&articletitle=Iowa+Catholic+
Conference+newsletter&norelay_ai=B20286C914E648069117B1DA245934F9&norelay_gn=ICC+News&norelay_
reset=false&NC=342X

… John L. Allen’s take on the Church’s traditional alliance with conservative politics:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/churchs-power-distance-index-decline
… Fr. Joseph O’Keefe’s vision of Catholic schools for the future:
http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2009/08/system-update-required
… Walter Brueggemann’s essay on how the Bible inspires economic policy:
http://ncronline.org/news/justice/biblical-narrative-economic-policy
… A Christopher News Notes on how to cope with anger:
http://www.christophers.org/Page.aspx?pid=1027
… The Sojourners special issue on sex:
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.home
… An Everyday Catholic feature on feeding the hungry:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC/preview.aspx?id=220

WORTH QUOTING...
"
As we seek to rebuild our economy, produce a better health care system and improve the immigration system, we are presented with unique opportunities to advance the common good.  Pope Benedict’s new encyclical insists that the ethical dimensions of economic life begin with protecting the life and dignity of all, respect for work and the rights of workers, and a genuine commitment to the common good.  As the Holy Father points out, ‘it is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it.  To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity.’”
-- Most Rev. William F. Murphy, annual Labor Day Statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2009.
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2009.pdf

•   •   •

Online This Week
August 30-September 5, 2009

REFLECT ON…
… what the Boston Globe called Senator Ted Kennedy’s “complex legacy” as an American Catholic:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903846.htm
http://www.newsweek.com/id/213879
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/26/camelot-catholicism-the-once-and-future-church/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/28/kennedys_complex_legacy_as_a_catholic/
... and more opinions on the debate over health care reform:
http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=14741

http://ncronline.org/news/politics/health-care-debate-poisoned
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11845
http://coloradoindependent.com/35788/wary-of-abortion-funding-denver-archbishop-supports-health-reform
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/for-i-was-ill-and-you-cared-for-me/

CELEBRATE…
… the year-long centennial of Blessed Mother Theresa’s birth:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Teresa/default.asp

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT…
… the forthcoming third edition of the Roman Missal used at Mass:

http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/
…the Shroud of Turrin:
http://www.shroud.com/menu.htm

… the Second Vatican Council:

http://www.vatican2voice.org/default.htm

… how American Catholics feel about the Latin Mass:
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=18614

WATCH…
… the trailer for a new Catholic Communications Campaign documentary
Interrupted Lives: Catholic Sisters Under European Communism:
http://www.usccb.org/video/
BustedHalo’s “Busted Borders” video about
Fatoumata, an immigrant from Senegel:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/politicsandculture/busted-borders-fatoumata-senegal-1/
… a short video about St. Clare:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-MAR-0019
… a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly segment on Ramadan, featuring a music video from Native Dean:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/august-28-2009/ramadan-is-here/4093/

LISTEN TO…
… a National Catholic Reporter interview with a Jesuit priest and Zen Master:
http://ncronline.org/taxonomy/term/178
… a American Catholic Radio interview with author Ann Rice:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=284
… an interview with author Matthew Kelly on “Building Better Families”:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/8/20_Building_Better_Families_1_(Matthew_Kelly).html
… this week’s Speaking of Faith segment on the ethics of foreign aid:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/ethicsofaid-kenya/
… an interview with moral theologian James Bretzke SJ:
http://www.spirituality.org/  [>Click on “Thoughts for the Week” for  August 30]

CHECK OUT…
St. Anthony Messenger’s Calendar of Saint’s Feast Days for September:
http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/bydate.aspx

SUBSCRIBE TO…
… Boston University’s (free) quarterly journal c21 Resources:
http://www.bc.edu/church21/publications/c21resources.html

READ…
... Archbishop John Quinn’s article on the “Public Duty of Bishops”:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11841
… Fr. Richard Rolheiser’s current column on the difference between the illusion and reality of love:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
… a chapter from Archbishop Chaput’s book, Living the Catholic Faith:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=T55191&ref=1&sample=Chapter&page=1
… an essay on St. Augustine and his influence on the church today:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090827_1.htm
Max Lindeman’s confession, “How I Decided Not to Become a Priest”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/back-from-vocation/

WORTH QUOTING...
"I was talking with a Chinese Zen master once and he said one of the difficulties of dealing with Catholics is that they love their spiritualities...as if it was a parallel life....  Buddhists would say, 'If God isn't present in this moment, where is he? You meet God in doing the deed of this moment in front of you. Never withdraw from it.' "
-- Fr. Robert E. Kennedy SJ, in a National Catholic Reporter podcast.
http://ncronline.org/taxonomy/term/178

•   •   •

Online This Week
August 23-29, 2009

WATCH...
… a short video about the life of St. Augustine:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-MAR-0013
… a report about a new Vatican documentary on the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19749&Itemid=14

CATCH UP...
… on the Vatican’s investigation of U.S. Sisters:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/august-21-2009/us-nuns-and-the-vatican/3968/
http://ncronline.org/news/women/vatican-us-women-religious-tensions-go-back-decades
http://ncronline.org/news/women/visitors-past
http://ncronline.org/news/women/why-they-stayed

THINK MORE...
...about the health care reform debate with these articles and commentary:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.display&item=HC09-main
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/
http://ncronline.org/blogs/peace-pulpit/eucharist-and-health-care

REFLECT ON...
… what the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard teaches us about justice:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090818_1.htm

PASS ALONG...
… Suggestions for college freshman about the spiritual challenges of life on campus:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/god-on-campus/

SIGN UP...
… for Spirituality & Practice’s online e-course, “Living with Uncertainty”:

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=81

LISTEN TO...
… an update on reaction to the Pope’s encyclical, "Charity in Truth”:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=311122
… “Amazing God,” a cut  from emanuaelworship’s new album, Justice Praise:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/q26PdV
…one person’s experience of the Sacrament of Anointing:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=283
… this week’s Speaking of Faith interview with novelist Mary Doria Russell:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/novelist-as-god2/

PRAY...
… the Liturgy of the Hours online:
http://www.explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/hours.php

CONTEMPLATE...
… Works of art inspired by Ignatian spirituality:
http://www.ignatianimprints.org/spring07/art.shtml

READ...
... Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s column on suicide, “Too Bruised to be Touched”:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
BustedHalo’s interview with jazz pianist-composer Deanna Witkowski:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-deanna-witkowski/
… a chapter from Fr. Thomas Morrow’s new book, Be Holy—A Catholic’s Guide to the Spiritual Life:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=T16878&ref=1&sample=Chapter&page=1
… a chapter from John Dominic Crossan’s book, In Search of Paul:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060816162

WORTH QUOTING...
"Health care is more than a commodity; it is a basic human right, an essential safeguard of human life and dignity.
"We believe our people's health care should not depend on where they work, how much their parents earn, or where they live. Our constant teaching that each human life must be protected and human dignity promoted leads us to insist that all people have a right to health care....  
"When millions of Americans are without health coverage, when rising costs threaten the coverage of millions more, when infant mortality remains shockingly high, the right to health care is seriously undermined and our health care system is in need of fundamental reform….   
"The current health care system is so inequitable, and the disparities between rich and poor and those with access-and those without are so great that it is clearly unjust.”

--Statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
A Framework for Comprehensive Health Care Reform (1993)
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/comphealth.shtml

•   •   •

Online This Week
August 16-22, 2009

CELEBRATE…
…the Feast of the Assumption
by watching a video from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
http://www.usccb.org/video/
and listening to an audio feature from Vatican Radio:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=308656

PREPARE FOR…
…Back to School
with back-to-school cards from St. Anthony Messenger Press:
http://catholicgreetings.org/celebrations/backtoschool.asp
by reflecting on how children “learn” their faith:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Sep2004/Family.asp
with BustedHalo’s “Freshman Survival Guide”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-halo-freshman-survival-guide-2009/

CHECK OUT…
…the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ new website on health care reform:
http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/

... and Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Guide to the Internet
http://www.osv.com/Portals/0/images/pdf/OSV090809InternetGuide.pdf

SEND A MESSAGE…
…on health care reform to Iowa’s Congressional delegation:
www.iowacatholicconference.org

SIGN UP…
…for Spirituality & Practice’s e-course, “Practicing Spirituality with Money”:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/ecourses.php?id=79

WATCH…
…an excerpt from Being Catholic—The Creed:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=ee1b9b41b6ac40dea83a
…the Mennonite Media documentary, "Embracing Aging—Families Facing Change":
http://www.odysseynetworks.org/FilmTV/Television/TelevisionSeries/OdysseyNetworksPresents/
tabid/131/Default.aspx

…a documentary on
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l8Ttz7BZ7M
…a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly report on Jerusalem’s Spafford Children’s Center:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/august-14-2009/spafford-childrens-center/3903/

LISTEN TO…
…a discussion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=282
…Krista Tippet’s discussion with David Brooks and E.J. Dionne on “Obama’s Theologian,” Reinhold Niebuhr:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/obamas-theologian2/

READ...
... these articles on health care reform from America magazine:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11817
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=80663684-3048-741E-9299162674323119

... first article in a new series on Catholics and the Bible:
http://www.webelieveweb.com/catechist_development.cfm
…Fr. Michael Hime’s reflection on Eucharist, from his book The Mystery of Faith:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=B16579&ref=1&sample=Chapter&page=1
…Fr. Jack Mahoney’s reflection on what it means for God to be “with us”:
http://thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090812_1.htm
… Professor Alon Ben-Meir ‘s analysis of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and listen to an America magazine podcast:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1115
Arianne de Bonvoisin’s 10 guidelines on how to truly say "I’m sorry":
http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/2009/07/How-to-Apologize.aspx
…a chapter from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s  A Testament to Freedom:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060642143

WORTH QUOTING...
Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value. The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good....  
--Pope Benedict XVI in Caritas in Veritate, #9.

•   •   •

Online This Week
August 9-15, 2009

TAKE TIME OUT...
… to “meditate with music”:
http://www.explorefaith.org/prayer/meditation/music/index.php
… to reflect on how to rid the world of evil:
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/fj072909.asp
… to think about the vision which guides your life:
http://deepeningfriendship.loyolapress.com/
… to examine Spirituality & Practice’s list of the “Most Spiritually Literate Movies of 2009 (So far)”:
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/features.php?id=19235

WATCH...
…the latest video series from the U.S. Conference of Bishops, "Sacred Sites in 60 Seconds":
http://www.usccb.org/video/
Busted Halo’s first video in its new series, “Busted Borders”:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/busted-borders-walter-1-2/
… a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly interview with reformist Muslim cleric Gamal al-Banna:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/august-7-2009/islam-and-modernity/1880/
… a video about the Precepts of the Church:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/site/store/details/v/pid/MM-MAR-0011
… a profile of a brother and sister in Nigeria, orphaned by HIV/AIDS:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatholicRelief#play/all/uploads-all/2/0LceAXEGG9Y

SIGN UP...
…for free catechist training sessions with master catechist Joe Poprocki:

http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/webinar/

LISTEN TO...
…a Franciscan Radio segment on the sacraments of initiation—Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=281
… this week’s Speaking of Faith interview on “Fishing with Mystery”:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/fishing/
… Vatican Radio’s continuing series on the history of the Church:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=307995

THINK ABOUT...
…Tri Robinson’s tips for “Saving God’s Green Earth”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2009/07/Go-Green-Save-Money.aspx

READ...
…Sr. Mary Ann Walsh’s commentary on nuns these days:

http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

… a Catholic News Service story on Catholics and health care reform:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903516.htm
…a chapter from Peter Kreeft’s book, Making Sense of Suffering:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=T83219&ref=1&sample=Chapter&page=1
… Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s reflections on Eucharist as a call to justice:
http://www.ronrolheiser.com/
… Fr. Raymond Petrucci’s reflection on the spiritual significance of August:
http://www.spirituality.org/is/169/01.asp

WORTH QUOTING...
"
The Englishman Richard Blechynden ran the tea concession at the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904. On one very hot Missouri summer day, not a single fairgoer stopped to purchase a cup of hot tea at his stand.  This ingenious Englishman decided to solve his predicament by creatively defying history, not to mention all previous tradition, by offering his customers ice-cold tea!
…[H]is insane concoction of ice and hot tea was immediately adopted by try-anything Americans and remains popular to this day. So on this hot August day, if you quench your thirst with a glass of iced tea, raise your glass in a toast to Richard Blechynden for his courage to think outside the box. After setting down your glass of iced tea, take a moment to survey your life and your problems, most of which likely will seem insolvable and beyond your control. But don’t give up, be inspired by your drink of iced tea and, like Blechynden, think the unthinkable.
      Help me turn my problems upside down,
      forgetting the rules of logic and tradition,
      my fears of what the neighbors will say,
      to be inspired by the Mother of Invention."

--Fr. Ed Hays in his "Spiritual Reflections" blog for National Catholic Reporter
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/womb-wonders

•   •   •

Online This Week
August 2-8, 2009

REFLECT ON URBAN VIOLENCE...
… with this presentation of what it looks like from “the other side”:
http://www.uscatholic.org/video/will-i-be-next
… and an interview with Fr.
Peter Banks, an Irish Catholic priest who has worked in the inner city of Los Angeles for 40 years.  He says "hope is to be able to sing in the middle of the darkness:”
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-24-2009/watts-priest/3680/

WATCH...
… a video presentation of this Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/h2onews#play/uploads/4/RSB95l7Nfno
“Hope in Recovery—Families Facing Addiction” from Mennonite Media:
http://www.odysseynetworks.org/
…a preview of the National Geographic special, “Hitler’s Hidden Holocaust”:
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/hitler-s-hidden-holocaust-4333/facts#tab-Videos/06940_00
… Martin Marty’s discussion of “the Impulse to Control”:
http://communities.faithstreams.com/
… DJ Andy Cruz’s discussion of the spiritual potential and impact of hip hop music:
http://netny.net/tooblessed/episodes/episode-4-andy-cruz/

THINK ABOUT THIS…
…as you pick tomatoes this summer:
http://www.coc.org/node/6161

PRAY WITH THE SAINTS...
… with this month’s calendar of patronal feast days:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/saints/bydate.asp?SODmonth=Aug

LISTEN TO...
… Vatican Radio’s review of events in the Vatican this week:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=305680
…a discussion of the sacrament of Holy Orders:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=280
…an interview with Woodeene Koenig-Bricker, author of Ten Commandments for the Environment-- Pope Benedict XVI Speaks Out for Creation and Justice:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/gy5bch
… a series of reflections on the spiritual implications of living in difficult economic times
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/rv-wisevoices2/
… Justin Graves’ “With You By My Side”:
http://www.explorefaith.org/resources/music/grace_notes/being_aware_of_gods_presence.php

READ...
… Don Clemmer's explanation of what it means when the Catholic bishops “support” certain legislation:
http://usccbmedia.blogspot.com/2009/07/support-vs-support.html
… this month’s Catholic Update, “Five Virtues for Hard Economic times”
:
http://americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0809.asp
… Fr. Thomas Reese’s commentary on the “depressing health care debate”:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/
Beliefnet’s guide to raising responsible children:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/Family-Values-Toolkit/Family-Values-Responsibility.aspx
BustedHalo’s suggestions on how to reduce water consumption:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/50-ways-to-help-save-the-earth-reduce-personal-water-consumption/
... Pastor Larry Coleman's commentary on authority in our modern society
http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=14603
... Spirituality & Practice's list of "The Best Spiritual Books of 2009 (so far)
":
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/features.php?id=19213

WORTH QUOTING…
“Surely you will remember [an] experience of your own: some quirky little incident made you smile, changed your mood, and suddenly the world looked brighter. If this ever happened to you, the key for understanding a causal chain of great consequence is in your hand: any change in attitude changes the way one sees the world, and this in turn changes the way one acts.”
--
Bro. David Steindl-Rast O.S.B. at Gratefulness.org
http://www.gratefulness.org/readings/vision_project06.htm

•   •   •

Online This Week
July 26-August 1, 2009

OBSERVE...
Natural Family Planning Awareness Week
... with resources from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp/nfpweek/index.shtml

WATCH...
… a visual presentation of Sunday’s Gospel:
http://www.h2onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19746:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
… a Catholic Relief Services report on what CRS is doing to protect women and girls collecting scarce firewood in Chad:
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatholicRelief#play/all/uploads-all/0/aczHoNyxDe0
… a BustedHalo interview with author Anne Rice on the Catholic imagination, Christian art, art and sensuality in Catholicism:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/anne-rice-part8
… theologian Martin Marty’s reflections on patience:
http://communities.faithstreams.com/
… a Salt and Light Television discussion of Pope Benedict’s latest encyclical:
http://www.saltandlighttv.org/prog_slprog_focus.html
… a segment from NET TV’s Faith Films festival:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1llA5z5sqY&feature=PlayList&p=0A4169BB9FEA5B7E&index=0

TAKE TIME OUT...
… to reflect on Catholic devotion to Mary, in Joe Paprocki’s online retreat for catechists and adults:
http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/2009/07/20/online-retreat-for-catechists-week-7-devotion-to-mary/

LISTEN TO...
... Parker Palmer's discussion of the moral and spiritual aspects of the economic downturn on this week's Speaking of Faith:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/rv-palmer/
…Julie Carrick’s single “Other Things” from her new album, Face of God:
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/media/KQOhSC

READ...
... the U.S. Catholic Bishops' letter to Congress on health care reform:
http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/2009-07-17-murphy-letter-congress.pdf
… a sampling of commentary on the Pope’s encyclical, Caritas in Veritate:
http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/24/commentary-on-popes-encyclical-in-catholic-press/
… this month’s Catholic Update, “The Priesthood Today—We’re All in This Together:”
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0709.asp
… Katherine Lehman’s thoughts about being "spiritual" but not "religious:"
http://www.explorefaith.org/explore_faith/explore_your_journey/
is_it_all_right_to_be_spiritual_without_being_religious.php

… an excerpt from Thomas Groome’s book, What Makes Us Catholic:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060633998
... Melissa Nussbaum's reflections on caring for an elderly loved one, "My Mother's Keeper":
http://ncronline.org/news/women/my-mothers-keeper
... Publishers Weekly's list of Catholic bestsellers for July:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6672524.html?nid=2287&source=title&rid=1907483783

WORTH QUOTING…
Our good works, like watermelons, also contain seeds, invisible yet richly fertile with potential for more good. Watermelon wisdom says to be lavishly careless in doing good deeds so that the tiny invisible seeds within your works will be generously scattered everywhere.
-- Fr. Ed Hays, in his "Spiritual Reflections" blog for the National Catholic Reporter.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/watermelon-wisdom

•   •   •

Online This Week
July 19-25, 2009

CELEBRATE…
… the 40th anniversary of landing on the moon
• with this collection of reflections from American astronauts:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/07/Famous-Astronaut-Quotes.aspx
• and a perspective from Catholic News Service:
http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/first-moon-landing-had-catholics-
excited-wary-for-the-future-of-space-travel/

TAKE TIME TO…
… find out more about the emergency in Eritrea:
http://www.cnewa.org/generalpg-verus.aspx?pageID=445
… examine the issues involved in the current debate over healthcare:
http://www.sojo.net/action/alerts/health_care_toolkit.pdf
… plan a fun family activity that won’t cost much:
http://www.loyolapress.com/looking-for-family-fun-activities-this-summer.htm

EXPLORE...
… what’s good about TV on this week’s Speaking of Faith:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/tv/

WATCH...
… a video presentation of this Sunday’s gospel:
onews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19577:h2onews&catid=50:gospel&Itemid=14
… a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly report on how faith affects the brain:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-17-2009/faith-and-the-brain/3597/
… what it takes to change a life – the award-winning Czech film, “The Bridge:”
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details?pid=MM-EAS-0001
… a RealFaithTV report on healthy choices, “Being Healthy, Living Right:”
http://www.dottube.org/video/172/Being-Healthy-Living-Right
… a documentary on efforts to eradicate world hunger, “Hunger No More:”
http://www.odysseynetworks.org/FilmTV/Television/TelevisionSeries/
OdysseyNetworksPresents/tabid/131/Default.aspx
http://www.h2

LISTEN TO…
… this week’s Franciscan Radio report on Catholics and the Sacraments:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=278
… an Everyday Faith interview with Parker Palmer on the nature of vocation:
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/6/18_Let_Your_Life_Speak_(Parker_Palmer).html

READ...
…The U.S. bishops’ “Ten Points for Fruitful Scripture Reading:”
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/fj071509.asp
... John L. Allen's analysis of how the Pope's encyclical challenges American Catholics:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/gut-check-american-catholicism
…an inspiring story about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in this month’s St. Anthony Messenger:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Jul2009/Feature1.asp
…a report BustedHalo.com report on why young people are attracted to Thomas Merton:
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/finding-god-in-fragmented-society/

... Loyola Press' "Five Ways to Help Families Pray This Summer:"
http://www.loyolapress.com/5-ways-to-make-prayer-a-priority-in-your-family.htm?utm_campaign=on-the-horizon_july-2009&utm_medium=5-ways-to-make-prayer-a-family-priority_s&utm_source=featured-article&utm_content=subject_link
…David Gibson’s “Pontifications” on John Calvin – 500 years later:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/10/john-calvin-patron-saint-of-the-recession/
…excerpts from C.S. Lewis’ Paved with Good Intentions:
http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780060761547

WORTH QUOTING…
“There is one moment in which we are in control: the present moment. I can say, ‘Poor me, terrible sinner, I’m no good. How could Jesus love me?’ Or I can say, ‘Merciful Lord, I love you, I choose you, you are mine in spite of my sins and mistakes.’ Thus, that moment becomes the most precious moment in my life; a moment of life rather than a moment of death.”
-- Fr. Jim Van Vurst OFM in “Father Jack’s e-Inspiration”
http://www.americancatholic.org/e-News/FriarJack/fj071509.asp

•   •   •

Online This Week
July 12-18, 2009

POPE BENEDICT'S ENCYCLICAL Caritas in Veritatis...
... Official Text of the Encyclical
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html
... Outline of the Encyclical from the Center of Concern:
http://www.coc.org/system/files/Precis+of+the+Encyclical+Caritas+in+Veritate-Truth+in+Charity.pdf
... Key Quotes from the Encyclical:
http://www.usccb.org/caritasinveritate/quotes.shtml
... Joe Paprocki's Q&A about the Encyclical:
http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/caritas-in-veritate-a-summary-in-q-and-a-format-by-joe-paprocki.pdf
... More from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' website:
http://www.usccb.org/caritasinveritate/
...Commentary on the Encyclical:
• "The $64,000 Question"/John L. Allen in the National Catholic Reporter:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/64000-question-benedicts-encyclical-and-other-vatican-goings
“The Economy of Grace”/Fr. Drew Christensen in America:
http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=99438440-3048-741E-5876584994864392

• “Why We Should Listen to the Pope”/David Gibson on the Politics Daily blog:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/08/why-we-should-listen-to-the-pope-on-the-economy/
• "The Revenge of Justice and Peace”/George Weigel on National Review Online:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTdkYjU3MDE2YTdhZTE4NWIyN2FkY2U5YTFkM2ZiMmE=
• "Pope Benedict on the Global Economy"/Jim Wallis on the God’s Politics blog:
http://blog.sojo.net/2009/07/09/pope-benedict-on-the-global-economy/#disqus_thread
• “Encyclical Reconnects Rights and Duties”/Fr. James V. Schall on Zenit News Service:
http://www.zenit.org/article-26409?l=english
• “A New Framework for Social Justice”/Fr. Joseph Fessio SJ on Zenit News Service:
http://www.zenit.org/article-26400?l=english

CATCH UP...
...with President Obama's Meeting with the Pope:
• Official statement from the Holy See:
http://www.usccb.org/stories/benedict_obama.shtml
• John L. Allen's commentary in the National Catholic Reporter:
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-presses-obama-pledge-reduce-abortions
• A Vatican spokesman’s background: “We want a honest dialogue:”
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0903181.htm

TAKE TIME OUT...
...for prayer and reflection with Joe Paprocki's online retreat, "Openness to the World:"
http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/2009/06/29/online-catechists-retreat-week-4-an-openness-to-the-world/

WATCH...
…a short video and music presentation of the Beatitudes:
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-MAR-0012

REGISTER FOR...
... PaxChristi USA’s national convention July 17-19 in Chicago:
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/NationalConference2009.asp
... Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association’s online courses "Biblical Spirituality" or "Spiritual Grandparenting."  (Discount registration by July 22.  Courses start August 3.)
http://www.pncea.org/store/index.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=68
http://www.pncea.org/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=174&DEPARTMENT_ID=68

…the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation.  (Registration starts August 14; courses start August 30.) 
Participation in this online continuing education program for Catholic adults is more economical than ever because the Archdiocese of Dubuque is now a cooperating diocese.
http://vlc.udayton.edu/calendar/#cycle-6a

LISTEN TO...
... John L. Allen’s insights on events in Rome this week:
http://ncronline.org/news/podcasts/world-media-focuses-rome-week
... Krista Tippet’s interview with neuroeconomist Paul Zak on the science of trust
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2009/neuroeconomics/
... An American Catholic Radio report on how American Catholics live the sacraments:
http://www.franciscanradio.org/ACRepisode.asp?EpisodeNum=277
America magazine’s review of Colm Toibin’s new novel, Brooklyn:
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/podcast/podcast-index.cfm?series_id=1113
…an Everyday Catholic interview with Fr. Ron Rolheiser, “Giving God Skin:”
http://www.everydayfaith.net/EF/Home/Entries/2009/4/23_Giving_God_Skin_(Ron_Rolheiser).html
…Rome during the time of Emperor Nero from Vatican Radio’s “The Vatican Centuries" series:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=301406

SIGN ON...
... to the Christian’s Creed on Health Care Reform sponsored by Sojourners:
http://go.sojo.net/campaign/health_care/5gn5s7rfjxt786x?source=act_0907_healthcare

READ...
... “What’s the Church Doing in Our Bedroom?” from the July issue of Everyday Catholic:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/EDC/ag0709.asp
... Beliefnet’s “Life Lesson’s from Harry Potter”:
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Movies/Harry-Potter/09/06/Life-Lessons-from-Harry-Potter.aspx
... A chapter from Fr. Richard Rohr’s book, Things Hidden—Scripture As Spirituality:
http://www.catholicsampler.com/viewer.asp?prodID=I16659&ref=2&sample=Chapter&page=1

WORTH QUOTING…
“The conviction that man is self-sufficient and can successfully eliminate the evil present in history by his own action alone has led him to confuse happiness and salvation with immanent forms of material prosperity and social action. Then, the conviction that the economy must be autonomous, that it must be shielded from 'influences' of a moral character, has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way. In the long term, these convictions have led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise.”
-- Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in veritate. #34.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

Online This Week
July 5-11, 2009

CELEBRATE...
The Fourth of July
… Watch “Our Nation’s Inspiration:”
http://www.catholicmediahouse.com/store/details/?pid=MM-STE-003
... Pray Fr. Ed Hay's "Psalm of the Liberty Bell:"
http://ncronline.org/blogs/spiritual-reflections/psalm-liberty-bell-prayer
... Read Michael Kessler’s reflection “Just Law and Religion:”
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/

... Read a young mother’s reflection, “The Reluctant Patriot:”
http://www.bustedhalo.com/features/the-reluctant-patriot/
... Consult resources from
ExploreFaith:
http://www.explorefaith.org/faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/holidays/
independence_day/index.php