Some Other New U.S. Bishops' Websites

Every week or so I try to take a few moments to browse the primary website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) not only to keep informed about our bishops' activities and pastoral teachings, but also to check out any new initiatives. One thing that's been evident in recent years is the USCCB's increased and accelerated use of the Internet. This, of course, is in keeping with the urgings of the Holy Father to make use of all forms modern technology in support of the Church's primary mission of evangelization. Today, during my visit to their site, I noticed that the bishops (and their team of web geeks) have been particularly busy in this area, developing several new websites that are certainly worth mentioning.

Campus Ministry: Developed by the bishops' Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, this new website is aimed at college students and campus ministers and has the specific goal of promoting Catholic social teaching on campus. After browsing the site briefly, I suspect the materials would also be applicable for use by a parish's adult education efforts and even for older high school students. It contain lots of excellent resources. The site may be found at: www.usccb.org/campus.

Vocations: The U.S. Bishops’ Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations initiated a new website on April 25 as a resource for the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life. Long overdue and aimed at both laity and clergy, the new site has two key goals:

1. To help individuals hear and respond to the call by God to the priesthood or consecrated life; and 
2. To educate all Catholics on the importance of encouraging others through prayer and activities to promote vocations. 

The site can be found at: www.ForYourVocation.org. Later this year -- probably in the fall -- a Spanish-language version of the site will be available at: www.PorTuVocacion.org.

While I haven't yet had time to do more than glance at the site, the bishops' press release claims the "Site elements include discernment resources for men and women, respectively, aids for promoting a vocation culture within the home, and a range of tools for educators, youth leaders and vocation directors including prayers, videos, best practices, lesson plans and vocation awareness programs."

It sounds like a wonderful site, especially for Catholic schools, youth programs, and other parish-based ministries that support vocations.

Marriage. While this website (For Your Marriage) has been around for a while, it has recently undergone some major changes. Not only has it been given a face-lift, with a whole new "look and feel," but it's content has also been greatly expanded. This is a wonderful site designed to support the U.S. bishops goal of strengthening marriage. Since it was first launched in 2007, it has attracted over 850,000 visitors (a lot more than this blog gets), an excellent indication of the quality of the resources it provides.

According the the bishops' press release, the revised site includes the following new features:

• Daily inspirational quotes about marriage drawn from Church documents
• A blog by Portland, Oregon, couple Josh and Stacey Noem. The Noems, who are campus ministers at the University of Portland, discuss balancing home and work and handing on the Catholic faith to their three small children. The widely-read “Sarah’s Blog” will continue as Sarah and her husband prepare for the birth of their first child.
• The Marital Virtue of the Month reflects on a particular virtue that is necessary for a holy and happy marriage.

The site is available at: www.foryourmarriage.org. And earlier this year the bishops launched a Spanish-language version of the site: www.portumatrimonio.org.

USCCB Priorities. Back in my consulting days, I made a point of telling CEOs that the folks they manage really do want to know the boss' priorities. I was always amazed at how many managers kept their true  priorities secret, as if sharing them would somehow diminish their power or authority. Fortunately, the U.S. bishops are very willing to share their priorities with their flock. Indeed, they have created a website that does just that: http://www.usccb.org/priorities/.


The site not only lists their five key priorities:

• Strengthening marriage
• Faith formation focused on sacramental practice
• Priestly and religious vocations
• Life and dignity of the human person
• Recognition of cultural diversity

...but also includes a discussion of the goals and objectives necessary to support these priorities, a timeline that addresses specific initiatives under each priority, and a video that provides a good overview.

And so...it's evident that our bishops are making all kinds of good information and useful resources available to us through the medium of the Internet. Take advantage of it and do your part in carrying out our Lord's command to proclaim, "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand."

God's peace...

Some WWW Favorites

I've been playing around with the Internet since before it was the Internet. I had my first exposure back in 1973 when I was teaching computer science at the Naval Academy and was introduced to the Internet's predecessor, the ARPANet, a Department of Defense project designed to interconnect computer installations around the globe using the telecommunications infrastructure. The network used packet switching, as opposed to circuit switching, which enabled a communications link among multiple computers and did not require a dedicated circuit. In those days, we used teletype-like terminals with paper printouts and I still have copies of some of those early adventures on the ARPANet. (ARPANet, by the way, was an acronym for the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network.) 

I even got involved with email fairly early when I signed up for an MCI Mail account back in 1984 using my trusty IBM PC-XT. Of course in those days everything was done with dial-up modems and slow baud rates, but that didn't bother me. The very fact that I could communicate with clients and colleagues was wonderful. All of this, of course, was long before Al Gore's 1991 "information superhighway" bill. 

This early involvement with global computer-based telecommunications was fascinating. And I believe it gave those of us who took part an early glimpse into the future, which probably prevented us from being too surprised by the remarkable advances that followed one on top of the other during the succeeding years. Today the World Wide Web has redefined virtually every aspect of our lives. I do almost as much shopping on the web as I do in stores, perhaps more. I do our banking via the Internet, and plan and book all our travel and vacations on the web. I rarely write letters, but communicate with friends and family largely via email. I get most of my news from the web, which has also become a major source of research material for the courses I teach. This blog, and countless others like it, is a perfect example of how the Internet spawned the development of something totally new, something for which there was no real pre-Internet equivalent.

Given the breadth of the Internet it's easy today to get lost, and to waste an awful lot of time, browsing among the millions of websites in cyberspace. And so I tend to focus on a few favorite sites. Some I check daily because they are updated frequently and always seem to have something interesting to pass along. Others I look in on less frequently but turn to them as the need arises. Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you...

The Catholic Thing (http://www.thecatholicthing.org). A relatively new website, produced by Brad Miner, that offers an always interesting daily commentary on a timely subject by many of today's best Catholic writers. The "In the News" page is also worth a daily glance.

Catholic Online (http://www.catholic.org). A wonderful, comprehensive site about all things Catholic. I especially enjoy the commentaries of Deacon Keith A. Fournier.

Intercollegiate Studies Institute (http://www.isi.org). If you're not a conservative, you will probably dislike this site -- although if you spend much time on it, you just might change your political and philosophical stripes. ISI was founded back in the 1950s "to further in successive generations of American college students a better understanding of the economic, political, and moral principles that sustain a free and humane society." They have published some very important books on a wide range of subjects, and I recommend joining their "readers' club" so you can receive a substantial discount on all book purchases. I have also downloaded many of their audio and video lectures which I play back while driving the car or at other opportune times. As a good introduction to ISI and its worldview, you might try some of Russell Kirk's lectures and books.

First Things (http://www.firstthings.com). This is the website of First Things, an interreligious journal published by the Institute on Religious and Public Life. The journal and the institute were both founded by the late Father Richard Neuhaus, who was a major influence on much of the true ecumenical progress that has been achieved in recent years. Be sure to check out their blogs, always a source of good information. If I had to give up all my magazines but one, First Things is the one I'd keep. If you are a First Things subscriber, you get enhanced access on the website -- another good reason to subscribe.

Vatican Radio (http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/index.asp). This link will take you to the English language site for Vatican Radio where you will be able to listen to all recent programming, including news shows and any English language talks by the Holy Father. Another related site is the Vatican's YouTube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/vatican) which includes lots of current videos from the Vatican.

The above include the sites I visit most frequently, but I'd be happy to hear suggestions about some of your favorite websites. I have intentionally omitted blogs because I stop by so many during any given week just to see if something interesting has been posted. The list would be far too long.

And let's not forget the patron saint of the Internet, St. Isadore of Seville
(d. 636; feast day: April 4). 

God's peace...