Web-savvy Priesthood

Deacon Greg has an interesting post on priests and the use of technology for the mission:

More priests are using the Internet to do their job, according to Zenit:

A new study about the use of digital technology by priests worldwide shows that the Internet has become a frequently utilized tool in homily preparation, evangelization and pastoral support.

The PICTURE (Priests' Information and Communication Technologies Use in Their Religious Experience) study was presented Monday in a press conference at Vatican Radio.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy underlined the "new cultural world" of digital technologies.

This study, he explained, aimed to take a snapshot of the actual use that priests make of technology, in order to be more effective in reaching the heart of the greatest changes in the cultural world.

The study was carried out by the NewMinE (New Media in Education Lab) of the Universita della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland, in collaboration with the School of Institutional Social Communications of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, and with the support of the Congregation for Clergy...

...The average age of the respondents was 48 years old, and the average number of years ordained was 20.

The study showed that 94.7% of priests worldwide access the Internet on a daily basis for a variety of activities.

Of the respondents, 82.8% have access to a laptop and 81.2% to a desktop computer.

Other forms of access to technology include 90.6% of priests who have a cell phone, 73.1% who utilize digital cameras, 44.0% who possess an MP3 player and 25.7% who have other handheld devices.

Some 42% of priests expressed the belief that the use of digital technology has improved their performance in their mission.

Check out the rest here.

Joy is a Cajun Accordion

Salesian Rector Major Appeals for Vocations

The Rector Major`s Strenna for 2011 makes a strong appeal for Vocations! We are blessed to have Fr. Pascual Chavez as our Rector Major! The following comes from the Salesian News Agency:

The Rector Major`s Strenna for 2011 will be a heartfelt appeal to the Salesian Family to feel the urgency of, the need to call others and propose the Salesian vocation to young people. “Look, here is the Lamb of God! … What are you looking for? … Rabbi, where do you live? … Come and see” (Jn 1:36-39) is the slogan for the coming message from Don Bosco`s successor.

As has been the custom now for some years, it is at the opening of the summer plenary session of the General Council that Fr Pascual Chávez officially presents the topic for the Strenna for the coming year. As already announced, the topic for Strenna 2011 will be on vocations. "It is an invitation", says Fr Chávez, “to be real spiritual guides for the young, like John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to his disciples and telling them: “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” (Jn 1:6)”.

Evangelisation and vocation are two inseparable elements. An ability to give rise to vocations, as the Rector Major specifies is “the criterion for the authenticity of good evangelisation”. In continuity with the previous Strenna it is a further stimulus to not thinking the process is concluded nor the tasks undertaken through Strenna 2010: “Lord, we would like to see Jesus - in imitation of Don Rua, as authentic disciples and zealous apostles let us bring the Gospel to the young”.

A brief presentation of Strenna 2011 can be found on www.sdb.org.

Pope Benedict: Modern men and women have 'profound longing' for Jesus

The following comes from the CNA:

At a traditional procession in the Vatican gardens marking the end of May, the Holy Father addressed the thousands of faithful who gathered to pray the Rosary. The Pope encouraged the faithful, saying, modern “men and women have a profound longing” for Jesus, even if they appear to be “rejecting Him.”

On Monday evening, a gathering of several thousand people processed by candlelight and recited the Rosary in the Vatican gardens, processing from the Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. At 9:00 p.m. the Pope arrived at the Grotto, was greeted by choir music, and briefly addressed the faithful before giving an apostolic blessing.

Reflecting on the day's celebration of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to her cousin Elizabeth, the Holy Father remarked that in this act, “we recognize the clearest example and the truest meaning of our path as believers and the path of the Church itself. By its nature, the Church is called to proclaim the Gospel everywhere and at all times, to spread the faith to every man and woman and to every culture.”

“Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months to offer her loving nearness, concrete assistance, and all the everyday services that were needed,” he added. “In this way, Elizabeth becomes the symbol of the many aged and ill, even more, of all those who need assistance and love.”

“How many of these persons there are today in our families, in our communities, in our cities! And Mary – who called herself 'the handmaid of the Lord' – made herself the servant of mankind. More specifically, she served the Lord whom she encountered in her brothers and sisters.”

“It should be noted,” the Pope said, “that 'Mary's charity' is not limited to concrete assistance but achieves its highest form in bestowing Jesus himself, in 'making him present.”

“This is the heart and the height of the evangelical mission. This is the true meaning and the most genuine purpose of every missionary path: to offer human beings the living and personal Gospel, which is the Lord Jesus himself.”

“Jesus,” the Holy Father stated, “is the true and only treasure that we have to give humanity.”

“Today's men and women have a profound longing for Him,” he underscored, “including when it seems they are ignoring or rejecting Him. The society we live in, Europe, the entire world has great need of Him.”

In his concluding remarks, Benedict XVI stated that “we have been entrusted with this extraordinary responsibility. Let us live it with joy and devotion so that ours might truly be a civilization in which truth, justice, liberty, and love reign, the fundamental and irreplaceable pillars of a truly shared life that is ordered and peaceful.”

“Let us live this responsibility remaining steadfast in listening to the Word of God, in communal life, in breaking of the bread, and in our prayers,” he exhorted. “May this be the grace that together this evening we ask of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.”

"Ca C'est Bon" by L'Angelus

Let Your Kids See You Pray!

This is a great story about praying with you kids! Hat tip to Deacon Greg on this one:

When was the last time your kids saw you pray?

This columnist suggests it doesn't happen often enough:
Years ago, well before I had children of my own, I was giving a talk to the parents' Sunday school class at a church in downtown Memphis.

The topic was how to keep teens involved in church. I was a youth minister working with the high school youth group at our parish, so I guess that made me an expert. After what I'm sure was a less-than-life-altering presentation on my part, I began a conversation with a woman and her teenage daughter, who joined us after her class was dismissed.

While I remember nothing of what I said on that morning, I'll never forget what the teenage girl told me.

We got into a conversation on prayer. The mother, who by all accounts was the proverbial pillar of the church, told me that she prayed every day. That was impressive, I thought, and important for her spiritual health.

What her daughter told me was even more impressive, though not nearly as happy. She admitted that she had never seen her mother pray, and that it would be "weird" to see her mother pray. Weird was the word she used.

In my years as a youth minister, teacher, even as a nurse, but especially as a parent, I've regularly encountered parents frustrated with their teen's behavior. How to keep them on the straight and narrow? How to limit the influence of negative peers and social expectations? How to keep them coming to church?

My tendency is to encourage them to consider their own behavior and, from that, consider what message their behavior is sending their children. This seems like common sense, but it's often lost in the challenges that accompany raising a child, especially a teenager.

We think they've stopped watching us, stopped paying any attention to us at all. In fact, it's in the teen years that our kids are able to not only watch what we do, but to begin to make sense of it and to better discern the contradictions between what we say and what we do.
Check out the rest at the link.

And pray about it.

Preferably, in front of your kids.

The Heart of a Martyr

Today we remember St. Justin Martyr. The following comes from the Catholic Online site:

Martyr, philosopher, and defender of Christianity. He was born into a pagan family at Flavia Neopolis, or Nablus, in Palestine. At the age of thirty, he became a Christian and traveled to debate pagan philosophers, eventually going to Rome. There he was denounced and tried with Charita, Chariton, Euelpistus, Hierox, Liberianus, and Paeon. They were scourged and beheaded. Jus­tin, also called “the Philosopher,” was the first layman to serve as an apologist. His works include Apologies for the Christian Religion and Dialogue with the Jew Trypho. The records of Justin’s trial are extant.