Vatican Meets iPhone

As a Catholic Nerd with an iPhone, I am very excited about what’s coming this Sunday, in honor of this year’s World Communications Day…. check it out here. If this doesn’t justify you making the switch to the world’s greatest phone / ipod / game device / calendar / internet browser / e-mail / camera / mosquito repellent (yes, there’s an app for that), than I don’t know WHAT will. Here’s the snazzy new website the Vatican has just launched.

“The site and its applications were developed by Italian Father Paolo Padrini, a diocesan priest from Tortona. He also helped develop the iBreviary application for the iPhone and the Catholic Facebook application called Praybook, which allows users to access and share with others traditional Catholic prayers and texts from the Liturgy of the Hours.”

– from the CNS article

“I would like to conclude this message by addressing myself, in particular, to young Catholic believers: to encourage them to bring the witness of their faith to the digital world.”

– Pope Benedict XVI

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Techno-Catholics – Evangelizing with New Media

I had a great conversation this morning with Greg Willits, the host of the first-ever Catholic New Media Celebration, to be held in Atlanta, GA on Sunday, June 22. He’s the Chief Operations Officer of the Star Quest Production Network (www.sqpn.com). Greg, along with his wife Jennifer, also created the popular “That Catholic Show” video series and also co-hosts the award-winning Rosary Army Catholic Podcast. These are incredible vehicles for bringing the life of faith into the lives we live in the culture today. There’s something for everyone in the work of SQPN! Listen to our podcast interview here. And watch a sample of a That Catholic Show Episode below! Registration for the Catholic New Media Celebration is free, as well as for the Eucharistic Congress preceding it in Atlanta. Check out the resource websites below for more info…

RESOURCES:
www.celebration.sqpn.com

www.rosaryarmy.com
www.thatcatholicshow.sqpn.com
www.sqpn.com

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Fly Away

When I was a kid I wanted to fly. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t alone in that desire. I think everybody has a deep-seated longing for the freedom of the birds, the freedom to simply lift off, float, ascend, sail away. From the Greek myth of Icarus to Leonardo’s sketches of flying machines, human beings have never been completely content as muddy-shoed bipeds.

TODAY’S QUESTION: What’s up with that?

Just imagine this scenario: Someone clearly exhibiting supernatural powers walks up to you and offers you the chance to either pay off your car, your mortgage, and get that new washer/dryer combo in the cool new colors for the basement, or…. you can fly… which would you choose?

When I first saw Superman in 1978, I wanted to fly like crazy. When I saw E.T. and watched Elliot and his alien friend cruise over the heads of those mean grown ups on his dirt-bike, my eyes were like saucers. I dreamt about flying across the moon on my sweet Huffy Pro-Thunder BMX Bandit with the star rims for weeks!

Where am I going with this one? Excellent question!
I’m not sure yet….

I’d like to leave the cap off on this one for awhile; open, like the sky itself. Part of me doesn’t want to bring closure to these dreams! Adults are good at putting lids on things, limitations, caps and ceilings. Being realistic and stuff…. Boo hiss! Wonder leaves it wide open.

Remember C.S. Lewis’s quote about desire. If there’s a longing in the heart, there must be a locus in the world for it (or perhaps Another World yet to come). Jesus ascended into Heaven, Mary was assumed body and soul. Am I that crazy in my own longing for flight? There are stories of saints levitating… sailing up to the rafters of a Church after receiving Communion, or even hearing the names of Jesus and Mary! In the immortal words of my niece Ella…. “What ‘da!?”

Why is our culture filled at the moment with so many movies about super heroes or supernatural beings that have amazing powers? We give them the gifts we wish we had. From Neo to the X-Men, Superman to Ironman. The animals don’t dream like this! Why are we not satisfied?

QUICK ANSWER: The animals are home here, we are not. In a certain sense, it’s our home away from home. More accurately, we’re exiled. The stuff of eternity is in us, and earth can’t contain it.

Now I’m not saying we should try and fly, or levitate for that matter. St. Teresa of Avila, one of the Church’s greatest “superheroines” (aka mystics), once hinted that she would rather have one normal experience to a thousand mystical experiences any day. She thought it too distracting for others I suppose, and the gift of her mystical experiences became a burden when people came for the show rather than for Jesus. That’s humility!

And the flight of St. Joseph of Cupertino? Where did that power come from? LOVE. It comes unbidden, it fills us up like helium. Maybe I was trying too hard as a kid. Flight is not something we can master or muster at our own bidding. It’s a natural byproduct of Love. Love is the fuel.

“Love lifts us up where we belong, where the eagles fly on a mountain high…”

I’ll trail off with a rather lengthy word from the MAN…. Clive Staples:

We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves — that, though we cannot, yet these projections can, enjoy in themselves that beauty, grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can’t. They tell us that “beauty born of murmuring sound” will pass into human face; but it won’t. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendor of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.

– C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Fr. Barron on the Lord of the Rings

I stumbled on these gems the other day. Great insights on the foundations of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, which Tolkien himself called “a profoundly religious and Catholic work.” Enjoy! (for more of Fr. Barron’s insights on a host of stuff, click ‘dis.)

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Just Watch….

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

The Christmas House

Do you get all goosey when you see Inflatable Christmas Lawn Art? Does the glow of lights on an otherwise drab house set your heart pumping? Do you find yourself driving the long way home from work in the winter just to catch some extra yuletide wattage? Well we’ve got the house for you! Getting there is a real journey, but for those intoxicated by Christmas lights and 6 foot Frostys, you can’t beat the “CHRISTMAS HOUSE.”

It’s nestled, oddly enough, on a dark street in a quiet little town called Washingtonville, NY. The house to the left has a porchlight and a wreath, the neighbor to the right is cloaked in shadowy shrubs. But it would take a city of Wal-Marts to beat out the brightness of the CHRISTMAS HOUSE!

And that’s just the outside of the house… Every room inside is loaded to the gills with Christmas doodads and whatzits. Classic stuff too; trains, little villages, a hall of thematic trees like the Irish Tree, the Sports Tree, the Penguin Tree, and… the Creepy Singing Tree Which Has Lips and Big Eyes (my personal favorite. I’m not going to explain it to you. Just go! You’ll find it downstairs and to the right. Or should I say, it will find you!)

Yesterday, before heading home from NY, my wife, myself, and a bunch of the family made a pilgrimage to this mecca of music and lights. It’s open from December 20 to the 30th, from 7pm to 9pm, so time is running out if you want to make the trip!

The CHRISTMAS HOUSE: It’s mind-boggling, it’s sensory overload, it’s Christmas on steroids! The Palmer family will greet you, dressed all in North Pole attire. And donations are gratefully accepted to help offset the electric bill, which I would guess is somewhere between $139,082 a day!

PS – the CHRISTMAS HOUSE happens to be a beautiful family tradition for many in the area and beyond, dedicated to the memory of Christopher Palmer, who LOVED Christmas like craaaaazy, as you’ll see. Check out a rough little snatch of video I took below…

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Random Stuff I’ve Been Meaning to Share

1. iPods are amazing.
2. Podcasts are FREE… and amazing.

What’s an iPod? Well, officially, an iPod is a portable media player (music, videos, movies, even photos) designed by Apple and about the size of a pack of gum. It was first launched on October 23, 2001. I have a video iPod that now holds EVERYTHING… family photos, music from Springsteen to Mozart, John Cougar to the Crouching Tiger soundtrack! Talks by Peter Kreeft, Bishop Sheen, Scott Hahn, Christoher West, Scripture readings, episodes of Lost, Scrubs, the Office! Gregorian Chant, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Barry Manilow (yes, real men listen to Barry!), U2, Dave Wilcox, Greg Brown, Charlie Brown Christmas Album, Movie sound bytes that make me laugh, and… and…. lots of stuff! Like podcasts….

What’s a podcast?
A podcast is like a broadcast, only one that you the listener can actually control. You can pick it, play it, pause it, or peruse it at your leisure. You can listen to a podcast just like you listen to your music on an iPod or Zune or MP3 player, or even on your computer at home (you don’t need an iPod to listen to a podcast!)

Podcasts come in boatloads of different shapes and sizes. And a great place to find them is at iTunes, which ANYONE can download for free from Apple (even if you own a PC and not a Mac).
Here are some categories of podcasts:

Arts, Business, Comedy, Education, Games and Hobbies, Government and Organizations, Health, Kids and Family, Music, News and Politics, Religion and Spirituality, Science and Medicine, Society and Culture, Sports and Recreation, Technology, TV and Film.

And here are some of my favorites:

Daily Breakfast, voted the #1 Catholic podcast with Fr. Roderick, a priest of Holland. It’s a 30 minute mix of theology and technology, music, movies, TV series, history, health, inspiration and more!

Catholic in a Small Town, a fun, lighthearted podcast from Mac and Katherine, a young Catholic couple from a small town in Georgia, talking about movies, entertainment, family, Catholic Stuff, and parenting…. pretty much everything!

Pray-as-You-Go, a new prayer session is produced (roughly) every day, lasting between ten and thirteen minutes, it combines music, scripture and some questions for reflection.

Meditations from Carmel, brought to you from the Order of Carmel Discalced Secular at the Carmel of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri. “As Carmelites living in the world, we listen to hear the whisper of God in the silence of our hearts. We seek Him, who we know loves us, and contemplate His wonders.”

CoffeeBreak Spanish, aimed at total beginners, learn a wee bit of Spanish with your latte from two Scottish podcasters! How cool is it to learn Spanish with a Scottish accent, I ask ye?

Then there’s Fr. Roderick’s “Godspeed” video podcasts, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Short Videos of octopus eating sharks and stuff like that. I mean seriously, is this not cool beyond words?

SO… WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PODCASTS?

Share the wealth! Post a comment below!

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

My Wife the Actress!!

Rebecca auditioned a couple of months ago in our local community theater, and POW! she got the role of a dying woman wearing a plaid scarf! How cool is that! Here’s the write-up from the theater’s website, cut and pasted for your viewing pleasure!
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“An O’Henry Christmas” opens at Celebration Theater on November 30th.

Jack Rowe as “O.P” spins a tale to down-and-out travelers Amanda Williamson and Rebecca Donaghy (woohoo! emphasis added) in Celebration Theater’s “An O’Henry Christmas”. The show opens November 30 and runs thru December 16 in Lansdowne at the 20th Century Club on 84 S. Lansdowne Avenue. The story takes place on Christmas Eve, 1893, when a mysterious storyteller enters an abandoned railroad spur on the outskirts of New York City and joins a rag-tag group of seemingly lost souls. In exchange for food, ” O.P.” entertains his new friends with a series of charming tales that transform them into characters in stories by O. Henry, including “The Last Leaf” and “The Gift of the Magi.” In the process, he rekindles their holiday spirit and gives them new hope for their future. With grace, humor, and a touch of the fantastic, An O. Henry Christmas makes for delightful holiday entertainment. For more information go to www.celebrationtheater.com or call 610 259-1800.

November 30 – December 16, 2007 | Buy Tickets

• Performance times (Fri & Sat 7:30 & Sun at 6:30pm)
• Friday Nov 30th will feature a Wine and Cheese Reception before the performance for an additional $5 per ticket

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Zoom Zoom!

Woohoo! My brother-in-law Tim Byrons was mentioned in the BMW Car Club of America Show in Stowe, Vermont! They gave his car a nice shoutout on the webpage here. Go Tim!

FROM THE SITE
Amongst the other notables:

– A Malaga 1973 3.0CS with 7,500 original miles owned by a reclusive collector who graciously allowed it out to visit (but not play) with a number of other picture-perfect CS coupes.

– Tim Byron’s spectacular 1988 635CSi.

– Dave Haviland’s time warp 1952 Azure Blue performance-tuned Beetle.

– A bevy of Bimmers, Porsches, Mercedes, Audis, VWs. The senior BMW present was Frank Bombardier’s red 1958 Isetta 300.

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Catholics and the Face of the Internet

My radio guest this week was Brian Barcaro from 4Marks and CatholicMatch.com. Brian is the co-founder of Acolyte, LLC an Internet software development and Management Company. Through is work with Acolyte Brian was also involved with the co-founding of 4marks.com a social networking platform for Catholics as well as CatholicMatch.com the largest online singles community for Catholics.

Our topic was Catholics and Social Networking. We looked at popular websites like Facebook and MySpace, spoke of the advantages and disadvantages of this technology, and also cited Church documents on the use of the internet as a powerful and positive tool for humanity. Brian is available to talk to families and large groups on the pros and cons of today’s technology through the 4Marks website on topics like…

“Understanding a MySpace Culture”
“The Internet & the Church “
“Real Teachers in a Virtual World”
“Does love exist online?”

RESOURCES TO FIND AT 4MARKS.COM

If you are interested in having Brian speak, please contact Dan Flaherty at 888.605.3977×6 or dan@goacolyte.com

CHURCH SOURCES WE CITED

“The Internet causes billions of images to appear on millions of computer monitors around the planet. From this galaxy of sight and sound will the face of Christ emerge and the voice of Christ be heard? For it is only when his face is seen and his voice heard that the world will know the glad tidings of our redemption. This is the purpose of evangelization. And this is what will make the Internet a genuinely human space, for if there is no room for Christ, there is no room for man.” – Pope John Paul II, Message for the 36th World Communications Day

“Man’s genius has with God’s help produced marvelous technical inventions from creation, especially in our times. The Church, our mother, is particularly interested in those which directly touch man’s spirit and which have opened up new avenues of easy communication of all kinds of news, of ideas and orientations.” – Pope Paul VI, Inter Mirifica
OTHER SOURCES

The Church and the Internet
Ethics in the Internet, 2002

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org