New Catholic Podcasts -- Learn and Have Fun!

Catholic Vitamins (http://www.catholicvitamins.com/): Faith life a little down? Wondering where God is? That’s okay -- it happens to the best of us. This podcast is dedicated to helping you find the right nutrients that can add a lift and just the right amount of ‘zest’ to your faith practice.

The Catholic Foodie (http://catholicfoodie.com/): The Catholic Foodie brings much more to the table than merely recipes and reviews. The show highlights how food - good food - can be a sign to us of God’s love and care for each of us and our families. "Where food meets faith".

Among Women (http://www.patgohn.com/patgohn/AmongWomenPodcast.com.html): “Among Women” celebrates the beauty and grace that women experience in their Catholic Faith and Life.

In Between Sundays (http://inbetweensundays.com/): Gives you the essentials to live in the world outside of church. Being people of faith requires more than just one hour on Sunday...

Great Christian Music -- It Ain't All Hymns & Chants

The iPadre Catholic Podcast always starts with great Christian music that is really, really good -- not sappy or "churchy".

iPadre Catholic Podcast:

iTunes Name: "iPadre Catholic Podcasting >> iPadre Podcast"

URL: http://www.ipadre.net/

Here are some good tunes and Christian Rock groups:

“Do You Dare” by Bree Noble
Link to song

”My Everything” by Jonathan Roberts
Link to song

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” by Karmen Tyler
Link to song

“Jesus Is The Way” by John Polce
Link to artist

“Everyday Eternity” by Take No Glory
Link to song

“Power of One” by Arthur Pope
Link to song

Live Holiness -- Great New Blog by a Young Priest

"Live Holiness" http://liveholiness.com/

Fr. Michael Najim says:

"I love being a priest and I feel a particular call to help people grow in their friendship with the Lord. This is the main reason I began LiveHoliness.com: to encourage and inspire others to be holy which is our ultimate calling."

Care for God’s Creation by Reducing Holiday Waste

As the holiday season approaches, plan ahead to reduce your waste. Be creative and do not add to our landfills. By some very simple methods, you can act on at least two Catholic Social Doctrines: caring for God's creation and living in solidarity with others who must share the world's resources ("living more simply so that others can simply live")

The bad news: An estimated 2.6 billion holiday cards are sold each year in the United States, enough to fill a football field 10 stories high. 38,000 miles of ribbon is thrown out each year--enough to tie a bow around the Earth.

The good news: The California Integrated Waste Management Board has a great website with many practical ideas to help you care for God’s creation this holiday season by reducing your own waste: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/PublicEd/Holidays/ .

For example,

1. Buy rechargeable batteries,
2. Wrap jewelry in a scarf,
3. Wrap a kitchen gift in a new dish towel,
4. Use gift bags and save them for next year,
5. Give movie tickets, ball game tickets or other non-material gifts,
6. Give homemade cookies,
7. Use the Sunday comics as wrapping paper,
8. Make gift tags from last year’s Christmas cards, and
9. Always reuse packing peanuts.

For years, my mother-in-law has wrapped our gifts in the comics or old maps or old scraps of wall paper. For the last few years, my sister and I have put our gifts into those reusable gift sacks loosely wrapped in tissue paper. We easily reuse the bags and the tissue paper.

Socially Just Christmas Shopping Ideas

You can act on the Catholic Social Doctrine of solidarity with people around the planet by making purchases direct from farmers and artisans, ensuring that they receive a living wage from the sale of their products. Fair Trade programs also help farmers with sustainable farming methods, so you are also contributing to the Catholic Social Doctrine of caring for God's creation, too! And the Catholic Social Doctrines of the workers' rights and support of families also apply. You are really following in the footsteps of Jesus with your purchases. For the past two years, I have bought all gifts for out of state relatives from fair trade agencies -- the quality is very good. The "Divine" chocolate brand is superb.

Equal Exchange (http://www.equalexchange.coop/) offers fairly traded coffee, tea, chocolate and snacks, supporting small farmer co-ops using sustainable farming methods.

Oxfam America Unwrapped (www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com) makes it easy to give a donation in someone’s name; let’s face it, our adult relatives don’t need another fruitcake and this way we do not generate a lot of wrapping paper for landfills.

Ten Thousand Villages (www.tenthousandvillages.com) offers delightful, handcrafted products from artisans around the world (jewelry, journals, soaps, toys).

Alter Eco Fair Trade (www.altereco-usa.com) offers fair trade and organic foods (coffee, grains, teas, olive oils, chocolate) while supporting small farmers who are preserving local agricultural biodiversity.

-- Courtesy of the Diocese of Oakland, Social Justice Resources webpage

Malaria No More: Together We Can Beat Malaria

Looking for a way to make a difference in the world? How about buying a mosquito net? They cost about $10 each, and they protect children, especially in Africa. What a great "stocking stuffer" to give for Christmas!

For more information, visit: http://www.malarianomore.org/

Helping our brothers and sisters around the world is a way to express the Catholic Social Teaching of "Solidarity". We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught that “if you want peace, work for justice.”1 The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers. Our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote peace in a world surrounded by violence and conflict. -- from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/excerpt.shtml