“Among Women” Celebrates the beauty and grace of Catholic Faith and Life among women

I just listened to an episode of the relatively new podcast, "Among Women", and found it very informative, enriching and worthwhile.

Here is a description from the Among Women website (http://www.patgohn.com/patgohn/AmongWomenPodcast.com.html):

Goal and Mission: “Among Women” celebrates the beauty and grace that women experience in their Catholic Faith and Life. They hope this “faith-sharing” program will be "faith building" . . . inspiring women in their call to holiness by drawing closer to Christ and the Catholic Church, by living lives of prayer and loving service.

Pat Gohn hosts this program featuring two segments: (1) “Blessed Are They”, a reflection focusing on faithful women who have gone before us . . . those saints and sages who bring inspiration for Christian life. (2) “Among Women,” features conversations with contemporary women from all walks of life.

Catholicism & Science are Friends: "The Catholic Laboratory" Podcast is Great!

I have been listening to a relatively new podcast called, "The Catholic Laboratory", which explores the friendship between Roman Catholicism and science. It is very orthodox, and is also very good science. The podcaster is a devout Catholic and a physicist.

Google "The Catholic Laboratory podcast" or go to http://www.catholiclab.net/TheCatholicLaboratory/Podcast/Podcast.html

The podcast includes short biographies of Catholic scientists and their contributions over the centuries, explorations of physics, cosmology and evolution from the perspective of Catholic theology, and a joke of the week!

Christmas Shopping Tip: Recycle Plastic Bags & Use Reusable Canvas Bags

California spends $25 million annually to landfill discarded plastic bags. You can help!

As you do your Christmas shopping, the California Integrated Waste Management Board recommends that we:

(1) Use reusable canvas or cloth bags.

(2) Say "No thank you." Not all items require a bag.

(3) Recycle! California requires large supermarkets or pharmacies to offer free recycling of plastic bags. How about your state or community?

(4) Reuse them. They make great waste basket liners and bags to take to the local farmers' market. What are your ideas?

(5) Tell a friend about the importance of recycling.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board has great holiday waste reduction tips anyone around the USA or around the world can use: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/PublicEd/Holidays/default.htm

Catholic Social Teaching: Caring for God’s Creation. Caring for the earth is a duty of our Catholic faith. We all are called to be careful stewards of God’s creation and to ensure a safe and hospitable environment for vulnerable human beings now and in the future.

Microlending Really Helps People Climb Up Out of Poverty

Microlending means providing hard working people in developing countries and the USA a few hundred dollars to help them start or improve a tiny business. Their own hard work can bring them and their whole community up and out of poverty, with dignity and self esteem.

All microloans are administered on the ground by charities who also provide money management training, literacy classes, and so on. Your microloan is not a "hand out"; you go into business with the person.

Yes, the economy is bad, but you can start with just $25. And you get it back (that's why it's called micro-LENDING).

An excellent agency is Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/

You can check out my investments at the links below. At the webpage, click on "loans" to see the loans made to groups around the globe.

"Debbie's Family" are my loans in lieu of Christmas presents -- my family wanted to get away from the materialism of Christmas shopping last year.

http://www.kiva.org/lender/debbie7735

JustFaith2 are the investments of my JustFaith group; in the JustFaith program, I first learned how very effective microlending can be. Catholic Relief Services highly recommends it.

http://www.kiva.org/team/st_charles_borromeo_just_faith_ii

About the photo: Kahooza John Bosco is the leader of his lending group in Ibanda. He is a very hardworking and friendly man. He is 38 years old and married with 2 children, both of whom are in primary school; he also takes care of 2 dependants. He has had a retail shop in the Nyarukika trading centre for 15 years, where he is able to make 120,000 as profits a week. This is mostly attributed to the use of the loans that enabled him to have a variety of items in the shop. In the future, John Bosco would want to sell wholesale so that he could sell more and consequently have a happy and united family. He is seeking for a loan to be able buy more products for his shop so as to avoid shortages.

Waste Prevention in Gift Wrapping: 10 Simple Ideas

Here are ideas from the California Integrated Waste Management Board at http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/PublicEd/Holidays/

(1) Design your own gift-wrap by using a paper grocery or department store bag; have the kids add decorations.

(2) Spruce up brown paper wrapping with pretty bows (and save them for next year).

(3) Purchase sturdier gift bags and reuse them each year.

(4) For large, hard to wrap gifts, just add a large fancy bow.

(5) Or hide large, unwieldy gifts and give the person a card with a clue to lead them to the present.

(6) Fold up gift boxes and use them again.

(7) Christmas stockings are great for little gifts.

(8) Some gifts come in decorated gift boxes. Just add a bow and a gift tag (made from last year’s Christmas cards).

(9) Wrap gifts in the funny pages or old posters.

(10) If you do use store-bought wrapping paper, buy the kind with recycled content (the more postconsumer, the better).

You and your family can live the Catholic Social Teaching of "Caring for God's Creation" by reducing the amount of paper and ribbon going into landfills. And have a lot of fun doing it!

Fundacion Caminante: Ministry to Help Migrant Workers

Francisco Herrera and and his wife Maria Christina, have a foundation called Fundacion Caminante that helps migrant workers and also the very poor in the US and in Mexico .

Here’s the mission and a brief bio from the web site: http://caminantecultural.com/

OUR MISSION/NUESTRA MISSION

Contribute, as a social justice organization, to the defense of the rights and dignity of all human beings, from our identity as migrant people who in one way or another give witness to love, justice and peace in all social realities.

“Francisco Herrera directs CAMINANTE Cultural Work, dedicated to strengthening working people through retreats, workshops, conferences and concerts. Music provides the venue by which folks can bring their communities together to have a good time, listen to very soulful music and look at their community, deciding what it is we need to change. When people get organized leaders tremble and behave. Francisco's interpretation of original and traditional songs helps us believe in each other.”

Here is Francisco’s web site and you can listen to some of his music:

http://www.myspace.com/franciscoherrera

A friend from my parish loves the songs Atrevete a Sonar and La Tierra.

Bible Study Made Easy for Catholics!

http://greatadventureonline.com/

Don't have time to attend a Bible study? Find the Bible confusing and hard to read on your own? I recommend that you buy a CD set from Great Adventures and listen to it in your car or iPod.

I bought the Bible study on First Corinthians, and it was terrific! The speaker made the Bible come alive, providing the cultural context of the people in Corinth that St. Paul was writing to -- understanding the intended audience is absolutely crucial to understanding 1st Corinthians -- it's so easy to understand once you have the whole context.

Catholicism 101: Great Website for the Basics of Our Faith

http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/tp/Catholicism_101.htm

I just discovered this terrific website with a wealth of information on the basics of the Roman Catholic faith. I did a spot check on a variety of topics (Baptism, Confirmation, Cardinal Virtues) and this site appears to be absolutely orthodox. The explanations of the doctrines of our Roman Catholic faith are easy to understand. What a great resource!

The About.com: Catholicism website is written by Scott P. Richert. I checked his credentials, and he has an impressive knowledge of the Catholic faith, both eastern and western rite. Good job, Scott!

Xt3 -- Millions are using this Catholic social network

Xt3 - more than a social network.
So good even the Pope uses it!

http://www.xt3.com

From Xt3 homepage: "We've got discussions, profile pages, global and friends' prayer walls, podcasts, diocesan homepages, events and projects. You can even ask a priest all those burning questions you have... so why not join now?"

Father Roderick of SQPN is excited about this website -- I understand that it is the largest Catholic networking site in the world. It was founded out of the Pope's World Youth Day in Sidney a couple of years ago. Looks like a lot of fun!

Book Review: "Catholic and Christian" by Alan Schreck

Catholic and Christian: An Explanation of Commonly Misunderstood Catholic Beliefs
by Alan Schreck
ISBN 0-86716-599-5
Copyright 2004
Servant Books (St. Anthony Messenger Press)
www.AmericanCatholic.org

This book is recommended by Scott Hahn for Catholics in order to understand their own faith better, and to be equipped to explain common misunderstandings about the Roman Catholic faith to their Protestant Christian friends.

The explanation of the Saints was very good. I'm going to order copies for myself, my RCIA team, and two friends who are returning Catholics.

Catholic Social Teaching: Option for the Poor and Vulnerable.

While the common good embraces all, those who are in greatest need deserve preferential concern. A moral test for society is how we treat the weakest among us – the unborn, those dealing with disabilities or terminal illness, the poor and marginalized. -- from the “Catholic Update” June 2008 Issue

“Better is a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.” --Proverbs 16:8

Christmas Gifts with a Conscience: The Green Gift Guide

“Live responsibly, shop sustainably” is the motto of the Green Gift Guide website (http://www.greengiftguide.com/). You can act on the Catholic Social Doctrine of caring for God’s creation as you Christmas shop.

This website has ideas for buying gifts made of recycled materials, ways to trim your tree and wrap your gifts that do not lead more junk in our landfills -- plan ahead now and have a wonderful, meaningful and socially responsible holiday season!

“He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.” --Psalm 146:7

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

Wondering if God is Calling You?!?

Catholic Vocations Podcast
http://www.vocationscast.com/

"Just listen to that little voice inside of your heart, telling you what God wants you to do. Because that is your vocation."

This is a really fun podcast for any young man who thinks maybe, just maybe, God is calling him to the priesthood. Find out what it is like to be a priest, to discern a call to the priesthood. Hey -- it's a podcast -- it's private and just between you and God.

More Catholic Apps for iPhone!

View this excellent 1 minute video on YouTube to see many Catholic Apps for iPhones: http://tiny.cc/iPhoneCathApps

iConfess: A handbook to help you make a good Confession!

iViaCrucis: The Way of the Cross -- meditate upon our crucified Savior any Friday (it's not just for Lent)

iCatechism: Look up a question about your faith! What are angels? What is Confirmation exactly? What does the Vatican say about "just war"? It's all in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Catholic Reflections: a daily scripture passage, followed by a saintly reflection and a prayer in the form of a Mobile Widget.

Divine Office and iBreviary: Pray the Divine Office (aka Liturgy of the Hours)! Give it a go in Latin!

iMissal: Follow along during the Mass! Read the daily readings. Uses the official texts approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with an entire liturgical year’s worth of sacred scripture.

Prayer: Has the Common Prayers from the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church available in English as well as several other languages.

10 Catholic Commandments: Use this app to pray over the 10 commandments that also offers the option of accompanying music.

Divine Mercy: This app provides different images for each of the Our Father beads, helps you keep track of the day of the Novena you are on, and more.
Hail Mary: Pray the rosary with this app that lets you select the color of your beads, provides scripture readings and images, and is available in several languages.

Catholic Calendar: Liturgical calendar for every year from 1970 to 2300 and beyond.