California Bishops Name November as Restorative Justice Month

Starting with their 2000 pastoral letter “Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice,” U.S. bishops have advocated for a more humane approach called “Restorative Justice” to repair the harm caused by criminal behavior to the extent possible. The growing social justice movement encourages victims, offenders and their impacted communities to fully participate in the healing process through victim/offender dialogue, restitution, victim and ex-offender assistance, sentencing circles and community service.

Learn more at the website of the California Bishops:
http://www.cacatholic.org/index.php/topics/restorativejustice/896-rj-month.html

RestoreJustice.com is an outreach of the California Catholic Conference offering healing and support to everyone affected by the criminal justice system throughout the U.S. The purpose of RestoreJustice.com is to offer a place of compassion and assistance, resources and services and educational information for anyone who is affected by crime - victims of crime, offenders and their families, corrections staff, chaplains, criminal justice system employees and management, and advocates for restorative justice.

Learn more at: http://restorejustice.com

PG&E has many ways to save energy starting at home

Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), my local utility, has a great website with all kinds of ways you can save energy at home, reducing your own carbon footprint. Ideas include buying Energy Star appliances, using CFC light bulbs, keeping your house a little warmer in summer and cooler in winter, set your water heater a bit cooler and so on. All of these are realistic, feasible and add up to measurable savings.

Learn more at: http://www.pge.com/myhome/saveenergymoney/savingstips/

What has PG&E to do with faith? "Care for God’s Creation" is a theme of Catholic Social Teaching.

Even the Vatican is going green. With the installation of solar panels on the roof of the Paul VI Audience Hall, the Vatican began selling power back to the Roman electric grid in November 2008.

Concern for the environment is one of the newer dimensions of Catholic social teaching, paralleling the growing awareness in society as a whole. Prior to the industrial revolution, human impact on the environment was limited and localized. With the growth of economies, the use of fossil fuels, and the demand for consumer goods, the amount of natural resources people pulled from the planet rose substantially.

So . . . it's a Catholic thing to care for God's Creation.

Register to Vote before October 18th for the November 2nd General Election

Have you recently moved? Turned 18? Recently become a US Citizen? If so, you need to register to vote before October 18th for the next General Election.

Voter Registration forms are generally available at public libraries and city halls. Register online at the League of Women Voters website (http://www.vote411.org).

At my parish, my Social Concerns Ministry has put a reminder in the bulletin, and will put voter registration forms in the vestibule.

The California Catholic Bishops provide information on current legislation on their website (http://www.cacatholic.org).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ask Catholics to become informed and vote using their conscience and judgment. The Catholic Church never tells people how to vote; the Catholic Church does point out moral issues with respect to legislation. See their Faithful Citizenship website for more information: http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/

"In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation." – United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship”, No. 13

Fair Trade Gifts for the Holidays

At my parish, we have just ordered a consignment of Fair Trade craft items from Catholic Relief Services. My Social Concerns Committee will hold a craft sale at the end of October so people can do some Christmas shopping with a conscience. We are not doing this to raise money, but rather, to raise awareness of Fair Trade crafts, coffee and chocolate.

The sale will literally help the artisans help themselves up and out of poverty, and with dignity.

As American consumers, we can use our purchases to help people who are poor around the world lift themselves, their families, and their communities up and out of poverty. I think the key is that Catholic Relief Services is on the ground in communities around the world, helping people learn better farming methods, gain money management skills, establish schools, etc. CRS eliminates the middle man, bringing gifts, chocolate, coffee, etc., direct from the artisans and farmers to us, the consumer, and guaranteeing that the artisans and farmers get a living wage.

I have personally bought Fair Trade gifts for all of my out-of-town relatives for four years now, and everyone is very happy with the quality. The Divine Chocolate is wonderful (and the women of my family are connoisseurs). Fair Trade coffee and teas are available in stores all around my town (Target, Safeway, Trader Joe's, Peet's Coffee & Tea, etc).

The Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade website explains it all very well: http://www.crsfairtrade.org/

If you want to hold a gift, chocolate or coffee sale yourself, it is very, very easy. The CRS website has step-by-step instructions with beautiful flyers and posters to help you promote your sale.

If you want to do some Christmas shopping for yourself, you can buy products online at the CRS Fair Trade website.

Pope and Patriarch Urge Preservation of Planet for Future Generations

I put this article in my parish's bulletin to underscore how deeply concerned the Vatican is regarding the environment and the poorest among us. Those without resources are always hit hardest by environmental problems.

Pope Benedict urged all people to remember the duty we have today to safeguard the future for generations to come. Speaking in support of the Day for Safeguarding Creation (a tradition in Italy and in the Greek Orthodox Church), the Holy Father said, “There can be no peace in the world without respecting the environment.” Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople echoed these sentiments, calling efforts to address the environmental crisis, “This titanic and just fight.”

Read more at the Catholic News Service website for August 30th: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1003496.htm

Here is the Vatican website with the Pope's full address:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20090826_en.html

Catholic News Service: Bringing Catholic News from USA and World to You

You probably already know this, but today I finally understood what the "Catholic News Service" (CNS) is all about.

This agency was founded in 1920 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, yet is financially self sustaining, and editorially independent. Their mission is to bring the good, the bad and ugly to us regarding the Catholic world -- great! You can subscribe to their RSS feed, and they also are probably providing much of the news coverage you hear on your local Catholic radio stations. What a terrific organization!

CNS homepage: http://www.catholicnews.com/

Here's what CNS says about itself:

The mission of Catholic News Service is the mission of the Church itself -- to spread the Gospel through contemporary means of communication. Our mission is to perform this task by reporting the news which affects Catholics in their everyday lives.

Some of that news is good and some is bad, but it is what readers need to know in order to work for salvation. They need to know that there are saints in the making in the Church today and they need to know that there are sinners too.

Our mission is to report fully, fairly and freely about the involvement of the Church in the world today.

International Day of Peace, September 21

Many activities are happening around the country and the world for the International Day of Peace.

This is a day that the whole family can get involved in. For example, observe one minute of silence at noon on September 21st. Hold a city-wide prayer meeting for all faiths, all ethnic groups. Make peace in your own relationships.

For more information, visit: http://internationaldayofpeace.org/

To find an event near you, visit: http://internationaldayofpeace.org/participate/find_an_event.html

Catholic iTunes Apps on My iPod Touch

Here is a list of the Catholic apps that I currently have on my new iPod Touch. I found all of these through the iTunes Apps store by searching on the word "Catholic". These are all free. I believe they are all faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; they certainly enrich my faith journey! The titles listed below match the titles in iTunes.

Catholic Bible: Yes, the entire Bible!

Catholic Mass Times Church Directory: Awesome! Easily shows the Catholic churches closest to my location with a link to addresses, maps and Mass times.

Divine Mercy Guide: Steps me through the Divine Mercy chaplet, etc.

Evangelizo -- Daily Gospel: Terrific! Automatically loads the Mass readings for the day, and has other prayers for the season.

The Holy Rosary: Nice aid to prayer.

iCatholicRadio - The Station of the Cross: Indispensable! Easy access to 101.7 FM (Buffalo): livestream their radio broadcasts and get their podcasts, etc.

The Lord's Prayer: Meditative music to listen to while contemplating the prayer that Jesus taught us.

Night Prayer, Compline -- FREE Audio Liturgy of the Hours by DivineOffice.org: Automatically downloads the Liturgy of the Hours for the day, the night prayer.

Rosary - Mysteries of the Holy Rosary: Nice prayer aid.

iBooks (this is general app for reading any book, but I downloaded from the Gutenberg Project an ePub format file of Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica)

Upon googling Evangelizo to get the art for this blog post, I see that Evangelizo is also available for the Android, and that is probably true for others.

Free Catholic Apps on iTunes!

I got an iPod Touch for my birthday! Yippee!

I immediately loaded it up with all of the free, wonderful Catholic Apps on the iTunes Store!

I now have the entire Bible, St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, Rosary prayers, Divine Office, etc.

The Station of the Cross (101.7 FM Buffalo) App gives a livestream of their radio station -- Mother Angelica of EWTN fame was on when I fired up the App. Also has easy access to their podcasts (as reviewed earlier in this blog).

In iTunes in the App Store, search on "Catholic".

Podcast Review: "Divine Mercy in My Soul"

Awesome podcast! I have prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet. This past Easter season, I prayed the Divine Mercy Novena and observed Divine Mercy Sunday. I have heard a little bit about the life of St. Faustina.

But until now, I have never studied her writings.

This podcast is by a priest and a layman who are very knowledgeable about the Diary of St. Faustina. Here is your chance to deeply understand the writings, prayers and blessings of St. Faustina, and the great message of His Divine Mercy that Jesus Christ communicated to the world through her.

Great way to learn and grow in your faith! Thanks, Station of the Cross in Buffalo, New York!

http://www.wlof.net/programming/podcasts/

The Station of the Cross
101.7 FM Buffalo, New York
"Proclaiming the fullness of Truth with clarity and charity."

Podcast Review: "The Station of the Cross: Various Talks"

"The Station of the Cross", 101.7 FM Buffalo, New York, USA, is a Catholic radio station. They put some of their programming out on the Internet as podcasts.

I have listened to a couple of episodes of the podcast "The Station of the Cross: Various Talks" and highly recommend it.

The talks range from inspiring lectures on the faith by priests and theologians to recordings of call-in question and answer live radio shows. The episode with Father Corapi (of EWTN renown) was terrific.

The speakers are all very faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and extremely good public speakers. It looks like most of them are priests. This podcast is a great way for adults to learn and grow in their faith.

iTunes Name: "Various Talks"

Website: http://www.wlof.net/programming/podcasts/

Podcast Review: "Calling All Catholics"

I have listened to three episodes of the Catholic podcast, "Calling All Catholics", and I really like it!

"Calling All Catholics" is the podcast version of a Catholic radio call-in talk show. The host is a Roman Catholic priest who answers questions of faith, prays for people, and discusses Catholic doctrine in an easy to understand and friendly way. A very enjoyable podcast for learning about our faith and its challenges in 21st Century America; I also appreciated the opportunity to pray for people with troubles.

iTunes name: "Calling All Catholics"

Website: http://www.wlof.net/grid/all-shows-list/calling-all-catholics.html

From the radio station: "Station of the Cross", 101.7 FM, Buffalo, New York, USA, http://www.wlof.net/index.php

The Catholic Climate Covenant is Champion for the Poor

The Catholic Climate Covenant is really cool.

http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops fully supports this group who is advocating for people in poverty -- these people would otherwise have no voice in the climate change debate. Also, the poorest among us will be hit the hardest by climate change.

Their website gives great tips on how we can each reduce our own impact, e.g. eat one less meat meal a week, use cloth shopping bags, etc. Their website also has news on current topics, e.g. what are Catholics doing to help the oil spill in the Gulf?

Catholic Climate Covenant is on Twitter (ClimateCovenant), Facebook (Catholic Climate Covenant) and MySpace (Catholic Climate Covenant), too!

iCatholicRadio -- The Station of the Cross!

iCatholicRadio is a mobile service of The Station of the Cross, a not-for-profit Catholic Radio Network that exists in order to effectively evangelize through radio programming.

http://www.icatholicradio.com/index.php

We strive to proclaim
the Truth revealed in the person of Jesus Christ,
handed on by the power of the Holy Spirit,
through the Magisterium of the Catholic Church,
for the past 2,000 years,
and now laid out for us in the Catechism.

I just learned about this today, and at a glance, it looks faithful and informative. They are starting a drive to consecrate the world to Jesus through Mary! Praise God!

Looks like they have three podcasts in iTunes:

• Calling All Catholics
• Divine Mercy in My Soul
• The Station of the Cross: Various Talks

I plan to download these and try them out. If you listen and can recommend them (or not), let me know!

Catholic Church Has a Patron Saint for the Unemployed

Patron Saint of the Unemployed

One of my relatives is out of a job just now, so I googled the patron saint of the unemployed and those seeking employment.

Saint Cajetan is our friend for employment troubles.

SQPN has a good website on this (and other) saints at: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-cajetan/

Saint Cajetan is also known by other names, e.g. Gaetano.

Why pray to a saint? Saints are currently in heaven and can present our prayers before the Throne of God. Ask them to pray for you, just as you would any friend or family member. They are fully within the will of God, and all grace and power they may have come from Him.

The Communion of Saints as stated in the Nicene Creed consists of the Church Militant (all of us here on Earth), the Church Suffering (those getting purified for heaven in purgatory), and the Church Triumphant (everyone in heaven).

Dear Saint Cajetan, please pray for all who are struggling to find a job that is good for them and their families. Amen.

Why Should a Catholic Care for Creation?

Here's some food for thought that I just submitted as an article to my parish bulletin. I like the blending of care for God's creation with care for God's children in the Pope's encyclical.

Scripture: The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. – Genesis 2:15

Pope Benedict: The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole. -- Caritas in Veritate #48, Pope Benedict XVI

Top Ten Reasons to Care for Creation:
1. God is the Creator of the Universe and maintains its existence through an ongoing creative will.

2. God has blessed and called "very good" all that is created.

3. God's plan for Creation is one of harmony and order. Creation forms a whole, a cosmos.

4. God loves the community of life.

5. God's creatures share a common home.

6. God's presence is discernable in all Creation.

7. God intends the Earth's goods to be equitably shared.

8. Within Creation, the human person enjoys a consummate dignity. Inherent to this dignity is that of exercising a wise and just stewardship over the rest of Creation.

9. Sin brought division into the entire world, but not only within and between human persons. The consequences of sin also affect the Earth.

10. In a mysterious way, Christ's redemptive mission extends to all of Creation.

-- from the Catholic Conservation Center, http://conservation.catholic.org/

"Urge Congress to Extend Jobless Benefits and Promote Long-Term Job Growth" Says Catholic Charities USA

Catholic Charities USA has just sent out an action alert for all of us voting Catholics to write to our Congresspersons now.

The Catholic Charities USA website explains the Church's position in detail, and makes it laughably easy to email your members of Congress with the click of a mouse.

Action Alert website for this topic: http://capwiz.com/catholiccharitiesusa/issues/alert/?alertid=15076796&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id]

Catholic Charities USA homepage: http://capwiz.com/catholiccharitiesusa/home/

I just wrote my senators and representative. How about you? 67 million Catholics in America can be heard, if we respond to our Bishops when they call us to action.

Simple Things to Do to Care for Planet Earth

The Catholic Coalition for Climate Change has a great website. One of their handy features are lists of things anyone can do to care for God's creation.

Here is a list of 25 "Everyday Approaches" that are great activities for families and individuals: http://www.catholicsandclimatechange.org/pdf/Everyday_Approaches.pdf

The list covers the following topics, giving some details around each one: recycling, washing clothes in cold water, using tupperware, fixing leaks and drips, using energy-efficient light bulbs, buying local, carpooling, walking, eating more veggies and less beef, planting a tree, assessing your home's energy use, turning off lights, and so on. Tips are also given for school and work and parishes.

I work with the Department of Energy in my day job, and many of these things are from the DOE. In other words, these activities really do make a difference, and are the correct things to do.

US Bishops Website on New English Translation of the Mass

http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/index.shtml

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have rolled out a new website on the new English translation of the Roman Missal.

This new translation into English from the Latin will probably be implemented in all US parishes by Advent 2011.

You will have to relearn (and hopefully study and ponder) most of the memorized responses that you currently say during Mass. (A dozen years ago when I went through RCIA to join the Church, I sweated to learn the Mass: now we can all do it together!).

Check out the sample texts. They are really great -- much, much closer to the intent of the Latin. In my parish, we use bilingual missals, with English on one side and Spanish on the other. The Spanish has always been far closer to the Latin. Interesting.

Make a Difference in Washington, D.C., with the Click of a Mouse

Catholic Charities USA keeps a close eye on legislation passing through Congress, and regularly asks Catholic voters to write to their Congresspersons on time urgent bills.

What can you do? Sign up to receive an email alert, or twice a month visit the CCUSA website to see the latest Action Alerts.

With the click of the mouse and the entry of a few fields of data about yourself, you can send an effective email to your Congressperson. You do need to include your full name and address: your Congressperson needs to know that you are one of their constituents.

At the Catholic Charities USA website, click on “Advocacy” and then “Take Action”: www.catholiccharitiesusa.org

As of this writing, the action alert is: "Urge Congress to Extend Jobless Benefits and Promote Long-Term Job Growth"

Remember: there are tens of millions of Catholic voters in the USA. Working in concert with our Bishops, we can be heard.