The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) now in publication!

New American Bible, Revised Edition

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has now released the revised edition of the Bible we use during Mass in the United States.

Check out the Bishops' website: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/nabre.shtml

Platoons of theologians and scholars have been working on this for many, many years.  I am looking forward to getting a copy!

Publishers will start coming out with editions in June, and the USCCB online version of the Bible will be updated -- they are working on it.

For Lent, here is an online version of the Seven Penitential Psalms and Songs of the Suffering Servant from Isaiah:

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/seven-psalms-songs.shtml

For more previews of the new text, visit: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/text-changes.shtml

Operation Rice Bowl is a great way to observe Lent for whole family

Each Lent, nearly 13,000 faith communities across the U.S. participate in Operation Rice Bowl to demonstrate solidarity with the poor around the world.

Sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, 75 percent of Operation Rice Bowl donations go to help fund increased food security around the world. Twenty-five percent support hunger and poverty alleviation in the USA.

At the Operation Rice Bowl website (http://orb.crs.org), you can find a calendar of daily activities, prayers, reflections, stories from people around the world, and tasty recipes from many countries.

Operation Rice Bowl Prayer

We lift our prayers to you, God of Love, on behalf of our brothers and sisters in need. As we learn about their struggles, our almsgiving comes to their aid; our fasting unites us in their hunger. You call us to be disciples for all nations. Bless us this Lenten season. Amen.

Write Your Congressperson to Support Pro-Life Legislation

As of this writing, three pro-life bills were active in the U.S. House of Representatives:

• HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act,
• HR 358, the Protect Life Act, and
• HR 361, the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2011.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops needs you, the voter, to contact your Congressperson to urge them to support Pro-Life legislation.

This will take approximate five minutes of your time at: http://www.cacatholic.org (click on “Current Alerts” at the right side).

The Church has limited influence on legislators; however, you have a tremendous influence on your representative as one of their constituents.

To read more about these three bills, go to: http://www.cacatholic.org/index.php/topics/pro-life.html

Great Catholic Facebook Pages

Pope Calls for Christian Presence on Social Networks:

Catholics Invade Facebook!

“I would like then to invite Christians, confidently and with an informed and responsible creativity, to join the network of relationships which the digital era has made possible . . . In this field too we are called to proclaim our faith that Christ is God, the Savior of humanity and of history, the one in whom all things find their fulfillment (cf. Eph 1:10).” -- From the Vatican, 24 January 2011, “Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age”, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales, http://www.pccs.va

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are just a few Catholic social networking sites you can participate in and share with your friends. These are all on Facebook; if a person or group has a webpage, that is listed, too:

Walk for Life West Coast -- Official Group Page (http://www.walkforlifewc.com). Join the growing numbers of Catholics and people of good will speaking out for life.

Busted Halo Show (http://www.bustedhalo.com). Sirius XM Radio show and podcasts answering questions of faith and being Catholic today.

Lino at Large (http://catholicguy.com). Zany, fun Catholic comedy show with host, Lino Rulli.

SQPN (http://sqpn.com). Dozens of podcasts for Catholics young and old with a vigorous online community.

Catholic: Under the Hood ... The Fanclub! (http://catholicunderthehood.com). Priest and professor of history tells you everything you need to know about Catholic history.

Perpetual Divine Mercy Marathon. Join with others to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet year-round.

iPadre Catholic Podcast (http://www.ipadre.net). Father Jay Finelli answers your questions of faith with great compassion; has terrific music on podcast, too.

August 15, 2011 Worldwide Consecration to Jesus Through Mary. Join with others who are consecrating themselves and the world to Jesus through Mary.

Thy Daily Bread Forum (http://thydailybreadforum.proboards.com). Daily readings and prayers for spiritual nourishment every day.

Catholic News Service (http://www.catholicnews.com). World and national news from the US Bishops news service.

Debbie Post (facebook.com/Debbie.Jane.Post; http://debbiecatholic.blogspot.com). Friend me on Facebook to see how I am trying to have a Catholic presence.

Great Catholic Twitter Feeds

Twitter Goes Catholic:
Pope Calls for Christian Presence on Social Networking Sites

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-calls-for-christian-presence-on-social-networking-sites/

Facebook, MySpace and Twitter should be used by Christians looking to bring "truth, proclamation and authenticity of life" to the web today, the Pope said in his message for the 45th World Day of Social Communications. If technologies are used with wisdom, the Pope explained, "they can contribute to the satisfaction of the desire for meaning, truth and unity which remain the most profound aspirations of each human being."

I have used Twitter to share Catholic content, and currently follows 34 feeds on Twitter, and am followed by 61. Here are just a few of the excellent Christian Twitter feeds that I have found. Join today and start adding your own contribution of “meaning, truth and unity”.

CatholicNewsSvc: The daily news service of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

CatholicPriest: Catholic priest in the Society of St. Paul who tweets on scripture, liturgy, prayer, pop culture, morality, vocations to priesthood, religious life and marriage.

CatholicDadsHQ: Faith formation is job #1 with content to enrich the lives of Catholic dads, their families and communities.

RightToLifeCA: News from the group, “Right to Life of Central California”, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to restoring societal respect and effective legal protection for all human beings from conception to natural death.

BenedictineSis: News from the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, including information on saints, books, prayer, Bible quotes, and daily activities in their monasteries.

CatholicClimate: News from the Catholic Climate Covenant with quotes from papal statements, prayers, practical actions that families can take to “Care for Creation, Care for the Poor”

dspost: I use Twitter to repeat the content that I post here, kind of a "micro-blog" companion to this blog (http://twitter.com/dspost)

Catholic Youth Advocacy Day, Sacramento, March 22

Come to a gathering of young people of faith raising their voices in “sincere dialogue and with anxious interest seeking the common good.”

The California Catholic Conference (CCC) invites Catholic youth from all over California who are interested in exercising their “faithful citizenship” in their state’s Capitol. The CCC welcomes all who are interested in meeting with elected officials to speak on behalf of those who are poor, vulnerable or voiceless.

This one-day event will include a Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, information sessions, visits with legislators and a time to debrief with fellow students.

To register, visit: http://www.cacatholic.org, or contact Linda Wanner, 916-313-4017, lwanner@cacatholic.org

The full flyer is at: http://www.cacatholic.org/images/stories/pdfs/Youth-advocacy.pdf

If you live in a different state, check with the Catholic Conference of your own state bishops -- they should have an advocacy day at your state's capital.