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Vatican Blog Meeting: "The 150" and Miscellaneous Links

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Next Monday, the day after the beatification of John Paul II, the Vatican is hosting a meeting for Catholic bloggers in Rome.  As a Catholic blogger, I’ve found it exciting to follow this in the last few weeks.  I didn’t sign up to be in the lottery to be invited, because I knew I couldn’t go–our youngest’s first Communion is May 1.  For our family, that date is especially providential because it is not only John Paul II’s beatification, Divine Mercy Sunday, but also (when it doesn’t fall on Sunday) the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, a big feast for our Joseph-heavy family.   So while I wish I could be there, we’ll be celebrating pretty big here in Illinois.

However, my not signing up did not prevent me from following and enjoying the news of who did get invited.   There were more than 700 bloggers worldwide who applied, and 150 got invites.   I was delighted to see that quite a few people I know, through blogging, Twitter and reviews, made the list.

Lisa Hendey, the author of last May’s book selection, The Handbook for Catholic Moms, is writing on her website, CatholicMom.com, all about her preparations for traveling to Rome.  Lisa is actually the only one I’ve met in person.   I interviewed her in Chicago last year, and it was a real highlight of my first few months writing this blog.

The Ironic Catholic is also one of ” the 150.”   Longtime Catholic Post Book Group readers will remember my interview with Ironic Catholic last year.  Initially, she was going to have to turn down the invitation to go to Rome, but it all worked out in the end.    Strange but true:  another invited blogger, Brandon Vogt of The Thin Veil, won a book giveaway I ran around Christmastime.  I’m excited to learn more about his new book, The Church and the New Media, to be published later this year by Our Sunday Visitor, as well as his take on the blog meeting.

Other bloggers I “know” in a more remote way (kind of like I might have met someone famous once, but I don’t think that person could pick me out of a lineup) include Rocco Palmo, who writes what I used to call “my husband’s second favorite blog,” Whispers in the Loggia, (though in reality, he probably visits it more than mine, because Rocco is way more prolific, plus I can tell my husband in person what I write about).    Another super-prolific and sensible, thoughtful Catholic blogger to attend is Elizabeth Scalia, better known as The Anchoress.  And so many more.

I will certainly be following news of the Catholic blog meeting through the blogs of those invited, and via Twitter, which I’m finding such an interesting and helpful way of keeping up-to-date.  I also discovered (via Twitter) a blog called Vatican Blog Meeting, with helpful updates and what looks to be feeds of all the invited blogs.   Cool!  In fact, just as I thought I better go searching for this link again (since I had not bookmarked), in came a “tweet” with the link again.  Thank you @cybertheology for retweeting this!

Sister Madonna Buder, author of The Grace to Race, at the Boston Marathon

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After I read an article about the difficulty of qualifying, as well as getting a place, at the Boston Marathon, in the latest issue of Runner’s World, I remembered that Sister Madonna Buder, author of The Grace to Race, had mentioned to me in our interview that she had hoped to run the Boston marathon:

I plan to run the Boston Marathon in April.  I want to open a new age group for women if possible.  I don’t know if there’s been an 80-year-old woman to run Boston.  When I last ran Boston in 2008, there were several men in their 80s, but no women.

She had told me about quite a few negative race experiences that she has had lately–not finishing different triathlons or other races because of health problems, so I was concerned that she might not get a chance to compete, or finish, the Boston Marathon this year.

Well, she did, and she finished!  And she opened a new class for over-80 women, coming in first (and I assume only) in her class.  Her time was amazing,  finishing in just over 5 hours.  (5:01:05).    That’s a great time for many runners, regardless of age.

Congratulations, Sister Madonna!  And thanks for the inspiration!

Catholic Kindle (and other e-Reader) Books: UPDATED

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Since we’re discussing all things tech this month with a review of Prayer in the Digital Age, let’s take some time to talk about e-books versus real books, and Catholic publishing inroads there.

At our house, we have a love/hate relationship with e-books and e-book readers.  Our family definitely prefers physical books, but I have surprised myself at how much I enjoy having the ability to read various classics on the go, like my favorites Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope.   And I have caught several children (who shall remain nameless) staying up far past bedtime reading books on one of our family devices that have a Kindle “App.”

But since we are decidedly “real book” family, there’s a fight is brewing over the release of the newest Ranger’s Apprentice book, out in just a few days.  We have four strong readers (including me) with interest in the 10th in this excellent adventure series, so many months ago I pre-ordered both a hardback and a Kindle version.  The Kindle version will work on, if I’ve counted correctly, 4 different devices at our house, not counting computers.  That should be plenty of copies of the book for us to share and all read at the same time, rather than tussle over one hardback copy, which is what happened when Ranger’s Apprentice #9 came out last year.

But at the moment, the younger ones here are spending an inordinate time defending why they should get the hardback first–I’m the youngest, I’m the oldest, I’m the most interested in Ranger’s Apprentice, I’m the cutest, etc.   No one is interested or has “reserved” reading it on a device.  I don’t mind reading it electronically at all, but I think I might have to reserve the hardback for me, and hand out various electronic devices on that day.   I hope to have this all resolved and worked out by the time the next favorite series in our house, the third in the terrific Penderwicks series, comes out in May.

But I didn’t mean to write just about resolving family reading conflicts at our house (though advice is heartily welcome!)

I really meant to write about the surge I’ve noticed lately in Catholic books available for the Kindle.

Last fall, when I reviewed How to Get to “I Do”, author Amy Bonaccorso shared with me how that book was one of the first publisher Servant Press had offered in that format.  At the time I thought, “cool!” but now that Kindle and e-readers have become more common, I’m seeing new Kindle books that interest me every day.

A few days ago on Twitter, Our Sunday Visitor tweeted a link of all the OSV books available on Kindle.  Not a huge number of books, but it’s one of the only publishers to have a page listing Kindle books.  When I went searching for other books that I’ve seen available on Kindle, a search of many publishers found “no results” when I searched for Kindle, even though I know the publisher has books available on Kindle.  Note to Catholic publishers:  hey, if you have Kindle books, put a page on your website alerting readers!

I’ve downloaded three recent Catholic books for Kindle, all from seeing them promoted on Facebook and with special, lower Kindle pricing.  I really like the look and feel of these books; they are well-produced for the Kindle and easy to read and navigate.

First was Search for the Madonna, a historical mystery set in the Depression era, published by the small Catholic publisher Behold Publications.  Some families will be familiar with Behold because they originated the Little Flowers/Blue Knights program, similar to a Catholic scouting program.

Behold Publications has also put quite a few books up on Kindle in recent days, so I snagged The Iron Spy since we have not yet read that book.  I love all the Glory of America series for younger readers, and many are available for Kindle now.

Finally, just a few days ago I saw on Facebook that Bethlehem Books has a free Kindle giveaway detailed on their Facebook page.  This excellent publisher of new and classic historical fiction has a great selection of books available for Kindle, though of course I wish it were greater (hey, why not Presenting Miss Jane Austen on Kindle yet?.  The new-to-me Bethlehem book I decided to try was Downright Dencey.  Bethlehem Books are known for high-quality, nice feel books, and this one reads well on the Kindle.

Have you tried a Catholic book for the Kindle or other e-reader, such as a Nook?  What do you think of e-reading versus “real reading?”  Are you a publisher and want to share your Kindle offerings?   Share away in the comments.

UPDATE: Here is an interesting and much more comprehensive article by NCR writer Daria Sockey about “Catholic Publishing at the Crossroads,” addressing how some Catholic publishers are using the new technology.

UPDATE: Our children successfully navigated the Kindle/real book issue with the Ranger’s Apprentice book.  The Kindle version “arrived” before the paper book, and those who really wanted to read the story did so that way (with forced breaks for meals and a very enjoyable time attending the Chrism Mass in our diocese).  Later in the day, when the real book arrived, there was only one child left to read it.  I have to wait until after my next deadline to read it, in any version.

Q&A with Matt Swaim, author of Prayer in the Digital Age

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I am so grateful to Matt Swaim for thoroughly answering all my many and varied questions about his discussion-provoking new book, Prayer in the Digital Age, which I reviewed for my Catholic Post column this month.  You can read that review here.

Q. Why the title, “Prayer in the Digital Age?”  Who is your intended audience?

When I set out to write the book, I was primarily thinking about my audience as anyone who happened to be a frequent checker of his or her Facebook account.  As I began to dig deeper into the principles of Christian community and communication throughout the history of the Church, however, I found that while things like Facebook may be at the forefront of our collective consciousness in the “digital age,” the underlying issues associated with our media situation share a character with issues of every age in which God has been at work in salvation history.  Nowadays, when people ask me for whom the book is intended, I tell them that it’s for anyone who has a login and a password to something, because not even the luddites among us are really insulated from the digital age.

Q. You point out so many of the negative effects of being too “connected.” Do you

think these dangers are more “real” for those who have fewer specific demands,

such as a young, unmarried adult, than, for instance, for a mom with small children?

You raise an excellent question- because of the multifaceted outreach capabilities of the digital age, and because each of us encounter technology on our own cognitive levels and within our own schedules, it might be easy to think of this as a problem among the “young people,” whoever we might mean by that vague demographic aspersion.  However, when I check my social networks, I see as many, if not more, social network updates from young moms complaining about their children, divorced middle-aged men playing FarmVille, or grandparents passing along politically tinged spam as I do from those who might be considered by what might in a conversation like this be referred to as “young people.”  Ten years ago, I think that we might have been able to pin down the digitally addicted as being of a certain age, marital status, and even sex, but in the past few years, those barriers and distinctions have been obliterated at an unprecedented pace.  Nobody who witnessed the invention of print, radio or television media could possibly have comprehended the pace at which present-day digital technology has caught on.

In terms of how “real” these challenges are, the difference between the way older generations and younger ones process new media is tied primarily to personal formative experiences.  A 60-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy may push the same buttons on a digital camera, but the 60-year-old sees it as a development, and the 12-year-old sees it as That Which Always Has Been.  In order to communicate with both when it comes to talking about a comprehensive spirituality, we have to maintain a prayer language that engages both; one that is transcendent, and not weighted down by the millstone of whatever ephemeral technology happens to be transmitting it.

Q. I was really intrigued by your critique of Internet “communities.” I agree with

some of your largely negative ideas, yet I have found as mom that I have found

Internet communities & relationships enormously enriching. I, too, have seen

some problems with and in them, but to me they outweigh the disadvantages. Thoughts?

One of the biggest critiques of the book so far has been what readers have perceived as an overwhelming negativity toward technology, which was certainly not my intent!  If anything, I was trying to document, almost in diary form, a critique of my own misuse of technology.  Perhaps nowhere is this more prevalent than in my analysis of social networking, in which I try to break down the ways in which the brain and heart process various types of social media, and how our lives of prayer can be analyzed in light of that. 

I think that if we can begin to understand what media theorist Marshall MacLuhan meant when he talked about various forms of media as messages themselves, we can grow toward some level of mastery over the media we employ, and perhaps move toward becoming users rather than simply the used.  The first appendix in the book, titled “The Church in the Digital Age,” is actually an exploration of how I and others in Catholic media have worked to implement social media in the service of the Gospel, whether personally or corporately, with obviously varying levels of success.  I think that, internally, we all have some sense of when we’ve crossed over the line of using social media to our personal spiritual benefit and into the realm of personal material indulgence.  The benefits of social media use in regards to our prayer lives are directly connected to our own prioritization of the media themselves in relation to the messages such media are transmitting.  If we love Twitter more than whatever tweets we’re reading, that medium will inevitably eclipse the messages sent by way of it.

Q. Would you say your main message in Prayer in the Digital Age is about people

“unplugging” more, or being savvier and more prayerful consumers of the new media?

The goal is definitely to encourage being more savvy.  Retreat is the first resort of cowards; it can be an easy excuse to claim that because secular media mounts constant assaults on the faith, that our refusal to engage it can be considered a form of dry martyrdom.  However, martyrs typically tend to die while arduously defending the faith, rather than from smoke inhalation in the caves wherein their aggressors are throwing torches.  Many Church documents have referred to social media as the “Areopagus” of the present age, referring to the public forum in which St. Paul charitably and confidently defended Christianity in the Acts of the Apostles, with relatively insignificant success.  Somehow, even though Paul might have failed by the pragmatic criteria of the day, the fact that his words have been preserved to the edification of centuries of Christians who have come after, his seeming lack of results at the moment of his address to the “Men of Athens” have resulted in a good deal of results to those of us who live in an awful lot of places that don’t happen to be Athens. 


As Christians, and especially Catholics, we have to be savvy, patient and charitable, no matter how easy it might be for us to act like old-fashioned, reactive and mud-slinging trolls whose best intentions cause us to do more harm than good, no matter how self-satisfied we might be after firing our semi-automatic “truth-guns” into the air.  When we do so, we get a temporary and false sense of empowerment, and everyone who’s not where we are theologically thinks we look ridiculous.  If the truth transcends generations (which we know it does), we have to tailor our representation of it to do the same.
Q. Do you think that Catholics have a special responsibility to be more light than

heat in their use of the Internet? I’m thinking of the quote from Pope Benedict XVI’s

message for World Communications Day this year:

“It follows that there exists a Christian way of being present in the digital world:

this takes the form of a communication which is honest and open, responsible and

respectful of others.”

How can our Catholic faith help with this?

Amen and amen.  Two of the greatest temptations in the digital age are to caricature our public personas, and to mask our public personas.  Perhaps we want all of our social network friends to know us as “that conservative dude I went to high school with,” “that guy who credits all his car repair discounts to Mary,” or “that guy who never posts under his real name but always has negative things to say about whatever level of customer service he just got.”

In the book, I try to dig into the difference between mere manifestation and full-on incarnation.  Online, you and I project images of ourselves; Jesus, in becoming the Word Made Flesh, went far beyond that into the realm of incarnation.  Manifestation is transitional and conditional; incarnation is radical and irrevocable.  When John Paul II, Benedict XVI and others, are referring to our responsibility to be honest, responsible, respectful and the like, I get the sense that they have been contemplating these distinctions between the kind of presence we can have in online communities and the kind of presence we can have in local communities.  There is potential for overlap between these two worlds; since Catholicism is a “both-and” religion, we have to exercise all constructive options when it comes to the enhancement of our appreciation for the faith, whether those options be online or in person.

Q. I really enjoyed the “Patron Saints in the Digital Age” appendix in the book. I

wonder if you would consider adding in a future edition a Peoria diocese native,

Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen, as patron for perhaps podcasts or other new media evangelization, because of his groundbreaking efforts in using the media of his

time, primarily television and radio, to spread the gospel. Any other saints you

might want to add along with the great ones you chose?

Perhaps the most fun I had writing the book was in tracking down the various saints who predated the digital age by centuries but had some kind of life experience that correlated to the experiences we have today in a media-saturated cultural environment.  Servant of God Fulton Sheen is certainly among my heroes, if for no other reason than because he had zero fear of the media, nor made any apologies for the messages he communicated through it.  I think we can all look to him as a model; how often does someone come along who can be questioned neither in commitment nor in charity?  Nobody doubted that Fulton Sheen was dedicated to his cause, and yet, I sense that nobody was truly afraid to talk to him.  Please God, send us more of his kind.

Catholic Rules for Twitter

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It seems appropriate to write about an Internet phenomenon on the Feast of St. Isidore of Seville, sometimes invoked as patron of the Internet, because he wrote about such a wide range of topics.

As I’ve said before, I am very much a newby when it comes to Twitter and live blogging and all that sort of thing.   Of course, you can follow me at “ReadingCatholic” on Twitter, where I link to blog posts & reviews here and other random things.

But I believe I am starting to get the hang of Twitter.  One thing I especially like is “hashtags” where you can search for a particular topic by putting a “#” in front of the words.  For instance, when I was live blogging the Behold Conference last month, I would mark my tweets with the hashtag #BeholdConference.   I had wanted to follow along on #MomsDayAway, a women’s conference in Boston sponsored by Faith & Family magazine, but ironically (since I reviewed Prayer in the Digital Age, a book about being “too plugged in,”) the last week has been a blur of appointments, science fair proctoring, and just general off-line things.   I was essentially prevented from being online at all for any length of time.

But a few times, I saw the hashtag #CatholicRulesforTwitter, and it’s become quite popular as 140-word sermonettes or jokes on being Catholic.  Some are ecumenical, and include the hashtag #episcopalrulesfortwitter or #lutheranrulesfortwitter. are quite funny.  If you go to Twitter.com, and put in the search box at the top, “#CatholicRulesforTwitter,” you’ll see a reverse chronological history of all the tweets that have this hashtag.

Here’s a blog post about how this all got started, in case you are interested in the genesis of these kinds of things.   My strange but true connection to all that (not on Twitter, by the way) is a post for another day…  What I find especially interesting is how some are using the #CatholicRulesforTwitter to raise money for Catholic Relief Services.

Here are some of my favorites.  I’m sure there is some App or tool allowing me to select my favorites and upload them seamlessly, but again, I’m just doing a cut and paste here:



We are tweeters and saints at the same time.#lutheranrulesfortwitter #catholicrulesfortwitter
An Imprimatur is not required to publish tweets even so #Catholictweets should never go against faith and morals!
Blessed are the short of characters for they shall inherit the hash tag #CatholicRulesForTwitter
Don’t be like the hypocrites and tweet on street corners, they have had their reward #CatholicRulesforTwitter
Always tweet the Gospel; when necessary use 140 characters.#CatholicRulesForTwitter

All tweets are presumed valid unless sufficient doubt is shown to a Diocesan Twibunal. 


Be sure all principles of the ‘Just War Theory’ are met before engaging in a flame war” #CatholicRulesForTwitter


Parochial school parents are expected to participate in at least two school twitter-raising activities. #CatholicRulesforTwitter

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wit and brevity, nor his custom domain URL shortener, nor his photo service.#CatholicRulesForTwitter

April Catholic Post Book Review: "Prayer in the Digital Age"

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Here’s my April column that appears in this week’s Catholic Post.  I hope you’ll join in the discussion.  There’s lots to talk about this month.

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No matter how plugged in you are to digital culture, you probably have a love/hate relationship with it.
Who of us with an Internet connection hasn’t spent an hour, or more, frittering away time checking Facebook updates, YouTube videos, learning about some random thing on Wikipedia, reading interesting (perhaps even worthwhile) Internet articles, and at the end of the time said, “Wow, where did that time just go?”
At the same time, technology is great.  For me, connecting with people and ideas online has given me a unique way to grow my faith & friendships, as well as support me in my vocation as a wife and mother. Technology enables my far-flung extended family to connect and catch up in ways not possible even 5 years ago.  And I love how I can get my news from so many sources, not remotely possible in years past.
But how much is too much?  How do we integrate real-life relationships and demands with our online interests and even responsibilities?  And where does God fit in to all of this?
Prayer in the Digital Age, by Matt Swaim, explores those questions and many more about the nature of one’s Internet life.  Each chapter is an essay on how the “Digital Age” presents challenges to living a life connected to God and to our real-life communities.  Swaim presents a compelling case that when we are not well-informed and well-formed, and therefore alert to real dangers, Internet use can be like “giving a baby a chain saw.”
Even though he starts off the book recounting how he (accidentally) ruined his smartphone, allowing him true silence on a retreat, Swaim’s not recommending a Luddite return to pre-Internet days.  Rather, he’s engaging head-on the frenetic pace of the Internet and what it means for our souls.
For me, the best chapter of the book is “Digital, But Disciplined,” full of great ideas for making prayer part of one’s life, especially those whose work or interests leads them online for part or much of the day.  Also a great feature is the appendix of “Patron Saints of the Digital Age,” from St. Bernadine of Siena for advertisers to St. Paul the Apostle for public relations and St. Isidore of Seville for the Internet itself.
Prayer in the Digital Age raises more questions for discussions than it answers, not necessarily a bad thing.
Swaim invites readers not to abandon, but to take a step away from, the laptop & smartphone, and then consider what helps us and hurts our spiritual lives. Best of all, the book encourages us to live our lives, whether online or in real life, more intentionally and prayerfully.
If you’re interested in how the Digital Age relates to our Catholic faith, also consider:
Already There:  Letting God Find You by Mark Mossa, S.J .  This book, in many ways, provides answers to questions raised in Prayer in the Digital Age.  Mossa writes well of our desire for God, God’s desire for us, and how to fulfill those with balance.
It surprised me how much I loved Mossa explaining spiritual concepts with pop culture references.  Even when I ‘m not a fan of a work mentioned (for instance, I happen to be one of the few who loathe the movie Good Will Hunting), the context and message is worthwhile. Already There is a very spiritually edifying book in what Fr. James Martin, SJ, rightly calls Mossa’s “beautiful voice.”
Media Mindfulness:  Educating Teens About Faith and Media by Gretchen Hailer, RSHM, and Rose Pacatte, FSP.  Because this great resource, written by a sister catechists and Daughter of St. Paul media expert, was published way back in 2007 (!), it doesn’t address newer Internet trends like Facebook and Twitter.  Still, this book has tremendous value in helping adults who work with teens explore the culture & media in light of our Catholic faith.   The message: don’t just uncritically accept what you read, see and consume, but filter it through your faith, is a good take-away not just for teens, but everyone.