I figure if we Catholics are going to take the Digital Continent of new media by storm, we need to make sure we’ve read up on all of what the Church has to say about it. So, I’m compiling a list of any Church document, letter, homily or formal resource having to do with how to use new media.

I need your help. Let me know what I’m missing and I will add it in to make sure we have a fairly comprehensive, but still practical, resource list. Just leave any suggestions for consideration in the comment section below.

Here’s what I have so far:

The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World - New Media at the Service of the Word (44th WCD, 2010)

Ethics in Internet - Pontifical Council...READ MORE

If you try to be all things to all people, you’ll end up satisfying none.  If you try to please everybody, you’ll end up pleasing nobody.  If you are trying to be the best at everything, you’ll end up being good at none.

Too many blogs fall into this trap. And it’s not just blogs. These principles apply to any new media tool, especially websites.  They apply to just about everything else in life, too, whether you are marketing a widget, promoting an event or evangelizing with your ministry. You can not be all things to all people. You need a focused purpose.

If you look at anyone who has ever been the best at anything, whether it is your favorite Saint, singer or basketball player. Their...READ MORE

So Protestants and Catholics may not agree on which books should be in the Bible. And we don’t agree on which translations are best. But at least we can always agree on the Ten Commandments, right?  Well, not exactly.

We agree on the scripture passages that the ten commandments come from (Deut 5 and Exodus 20). But scripture doesn’t enumerate them for us and break them into 10 nice, neat “commandments.” Because of this, there have been a number of different variations of the ten commandments as we know them today. The Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant versions are very close, but all differ in some way. So don’t be confused when you find out your protestant friend’s 4th commandment is...READ MORE

Talk of Iran by Catholic leaders seems to have gone quiet. Or at least it’s gone underground. I’m looking for some moral guidance on what should be done about Iran and I’m having some trouble finding it.

We’ve heard plenty about what not to do. Don’t use violence. Don’t go to war. Yes, the Church plays an extremely crucial role in quelling the world’s warring itch while offering great wisdom as to when to scratch it. But at times like this, it would be nice to have a little more discussion. The complexity of this situation is huge, so perhaps leaders are hesitant to comment publicly.

In Iran, today is the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that resulted in the currently pestilent...READ MORE

There was a lot of good discussion on my post last week - Friday Fast Fact: The Big Bang Theory. But a few points came up there and in some other responses that are important to clarify and remember as Catholics.

A lot of Christians say that they believe in the biblical Genesis story, rather than the “Big Bang” theory. Of course, such a statement presents a false dichotomy. It implies that the theory of the Big Bang necessarily contradicts the biblical account of creation. That is not true.

Those that believe in a scientifically literal interpretation of the book of Genesis are known as “creationists” or “fundamentalists.” And they can basically hold those views and be in perfectly good...READ MORE

Do you know who developed the theory of the Big Bang? It wasn’t Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking. In fact, it was a Catholic priest.

Fr. Georges Lemaitre, born in 1894, was both a Catholic priest and a Belgian mathematical physicist. And although many may think this some kind of contradiction (being both a priest and a scientist), it is not at all. There is no contradiction at all between science and the Catholic faith. They are both pursuits of the same truth.

The common consensus among scientists of Lemaitre’s day, including that of Albert Einstein, was that the universe had gone on forever. Space and Time were constants and infinitely old.

With the popularity of such a Steady State...READ MORE

There’s another big reason we need to rethink the power we give government.

In part one I gave examples of how the same power we give to government to make moral laws will inevitably be used to also make immoral laws.  There is another factor that determines the risk and severity of such an inevitability.  And that factor is the level of submission by our government to an unchanging, higher law.

The founding fathers of the United States recognized this as not only important, but essential and foundational to the moral integrity of the government. In fact, the entire basis for the U.S. Constitution is not so much that it gives rights, but that it recognizes and protects our already...READ MORE

I think many of us need to rethink the power we give to government. It’s not as simple as just supporting moral laws and opposing immoral ones.

The British have been trying to pass a law that would force, for example, Catholic schools to hire non-Catholic teachers - all in the name of “equality.” Fortunately, Pope Benedict was able to throw his weight around this week (i.e. make a fuss about it…i.e. point out the truth about how such a law would infringe on religious freedom) and it appears the British legislature is backing down…for now.

But this is just the latest example of the dangerous tightrope we walk when we give government the power to decide such matters. This time the bad press...READ MORE