Updates from February, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Fr. Roderick 9:40 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Catholic Foodie, , , Mardi Gras, Princess and the Frog,   

    The Catholic Foodie at the Mardi Gras Parade 

    Jeff Young, the Catholic Foodie, reports live from a festive Mardi Gras Parade in Covington, LA in a couple of ‘Audioboo‘ recordings. Mardi Gras is a Catholic tradition, and Jeff explains how it is much more than the crazy stuff you see on Bourbon Street.

    Jeff Young recently joined Deborah and Fr. Roderick for the recording of an upcoming episode of the Secrets of Disney about ‘The Princess and the Frog’. It is the first ever Disney movie to feature a Mardi Gras parade.

    However, if you want to hear the real thing, listen to Jeff’s reports here: part 1, part 2.

    “Laissez les bon temps rouler!”

    The first Season of the Secrets of Disney will soon make its debut on SQPN.com.

    Do people celebrate Mardi Gras where you live? What are the traditions in your part of the world leading up to Ash Wednesday and Lent? Let us know in the comments!

     

    • Inge 10:26 am on March 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      In my international student parish we celebrate “Shrove Tuesday” by eating a lot of pancakes. Since I live in a predominantly Protestant part of The Netherlands, there are no big parades here.

    • Emilie Ng 5:49 am on March 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      This is amazing! I never knew Mardi Gras was a Catholic tradition, because in Australia it’s known as the parade for homosexual people, and becomes a large festival of homosexuality. Good to remember that all things are good intrinsically!

    • Eric Z 10:20 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      In Minnesota (Twin Cities) we don’t have a large Mardi Gras celebration, but this year my church is doing a couples dinner (with daycare!) So my wife and I are looking forward to that.

  • Fr. Roderick 9:17 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ,   

    What Every Wannabe Catholic Blogger Should Ask First 

    What is the most important thing you need to ask yourself before you start a Catholic blog? What kind of blogging platform to use? How to integrate your blog with social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook?

    Or is there another question you have to ask first?

    Check out “THE starter tip for any wannabe Catholic blogger” over at ‘New Media Catholic’ [link]. Some good advice there!

    Are you a (wannabe) Catholic blogger? Post your thoughts in the comments!

     

    • Lisa 4:38 am on April 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I started blogging about a year ago, but just recently found my voice at http://granolacatholic.blogspot.com/ it is a platform that lets me write about a variety of subjects all of which I am passionate about. I have been receiving encouragement and prayers now for that year to help me find this path.

    • Capt. Jeff 2:35 am on March 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      The link works for me.

    • Kevin 11:02 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      My name is Kevin Cox and if you have listened to the Catholic Pilot podcast, Capt Jeff calls me the Catholic Controller. I have started a blog at NavigatingGodspath.wordpress.com and agree with the one question. The link now works. My reason for starting my blog is, well, check out my blog. The answer is there. I am also on Facebook. Peace be with you and God Bless.

    • Fr. Roderick 9:53 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      It should work now, can you confirm?

    • Bev 9:48 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Link doesn’t work!

  • Fr. Roderick 7:53 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: bible, homily, LifeTeen, , Scott Hahn, Sunday, Verbum Domini   

    How Podcasts Can Help You Have a Better Sunday 

    A lot of people go to Mass on Sunday to nourish their faith. True, a lot of people don’t, but they are missing an opportunity to start their Sunday with the greatest gift of all, the Eucharist.

    However, how often did you get distracted during Mass? Hearing the readings without really listening, your mind somewhere in the clouds during the homily? Well, there is help.

    The better prepared you are for Mass, the more you will enjoy it, and the more it can potentially nourish you. A couple of podcast can be very helpful in that preparation.

    First of all, you can listen to the Sunday readings (and to all the Mass readings every day) via the SQPN podcast ‘Verbum Domini’. You can listen and subscribe here:

    http://verbum.sqpn.com/

    You can also listen to very short biblical reflections by Scott Hahn. These are great to help you reflect upon the readings yourself. Listen and subscribe here:

    http://www.salvationhistory.com/homily_helps/

    And LifeTeen has an equally great series of Sunday podcasts called ‘Sunday, Sunday, Sunday’. The Bible Geek, Mark Hart, prepares you for the upcoming Sunday Catholic Mass readings by exploring their meaning for your day-to-day life. Listen and subscribe here:

    http://www.lifeteen.com/category/podcasts/sunday-podcast

    Got any other tips about podcasts or blogs that can help make your Sunday a better one? Share them in the comments!

     

    • Jeannette André 6:41 pm on February 28, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      “My take on the Sunday Readings” allows you to prepare for Mass one week ahead of time

    • stefan 9:33 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Catholic Weekend is also a very good Sunday-podcast!

  • Fr. Roderick 12:46 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Catholic League, , Joseph, Middle East, North Africa, the Oscars   

    Catholic Weekend: Open Forum 

    Join us in our first-ever Catholic Weekend “Open Forum!” Host Captain Jeff pulls in from the SQPN Live chat room Joe Sales, Deb Shaben, Father Jim Tucker, and Anne Ishikawa. Among other things, we discuss Baby Joseph, the Catholic League, Middle East/North Africa unrest, the Oscars, and more.

    Click on the player to listen to the episode, or go to the website of Catholic Weekend for more information and to subscribe!

    Play

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

     

    • Lyn F. 2:36 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      What a cool idea! Catholic Weekend just keeps getting better and better! I love how the listeners are involved both in the chatroom (a given) and also on air. Thanks, Capt. Jeff, for pulling it all together!

  • Fr. Roderick 12:22 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Why I love TinyWings 

    I know this has nothing to do with Catholic media, but I want to share with you how much I love the new iPhone game TinyWings. Within a few days, this game skyrocketed to the number 1 position in the iTunes app store, even pushing the super popular game Angry Birds off its throne!

    The game features an overweight little bird that doesn’t have the strength to fly. However, using the hills in his surroundings, it can gather speed and launch itself high up in the air. You try to ‘fly’ as far as possible before night falls. Everything about the game is perfect. The cute graphics and sounds, the music, the game physics and the I-have-to-try-it-one-more-time factor. And it’s only 99 cts.

    Remarkable
    What makes the success of this game so remarkable, is that the game is made by a German independent programmer. Just a guy with a great idea and a great sense of style. In a time when media seem to be dominated by big publishing companies, it’s refreshing and inspiring to see that an indie developer can still be so successful.

    Most Catholic new media producers don’t work for big companies that can develop and advertise their ideas. The Church faces tremendous competition from all those big media that bombard us with information and entertainment. Can the Catholic voice still be heard in this loud and overcrowded media world? This success of this little bird shows us that despite our tiny wings, creativity, perseverance and dedication can bring us to great heights!

    You can buy the game TinyWings in the AppStore via this link below. You will not regret it, it’s one of the best games out there!

    Tiny Wings - Andreas Illiger

     

    • Kathy Herbert 9:49 pm on March 13, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Father, I like your analogy. Nice.

    • gloria 3:04 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      yep just downloaded tiny wings my first game

  • Fr. Roderick 11:19 pm on February 26, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Leading the Way 

    SQPN.com is going through some major changes this year. We started small, with a couple of Catholic podcasts, like the Catholic Insider and the Daily Breakfast. But soon, more and more Catholics shared our enthusiasm for new media and started podcasts of their own.

    Over the past 5 years, SQPN has grown into a worldwide network of Catholic content producers and their audiences. The Catholic New Media Celebration that we organize each year reflects this expansion: podcasters, bloggers, writers, musicians, webmasters and programmers find each other around a common desire to use their talents to evangelize and to reach out to the world.

    Broadening the Network
    Our website wants to reflect this diversity and the broad scope of new Catholic media. In the past, the website featured the work of a couple of affiliate podcasters. This year, SQPN wants to expand its reach by supporting and promoting all the exciting initiatives in new Catholic media. We invite any Catholic communicator to be part of our network by letting us know about their blogs, websites, apps, podcasts, books or videos.

    Like the Star of Bethlehem, we want to ‘lead the way’ to an encounter with Christ. We do this by ‘leading the way’ to the media that help people on this journey to Christ.

    A New Layout
    We have been experimenting with different layouts for the website, and we love the current one: it enables us to share news about different types of media and to give you regular updates about new podcasts and other audiovisual productions that are being produced each week. You can sample the content on our site, and we will direct you to the places where you can find more content and information.

    We will soon introduce you to a couple of new writers that will be bringing you this news on a daily basis.

    What do you think of the new website and of the new approach? Share your reactions and your tips and suggestions in the comments!

     

    • Joe Sales 6:59 pm on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I really enjoyed this posting. also looking forward to being more involved at SQPN. in reference to the part about catholic communicators letting the network know about their blogs,podcasts,etc…., is it possible to create a page that list them?

    • Monica 4:28 pm on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Wow, I would love to be a part of this! God bless you, Monica

    • Ebeth Weidner 2:55 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Wow, this is exciting news! Fr. maybe SQPN could highlight a blog a each week, giving us Catholic bloggers a 15 minute of fame..if you will.

      Keep doing what you do!! God Bless you!
      Ebeth

  • Fr. Roderick 11:00 pm on February 26, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Pie-ty: National Pie Day and the Roman Missal 

    In the latest episode of the Catholic Family podcast David and Allyson celebrate National Pie Day. The show also discusses the changes in the Roman Missal. You can sample the episode by clicking on the player or go to the recently restyled website of the Catholic Family to subscribe!

    What is your reaction to the changes in the translation of the Roman Missal? Share your thoughts in the comments (or tell us what your favorite pie is).

    Play

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

     

    • Kathy 4:57 am on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I love pie- there’s just something about it. Something even spiritual. Hence this poem I’ve written featuring pie.
      No pie am I
      with filling spilling
      burnt sweet on oven’s floor.
      No tender crust
      with edges pressed
      and gently tucked inside
      I’m inside out
      and round about
      all tangled loops of fruit
      a hollow space
      no warm embrace
      a longing to be filled.
      Kathy
      I do love pie.

  • Fr. Roderick 11:31 am on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: pilgrimage,   

    New iPilgrim Podcast over 1000 Years in the Making 

    For over 1000 years, people have been traveling to Santiago de Compostela in Spain to pray at the shrine of St. James. Even today, over 100,000 pilgrims walk the ‘Way of St. James’, the ‘Camino de Santiago’ each year.

    Countless miles. By foot. For weeks.

    What motivates them? What happens along the way? A new podcast reveals it all.

    Tips and experiences
    The iPilgrim Podcast is hosted by Deborah, who recently walked ‘the Camino’ herself. “Obviously, I want to tell people about the Camino de Santiago,” she says, “But I also want to help future pilgrims with tips to prepare for their own adventure.”

    “In my podcast, I speak with various Camino “alumni”,” Deborah continues. “We want to share our memories, experiences and wisdom with future generations.”

    Aspiring pilgrims
    The iPilgrim Podcast already counts three episodes. You can sample the first one by clicking on the audioplayer, and you can read Deborah’s blog or subscribe to the podcast via the links at the end of this article.

    Deborah hopes that her podcast will resonate with every (aspiring) pilgrim: “Not only do we want to talk about the Camino de Santiago, but in the coming months, we can also talk about other pilgrimages around the world.”

    Visit Deborah’s blog at http://www.ipilgrimpodcast.com and subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or via RSS.

    Have you ever been on a pilgrimage? What was the destination? Share your experiences in the comments!

    Play

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

     

    • Barbara 5:19 pm on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Love the podcast and the blog! Thank you!

    • Michael Kuypers 5:17 pm on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Excellent podcast. Casual but informative. I’m subscribed.

    • Joe Sales 4:07 pm on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Great Podcast

    • Daniel 1:03 pm on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Just subscribed to this podcast in iTunes. I don’t recall being on a pilgrimage, but would like to someday. It would be nice to go on the Camino pilgrimage someday.

    • Barb in Nebraska 11:43 am on February 25, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Deborah is doing a wonderful job with her new podcast! I’ve really enjoyed her questions and the answers from the Camino alumni.

  • Fr. Roderick 7:57 am on February 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Praying for Victims New Zealand Earthquake 

    A massive earthquake struck the area of Christ Church in New Zealand, heavily damaging the Catholic and the Anglican Cathedrals, destroying buildings and killing many people.

    Our friends of the 15th Station Catholic podcast are located in the area of Auckland, so they are okay, but with them we are praying for the victims and their families.

    You can follow the 15th station podcast on Twitter: @station15
    Twitter updates about the earthquake via #eqnz

    Leave a thought in the comments.

     

    • Dennis 8:11 pm on February 27, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I’m praying for the people of New Zealand.

    • James 6:38 am on February 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Thank you to all of you praying for us here in NZ – it’s really appreciated.

    • Daniel 12:57 am on February 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Prayers for the victims of the New Zealand Earthquake.

    • Jim Gordon 11:01 am on February 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      LIke you Fr, I have friends in New Zealand too and join you in your prayers for them. Let us also remember the people of Libya who are struggling to throw off the yoke of tyrrany.

      JIM

    • Gavin 9:42 am on February 22, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Thanks Father and all those praying for those in Christchurch. It’s a very dark day for New Zealand.

  • Fr. Roderick 5:04 pm on February 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

    Catholic Social Network 4Marks.com Closing Down 

    It seems that 4marks.com, a Catholic social network that was created by Catholic Match LLC in 2005, will be closing down its website on February 23.

    4marks.com members report having received a letter stating that “while 4marks.com continues to be the most visited Catholic social networking site, it no longer fits within the parameters of what is possible for our organization. As a result we have decided to no longer operate the website.”

    The letter states: “We are considering some alternatives for 4marks.com, and when we make that decision we will be sure to notify you. If their is any content you have uploaded to your profile that you would like to make a copy of, please do so in the next 5 days. You will not longer have access as of Feb. 23rd, 2011, at which time the site will be taken offline.”

    What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments.

     

    • Ray Latham 6:51 pm on August 31, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      Guess I like a lot of others was surprised. I’m saddened to see it go and will remember it well. As a new Catholic I made a lot dear friends here and will miss them. Hope that we will find each other on other sites.nPeace to All.

      • bobdobb 9:32 am on September 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        hey Ray, it’s Bill He i m i ll er here.u00a0 I had to travel to S. America, then whammo, found out 4Marks was extinct.u00a0 I’d like to ask the owner if he got any “incentive” from anybody to shut it down so abruptly.u00a0 I hope you’re doing well.u00a0 God Bless!

    • Walter Rochester 11:36 pm on March 9, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I think that there’s more to 4marks.com closing down, that most people do not understand and will never take the time to understand. Do some research if you’re interested and figure out what really made 4marks.com disappear.

      • bobdobb 9:20 am on September 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        Walter, do you have any information?u00a0 I thought it was strange that everyone was given a 5 day notice without letting them organizeu00a0something.u00a0 please email me with any info you might have at bheimiller@yahoo.com

    • Brandi 2:09 pm on February 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I am not sure what “it no longer fits within the parameters of what is possible for our organization” means.

    • joe sales 1:15 am on February 23, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      .As far as catholic online communities, i am apart of http://www.onlinecatholicnetwork.com/ and i am currently waiting for my account to be approved on SQPN community. i do believe in supporting Catholic efforts of evangelizing to others online. As for 4marks, like steve, it’s been a while since i thought about it.

    • Inge 11:10 pm on February 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I am not surprised. Why would you duplicate something that everybody is already using, with the only difference that it’s Catholic. I think all sites that try to be the Catholic Facebook, the Catholic Youtube etc. are doomed to fail because they add nothing really new.

      • bobdobb 9:17 am on September 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        Inge, I suspect you were not a member of 4Marks.u00a0 It was just getting its legs and the privacy concerns and content assurance are justu00a0two reasons to have a Catholic filter to things.u00a0 It had promise, and it is strange that 4Marks was shut down so suddenly.

    • Jan - Stfrancisgirl 6:13 pm on February 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I gave up trying to keep up with anything other than Facebook and some Twitter follows. I have a dormant profile at Catholic Match and felt the 4Marks profile was some what redundant to the Catholic Match profile. Catholic Match also has forums. 4Marks never became a Catholic Facebook — which I’m not claiming that was their intent — but I better manage my friends on Facebook and organize by groups.

    • Steve Nelson 6:03 pm on February 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I thought 4marks had great potential but I have to admit that I haven’t thought about it in over a year. It seemed to be a very serious place and it didn’t really draw me in.

    • Greg Willits 5:50 pm on February 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      While I didn’t use 4Marks that much, I’ll always be indebted to them for their sponsorship of the first CNMC. They were the biggest single sponsor that year and played a major role in helping us pull it off financially. So I’ll be curious to see how they rework the site and what lies ahead and would encourage people who want to see events like CNMC continue to keep giving their business to sponsors who make Catholic New Media happen.

    • Angela 5:37 pm on February 21, 2011 Permalink | Reply

      I’m not heartbroken about this. There are other Catholic social network experiments taking place right now, but none have really impressed me. XT3 is probably the most impressive and successful in terms of producing and sharing content that generates activity (and hits). I’m still waiting for someone to convince me why I should join *and invest time into* a Catholic social network platform vs. using more advanced and popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

      • bobdobb 9:27 am on September 1, 2011 Permalink | Reply

        One major reason is the security factor.u00a0 What is Facebook doing with your information?u00a0 Las time I checked they were violating Germany’s privacy laws.u00a0 Also, having a forum and organizing site for every aspect of Catholics, without filtering throughu00a0au00a0secular for profit website[owned byu00a0theu00a0thief who stole it btw]u00a0will eventually be essential.u00a0 Catholic credit unions are a good example of the good results from “A Catholic ______”

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