Hip Hip Hooray, it’s Blog Day. Blog day is a chance for bloggers to introduce others to new blogs they may not have heard of . I am new to the Catholic blogosphere so my blog may be one of those to you. I am better known for my original folk music and songwriting podcast, For the Sake of the Song, at http://ductapeguy.net.
Anyway, here are my 5.
1. Readear: In which Librivox volunteer, Chris Hughes documents his attempt to listen to 52 audiobooks in a year.
2. Say No To Trash A humourous look at city living and an uncompromising comittment to change one’s lifestyle and radically reduce the amount of garbage each person generates. Written by my sister, Sarah McGaughey.
3. Penmachine Derek Miller was one of the earlier podsafe musicians and musician-podcasters. The focus of his blog changed last winter into a deeply personal and moving account of his life after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
4. The Catholic Hack is a relatively new podcast and blog to me by Joe McClane. Who knew that Catholic apologetics and scripture study could be so entertaining?
5. Tale Spin Faith, fiction, and folk music. Who could ask for anything more. Tim Chesterton is an Edmonton writer, musician and Anglican pastor with many many talents and a huge heart.
This blog day idea is amazing. I just might try to do it more than once a year.
Catholics have long known the power of holy water, but now we also know that it is unsafe to teke on airplanes. Warning– there may be too much irony in the article below for some people to bear.
This article from Reuters.com explains how security at Lourdes airport denied pilgrims from bringing holy water from Lourdes on to one of the Vatican’s new pilgrim charter flights.
Now what exactly did they expect pilgrims from Lourdes to bring back with them. I feel safer already.
The article goes on to state, “But the Vatican had foreseen such an eventuality and placed a small complimentary bottle of holy water on the seat of each pilgrim to drink on board.” Clearly the author, and airport security had little idea as to how or why holy water is used. Although I have heard of people drinking holy water, it is commonly used by people to call God’s blessing upon themselves, their families or their homes.
Edit: If it gives my any geek cred, I blogged this before the Curt Jester and 2 days before it was picked up on BoingBoing.
As fall approaches and the leaves start to turn, it’s carnival season. Well actually, there is a carnival every week in the Catholic blogosphere. A blog carnival is a regular event where a group of bloggers get together to submit posts on a common theme, and one host blog gathers all the links and wraps it up in a pretty bow. I started this blog as a way to participate further in the developing Catholic community growing around blogging and podcasting, so I thought I’d join in and add my voice to all the joyful noises of the Carnival. This week’s carnival is hosted by Christine Schult at The World … IMHO. Catholic Carnival 134
The location of the weekly catholic blog carnival can be found at the Blog Carnival directory.
This summer I have been enjoying listening to Father Jay Finelli’s iPadre Catholic Podcasts There’s just something about hearing the good new’s in a New York accent which makes it sound more down to earth. This week’s Episode, Podcast #73 – Thou are a priest forever, even on vacation, speaks alot about witnessing to your faith in the world at large. Father Jay talked about how he went to a convention of Model steam train enthusiasts, where he his known as the Steaming Priest. He was there firstly as a member of the community and as a steam geek (what do they call themselves I wonder?) However as people get to know him, they seek him out as a priest, even asking him to hear confessions and to say mass at the conference.
This is the kind of witness I am trying to give in the music and podcasting worlds, and in my community as a whole. Not to stand up and shout, “HEY I’M CATHOLIC AND I WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT JJJEEEESSSUSS,” but to participate as a member of a community (music, internet, work, parish, etc…) and let the way I interact with others with concern, respect and humility be my witness. Tall order, but that’s what I’m working torward.
I don’t know if it is because I’m cheap or frugal, but I’ve always sought out free software for my computers. Maybe it springs from my first TI994 that I programmed myself (or typed in programs from magazines). I discovered shareware when I bought my first PC, then various forms of freeware. Along the way I developed quite a habit of downloading lots of new programs to try on my computer. I became aware of GNU, linux, and open-source software about 10 years ago, and it just made sense to me with my Catholic background that people might wish to write software for other reasons than just making money, like for the common good, or out of a spirit of altruism. I think that this sense of contributing to the world community is what attracted me to Librivox.org and to recording public-domain audio books. Gradually over the last 10 years I’ve adopted an attitude of using free and open-source software first, and proprietary software only when I cannot find an open-source solution to the problem. I am now running Ubuntu linux as my primary operating system, and although I have Windows installed on my computer, I only boot into it when there is not linux program available (usually online applications for work etc).
I guess I’ve been thinking about this Catholic blogging for a long time. I went digging today to find an article I read on Newsforge.org about the parallels between Catholic beliefs and the philosophies of open-source software. It was initially found on Newsforge on November 11, 2005. It is now on linux.com.
The technological configuration underlying the Internet has a considerable bearing on its ethical aspects. Use of the new information technology and the Internet needs to be informed and guided by a resolute commitment to the practice of solidarity in the service of the common good. The Internet requires international cooperation in setting standards and establishing mechanisms to promote and protect [that common good]. Individuals, groups, and nations must have access to these new technologies. Cyberspace ought to be a resource of comprehensive information and services available without charge to all, and in a wide range of languages. The winner in this process will be humanity as a whole and not just a wealthy elite that controls science, technology, and the planet’s resources. Determined action in the private and public sectors is needed to close and eventually eliminate the digital divide.”
I also found another blog that mentions this article at Linux for Christians, which is a subsite of http://www.whatwouldjesusdownload.com. These sites look like an excellent resource for Catholics, and Christians of all kinds looking for ethical sources of legitimate, free software.
Earlier this month, Maria Johnson over at A Cup of Coffee and a Random Thought, posted about Who put the ME in media?. She is just one of many who have noticed that there seems to be a healthy and growing community of Catholics hungry for community who are gathering around Catholic podcasting. A few weeks ago, Greg and Jennifer Willits were on Catholic Answers Live. While listening live online I made a brief post on twitter and the Rosary Army forums to join me in the Rosary Army chatroom on Ustream. 10 people showed up and Greg and Jennifer weren’t even there (although Greg did peek into the chat room a couple of times). This was evidence to me of the growing community we’re building around Catholic new Media.
A couple weeks later, Greg posted a question on Facebook asking if anyone would be interested in a retreat with SQPN podcasters. Then, in Show 47 of the Catholic Underground podcast, http://www.catholicunderground.com/podcast/podcasts/episode-47-godmodding-and-catholicon/,
Father Chris, Father Ryan and Josh discussed the possibility of setting
up a Catholic New Media Conference (Catholicon? CatholiCamp?).
All summer I’ve been reflecting on this growing Catholic community so I jumped in and started a Catholic New Media Conference group on facebook. This
group could serve to guage interest in such a conference and help build
a community of Catholic New Media producers and users. Please send the
invitations far and wide. The hunger seems great for this kind of community. In two days, there are 46 members in the group.
All of this led me to start this blog. I’m not sure exactly what I’m going to do here but I thought I would start by showcasing and responding to Catholic blogs and podcasts that have been meaningful to me.
When I was growing up there was a sense that Christian values were something to which people aspired, and the practice of personal faith was a character trait that was admired. In our ever increasingly secular-humanist society, it seems that a person or a family that shows devotion to their faith becomes an object of scorn or derision. There is a pressure on Catholics to apologize for what we believe and who we are.
In this environment, I would like to coin a new term [tag]unapologetics[/tag] to represent the act of a person humbly and proudly living out their faith in the world at large.
the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of Christianity. The term “apologetic” comes from the Greek word apologia, which means in defense of; therefore a person involved in Christian or Bible Apologetics is a defender of Christianity. Someone who engages in Christian apologetics is called a “Christian apologist”.
A person practicing unapologetics would be witnessing to their faith, not through oratory and defense of their beliefs, but by the simple and humble practice of their faith in their daily life. Simple things like saying grace (something my family frequently neglects), or avoiding Sunday sports or activities which would exclude you from mass. Through prayer and practice of faith, one does not need to actively “witness” their faith to others. “They will know we are Christians by our love”.
Please join me in spreading the term and the practice of unapologetics.
Edit: Go figure: I was not the first person in the blogosphere to use the term unapologetics. There are people on the net using the term to make arguments against Christian beliefs. Proves me right not googling a phrase before I blog about it. I stand my my concept though that we need to stand humbly but proud in our practice of our faith.
For my first Spotlight on Catholic Media, I thought I would look at That Catholic Show. Produced by Greg and Jennifer Willits of Rosary Army and SQPN, That Catholic Show is a humorous and insightful introduction into Catholic traditions and beliefs. Greg says that they got their inspiration for the snappy production style (many short shots, many locations) from watching The Food Network. Each episode is about 5-10 minutes long and focuses on a different Catholic symbol, belief or tradition. The new episode of That Catholic Show, Water is brilliant. It highlights the importance of water for human life and explains the origins of water as a symbol in Christian beliefs.
Congratulations to Greg, Jennifer, Maria and everyone who worked on it.
Hello I’m Sean McGaughey. I’m a Catholic, husband, father, teacher, musician and podcaster. In the summer of 2005, I bought an Mp3 player and started looking for music and podcasts to fill it. At that time I discovered Father Roderick and The Catholic Insider then the Rosary Army Podcast . Over the past two years, my computer has been evangelized. My faith and the faith of my family has been rejuvinated by listening to Catholic podcasts and participating the Internet community around them. Recently this community surrounding Catholic podcasting seems to be growing into something special. This blog will be my place to respond to, and participate in this growing Catholic online community. To begin I will likely highlight some of my favorite Catholic Podcasts and blogs, and jump into this ongoing conversation.
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