Catholic Roundup

But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.– Luke 2:19

Since becoming a father, I have developed an increased appreciation of the glorious and ordinary mystery of the Holy Family. I’ve also been blessed to see the liturgy and the meaning of Christmas through new eyes– my daughter’s. Yesterday, during Christmas Eve mass, my daughter asked several times, “Can I go see Jesus?”  I was unsure what she meant, but as soon as Mass was over, she darted to the nativity scene set up at the front of the church.  She grabbed the hand of the statue of Baby Jesus and asked my wife, “Mommy can I kiss him?”   Now prior to coming into the Catholic Church, I spent some time in evangelical protestant youth groups, so I still sometimes feel reticent about wonderful Catholic practices such as veneration of statues.  In the simple kiss of a child to the child Jesus, I saw one of the great mysteries of my faith in practice…

Merry Christmas

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (35.8MB)

Listen to Librivox Community Podcast Show #67
Duration 39:08

Your invisible host this week is Sean McGaughey (ductapeguy).

1: Karen Savage: Oh Holy Night From Librivox Christmas Carols Collection 2006 PD

2: A Visit From Saint Nicholas by Clement C. Moore. Read by Alan Davis Drake in Librivox Christmas Short Works Collection 2007 PD

3: Dona Nobis Pacem by Traditional performed by SKVE Librivox Christmas Carols Collection 2006 PD

4: Ticktockman Introduces his Two Questions for 2008

If you could have any PD work (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or other) magically appear in the 2008 LV catalog, what would it be?

If you could have any LV reader that you’ve listened to magically produce a solo PD recording, who & what would you match up?

Ticktockman reads wishes from Karen Merline (kmerline) and Katie (kdgiboney)

5: Here We Come A-Wassailing by Traditional performed by Claire Goget from Librivox Christmas Carols Collection 2006 PD

6: PD Book Wish from delibab

7: PD Book Wish from caitlinteresa

8: PD Book Wish from ExEmGee: Andy Minter

9: PD Book Wish from kehinde

10: PD Book Wish from puffin1

11: Homeless Babe (written and Recorded by Sean McGaughey: http://ductapeguy.net) Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative

12: PD Book Wish from BearCreekMama

13: Reader Wishes from Puffin1

14: More Wishes from Andy Minter

15: Reader Wish from caitlinteresa

16: Reader wishes from Delibab. (If the BFG were PD, I’d SSSOOO grant your wish delibab– ductapeguy).

17: 2008 wishes from Anita

18: Good King Wenseslas by J.M. Neale – Performed by: Alan Drake & Irene Takiris with Friends. From Librivox Christmas Carols Collection 2006 PD

The background music throughout the show in the was all made available under Creative Commons Licenses

Ottmar Liebert: http://www.ssri.biz/index.php?c=66 From the Album Winter Rose: Creative Commons Sampling +
O Little Town of Bethlehem/City of Tijuana
Tchaikovsky’s famous piece from The Nutcracker
Away in a Manger/Fiesta
The Longest Night
O Holy Night/Jon’s Cello Bass

Brobdingnagian Bards: Greensleeves, Carol of the Bells: From Christmas in Brobdingnag, Vol. 1: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

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Over at my other blog and podcast For the Sake of the Song, I’m dedicating my podcasts during the month of December to interviews with Catholic and other Christian songwriters. As a songwriter, I identify as a folk and children’s entertainer who is Catholic, but I deeply admire songwriters who can write a good CHRISTIAN song. Over the month, I will be speaking to folk singers such as Bri-Anne Swan , and Tim Chesterton, as well as Bryan Murdaugh, and a couple of other influential Contemporary Catholic Songwriters. Join me over at ductapeguy.net this month as we talk about faith as one of the strongest motivations for writing a song (or for producing any kind of art for that matter).

I started this blog because I was fascinated by the growing Catholic podcasting and blogging community and I wanted to be a part of it and investigate how social media is being used to nourish and strengthen a worldwide Catholic community. Early on I realized that social networks, “Internet Community” and internet relationships in general resemble face to face relationships but there is a qualitative difference. However Internet friendships can turn into genuine friendships and Internet Community can foster “Real” Communities. I think we are particularly seeing this in the online Catholic Community. In an upcoming interview with Bryan Murdaugh on For the Sake of the Song, I mentioned that the Catholic Community we are developing through blogs and podcasts seems to be more substantial than other ‘Internet Communities’. He replied that this is because we are all members of The Body of Christ: The Church, and that distance is not a barrier to that relationship. Whoa. My wife and I have found the Internet Catholic Community has been wonderful because we found it very difficult to become accepted within our parish community. But as we have become more involved in the online community, we have also become more involved in our local community and we are slowly building friendships within our parish.
Scott Maentz over at Real Wise Friends has a fantastic post about why he joined the Knights of Columbus.

While there are numerous reasons for a Catholic man to join a charitable organization such as the Knights of Columbus, there are few reasons I can find not to do so. …

Yet, perhaps they do not. Perhaps in the long run the Knights of Columbus and organizations like it will prove to be essential in the survival of those characteristics that make us truly human. With its practical dedication to the principles of Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism, the Knights make a difference in their communities by reaching out to those in need and supporting their local Catholic communities. They also support one another in a mobile society where so many people barely know their next door neighbors. The organization’s goals can be accomplished by like minded men with limited technological experience. You don’t need to use an iPod to be a Knight. We’re talking about helping our neighbors and our church, which is done most effectively in dozens of low tech ways at a local level.

It is my opinion that as technology advances, organizations such as the K of C will continue to offer old-fashioned social networking, a proven alternative to the on-line social networking we see emerging in cyberspace. These are places to meet and get to know your brother personally, in the flesh, and not within the somewhat contrived on-line world of Facebook, Second Life and other internet meeting places. It’s a place to affect good in your local community with other real people striving to live out their faith in practical ways. It seems to me that organizations like the Knights of Columbus are more necessary than ever in today’s high-speed on-line society.

I think Scott hit the nail on the head. There is something about the flesh and blood “community service” that only a group of commited people within your hometown can provide. Social media is just a tool to be used to serve this kind of community.

After I read this post, and reflected on it, I spoke with my wife about it. Then I spoke with one of the Knights I know in our parish, and I’m going to further investigate joining the Knights. I too can’t see many reasons not to join an organization committed to community service, fraternity, family, and a deepening of one’s faith.