New site!

Over the past few months, we have been developing a new site and it has finally launched. While this site still exists, it is no longer being updated. I have a few new blog posts there, so please visit us at uscatholic.org (no longer uscatholic.claretians.org).

Young Catholics go down under

World Youth Day is underway down under in Australia this week with more than 150,000 pilgrims--more than expected or registered, but not much compared to past events.

The pilgrims were welcomed by a text message from the pope, Zenit News Agency reported: "Young friends, God & his people expect much from u, because u have within u the Father's supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus -- BXVI." Who knew B16 was down with txt talk?

An interesting take on this event: The coordinator also told Zenit that this would be Australia's most green large-scale gathering. Pilgrims will be walking or using public transport. Australians have been planting trees to offset the carbon produced by those traveling by plane to Australia, and Australian airlines Qantas provided a carbon-offset program for pilgrims. Packaging has been kept to a minimum and recycling is being maximized. Pilgrims were given flashlights with reusable batteries and are asked to keep showers to three minutes.

Unfortunately, the teens are apparently not hygienic enough to keep the flu from spreading, according to News.com.au.

The greenest option for "participating" in the event: You can catch almost all of the activities online at the WYD site without traveling anywhere. In some of the videos you can hear the officeal WYD 2008 song, Receive the Power, by Guy Sebastian, who besides being a Catholic singer/songwriter, won the first Australian Idol contest in 2003. Perhaps youth groups will move on from "Our God is an awesome God" to "Alleluia, Alleluia! Receive the Power, from the Holy Spirit."

Though I know a few who went, I don't remember paying much attention to the WYDs when I was a teen. Are teens logging on the the WYD site and following the events?

Countdown to WYD

World Youth Day starts next week, but this year there is no official beginning or end. WYD is every day, thanks to technology.

The Australian bishops hosting the event hope that pilgrims continue to connect with each other through new social networking sites.

The creators of Xt3.com, which stands for Christ in the third millennium, say the website will make this WYD the most interactive ever, Zenit News Agency reports. “It is an online platform to enable pilgrims to connect with millions, share the experience, and build a better world,” says Robert Toone, who came up with idea for the site with his brother John. It even got the archbishop of Sydney, who admitted to not being to web savvy, to go online.

Australian-based Church Resources also started Faithtrip.net for young people around the world. Many members online now plan to attend WYD next week. Local dioceses can organize groups on Faithtrip as well.

The Zenit story tells Facebook to watch out. While I suspect Catholic teens won't be abandoning Facebook in droves for Xt3 or Faithtrip, they might join it in addition to more popular social networking sites. What's your social networking site of choice? Is it Catholic?

Inspired to go to the farmer's market

I have been meaning to pick up Barbara Kingsolver's most recent book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and this Speaking of Faith radio interview with her makes me want to read it now.

She seems to have a hopeful, light-hearted approach to her family's quest to grow her own food and eat locally. I like her line about wanting her birds to have "poultry happiness," but at the same time she says, "turkeys don't want to live to 100 years old."

I'm not sure I could personally "harvest a turkey," but hearing her makes me want to pick up my two patio tomato plants, leave the big city, and start a garden. Anybody have experience with growing there own food?

At the very least, maybe I'll head over to the farmer's market today.

An insurance company that does good?

Want to go to Lourdes but can't afford it? Then it's time to move to the Netherlands and get medical insurance from the Dutch company, VGZ.

Nightline reported last night that VGZ sends a plane full of clients to the healing holy site every year. It's an all-expense paid trip, with VGZ employees volunteering as helpers.

This may seem hard to believe for Americans, who are more used to insurance companies squeezing every cent of the copay out of us than giving us all-expense paid trips to France, but the company apparently finds in valuable beyond just the bottom line.

"It's not a mathematical thing. It's not a thing where you can scientifically prove where effectively it reduces costs of health care. It has a salutary effect on people, a sort of healing effect," said Erik Lelieveld, the company's spokesman and a volunteer wheelchair-pusher on this trip.

They aren't counting on miracles, but the trip can still be healing for clients. One woman said she might need less treatment for her arthritis after the visit. Still, another man suggested clients may live longer and cost the insurance company more money! At any rate, the Nightline story points out that it is good publicity.

Now if they'd only expand to the United States!

Stop being prudish about Mary

We shouldn't be ashamed of the Virgin Mary showing us her breasts, two art critics said in the most recent copy of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. They say we should see more painting with Mary breast-feeding baby Jesus, according to an article in the U.K Mail.

"The Virgin Mary who nurses her son Jesus is one of the most eloquent signs that the word of God truly and undoubtedly became flesh," wrote Father Enrico dal Covolo, a professor of classic and Christian literature.

For nearly 1,500 years, the Blessed Mother was depicted in this motherly fashion. Then Protestant prudes (I mean reformers) came along and were offended by "the carnality and unbecoming nature of many sacred images," Italian church historian Lucetta Scaraffia wrote in another article.

Even the nudes in the Sistine Chapel were covered up, the Mail article reports, adding that you're more likely to find a painting of a semi-nude Mary in a museum than a church.

In more Mary news, the BBC reported on the premiere of a musical, "Mary: A Story that Continues," held in the Vatican. Pope Benedict did not attend, but many cardinals, including the Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, attended with thousands of Roman citizens.

The story starts with her childhood, and takes "a good deal of poetic license is taken over the gospel story," the BBC reported, but a top Vatican theologian signed off on the script. I'm sure Mary, played by former Miss Italy contestant Alma Manera, did NOT bare all for this piece of live performance art!

It's Tuesday morning; do you know where God is?

If not, here's a clue.

This website, Other6.com, put out by Loyola Communications, is a prayer tool that helps people find God throughout the week, not just one Sunday. It poses the core questions of St. Ignatius’ examination of consciousness: Where have you found God today? Where do you need to find God today?

Users’ brief answers appear in “bubbles” on the site—clear when God is missing and blue when God is present. Dragging the cursor over a bubble allows visitors to read and be inspired by the short prayers.

Those who post bubbles can track their comments over time and set an alarm clock—which sends bubbles floating across your monitor at a designated time—to remind the user to go to the site every day.

Browsing around this site, at least, is time spent a lot better than browsing around a lot of sites.