Being Catholic in a New Digital Continent

A whole new digital world

Before 2004-2006, many of us Catholics surfed around the Web and
usually ended up being a member of a Catholic list, forum, or
group. In these lists, communication among members was by email.
And those who own and manage the lists approved both those who
wanted to be members, and also the email messages sent by the
members of the list.

In our new evolved social Web, the Web environment became a wide
social network - more global in scope. Pope Benedict XVI saw
this evolution of the Web in a positive light, because he says
the social networks can be a medium for the promotion of a
culture of respect, dialogue, and friendship."

If you are a Catholic web site and blog owner also, you
probably know how numerous are the ways and means by which we
can propagate even more the Catholic faith now. For example,
with video sites like YouTube.com, we can send a video link in
an email message to friends and contacts, or as an alternative,
embed the video file in a web page or blog post. Then we can
also share that video file in our favorite social bookmarking
sites or in our social network of family and friends.

This new socialized way of communicating on the Web has
transformed the way we look at the World Wide Web. In one of
the published news items on technology, published probably one
month ago, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.com commented that if
Facebook.com was to be seen as a "nation" in the new digital
continent, then it would be the 6th most populated country on
the Net. (Present statistics may have raised Facebook.com's
ranking even higher now).

Other news, articles, and updates

• 3rd Sunday of Lent - References to the readings for the
  Sunday Mass this March 15, 2009, plus an accompanying gospel
  reflection
• On Suffering as a Christian - A reflection on the meaning
  of suffering within a Christian perspective as it is deeply
  expressed in prayer by spiritual leaders like Elizabeth
  Leseur and St. Philip Howard
• Sister Briege McKenna's Miracle Story - Sis. Briege, a nun
  of the sisters of St. Clare, shares in her book, "Miracles Do
  Happen", how the power of the Holy Spirit healed her from
  crippling arthritis and called her to a worldwide ministry and
  mission of charismatic healing
• St. Clare of Assisi and St. Vincent de Paul - Two blog posts
  on two great saints in the Catholic Church: one, the second most
  influential Franciscan after St. Francis of Assisi; and the
  other, a founder of two religious congregations devoted to
  charitable missions: the Vincentians and the Sisters of
  Charity
• Web Development Checklist - For those discerning to become
  part of the lay Catholic evangelical movement on the Net, here
  is a checklist which can act as a guide so one can complete his
  Catholic web site and blog network from start to finish
• Link Exchange Form - For Catholic webmasters and bloggers
  who wish to increase their search engine rankings by engaging
  in reciprocal linking, here is a link exchange form that will
  facilitate the link exchange process between our Catholic sites
  and network