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Catholic Resources

Catholic Resources June, 2021

 

equipingcatholicfamilies.com 

Some people, I have decided, must not sleep, and Monica McConkey is one of them.  How else do you explain the way she transforms things like egg cartons into a liturgical feast day celebration centerpiece, complete with a prayer service and a pseudo-bingo game on top?  Well, OK, I’m exaggerating, but only slightly.  Equipping Catholic Families shares plenty of ways to involve your whole family in actively being Catholic. 

comepraytherosary.org. 

Not only is this a lovely website, but it’s also a complete prayer experience. You can select whether you want to pray in real time with a “worldwide rosary” or on your own.  You can also share your intentions. 

Catholic Resources for May, 2021. 

catholicmom.com

Founded by popular speaker and writer Lisa Henley, the site is almost a portal of things Catholic.  There are daily features such as Daily Gospel Reflections, The Talk, and Book Notes.  Each Sunday, there are new Gospel activities.  Each week there’s a giveaway of great Catholic resources.  There are book club discussions and posts, a weekly Small Success link-up for moms to encourage one another and at least a half-dozen new columns a day from various contributors. 

catholicdadsonline.com

“Catholic moms rock when it comes to building community.  We men…not so good.”  And according to their “about” page, that’s what Catholic Dads is out to do.  The topics range from masculinity to finances and include reviews, family life and culture concerns.

Divine Office

divineoffice.org

Aside from the Mass, the Liturgy f the Hours is the official prayer of the Church.  On this site, you can opt to just read the prayers, or you can listen to the audio and follow along.  Its available free online and as a podcast.  The apps associated with it are excellent and, while not free, are well worth the investment.  

Come, Pray the Rosary

comepraytherosary.org

Not only is this a lovely website, but it’s also a complete prayer experience. You can select whether you want to pray in real with the “worldwide rosary” or n your own.  You can also shar your intentions.

Strangenotions.com

This is designed as a place of dialogue for Catholics and atheists.  Have questions about Catholicism and atheism?  Here you go.  Well done and with conversation to boot. 

patheous.com/catholic

A Bouquet of Good Faith Writing

There is no other one-stop -shop for Catholic blogs like what managing editor Elizabeth Scalia has put together in the Catholic Channel Patheos.  You have priests and religious sisters, moms and dads, commentators and newshounds, critics and world travelers, normal people and quirky writers.  It’s truly a little bit of everything, and it’s a buffet of good writing.

amazingcatechists.com

Founder Lisa Mladinich has pulled together two dozen catechists who post daily on topics of interest to parents and catechists and, really, anyone who wants to know their faith. 

cardinalnewmansociety.org

It’s all about Catholic education, from grade school to college and beyond.  How do you apply Catholic principles to educational needs?  Here’s a site to show you how it’s done.

Jimmy Akin

jimmyakin.com

What is not to love about Jimmy Akin?  He wears a cowboy hat, has a beard and can explain the Faith in ways that even someone who’s slow to accept things can understand.  (I speak of myself there.)  He has weekly roundups, such as The Weekly Francis, as well as a Secret Information Club, which may be the most entertaining marketing scheme I’ve ever seen done so well.

 

LifeTeen

lifeteen.com

This is aimed at a younger audience, but I think that just makes it more entertaining for the old fogies like me who follow along.  If al you do is listen to the “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday” podcast or watch the “Beyond Words” video podcast, you’ll see what I mean.  I’ve grown in my faith just from taking in Mark Hart’s reflections on the upcoming weekend readings.  The teaching component of the content on the website is attractive and well done.

 

 www.ironiccatholic.com

Susan Windley-Daoust has been making me laugh for years.  She writes in her site description, “Think The Onion written by someone who loves the Catholic Church”. 

Happy Catholic

www.happycatholic.blogspot.com

Julie Davis has been blogging since the early days, and she’s as down-to earth now as she was then.  Her blogging includes links to other sites of interest, book reviews, movie comments and art.  Yes, art.  I visit her site often and always leave with a smile.

 Conversion Diary

conversion.diary.com

Jennifer Fulwiler writes about conversion, life with small children and, if the season’s right, scorpions.  Her posts are always entertaining, unfailingly penetrating and usually worth sharing at least twice.

 

Gospel in the Digital Age

blog.archny.org

Cardinal Timothy Dolan blogs, and he blogs well.  Reading his blog makes appreciate the image of bishops as shepherds. 

 

Opinions you can trust: 

Here a blog, there a blog, everywhere a blog blog…. And yes, I’m guilty of blogging too. (And no, I’m not listing mine.)  There are far more blogs than there is space for this entry.  Although I did consider pitching a piece just on Catholic blogging!  With all this having been said, these two are among the best:

The Deacon’s Bench

patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench

 

Deacon Greg Kandra is a pro, and he saves me from having to read other sites.  His blogging is equal parts interesting links and insightful commentary.

Conversion Diary

conversiondiary.com


Word on Fire

wordonfire.org

Confession:  I am a Father Robert Barron fangirl, [now Bishop Barron].  When I met him a few months ago, I barely restrained myself from just giving him a big fat hug. (No, really.)  Part of what makes me such a fan of his is the amazing work he has done and continues to do through his Word on Fire apostolate.  There are videos and podcasts and articles and more.

 

Catholic Culture

catholicculture.org

In addition to news and commentary, you’ll find liturgical readings, links, history, resources and even reviews of Catholic websites.  It’s a site well-done and one worth visiting often.

 

Staying on top of the Catholic News.

 

Finding out what’s going on in the Catholic world is sometimes a little tricky if you’re relying on mainstream media.  Thankfully, Catholic news sources have jumped in the online world and are savvy, relevant and worth following.

 

CATHOLIC ANSWERS

                                                                  catholic.com

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Have you ever wished you could look up a reference in the catechism or find all the places where a certain phrase was mentioned?  Have you ever struggled to remember where you read something or wondered what the catechism has to say about a topic?  While there are a couple of other places you can go to search the catechism, what this parish in Mississippi has put together beats them all.  You can search by a search string or phrase, by paragraph numbers or just peruse the entire book.  The administrators just recently made the site mobile-friendly, so there’s no need to shy away from getting all your questions answered, even when you’re away from your computer. 

Decent Films Guide

decentfilms.com 

Though I like a good movie as much as the next gal, I’m not up on what’s hot and what’s not—or, more importantly, what’s good and what’s not.  That’s where film critic Steven Greydanus comes in.  Not only is he Catholic, but he must watch movies all day long.  And then he writes about them, rates them and lets you know what he thinks.  It’s a source I trust and a way to discover gems, too.

 

When it comes to “getting the best Catholic Web Address” I think it’s safe to say Catholic Answers won.  The founders of the site haven’t stopped just with a cool URL, though; they’re working tirelessly to help us all know how to explain and defend our faith by teaching us to better understand it.

 

New Advent

newadvent.org

 

This isn’t an optional site for me.  It’s a bit of everything:  The Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Thomas’s Summa Theologica in its complete text, writings of the Fathers of the Church, the Bible, a library of Church Documents that still makes me swoon, and my favorite part, if I am honest:  content curation.

 

Kevin Knight, founder, editor and webmaster, must read faster than I can imagine, because every day there’s a collection of links from around the Internet (sometimes not just Catholic).  There’s no doubt that Knight’s work at New Advent is having an impact in the here-and-now.


United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

usccb.org

Brace yourself.  I always get a little dizzy on the USCCB website, in part because it reminds me of just how much there is to Catholicism.  You’ll find everything from news to readings for the day, beliefs and teachings to the complete Bible.  In the 10 years I spent as our parish’s bulletin editor, I was on this site no less than twice a week, and usually more.

 

Star Quest Production Network (SQPN)

sqpn.com

One of the first things I did when I got my iPod seven years ago was to start subscribing to almost all of the shows available through the SQPN network.  There are shows for everyone, they’re done professionally, and they’re all free.  This remains one of the best resources I know of for Catholic content.

The Vatican

vatican.va

You will find enough here to keep you busy for hours on end.

On the home page is a handy way to find all the recent writings, activity and news relating to Pope Francis.  You can check out photos and follow his current and upcoming activities.  Do a bit more clicking and you can find just about any encyclical, papal writing or Church document you could want to read.  The site has been overhauled recently, and while it’s not perfect, it’s better than it was-and there’s no denying the usefulness and opportunity that’s here!

 

EWTN Global Catholic Network

ewtn.com

I once had a project where I had to dig through some of the content on the EWTN website.  I thought it would be quickly done, but that’s because I vastly underestimated the amount of content that is there.  Yes, there’s the media linkage you’d expect to the TV and radio programming and the tireless news work they conduct.  But there also are subsites on faith that could take you the rest of the year to plumb, including devotions, a document library and a dozen mini-sites that are beautiful, enducational, and awesome.

They also have a subsite dedicated to kids, with games, prayers, and TV Programs.