National Vocation Awareness Week

A post I did for Whispers of the Spirit:

This week the Church in the United States celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week; a week that the Bishops have set aside in which all Catholics are asked to pray for an increase in vocations. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston who is the current chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations said that, as Catholics, “it is our responsibility to encourage young people to be generous in their response as they discern the possibility of a call to service in the Church.”

As we begin this week, it is fitting that the Gospel reading from Mass this morning was on the call of the Apostles: Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Jesus asked all of them to leave everything they possessed behind to “Come after me.” Sometimes we don’t understand or we can’t clearly see where the Lord is calling us. In these instances, we must put all of our trust and hope in the Lord , asking Him to show us the path He wants us to follow that will best serve the church.

On other occasions, we clearly hear where the Lord wants us to go and we are fearful to respond to his call. In these times, it is important to remember the life of Mary, who, though filled with fear at the message of the angel declaring her to be to virgin Mother of God, answered with a yes. Let us not forget that, in Mary’s time, women who were not married and became pregnant were literally stoned to death. However, despite all of this uncertainty, Mary trusted that God would take care of her. (more…)

UPDATE: Health Care Reform

As all of us are aware, the United States Congress has been debating the issue of reforming America’s health care system over the last few months. There is no question about it; there is much reform needed within the health care system. The first major hurdle for the debate came on November 7, 2009 when the Affordable Health Care for America Act was voted upon by the U.S. House of Representatives. However, before the vote was carried out an amendment was proposed by Representatives Bart Stupak (D-MI), Joseph Pitts (R-PA), Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Marcy Kaptur (DOH), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) that would ban the use of federal funds in abortions.

There has been some misunderstanding about what the Stupak Amendment actually does for the health care bill. To help Catholics (more…)

Health Care Reform

Over the past several months, the hot button issue of health care reform has been on the front pages of newspapers and covering our television screens. As Congress begins to proceed with discussing the particular health care reform bills, the Bishops’ conference has asked ALL parishes and dioceses throughout the United States to stand up for our belief in the dignity of human life.

This week, the Bishops started a nationwide campaign to have Catholics throughout the United States send letters to their Congressmen and Senators. (more…)

USCCB on Facebook

From The Florida Catholic:      (My comments are in italics.)

DENISE O’TOOLE KELLY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC STAFF

ORLANDO | Everyone’s on Facebook.

It’s an exaggeration, to be sure, but it’s one the media relations and communications folks at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were hearing too often to ignore.

“That’s where the people are, and that’s where we need to be if we want to get our message out,” Don Clemmer, assistant director of media relations for the bishops’ conference and a primary keeper of its new Facebook page, told the Florida Catholic.

USCCB media relations officers for some time have been using the Twitter to send brief notices (140 characters or fewer, in accord with that networking site’s design) to followers about press releases and other items of interest. The USCCB’s Twitter followers now number more than 2,200. In March, Clemmer and his colleagues started a blog to “report and reflect on matters concerning the U.S. Catholic bishops, especially as they play out in the blogosphere and the media as a whole,” according to the first posting.

The Facebook page went live the first week of August, and amassed more than 1,100 fans in its first month. Why Facebook, why now?

“We were kind of asking similar questions ourselves, but sort of from a ‘why not’ perspective. Why don’t we have a page on Facebook yet?” Clemmer said. “And it happened pretty quickly from there.”

The USCCB has used Facebook to help spread the word about the bishops’ positions on health care reform and immigration policy, to explain a change in wording in a section of the U.S. version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for it’s second edition, and to announce the launch of new Web site designed to help the faithful understand and implement upcoming changes in the English-language Mass.

Facebook has also become a venue for the USCCB’s community of fans to engage in free and lively discussion. Some might argue that, at times, it is too free and lively.

“At the end of the day you always have that option to remove” objectionable comments, Clemmer said, adding that he expects to do so sparingly. “At this point in the game I think we’d been leaning toward the side of cultivating the discussion on our page.”

WHAT FANS THINK

Both the open forum and the information about Church stances appear to be appreciated by Catholics in Florida who have signed up as fans of the USCCB on Facebook. (In keeping with the spirit of meeting people where they are, the Florida Catholic “interviewed” fans who listed Florida hometowns via the private message function of Facebook.)

“I have been a longtime fan of the USCCB Web site, using it primarily to keep up with topics of interest and importance to Catholics. Becoming a fan of its Facebook page just made it easier to keep up and also provided a forum in which to share comments with other fans,” wrote Richard Paul Siegel, who belongs to St. Lucy Parish in Highland Beach.

Tom Pringle is a seminarian for the Orlando Diocese and parishioner of St. Charles Borromeo in Orlando. He said the content on the USCCB’s Facebook page has been informative.

“The USCCB’s statements on the current issues facing our country, especially health care reform, have allowed me to formulate my own opinion. In most cases, the bishops have been the voice of reason that allows us to see a different side of the issues,” he said. “They help us to see the whole picture. As Catholics, it is important for us to know where our bishops stand on the issues.”

Tara Dibble, a parishioner of St. Stephen in Valrico, had just discovered the page when she received her interview request from the Florida Catholic.

“I think that the Church is recognizing that social networking is a way to reach the masses and it is a very progressive decision to use this outlet. So frequently I hear complaints from fallen-away Catholics that the Church is out of touch with today’s young people – this shows that this just isn’t true,” she said.

Fellow St. Stephen parishioner D’ann White said the opportunity to become a fan of the USCCB on Facebook built on ways the faith community already was using the social networking site, calling it “a wonderful way for the individual church community to stay in close contact.

“Since becoming friends on Facebook, myself and fellow parishioners have been able to keep better track of the needs of members of our parish – when there is a sickness, a death, a job loss, an occasion to celebrate. We are better able to provide immediate encouragement, assistance, congratulations and sympathy, and I believe it has brought us much closer together.”

Father Scott Circe, parochial vicar of St. James Cathedral in Orlando, said he has enjoyed the interaction with other fans of the site.

“I think it is a great idea for the USCCB to get involved with social-networking Web sites because it can spread its message with a broader spectrum of users. May the Lord bless the Church and its outreach, and may others come to know of God’s goodness through the USCCB Facebook page,” he said.

Father Tomas Marin, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Doral, noted that the USCCB Facebook site has all the information the bishops want to get out to the public, and offers a way to do so quickly. “The Church needs to keep the good news up to date,” he said.

The article from The Florida Catholic can be found here: http://thefloridacatholic.org/blogs/living_faith/welcome-to-facebook-us-catholic-bishops/