(If you don’t have time to read this now, please take note of the buttons on the right. They are free for the taking, for you to use on your Web site. Click on a button to pick up the html code.)

Grace and peace! Pretty good opening line, don’t you think? St. Paul thought so, and introduced some of his many letters with that salutation. 

I bring it up now because the Church is preparing to celebrate the jubilee of the birth of St. Paul, beginning June 29, on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The jubilee will provide a focal point for the Church that will last a year and will focus on such questions as: Who was St. Paul? Why was his energy as one of the Church’s early founders so important? In what ways do his writings speak to us today? We’re pulling together a feature for Catholic webmasters that will enable you to put a link on your site to content-rich sources that help your Web-site visitors sort out such questions. We’ll include a number of articles, and eventually some audio reflections and even e-greetings to help your visitors share this “Pauline moment.” Heads up!

We’ll get to Father’s Day and more in the next issue of Web Catholic, June 10. I’d like to tell you now about a lesser-known event that will be a growing issue on the religious scene between now and early 2009. February 12, 2009, will mark both the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his earthshaking work, The Origin of Species. The religious right will be up in arms, no doubt, as the media roll out any number of stories on evolution. What’s key for us to understand is that the Catholic Church essentially accepts evolution as a finding of science, which is in a different realm than the findings of theology. To be blunt, Catholics don’t have any problem with evolution, in spite of the uproar that will fly in some corners of Christianity in the coming months. We’ve prepared a news feature, with several articles now and more to be added in coming months, that will help you to inform your visitors about Catholic teaching in this “hot-button” area.

With that, let me wish for you, pioneers of Catholic communication, grace and peace! It’s what St. Paul prayed for those willing to step out and do something entirely new as early Christians!

John Feister
Editor, AmericanCatholic.org

If you have a chunk of time to get lost in a good Web site, the online home of St. Mary Immaculate Parish in Plainfield, Ill., is a highly recommended link. You’ll not only get to know the church’s community, but also pick up great ideas for bringing your own site into the world of Web 2.0. You’ll find an online poll, readings that change daily, a place to submit prayer requests, a video gallery, homily and missions podcasts, an online forum and newsfeeds. What makes this site effective is that all the fun stuff—the videos, the podcasts, the interactive calendar—doesn’t interfere with the essentials that visitors often want to grab in a hurry. All of the “standard” information (Mass times, directions, etc.) is easily accessed from the homepage. Last, but certainly not least, parish members have the ability to share St. Mary Immaculate news and podcasts with the rest of the world. Click here to see widgets that can be posted on MySpace, Facebook, LiveJournal and other social networking and blog sites. What a great way to spread the word about your parish site!

 

Sister Julie Vieira is funny, honest, informative and thought-provoking in her blog, which could easily be renamed, “100 Things You’ve Always Wanted to Ask a Nun But Were Afraid to Ask.” Many readers might be surprised to learn that a “nun’s life” is more than praying, being modest and disciplining grade-school children (see her posts that address nun stereotypes). And even more readers will be surprised to read her blog posts about sexuality and “nuns who rock.” In many ways, Sister Julie is much like us: She can’t operate without her morning coffee, she has a pet cat, she likes to surf the Web (she recently gave in to Twitter) and she’s got a full-time job. She’s also got a lot of online friends. (Click here for Sister Julie’s links to more blogs operated by fantastic nuns, one of which is Sister Helena Burns, who poses with Darth Vader in her profile photo.)

 

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