Ignatius Press to Release Pope's First Apostolic Exhortation

Pope Francis is an evangelist, someone who spreads the good news about God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. Francis’ humble, compassionate style and direct, yet thoughtful, manner of speaking has won him an audience among Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

In his The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium), Pope Francis challenges all Christians to participate in the work of evangelizing — of sharing Christ’s love with others. This book is Francis’ first Apostolic Exhortation, a teaching document on a particular theme to encourage and challenge people. The Joy of the Gospel addresses the key subjects of the recent Synod of Bishops, which focused on the New Evangelization, an essential topic for the recent popes.

Ignatius Press is slated to release the book as a high-quality, hardcover, deluxe edition in December.


This treasury of prayers, now released on Kindle, will help you go to the Lord with courage and pray to receive God's grace.



“Pope Francis is an evangelist extraordinaire,” said Ignatius Press President Mark Brumley. “He challenges us to grow in faith and to share our faith with others. That's what the ‘joy of the Gospel’ is all about. Ignatius Press is honored to make available Pope Francis' first apostolic exhortation in this special deluxe edition.”

The highly anticipated The Joy of the Gospel will answer a number of evangelization-related questions, including: How to foster conversion in the Church in order to make her people more faithful and effective in communicating God’s love to others? Why is the place of missions in the modern world? What are the obstacles believers’ own lives sometimes place in the way of others’ coming to faith? What are the questions people have about faith? What attitudes make it hard for people to be receptive to the Christian message? How does Jesus answer the most fundamental questions of human existence? Is there a difference between evangelizing and proselytizing, between proposing faith and imposing it?

Pope Francis’ presentation of the Gospel is both timeless and timely. He proclaims the perennial Christian message in ways that engage the contemporary world. He calls upon all followers of Jesus to be humble and yet bold in sharing the Gospel with others and to embody that teaching in their own lives.

Masters of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle - CD course For more than two millennia, philosophers have grappled with life's most profound issues. It is easy to forget, however, that these "eternal" questions are not eternal at all; rather, they once had to be asked for the first time. It was the Athenian citizen and philosopher Socrates who firstasked these questions in the 5th century B.C. "Socrates," notes award-winning Professor Robert C. Bartlett, "was responsible for a fundamentally new way of philosophizing": trying to understand the world by reason.

Digital Edition of Spirit & Song Released

On the heels of the successful debut of the new Spirit & Song hymnal, OCP (Oregon Catholic Press) launches the All-Inclusive Digital Edition of Spirit & Song.  Giving subscribers any-time access to downloadable sheet music and MP3s, along with the ability to send a customized song list—accompaniments included—to musicians, this online resource is set to revolutionize Catholic music ministry around the world.

“The All-Inclusive Digital Edition of Spirit & Song is what our customers have been looking for and everything that a music minister needs,” says OCP’s Publisher, John Limb. “We created a tool that is a compliment to the hardcover edition of Spirit & Song but also stands alone, serving the ever-growing need for digital worship resources.”

A must-have resource for any parish musician, the All-Inclusive Digital Edition of Spirit & Song features MP3 recordings and unlimited downloads of full-sized accompaniments for guitar, keyboard and solo instrument (coming spring 2014), chords-over-text options and lyric sheets in a variety of formats—a key tenant for those using Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote to create worship aids or projection.

Even more than a resource for finding and downloading music, the “My Lists” feature allows subscribers to organize songs and create lists based on topic or season or for specific services or rehearsals. Once a song list is created, it can be shared via a unique URL. When the musicians follow the link, they can download all the accompaniments, for each song, customized to fit their part in the ensemble.

An added bonus, permission to use and reprint the music (for projection, worship aids, etc.) is part of the subscription, so there is no need to report song usage to ensure fair compensation for composers—it’s all included.

Robert Feduccia, General Manager of Spirit & Song elaborates, "the music ministers I speak with understand the importance of reporting their song usage, but also find it to be a very difficult task. Now, you get the best of both worlds. You get the flexibility of a license without the hassle of reporting which songs you used and how many times you used them."

The All-Inclusive Digital Edition of Spirit & Song rolls out on November 15, 2013. To experience this groundbreaking resource first-hand, visit LicenSingOnline.org/Spirit-Song. The subscription is free to explore.

Pure Faith App by Totus Tuus Press

Pure Faith

Pure Faith is a beautifully designed Catholic prayer app that includes all of the prayers from the best-selling book Pure Faith, plus daily Mass readings, Saint of the Day, Liturgy of the Hours, the entire Bible, and the monthly prayer intentions from the pope. Use it to prepare for Mass or confession, or do an evening examen before bedtime.

Need a reminder to pray the Angelus, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy . . .




Online Studies: Get Paid Up to $75







More Catholic apps


The Catholic Directory – free
This is probably the app I use the most because I’m terrible at remembering mass times. My favorite feature is that you can find churches by using your current location. This is super helpful when traveling, or when your schedule requires you to find another parish to go to mass/confession. The only down side of this app is that it requires parishes or users to help keep the information up-to-date. As an added bonus, they have added the daily readings.

Laudate – free
Similar to iPieta, this is a Catholic mashup app. Laudate has the daily readings plus the saint of the day. It includes the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, multiple podcasts for daily meditation and the New American Bible. My two favorite features are the gospel reflections and the interactive rosary. For those of you who don’t have a Magnificat subscription, these reflections are a wonderful free alternative. True, you will get odd looks when you whip your iPhone out after communion (it happens to me all the time). Just be confident in the fact that you’re not texting or tweeting but rockin’ some deep meditation. For those onlookers, this is a good time to introduce them to the 21st century when mass is over.

Source: http://patrickpadley.com/blog/2012/09/07/top-5-best-catholic-iphone-apps/

GoBible: Scripture Just Got More Accessible

The Word of God has never been more accessible than it is today. With a largely literate society, the explosion of the Internet and the variety of devices to let you access the Web, there’s no reason not to read Scripture. But for some Catholics, actually reading Scripture can present some challenges.

The Original GoBible is a digital audio device about the size of deck of cards that can be tucked anywhere – purse, backpack, even a diaper bag or medical pouch. It even fits comfortably in a pocket. With the addition of the GoBible’s Voice Menu feature, the device will be particularly useful to the disabled and the Catholic ministries that serve them, particularly the sight-impaired, and to the elderly, who may find reading the Bible difficult because of illness or physical challenge.

GoBible gives Catholics the chance to take the Bible with them almost anywhere, and to be able to follow by audio each day’s readings. The Catholic version has the imprimatur of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and is narrated by Emmy Award-winner Stephen Johnston. One of the most important new features in this Catholic version is a daily reading plan accessible by voice menu to both the year and cycle, which are important to Catholics who regularly attend daily Mass.

The Original GoBible is preloaded with over 80 hours of audio; the entire Old and New Testaments and it is searchable by any of the 35,000 plus verses in the Catholic Bible. The unit also has a Story Index of 230 popular Bible storeis, a Topic Index, a Holiday/Event Index and Bookmarks. The Catholic GoBible also features a narrated rosary and common prayers, including the Apostles Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and Act of Contrition.

A simpler version of the unit was released last year and sold several thousand copies to date. This expanded version is expected to be a best seller.

Public Opinion Doesn't Change Church Teaching

Response to a new story out of the Vatican has many in the media making it sound as if the Catholic Church has issued a poll to Catholics worldwide to consult on Church teaching.

At a press conference Nov. 5, the Vatican released the official preparatory document for the 2014 Synod of Bishops on the Family, providing an overview of topics to be discussed in the meeting. Included in the document is a series of questions, which are to be distributed to Bishop’s conferences around the world.

News outlets around the world picked up on the story with headlines such as “Vatican polls Catholics on gay marriage, contraception, divorce ahead of major meeting” from the Associated Press.

According to Catholic author and media expert, Teresa Tomeo, the reality is that the questionnaire is meant to help solidify church teaching, not change it.

"The Church is doing just the opposite of what some media outlets are claiming; this is reaffirmation of teaching, not a change in teachings.” Tomeo said, adding “All it takes is a closer look at the actual statement and questionnaire released through the Vatican press office.”

With regard to the questionnaire portion, the document states: “The following series of questions allows the particular Churches to participate actively in the preparation of the Extraordinary Synod, whose purpose is to proclaim the Gospel in the context of the pastoral challenges facing the family today.”

As Tomeo puts it, “While the Church wants to learn more about the challenges of contemporary family life, She can't change unchangeable teaching. And in fact wants to continually show how God's plan for the family is the best plan."

Tomeo addresses the teaching authority of the Church in her new book, God’s Bucket List (Image, Nov. 5, 2013), “The teachings of Scripture and the Church don’t depend on us,” writes Tomeo. “They aren’t true because we believe them. People of faith believe and practice theses teachings because they are true.”

In God’s Bucket List, Tomeo also addresses the issue of free will, saying “God does give us free will, but He also gives us plenty of evidence that His way is the high way – or the highest way – if only we would start paying attention.” She goes on to say that the teachings of the Catholic Church are “not backward or oppressive but instead give us the best chance for real freedom and happiness.”

A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs: Book Preview

Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church For the first time in 400 years the Catholic Church has authorized an official universal catechism which instantly became an international best-seller, the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Using this official Catechism, the highly-regarded author and professor Peter Kreeft presents a complete compendium of all the major beliefs of Catholicism written in his readable and concise style. Since the Catechism of the Catholic Church was written for the express purpose of grounding and fostering catechisms based on it for local needs and ordinary readers, Kreeft does just that, offering a thorough summary of Catholic doctrine, morality, and worship in a popular format with less technical language. He presents a systematic, organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental Catholic teachings in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition. This book is the most thorough, complete and popular catechetical summary of Catholic belief in print that is based on the universal Catechism.

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Pope Francis and the Myth of Efficiency

At a time in history when technology gives us all means of maximizing efficiency, Pope Francis reminds us of the "myth of efficiency." Simply because we have the means, it is not all up to us. Instead, we live in a time in which the "myth of efficiency" pervades.

In Pope Francis: His Life in His Own Words, Pope Francis says that we should "travel in patience" with the Lord.

He tells the story of one afternoon when he is headed for the cathedral but first has to catch a train. He thought he would miss the train, but in the end, the train was delayed so he made it to the cathedral on time. He says it is as if the Lord is telling him, "See, I am the one who will sort out the story."

Pope Francis encourages us to slow down and not try to fix everything at once. Although you have to make an effort, you have to put things in perspective and recognize that one person cannot do everything.

Is it possible to let go of efficiency and still accomplish what you hope to accomplish? Do you find yourself believing that you have the means to accomplish all with new media technology? Where do we draw the line between using technology and letting it go to let God work in our lives?

What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.