The Star Quest Production Network (SQPN) is pleased to announce additional speakers for the International Bloggers’ Summit to be held as part of the 2012 Catholic New Media Conference.
SPEAKERS
Joining Jennifer Fulwiler and Elizabeth Scalia for the International Bloggers’ Summit, on the final day of the CNMC will be:
Julie Davis - Raised by atheists and a convert to Catholicism, she is an author and a blogger at Happy Catholic (happycatholic.blogspot.com) and podcasts at A Good Story is Hard to Find (agoodstoryishardtofind.blogspot.com). Her presentation is entitled “Catholic Bloggers: Are We the 1st Corinthians of the Internet?”
Dorian Speed is the Web Editor of Dappled Things literary magazine and has written for various online and print publications. She also blogs at Scrutinies (scrutinies.net). Her presentation is entitled “Gather Round the Combox, Y’all!: Building a Blog Community”
Sarah Reinhard is author of several books, including the recently published Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless. Her blog is the popular Snoring Scholar (snoringscholar.com). Sarah will speak about “How does blogging fit in with your real life?”
Patrick Carney & John Lindner from Catholic Relief Services. Utilizing the experiences of CRS, they will present examples of the best-kept secrets and little-known pearls of the Catholic Church in their presentation “How to Tell the Global Catholic Story”.
Dr. Jim Coyle - A Communication Arts professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Dr. Coyle will share his experiences designing and maintaining blogs as a means of personal outreach with his presentation “Blogging to Share and Serve: Essential – and Free – Themes, Plugins and Tools for Your WordPress Blog and Website”.
Lisa Jones & Shelly Kelly are sisters who blog at Of Sound Mind and Spirit (www.soundmindandspirit.com). Their presentation, “Go Out in the World: Engaging Community”, will present five non-technical strategies designed to help the average blogger amplify their faith filled message in New Media.
Lisa and Joel Schmidt blog at The Practicing Catholic (thepracticingcatholic.com). They will share their enthusiasm for evangelizing in the digital continent with their presentation “Starting a Blog Without a Clue: 10 Basic Things We Learned in the First 2 Years”
ABOUT THE CNMC
The 5th annual Catholic New Media Conference will be held at the Arlington Convention Center (Arlington, TX) on August 29-31, 2012. For the first time, the CNMC will be meeting in the same location as the Catholic Marketing Network trade show and the meetings of the Catholic Writers Guild.
The CNMC is a festive, educational, and international conference focused on evangelization and building community through the use of new media. This event is designed to connect, guide and inform Catholic communicators as a response to the Church's call for new evangelization.
All interested in Catholic communication, new media, and social media are invited, including young adults (18+), ministry leaders, and priests and religious, to whom Pope Benedict appealed in his 2010 World Communications Day message, to “become an ever more pastoral presence on the web.”
The final day of the CNMC is dedicated to blogging and is titled the “International Catholic Bloggers’ Summit.” We are confident that all involved in Catholic communication will find this day both fun and informational.
PROGRAM & REGISTRATION
Registration and the latest program information can be found at http://catholicnewmediaconference.com
Sponsorship and Vendor opportunities are also available! Please contact cnmc@sqpn.com for details.
ABOUT SQPN
SQPN, the Star Quest Production Network, is a non-profit Catholic apostolate dedicated to evangelization and formation through new media. SQPN creates engaging multi-media, specializing in audio and video productions (known as podcasts) faithful to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Its mission responds to the Church’s call to use the media for religious information, evangelization and catechesis, and formation and education.
“Star Quest” refers to the star of Bethlehem that emerged and caught the attention of three Magi from foreign cultures. The Magi’s quest led to the discovery of the newborn Savior. The programs of SQPN tap into popular culture inviting people to journey together and discover their own encounter with Christ.
URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI (Easter 2012)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world!
“Surrexit Christus, spes mea” – “Christ, my hope, has risen” (Easter Sequence).
May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!”
Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity.
But Mary Magdalene, like the other disciples, was to see Jesus rejected by the leaders of the people, arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified. It must have been unbearable to see Goodness in person subjected to human malice, truth derided by falsehood, mercy abused by vengeance. With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night. In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in order to open a path to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word.
And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty. Jesus then shows himself to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to his disciples. Faith is born anew, more alive and strong than ever, now invincible since it is based on a decisive experience: “Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own champion, slain, now lives to reign”. The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance: “The tomb the living did enclose, I saw Christ’s glory as he rose! The angels there attesting, shroud with grave-clothes resting”.
Dear brothers and sisters! If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution. And he is present as a force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice.
May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal victory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process.
May the Lord, the victor over evil and death, sustain the Christian communities of the African continent; may he grant them hope in facing their difficulties, and make them peacemakers and agents of development in the societies to which they belong.
May the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of Africa and favour their reconciliation; may he help the Great Lakes Region, Sudan and South Sudan, and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness. In Mali, now experiencing delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of all its citizens.
Happy Easter to all!
Single Catholics don’t walk Lent alone
ATLANTA, GA (March 1, 2012) – More than just preparation for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, the 40 days of Lent also recall the period Jesus spent in the desert – alone and tempted by Satan – before He suffered, died and rose from the dead.
For various reasons, Catholics of all ages find themselves now making their own Lenten journey alone. They are widows/widowers, or divorced, or maybe they never married. The popular website CatholicMatch.com has published a Lenten guide that will enrich the season for anyone.
The Catholic Playbook: Lenten Reflections for Singles is available now from Amazon.com and from Catholic Word. It includes 40 reflections for Lent written by single Catholics, and each concludes with a prayer written by Fr. Gary Caster, a college chaplain who contributes to EWTN and Magnificat.
In one of those prayers, Fr. Caster writes, “Teach me your desert wisdom so that I can move through these 40 days more closely united to You and Your Father’s will.” All of the prayers provide meaningful insights into the reflections they accompany.
“This Lent, I encourage you who are single to focus on the stunning fact that the yearning you feel in your heart to find a human spouse is precisely the yearning which the Lord feels for you,” writes Most Rev. Kevin Rhoades, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort-Wayne-South Bend in Indiana.
“Lent is an ideal time for single Catholics to focus on growing closer to Christ,” said author/speaker Mary Beth Bonacci, “and this collection of meditations focused on our single state of life is an ideal way to do that.”
The Catholic Playbook is edited by CatholicMatch.com Editorial Director Christina Ries. In addition to Bishop Rhoades’ foreword, the reflections by single Catholics and Fr. Caster’s prayers, it also includes an epilogue by Theresa Notare of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for the Laity, Marriage, Family Life & Youth.
“We used the concept of a ‘playbook’ because we wanted this book to be quick, practical and relevant to your life,” said Ries. “This book is a road map for Catholic singles to use in experiencing the most powerful Lenten journey ever.”
She added that this is the inaugural edition of a series of Catholic Playbooks. “Our next one will focus on healing from divorce,” she explained. “We are making it super practical. It will deal with problems Catholic face, and offer solutions to those problems. Our goal is to finely tune all of the Catholic Playbooks to address issues that single Catholics wrestle with.”
After the playbook on healing from divorce, Ries says other volumes in the series will focus on online dating for Catholics; discerning a vocation; dating and relationships; and being a single parent.
Fr. Malachi Martin: Possession and Exorcism are Real
Ted Adamson, author of the newly released addiction memoir "Up From Down" (Westbow Press), says possession and exorcism are real.
"Part of the reason I wrote this book was to help people wake up to what we are dealing with," said Adamson, a member of AA and NA for 35 years.
The book contains a never before released letter from Father Malachi Martin, a Catholic exorcist and advisor to three Popes. In the letter Father Martin says, "Possession can occur as a result of alcoholism and drug addiction. It opens a doorway to the soul." Link: www.upfromdown.info/evil.htm
"It's about time we as a society acknowledge the existence of evil," said Adamson.
The book contains an awakening where Adamson realizes he had become possessed. "You don't necessarily need an exorcist to get rid of a demon, although there are cases where they can be helpful," says Adamson. "God can and does extend grace thru prayer and meditation. That is what my book is all about. And something that most of the drug and alcohol counselors don't even understand."
Adamson suffered from a 14 year addiction to drugs and has been clean for 35 years.
"This (Up From Down) is a transparent revelation of the jail and rehab and court system abuses as well and an examination of all the aspects of treatment for addiction. And this information is worth knowing and certainly worth reading about in the words of Ted Adamson"-- Grady Harp, top 10 reviewer at Amazon.com
Up From Down is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and most major outlets. Also from the author's website:www.upfromdown.info
This book will appeal to anyone with an addict or alcoholic in their family who are looking for real answers and not the usual pablum. Ted Adamson is available for print or radio interviews.
More books on this topic.
This treasury of prayers, now released on Kindle, will help you go to the Lord with courage and pray to receive God's grace.
Sometimes, the Pope said of prayers and devotions, one goes to the Lord "to ask something for someone;" one asks for a favor and then goes away. "But that," he warned, "is not prayer," because if "you want the Lord to bestow a grace, you have to go with courage and do what Abraham did, with that sort of tenacity."
This comprehensive treasury of Catholic prayer includes everyday prayers, devotionals, how to pray the rosary, litanies, the Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic prayers, prayers to prepare for confession, prayers to the saints, Marian prayers, family prayers, and more.
More books on this topic.
This treasury of prayers, now released on Kindle, will help you go to the Lord with courage and pray to receive God's grace.
Sometimes, the Pope said of prayers and devotions, one goes to the Lord "to ask something for someone;" one asks for a favor and then goes away. "But that," he warned, "is not prayer," because if "you want the Lord to bestow a grace, you have to go with courage and do what Abraham did, with that sort of tenacity."
This comprehensive treasury of Catholic prayer includes everyday prayers, devotionals, how to pray the rosary, litanies, the Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic prayers, prayers to prepare for confession, prayers to the saints, Marian prayers, family prayers, and more.
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