Like many of us, Pope Francis has a love-hate relationship with technology.
While 17.2 million people follow him on Twitter and he poses for selfies in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff remains concerned about our obsession with technology.
Still, in this time of self-isolation, technology keeps us in touch with loved ones, empowers us to do our work, and gives us tools to advance our faith journeys.
FAITH-BASED WEBSITES TO VISIT
Freshy lists the top 20 most-popular Catholic websites at freshysites.com/focus-on/parish-website-design/20-most-popular-catholic-church-websites-for-2018/. Included are the Catholic News Agency, www.catholicnewsagency.com, a hub for anyone seeking information about the Catholic Church worldwide, and Catholic.com, a site that provides answers to questions about Catholicism.
Ranking highly were CNS, the Catholic News Service (catholicnews.com), EWTN News (ewtnnews.com), and the National Catholic Register (ncregister.com).
CATHOLIC PODCASTS TO EXPLORE
A recent article on Aleteia.org (aleteia.org/2019/06/27/8-catholic-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to/) lists eight intriguing Catholic podcasts. First on the list is my personal favorite, Abiding Together, which “provides a place of connection, rest and encouragement for women who are on the journey of living out their passion and purpose in Jesus Christ.” Its three hosts, Sister Miriam James Hiedland, Michelle Benzinger, and Heather Kym, discuss important themes of the spiritual life through conversations with one another, interviews with holy men and women, and seasonal book studies.
Also recommended are Pints with Aquinas, in which host Matt Fradd invites listeners to discuss truth over a cold drink and enables them to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the richness of the Catholic faith, and The Catholic Hipster, in which the hosts interview big names in the Catholic world about their experiences growing up in the faith and how we can attract and educate ourselves.
THOUGHT-PROVOKING BLOGS TO BROWSE
Why read Catholic blogs? Blogs offer new perspectives and entertainment from various individuals while providing useful information and enlightenment about our faith. As with websites, there are many bloggers to follow depending on your preferences.
Integrated Catholic Life, a Catholic e-magazine about integrating faith, family, and work (integratedcathollicfaith.org) posts six times weekly, while the Catholic Exchange at catholicexchange.com “seeks to make saints in our own time, especially among those who live busy lives but still seek to grow in friendship with Christ.”
For a lighter look at Catholicism and faith, try sampling the humor of Jeff Miller’s Curt Jester (splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/). Or read blogs posted by popular Catholic blogger Father Z (wdtprs.com), who explores liturgy, Latin, and topics ranging from the Anglican Communion to politics to what he made for dinner last night (including pictures.)
I enjoy the thought-provoking posts on Crux, which carries news, features, and commentary at cruxnow.com, and the Catholic Herald, Britain’s leading Catholic magazine, at catholicherald.co.uk.
TECHNOLOGY AS A USEFUL TOOL
Whether you tune into a podcast as you exercise or log into a Catholic website for a break from work, technology plugs you into a vast network of ideas.
As Pope Benedict XVI noted in “Caritas Veritate,” technology “enables us to exercise dominion over matter, to reduce risks, to save labor, to improve our conditions of life. It touches the heart of the vocation of human labor: in technology, seen as the product of his genius, man recognizes himself and forges his own humanity.”