Parish Media Liaison Post 6-30-08

Make the Connection...using new media to strengthen your connection to faith!

More on music!

Following up on my post 2 weeks ago I have found some other resources for great Catholic Music!

Check out Grapevine Online where you can "read, listen, watch and talk about your favorite catholic music"! www.gvonline.net/ Hosted by Massachusetts resident Susan Bailey! I had a nice chat with her on the phone after she found my blog on catholic music. She has an excellent site and podcast that I now subscribe to. Susan shared what she's doing with me and also talked to me about my next pick!

Proud 2B Catholic music festival: http://www.proud2bcatholic.com/Events/Framingham happening on August 9th. Featuring artist Tony Melendez, Martin Doman, Kelly Pease, Zealous, D-Major, Sammy Blaze and others. I am planning to go. Susan says it's phenominal! Contact me if you'd like to carpool. There are also other P2BC events happening around the country as well as other concerts by Catholic musicians. You can learn more at GVonline.net


In my last post about music I wrote too much!

Folk/fun/kids: Popple http://www.popple.us/ Catholic Kids Worship (see itunes or http://www.independentbands.com/)
Rock (think Fall Out Boy, Greenday, All American Rejects- style ): Last Day http://www.lastdayonline.com/, Critical Mass http://www.catholicrock.com/
Contemporary Catholic music you might hear Mary Pat play on Sunday's at teen mass: Tom Booth www.spiritandsong.com/artists/tombooth, Matt Maher http://www.mattmahermusic.com/,
Country/bluegrass: http://www.mariebellet.com/
Praise and worship (mellow): http://www.gretchen-harris.com/, http://www.jonniven.com/ (both mellow and upbeat)

If you have questions or suggestions about "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!
Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry Madden KMadden445@aol.com

Parish Media Liaison Post

June 23, 2008
Make the Connection...using new media to strengthen your connection to faith!

Looking for a GREAT summer read for yourself and the kids?

My pick this week is books! Low tech, old media form of strengthening your faith!

For elementary school kids (all are enthusiastically approved by my 7 year old):
Loyola Kids Book of Saints by Amy Welborn. Written in an easy to understand, kid friendly language, Amy incorporates questions and reflections on the lives of some really interesting saints. www.loyolapress.com
The Weight of a Mass by Josephine Nobisso Tells a beautiful tale of a wedding, a poor beggar and a disbelieving town who comes see believe in the power of grace poured out to us during our participation in the Mass, Also great as a tool for discussion with older kids! www.catholiccompany.com
The Princess and the Kiss for girls and The Squire and the Scroll for boys both by Jennie Bishop touch on the subject of purity and chastity in a kid-friendly way. BEAUTIFUL illustrations and a wonderful message. www.catholiccompany.com

For Tweens
Non fiction but fun question and answer book called "Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?" by Matthew Pinto. Some topics are for older teens so you can use this book for a long time! www.catholiccompany.com

For Teens
Catholic Reluctantly by Christian M. Frank (interviewed last week on the Catholic Moments Podcast with Lisa Hendey). I recently purchased it but haven't read it yet, it looks good! http://www.johnpaul2high.com/

The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman My 14 year old recently read it an LOVED it! Regina has also written several more books not to be missed!http://www.reginadoman.com/.

Adults
Pierced by a Sword, Conceived Without Sin and House of Gold by Bud MacFarlane have been my favorite Catholic fiction books so far. http://www.catholicity.com/novels/. These books are free along with other great Catholic CDs on various topics!

If you have questions or suggestions about "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!
Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry KMadden445@aol.com

This weeks Parish Media Liason Post

June 18, 2008
Make the Connection...using new media to strengthen your connection to faith!

Like music? I do! All kinds too. But I especially love music when it incorporates positive themes, God's abounding love and Church teaching!

Sounds boring? Ah, it's anything but! I have some great picks for you this week if you'd like to start filling your ears, mind and soul with music that supports and enriches your Catholic life!

EWTN's Backstage www.ewtn.com/series/Backstage/index.htm is a coffee house style program that features and a new artist each week. It's on at 11:30pm on Friday nights (you might want to DVR it!) on Charter Cable Channel 96.

www.catholicjukebox.com has several programs and a search engine to help you find music you'll like. They also have podcasts you can subscribe to for free. One called Catholic Rockers is hosted by Leominster's own George Leite!

Also www.topcatholicsongs.com is a website to help you find Catholic Artists of all genres. They've created some mixes of various artists on Itunes under Imixes. It's a great way to get a sample of each artists work and find more music you enjoy.

Want to go to a Christian Music Festival?
Check out http://www.thesoulfest.com/2008/ at Gunstock Mountain in Guilford, NH the July 30th to August 2nd! My favorite Catholic artist Matt Maher will be providing worship music for the daily Mass!!! The festival features both Catholic and non Catholic Christian artists.

Some artists to check out:
Hip Hop/Funk: Manuel3 www.manuel3.com
Rap: Fr Stan Fortuna www.francescoproductions.com
Folk/fun/kids: Popple www.popple.us Catholic Kids Worship (see itunes or www.independentbands.com)
Rock (think Fall Out Boy, Greenday, All American Rejects- style ): Last Day www.lastdayonline.com, Critical Mass www.catholicrock.com
Contemporary Catholic music you might hear Mary Pat play on Sunday's at teen mass: Tom Booth www.spiritandsong.com/artists/tombooth, Matt Maher www.mattmahermusic.com,
Country/bluegrass: www.mariebellet.com
Praise and worship (mellow): www.gretchen-harris.com

If you have questions or suggestions about "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!
Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry Madden KMadden445@aol.com

This Week's Parish Media Liaison Post

June 10, 2008

Make the Connection...using new media to strengthen your connection to faith!

My pick this week honors our fathers! Our Church Fathers and one superb catholic dad named Joe McClane!

Joe created a podcast called The Catholic Hack, a recorded program "dealing in matters of Apologetics, spirituality, Church teaching, and the Christian faith".
http://sqpn.com/category/educational/catholic-hack/
and has recorded the works of some of the Church Fathers:
http://www.joemcclane.com/St_Ignatius/index.htm

Joe McClane says about himself: "I grew up in the Church of Christ but fell away and became agnostic in my teens. I joined the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of 1999 and was married, to my lovely wife Michelle, in the Church in 2000. My real conversion took place on a spring day in 2002 when I got on my knees and "let go and let God". My journey went into hyper drive at that point and I have been in love with my Catholic faith ever since. My wife and I have three children on earth and three children in heaven. We are devout practicing Catholics who are excited to share the treasure we "found in a field" with the whole world. I work full time for a Catholic, non-profit, evangelization ministry in Houston TX called Fullness of Truth".

Check out Joe's programs and grow in your faith!
If you have questions or suggestions about "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!
Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry Madden The Catholic Parish Media Liaison
KMadden445@aol.com

This Week's Parish Media Liason Post

Make the Connection...using new media to strengthen your connection to faith!

Last Sunday, my husband and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary!
To celebrate, I'd love to suggest you check out

http://www.foryourmarriage.org/

According to their website: "The Catholic Church cares about your marriage. In fact, the U.S. Catholic bishops are working hard to make marriage a priority (see National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage). Every marriage matters, because marriage comes from the hand of God. God brings a man and a woman together to love and support each other. Their love becomes visible in the children they bring into the world and in their act of generous service".

This website has many great resources to support you and your spouse or spouse-to-be. Check out video clips of other couples answering questions like "what have you done for your marriage today?", book reviews, topics of discussion and more. We have really enjoyed the thought provoking and empowering content on this site.

Here is the marriage tip of the day for my anniversary:
June 1
A 50/50 marriage will be consumed with checking who's ahead and who owes one. Better to give 100% of your effort. Sometimes you'll give more and sometimes you'll receive more, but who's counting?

If you have questions or suggestions about "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!
Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry