Saturday, March 28, 2009

Make the Connection: Dynamic Catholic Speakers!

This past week I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend the workshops of 2 dynamic Catholic speakers.

The first was Anna Scally who presented a fun, lively and engaging retreat for our 8-10th grade students. She guided the teens through lessons on the gifts of the Holy Spirit using popular music, interactive games and reflections. Anna received rave reveiws from parents and students alike. You can find her at http://www.cornerstonemedia.org/

The second was Kitty Cleveland who gave powerful testimony to Divine Mercy. She was brought to us by Cathoic Quest, http://www.catholicquest.org/, an organizations whose goal is to empower Catholics to embrace, defend and learn more about the Catholic Church. Kitty told the moving story of her faith journey that includes the heartbreaking, wrongful imprisonment of her father, a prominent Catholic deacon and lawyer in Lousiana. Kitty highlighted God's providence in her life through song and adoration time with the attendees of this evening. There was also opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and receive reconcillation. This evening was a true gift that refreshed my soul.

You can find more infomation about Kitty and her music at www.kittycleveland.com.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Make the Connection for Tweens!

Faith Online for Tweens!

Many thanks to Diana K for sharing this great resource with me that she found in Catholic Digest www.catholicdigest.com (a Catholic magazine).

Looking for a way to get your tweens more involved in learning about their faith?
Check out www.Yfaith.co.uk, a website designed in the UK for kids ages 10-13!

According to the "about" page for parents:
"Yfaith is an initiative of the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelization (CASE). It was created in response to the need of parents looking for support in passing on their faith to their children. Based on biblical teaching and the teachings of the Catholic Church, Yfaith aims to facilitate young peoples’ faith exploration, and enhance their understanding and experience of the Catholic faith".

The very interactive kids' "about" page engages them with videos of other kids explaining Yfaith and giving links to help them get started:
"In Get Connected you can hear other Yfaith users’ opinions and their stories about faith. Check out our girls only and boys only pages! In Faith you can explore who God is and how the Holy Spirit can be life changing. In Your World you can read about issues that are important to you, get serious about the environment, and check out reviews of the latest films and books. Sacred Space is space for you and God. From writing letters to listening to songs… there'll be something here that will help you pray".

If you have questions or suggestions for "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry Madden, The Catholic Parish Media Liaison
http://kerryannmadden.blogspot.com/
KMadden445@aol.com

Monday, November 10, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS SQPN!!

Bravo, hooray and PRAISE GOD!

4 Catholic podcast won the 2008 People's Choice Podcast awards!!!

Check out http://www.sqpn.com/ below for the exciting news and links to these awesome podcasts!

Kerry

SQPN Brings Home 4 Podcast Awards
By Fr. Roderick • November 10, 2008
The Catholic new media network SQPN has won four awards in the 2008 People’s Choice Podcast Awards. Fr. Leo Patalinghug’s video series ‘Grace Before Meals’ won the award in the Food and Drink category, George Leite won the Podsafe Music award for his show ‘Catholic Rockers’, and Fr. Roderick Vonhogen won two awards: ‘Healthy Catholic’ won in the Health and Fitness category, and his morning show ‘Daily Breakfast’ won the award in the category Religion and Inspiration.
Thanks to everyone who voted!

The Face of God!

Last evening my teen and I attended a special event sponsored by our Parish entitled "The Face Of God".

In a dimly lit auditorium, Rob Surette, "the fastest portrait artist in the world", brought to life the reality of God, the purpose of Jesus' earthly mission and our call to serve, all with dramatic effect.

The audience was captivated by his style of splashing, splattering, dabbing and brushing paint onto large black canvases. Along with inspiring music and visual effects, Rob surprised us by transforming seemingly random applications of paint into beautiful pieces of art that glorify God.

Check out his website to view his amazing portraits of many well known people and videos of his art in action. http://www.amazingheroart.com/

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Faith in the voting booth

Make the Connection: Faith in the voting booth.

With only days until our big election day, I'd like to give you some resources to help you finalize your decisions in a way that upholds your Catholic values.

One podcast I find particularly helpful when researching for my Make the Connection articles is the Catholic New Media Roundup by Canadian Sean McGaughey. http://www.cc.ductapeguy.net/. He recently compiled a list of Catholic resources to help you make an informed decision at the polls in the US and Canada: http://delicious.com/ductapeguy/catholicvot0e

No matter what and who you decide to vote for, please join me in praying for our elections, giving thanks for our awesome privilege and right to vote, as well as praying for God's will to be done. Www.Catholicvote.com has a prayer page designed to encourage and focus prayer for the elections: http://www.catholicvote.com/prayer.aspx

And to think, next week, it'll all be over!

If you have questions or suggestions for "Make the Connection", feel free to contact me!

Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry Madden, The Catholic Parish Media Liaison
http://kerryannmadden.blogspot.com
KMadden445@aol.com

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Make the Connection: Political courage and honesty

Election Day is almost here! A wise elephant* once said "Every voice counts". So today I'd like to encourage you to empower yourself with the facts that will help you to make the best decisions for our country.

Ready to learn the facts about the candidates?
Check out the websites below to learn their views, biography, speeches and voting records.

At http://www.votesmart.org/election_president.php you can find non partisan facts (not accusations) in an easy to search, easy to understand language. Their website states: “Picture this: thousands of citizens (conservative and liberal alike) working together, spending endless hours researching the backgrounds and records of thousands of political candidates and elected officials to discover their voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data (including their work history) and evaluations of them generated by over 100 competing special interest groups. Every election these volunteers test each candidate's willingness to provide citizens with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected through the Political Courage Test. “

For a Catholic perspective check out http://www.priestsforlife.org/elections/index.htm to learn about the candidates, compare their views and find ways you can get involved in defending human life.

Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry Madden

*Horton, the pro-life elephant from Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Spiritual renewal and faith sharing

Through out the summer there was a buzz in our church... Arise Together in Christ is coming!!!
It was billed as small group scripture study, faith sharing and spiritual renewal. This sounded very exciting to me! I couldn't wait to sign up to be a part of it.

At long last fall has arrived and ARISE has begun! Last week's meeting was warm and welcoming. We got to know each other, agreed on some basic structure to our meeting and dove into the Holy Bible. The Arise Study guide had some thought provoking questions and encouraged us share with each other as we build our relationship with Jesus.

Check out the RCAB's website to learn about Arise Together in Christ and see if you can bring this exciting renewal to your parish! http://rcab.org/Life/Arise/HomePage.html

Peace of Christ to you!
Kerry, The Catholic Parish Media Liaison