10 Apps for Lent

(Note: These are NOT the apps in the video)

Normally I would save this type of post for Tuesday Tech Talk, but since we are already in the second week of Lent, I thought I would post it today. Technology, properly ordered, can be a useful tool that can help you enhance your Lenten season. Here is a video from Catholic@pps highlighting 10 apps that can aid you this Lenten season. (They review each of these apps in greater detail on their site.) Maybe you just haven't been able to find a way to get into the swing of things this Lent. Here is my list of resources from last year.

Here is a listing of the apps as they appear in the video:

• My Year of Faith
• Catholic Sermon
• The Pope App
• Steubenville
• Fighter Verse
• Mea Culpa
• Catholic Meditations for Lent by Thomas Aquinas
• John Paul II (eVotions)
• Lighthouse Catholic Media Bible (Promo Code: 102318)
• Magnificat Lent Companion

St. Josemaria: "Love the Pope."

St. Josemaria Esciva with Pope John XXII & Alvaro del Portillo
Source JoseMariaEscrivaInfo

As we rapidly approach the end of Pope Benedict's tenure, I have been reflecting more and more on the role of the papacy and how blessed I have been to be formed in my faith by the teachings of Blessed John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI.

St. Josemaria had a tremendous amount of affection and respect for the papacy. Here are few of his thoughts on the Pope.

The Way, 520

Catholic, apostolic, Roman! I want you to be very Roman. And to be anxious to make your 'path to Rome', videre Petrum — to see Peter.

The Forge, 134

You must love, venerate, pray and mortify yourself for the Pope, and do so with greater affection each day. He is the foundation stone of the Church and, throughout the centuries, right to the end of time, he carries out among men that task of sanctifying and governing which Jesus entrusted to Peter.

The Forge, 135:

Your deepest love, your greatest esteem, your most heartfelt veneration, your most complete obedience and your warmest affection have also to be shown towards the Vicar of Christ on earth, towards the Pope. 

We Catholics should consider that after God and the most Blessed Virgin, our Mother, the Holy Father comes next in the hierarchy of love and authority.

The Way, 573:

Thank you, my God, for placing in my heart such love for the Pope.

Here's a video of St. Josemaria speaking to a group in Venezuela in which he answers a question about the pope.

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

Today's Feast of the Chair of St. Peter takes on a whole new meaning in light of the fact the Chair of Peter will literally be vacant in less than a week. Perhaps some of us have taken the news of Pope Benedict's renunciation of the papal office with more than just sadness. Perhaps some of us are worried about the future of the Church during this period of uncertainty. We find our answers and solace in today's scriptures.

From Psalm 23:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.

And from the Gospel of St. Matthew:

And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [Emphasis added]

 In honor of Pope Benedict, I have added this video when he met with the priests from the Diocese of Rome in which, given the special circumstances, the invocation "Tu es Petrus" was sung.

EWTN & the Internet

EWTN is consistently on the cutting edge of technology, making use of online video streaming and even archiving their major programing onto Mp3 downloads and podcasts. Their website contains a bountiful collection of print and audio resources in their libraries. They even allow you to stream their shows on mobile devices and have recently been added to iHeart Radio.

Today they released a video that gives great insight into the use of the Internet.

Lent Has Begun

Lent seems to have gotten here a bit quicker this year. In case you forgot (because you were so focused on Valentine's Day right?) today is Ash Wednesday. For most of us this means today is a day of fast and abstinence. The Church defines fasting as partaking in one reasonably sized meal. If necessary you can also have a couple of light snacks that do NOT equal another meal.

Lent is a penitential period of prayer, fasting (mortification) and almsgiving. For the last several years, I like to begin Lent with a reflection from St. Josemaria that I'd like to share:

We are at the beginning of Lent: a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program, but then Christianity is not an easy way of life. It is not enough just to be in the Church, letting the years roll by. In our life, in the life of Christians, our first conversion — that unique moment which each of us remembers, when we clearly understood everything the Lord was asking of us — is certainly very significant.

But the later conversions are even more important, and they are increasingly demanding. To facilitate the work of grace in these conversions, we need to keep our soul young; we have to call upon our Lord, know how to listen to him and, having found out what has gone wrong, know how to ask his pardon.

If you call upon me, I will listen to you," we read in this Sunday's liturgy. Isn't it wonderful how God cares for us and is always ready to listen to us — waiting for man to speak? He hears us at all times, but particularly now. Our heart is ready and we have made up our minds to purify ourselves. He hears us and will not disregard the petition of a "humble and contrite heart.

The Lord listens to us. He wants to intervene and enter our lives to free us from evil and fill us with good. "I will rescue him and honor him," he says of man. So we must hope for glory. Here again we have the beginning of the interior movement that makes up our spiritual life. Hope of glory increases our faith and fosters our charity; the three theological virtues, godly virtues which make us like our Father God, have been set in motion.

What better way to begin Lent? Let's renew our faith, hope and love. The spirit of penance and the desire for purification come from these virtues. Lent is not only an opportunity for increasing our external practices of self-denial. If we thought it were only that, we would miss the deep meaning it has in Christian living, for these external practices are — as I have said — the result of faith, hope and charity.
St. Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By, 57

Pope's Resignation & the Media

If you are like me, you are probably still a bit numb from the news that Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation as pope effective February 28th. Over the coming weeks we are going to hear all sorts of news stories in the secular press. I recommend we stay abreast of this historic moment in the Church by following ongoing developments on reliable Catholic news feeds. Here are some recommendations:

• National Catholic Register - written news feed
• Catholic News Agency - written and video news feeds
• EWTN - links to news and live streaming of programming

Here's a sample of video from Catholic News Agency:

Pope Benedict XVI Announces His Retirement

Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will retire at the end of the month.

For more details including a copy of the Pope's statement read the report at Catholic News.

UPDATE: Here's a nice video from Rome Reports recalling Pope Benedict's announcement as the new pope in 2005.