A World Communications Day Mission
This web site and its network obtained its inspiration from the
Message of Blessed John Paul II for the 36th World Communications Day with the
theme: "Internet: A New Forum for Proclaiming the Gospel", Sunday, May 12, 2002,
published early from the Vatican, 24 January 2002, the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales.
How to place Twitter buttons on your web page:
If your site has a high amount of traffic and site
visitors, then placing Twitter buttons on your page
may make your site more effective. Twitter has produced
its official "Tweet" button for webmasters and bloggers
to place in their web pages.
Aside from regular ethical search engine optimization,
link exchange strategies, and strategic directory
listings, you can obtain additional traffic through
the Twitter network. To place the "Tweet" button in
your blog or site, just visit this
page.
It would be good to login to your Twitter account to
get the code right. Choose your button, customize it,
then copy the code and paste it to your web page.
How to place Facebook "Like" button
on your web page:
Like the official Twitter button, you can also avail of
Facebook "Like" or "Recommend" button. Just visit this
page
to learn how to place a "like" or "recommend" button on your site.
For this button to work, you need to study well how to place
the Open Graph meta tags in the head section of your web page.
There are six of this meta tags that are needed for your web page:
og:title, og:type, og:image, og:url, og:url, og:site_name,
and fb:admins. Once you have studied these open graph meta
tags and placed them in a web page, you then have to go to
Facebook Insights to
register the URL of your web site. At Facebook Insights, they will
provide to you the fb:admins value - the number associated with
your Facebook account.
Generating visitor traffic to your site:
In these present times, generating visitor traffic to your Catholic
web site or blog involves both optimizing your pages for the search
engines and promoting it through social networks like Facebook
and Twitter. The former is already known for those who have a
background in basic web development in the pre-Twitter and pre-Facebook
years. With the rise of social networks, strategically placing
a "Tweet" button and a "Facebook Recommend" in a high traffic
web page can bring the beneficial traffic you need to promote
your site. Promoting your site and obtaining visitor traffic
through social networking is a whole lot different from networking
via link exchange and directory listings. While the former is new
and may involve gathering information from your site, the latter is
more established and has a wider application for bloggers and
web site owners.
15 Good Content Ideas for Catholic Bloggers and Webmasters
From this Network Feed, you can obtain ideas for blog posts,
writing Catholic articles, and small web site development. There
are also ideas on site enhancements from third-party applications
and social networking applications. Another focus of the site is
learning good
writing techniques on the Web for effective web development, blogging and
networking.
Regular items published in this page are: Sunday reflections,
blogging ideas from the lives of the saints and other Catholic
themes, featured webrings you can join to promote your Catholic
blog or site, and other articles on basic web development for
Catholics.
Pope Benedict XVI's 46th WCD Message Word and silence: learning to communicate is learning to listen
and contemplate as well as speak. This is especially important for those engaged
in the task of evangelization: both silence and word are essential elements,
integral to the work of communication for the sake of a renewed
proclamation of Christ in the world. To Mary, whose silence listens to
the Word and causes it to blossom (Private Prayer at the Holy House, Loreto,
1 September 2007), I entrust all the work of evangelization which the Church
undertakes through the means of social communication.learn more
Pope's Message for the 20th World Day for the Sick Dear Brothers and Sisters, On the occasion of the World Day
of the Sick, which we will celebrate on 11 February 2012, the Memorial of Our
Lady of Lourdes, I wish to renew my spiritual closeness to all sick people who
are in places of care or are looked after in their families, expressing to
each one of them the solicitude and the affection of the whole Church.learn more
Epiphany (B), January 8, 2012 In many Catholic homes, the traditional Nativity decor would
be complete if it included also small figurines of the three wise men, the
shepherds, some stable animals, and an angel atop the baby Jesus, the Blessed
Mother, and St. Joseph. All those little statues around the Holy Family were
mentioned in the gospels: the shepherds in Luke 2:8ff; the wise men in Matthew 2:1ff;
and the angels in Luke 2:13ff. The stable animals were made part of the manger
scene in the traditional Nativity set as additional symbols to help the
family cultivate that atmosphere of simplicity, familiarity, and tranquillity
experienced in many villages of old - especially during the Christmas season.learn more
Urbi et Orbi Message of the Holy Father Christ is born for us! Glory to God in the highest and peace
on earth to the men and women whom he loves. May all people hear an echo of the
message of Bethlehem which the Catholic Church repeats in every continent, beyond
the confines of every nation, language and culture. The Son of the Virgin Mary
is born for everyone; he is the Saviour of all.learn more
Christmas (B), December 25, 2011 In a sermon for Christmas, St. Bernard, a Cistercian
abbot in the beginning of the second millenium, describes the Christmas
mystery as follows - a little child has been given to us, but in Him dwells
all the fullness of a divine nature; the smaller He became through His human
nature the greater was His goodness; the more He lowered Himself for us,
the dearer He is to us. What may humble our proud human minds, is the
challenge to have faith in this little Child, who has this fullness of
divinity, this fullness of God's Wisdom on both the known and unknown
universe, encompassed in the very lowliness of a human baby, born of a
simple maiden from Nazareth.learn more
4th Sunday of Advent (B), December 18, 2011 Faith and obedience to God is a virtue we need to practice more in
our present times. Even with all the advancements in science and technology,
the human heart has basically remained the same (still in need of redemption from
God). We inherited a heart from Adam and Eve - one that disobeyed God
and chose to do what is against His will. But God did not give up on us.
He chose Mary (conceived without sin - the Immaculate Conception and the Immaculate
Heart), to bring back into the world the virtues of obedience, purity, faith and
confidence in God. This simple maiden, this humble virgin from Nazareth, became the
instrument by which God will place back in the heart of humanity His Word -
a Word that speaks the golden rule, to lead us back to a Life in union with
God.learn more
3rd Sunday of Advent (B), December 11, 2011 The 3rd Sunday of Advent lights the rose-colored candle in the
liturgical wreath found in the Mass. The candle is colored rose to signify the spirit
of joyful anticipation, for Christmas would just be two weeks away. After two
Sundays of dark purple shaded candles lit in the Mass, we now have a lighter
shade in the color rose. Three Advent candles are now lit; more "light" is
approaching with the last candle on December 18.learn more
2nd Sunday of Advent (B), December 4, 2011 The first reading from the book of Isaiah refers us to the first
coming of our Lord Jesus, with a prefigurement to the person of John the Baptist.
The second reading from the second letter of Peter reminds us of Christ
coming again - a second Advent, which the reading describes in cataclysmic
terms: "the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements
will be dissolved by fire". Finally, the gospel describes how the prophet
John prepared the way for Jesus - baptizing the people of Israel and leading
them to repent and seek God's forgiveness for their infidelity.learn more
1st Sunday of Advent (B), November 27, 2011 The prophets of Israel, up to the last prophet before Christ (John
the Baptist), all shared a common theme in their preaching: repentance and
conversion of heart. Jesus, in the gospel of Mark (Mark 1:15) repeats this same
message of the prophets, and adds the call to His people to have faith that
God's kingdom is already in their midst. If we reflect on these messages
of the prophets and of Jesus, we can see and evaluate how much we have
responded to their call to a change of heart - from one that is too
engrossed in temporal and secular concerns, to one that is directed towards
the one thing necessary.learn more
34th Sunday of the Year (A), November 20, 2011 It is not easy to make Jesus the King of our Hearts. But it is
possible if we resolve not to make a day pass without at least saying a short prayer or
making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. We must be careful not to be "drowned in the
world" as the holy monks and fathers of Eastern Christianity teach. We know
that we are "drowned in the world" when our hearts are only occupied with
secular and temporal concerns. But if we take time to listen to God with an
open heart and practice works of mercy, then we will be more assured of the
Father's blessing.learn more
33rd Sunday of the Year (A), November 13, 2011 Each of us has been given gifts and talents by the Lord. The majority
have them in their personality or character; some have them in artistic, musical
or sports abilities; and others apply their gifts by how they live their Catholic
vocation. As we read the parable more closely, we will learn the lesson to really
make good use of all God's gifts to us: making them yield for His glory, and for
the benefit of others. When we read the last part of the parable, we will understand
the seriousness of not placing our gifts in God's service: wasting our time and
misusing our freedom to engage in pursuits that do not please the Lord and give
joy to others.learn more
32nd Sunday of the Year (A), November 6, 2011 The NRSV bible uses the terms "bridesmaids", "foolish", and "wise" in
this Sunday's gospel. The Jerusalem Bible uses the same words, except for the term
"sensible" for the term "wise". The New American Bible uses the same terms as the
NRSV, but subtitles the parable as the "Parable of the Ten Virgins" and uses
the term "virgins" once in the parable. The Good News Bible has simpler terminology: it
uses the word "girls", instead of bridesmaids. But the crux of this parable lies in the
wide difference between "foolish" and "sensible".learn more
31st Sunday of the Year (A), October 30, 2011 Chapter 23 of the gospel of Matthew describes Jesus being at loggerheads
with the scribes and the Pharisees of His time. Verses 1-12 tells of His attacking
the Pharisees' hypocrisy and vanity; verses 13-32 has Him speak of a sevenfold
indictment against them; and in verses 33-36 He tells of their crimes and of the
impending punishment awaiting them. Jesus came into conflict with the scribes
and Pharisees of His time, because He wanted to teach His people the virtue of
humility - an advocacy He exemplified very well by His entire life.learn more
30th Sunday of the Year (A), October 23, 2011 What Jesus was presenting to His people is not something totally
different from what they had always known. Since the religious laws of the people of His
time were so numerous that they found it difficult to fulfill, Jesus just simplifies it.
With just two commandments, Jesus was able to teach the spirit of the Law and all
the teachings of the prophets. These two commandments are stated as: "Love God with
your whole heart, soul, mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself."learn more
29th Sunday of the Year (A), October 16, 2011 Jesus teaches God's way to His people with a hierarchy of values
different from the Pharisees of His time. For the Pharisees, it was their Hebraic
Law above all that matters; but for Jesus, the Father's love and mercy
is greater than this Law. This Hebraic Law (all the laws given by God
through Moses and others handed down from generation to generation) emphasizes
the importance of rituals and liturgical legalities. When the Pharisees
tell Jesus that He does not follow this Law, Jesus defends Himself by
saying that He came to fulfill the Law - meaning, to make the Spirit
and the heart of man a matter of importance also.learn more
More ideas for writing Catholic articles and blogging
You can discover other ideas for writing Catholic articles and blog posts by
making a search at the main blog of the site,
Catholic Internet Mission: Unity in Christ. Also,
other articles on basic web development and other related topics can be found in
the Published articles directory
section. The articles are meant to help you get started on web development from
a Catholic perspective.
Using this site's Custom Search
There are more ideas to discover in this site through the Custom Search Box
at the home page. By searching
the site's network, you can get some good ideas to progress your Catholic blog.
At the home page, you will also find an outline for both the comprehensive and
the simplified method of networking with Catholics in the Web. The simplified form
is easier and very affordable to maintain. It is meant for a wider Catholic audience:
business people and professionals who have full schedules, but feel called
to share their Catholic faith as professionals in the Web; for newcomers in the Web
who need a simplified method to begin with; and for all computer-literate Catholics who
want to be part of this "new digital continent" and follow the call of the Pope to
promote a culture of dialogue, peace, friendship, and respect in the Internet.
Recommended Catholic sites
St. Blog's Parish: A
directory of Catholic blogs in many categories. Select a
category and share
your Catholic blog by listing it with St. Blog's directory.
Catholic Tide: A site for
Catholic news and other things Catholic. You can follow Catholic
Tide at Twitter.com.
God Calls:
For those discerning a vocation in the Church, this is a site
which encourages and informs those interested in diocesan
priesthood and religious life.
Inspirational Stories of Angels:
A site by author Joan W. Anderson. Joan Wester Anderson inspires
and fascinates readers with stories of unexplained rescues,
visions, healings, and unexpected protection - attributed to
God's holy angels.
A World Communications Day Mission
15 Good Content Ideas for Catholic Bloggers and Webmasters
More ideas for writing Catholic articles and blogging