|
 September
2000
The
Internet is Your Friend
- Really!
Five
great things religious
educators can do on the
Web
There
is a lot of
"hullabaloo"
over the World Wide Web.
It is
"trendy", and
fun, but is it really useful
for those who work in
Catholic Education? I
offer a resounding
"yes" to that
question, along with
some surefire sites that
I am confident will draw
you to agree with me.
Click on the highlighted
links below to visit
sites that I mention.
1.
Plan Liturgies and
Scripture Studies
I use the World Wide Web
to look up Scripture
references, find
reflections, and set up
prayer celebrations for
meetings. One of the
most helpful sites here
is PastoraLink.org.
This growing
site offers numerous
resources for parish and
school leaders. Most
often I use it to
connect with the
Liturgical Calendar and
liturgy-based clip art.
If you are not using it,
you are missing a great
resource -- it is free
for parishes and schools
of the Archdiocese.
Contact the Center if
you need help getting
onto the service for the
first time. I often use
the New
American Bible Online
at the USCC to look up
quotes. If I need a
quick concordance, I
turn to Crosswalk.com
Scripture tools.
You can use this link to
search numerous
translations of the
Bible.
Among
the other great
resources for Scripture
reflection online is DisciplesNow.com's
Celebrate feature.
DisciplesNow has
permission to use St.
Mary's Press's In
Touch With the Word resource
online. It is great for
teens and adult alike.
2.
Find Church Documents
and Research a Topic
There
are very few Vatican
documents that are not
available online. Some
of the great sites to
find them include:
The
Theology Library,
and e3mil.com.
Many of the
documents are actually
located on the Vatican's
web site, but it
is not as well indexed
as these general
Catholic sites. In
addition to these the
entire Catechism
of the Catholic Church
is available online,
complete with a search
engine.
3.
Find Churches, Dioceses
and Offices
I
have used the Internet
to get a mailing address
for a parish, school or
official Church Office.
You have seen links in
bulletins for Mass times
and locations. Many
sites also include links
to Catholic
organizations. Just
about every site you go
to has links to others.
A good place to start
here is the Archdiocese
of Baltimore World Wide
Links Site. It
can point you on your
way to just about
anywhere. Other helpful
organization links
include: RC
Net's Dioceses page,
and Catholic
Community - a
Catholic search engine.
4.
Shop for (and even
purchase!) resources
As
more and more publishers
get online, this aspect
of Catholic education
gets better and better.
Many companies now have
pretty elaborate web
sites where you can view
descriptions and even
sample materials before
you purchase them. One
of the very best is americancatholic.org,
the St. Anthony
Messenger/Franciscan
Communications site.
This site not only
offers great access and
simple purchasing of
their products. They
also provide many online
features, including daily
meditations, a Saint
of the Day, and
posting of their latest
updates to lure you back
just for personal
enrichment. While some
sites require credit
cards for purchases,
many will bill you. See
the CEM
Center Links to
Catechetical textbooks
for other
sites.
5.Share
Ideas with Others
More
and more Catholic
organizations are
starting discussion
forums and boards. These
are places where you can
ask questions and
exchange ideas with
other people who are
doing the same things.
This month I am inviting
people from Central
Maryland to post their
remembrances and
reflections on the first
anniversary of the death
of Bishop Frank Murphy
in the CEM
Center Discussion Forum.
Unlike Chat Rooms, you
simply post messages to
discussions similar to
the way in which people
exchange email. I invite
you to can add to
this month's message
board, or start a new
one. Online forums are
fun and safe ways to
network with others on
your own time. Other
good examples are the
Member Boards at the NCPL
and NCCL
web sites.
This
is just a sample of ways
that you can put the
Internet to work for
you. With the
convergence of new
technologies and the
increased power of
desktop computers, even
more horizons will open
in the years to come,
with inexpensive
person-to-person video
conferencing, widespread
Internet broadcasting,
and more. Stay tuned!
Chris
Weber
Director
Catholic Education Ministries
of Central Maryland.
Copyright © 2000 by the
Catholic Education Ministries Center of Central Maryland, Emmitsburg, MD
21727. All rights reserved.
|
