YouTube – My Catholic iPhone

If you’ve ever tried to take the Liturgy of the Hours with you, then your muscles must be getting pretty big by now. It’s four volumes long! Yeah, there’s a condensed version of it available, but that’s still one more thing to carry around.

I downloaded the app to give it a test drive. I have to say that I’m rather impressed. There aren’t too many Catholic apps for the iPhone (and good ones for that matter) so I’ve been patiently waiting for one to come along. This app is great because it’s so simple. It has the Office of Readings, daily readings, and common Catholic prayers such as the Angelus, Apostles Creed, and Act of Contrition, just a tap away. It’s pretty handy!

The biggest downside to this app is that the translation is a little rough. It’s obvious that the author is italian since the app is mostly in italian. Make sure you set your default language in your iPhone’s configuration panel, or you won’t be able to understand anything! But at $0.99 you really can’t complain. This is a great companion to any iPhone/iPod Touch carrying Catholic.

Visit their website to download the app: http://www.dimix.it/ibreviary

It’s also the day of my last final! Woohoo! Freedom! Ahem…sorry…just had to get that out of my system. Anyway…

As I was reflecting on my faith life over this past term, I realized that I can’t say that I’ve done such a good job at being a disciple of Christ. In fact I should just as well say that I’ve done a crummy job all together.

Maybe you’re in the same boat as me. School gets busy. Work gets busy. Life gets busy and we have forgotten to pray. We forget about God. I tell myself the same thing every term: “This term will be different. I won’t let my busyness get in the way of my relationship with God.” But somehow, it always does. I make excuses for why I’m too tired, or too busy to put God at the center of my day.

I can’t be the only one who struggles with this, right? There’s gotta be a hundred other people who feel the same as me. On the other hand…there must be at least one person who has overcome that temptation whom we can use as an example to look up to.

How about…Mary! Yeah! She’s so perfect that God saw her holy enough to use her as the vessel to bring Christ into the world. What would Mary say to us, if we asked her how to grow stronger in our love for Jesus. I think she would say the same thing she said to the angel.

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” Luke 1:38

Such a simple, yet profound statement. Mary is ready for action. “I am ready to do God’s will.” Brothers and sisters, I am in the same boat as you, but we can’t keep making excuses for ourselves. We need to accept our responsibility as Christians: to make Christ our first priority. He is at the center of our lives and we are ready to do his will. Our day should revolve around him, and responding to his call.

Our day must be a conversation with God. We must be steadfast in prayer.

New term’s resolution #1: pray a rosary once a day.

We can ask Mary to show us the way to her son. By praying a rosary, we are meditating on the life of Christ. What a great way to grow closer to Christ.

New term’s resolution #2: go to confession. Regularly.

We should be eager to be found free from sin and without blemish. If Jesus came back today, would I be ready for him to see me, just as I am. I would hope so, but maybe I’m not. Maybe it’s time to go to confession and be made clean again.

New term’s resolution #3: go to daily mass.

If you work a typical 9-5 job, you might have a hard time finding a mass that fits your schedule, as do I. Even if we find the time to go to mass in the middle of the week, we’ll feel so much better for it. We’ll have the Eucharist to strengthen us for the week, and the word of God to guide our paths. We’ll be taking one step closer to filling our lives with Christ.

So…are you ready to take the Mary challenge? Are you ready to do God’s will? Are you ready to put God at the center of your life, instead of the time left over?

Yes. You are.

In response to all those people who have already given up hope…we must move on. Obama will become our next President, and there’s nothing we can do to stop that. The evil one would love to use this as an opportunity to make us fall; to make us weak; to make us dispair.

Alas, we cannot let him. We must increase in prayer, and continue to pray unceasingly, increase in adoration, ask for the saints’ intercessions for our country, for the lives of the unborn, for the lives of those near death… God is faithful. God answers prayers. We need to continue to believe that, especially in times like these.

Life Teen is one of the best, most effective examples, of Catholic youth ministry that I have ever seen. I have seen the difference that a Life Teen approach to youth ministry can make on a parish. The resources available through their organization are remarkable. My parish would not be the same if Life Teen had not been around.

In solidarity with Life Teen, and their 2008 Annual Appeal, we have decided to make it convenient for you to make your donation to Life Teen, by using the widget to the right. So I urge you to make even a small (or large!) donation to an organization that is changing lives. Especially in this age, our church needs the help of organizations like Life Teen.

To learn more, visit build.lifeteen.com

I think this is a great way for Catholics to use new media to become well formed in their faith. Check it out: www.PickAFig.com.

I recently was offered a job as a web programmer. Woohoo! It’s officially my first real job out of college. The job is great! I love working for them…but I’m already starting to feel the drain of the secular workplace. I can deal with the crude comments, put downs, and jokes, but I am starting to feel like I’m not devoting enough of my time to ministry. I feel like God has work for me to do, but that I’m putting it off by not devoting any time to doing that.

I’ll be proposing to my girlfriend soon. I’ll update you on that when the time comes. =] I’m so nervous! but excited at the same time. I just want it to be beautiful and memorable.

And if you’ve got some time on your hands, browse this Catholic knowledge database called CatholicCulture.org. It’s loaded with cool Catholic news and information. Their “What you need to know” section seems particularly relevant to our too busy, short and sweet, sound-byte culture that we live in.

That’s all for now. I promise I will hit you up soon enough with more posts about cool Catholic stuff.

And if you feel called to do internet ministry and evangelization, let’s talk: andrew@catholicizzle.com.

Peace in Christ,
Andrew Havens

This is a ministry! Want to help out? Email me for more information: andrew@catholicizzle.com