Why+Do+Ministers+Blog?

Assignment #1
Expected time to __complete__ written assignments: 20 - 30 minutes Please note that there are two parts to this assignment.

After you have attended the __webinar__ and read the blog pages about //Blogging: Sharing My Personal Faith Story//, your individual homework assignment this week is to identify one or two blogs that are interesting to you and to share why these ministers blog. Part 1 : What is their passion?

Using the Catholic Blog Directory ([]), scan through the various titles. Pick three titles that interest you. Read about the author and pick one or two blog posts to read. What are you noticing about the blogs you have scanned? In a paragraph or two, identify what you notice about the author and the mission of the blog. What is their passion?
 * Please remember to include the Name of the blog (and URL) with your comments. If possible, try to pick blogs that others are not commenting on. The main focus of this assignment is to identify WHY these authors are writing their blogs. What is their passion?
 * Name:
 * Blog title + URL
 * Why is this author writing their blog? What is their passion?

Example:
 * Name: Caroline Cerveny
 * Catholic Web Solutions - []
 * Sr. Susan Wolf is a blogger who wants to help religious communities think strategically about integrating the Internet and Social Media into their mission; to develop a plan and then implement it. Using these new media we can enhance our member services, ourmembership recruitment and our outreach.

Another Example from Dave Gruber:

1) Catechist's Journey - [] Joe Paprocki, D.Min.  Joe has been a parish catechist for years and also serves as a catechetical consultant & author with Loyola Press.  He is committed to offering a forum on this blog sharing his journey and experience as a catechist with catechists from all over and invites us to share our experiences & ideas in catechetical ministry. 2) Erin's Blog - [] A clearinghouse of catechetical information for the Diocese of St. Augustine Erin McGeever - Director of Christian Formation, Youth and Young Adult Ministry Diocese of St. Augustine I first met Erin in person a couple of years ago in Atlanta at NCCL after being in contact with one another for some months about a possible position in that Diocese. She has an extremely limited budget and only 1 or 1-1/2 diocesan staff members, therefore she utilizes the blog just as described in the tagline above.

Post your comments in the space below, then continue on to Part 2, below.

Name: Melissa Findley Denver Catholic Register - [] Msgr. smith started the Denver Catholic Register but died in 1960. But the goal has stayed constant: "we aim to inform, inspire and engage you with the Gospel and the Catholic Church." The Most Rev. Samuel J. Aquila, the eighth bishop of Denver and its fifth archbishop, is now leading the way to keep the goal alive along with His episcopal motto, “Do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2:5).

Name: Angela Jackson Blog Title: Knit and Pray URL: [] > What is their passion?The author of this blog loves to knit, cook, and read; however her passion is being a good mom.
 * Name:
 * Blog title + URL
 * Why is this author writing their blog? This is a lady writing to share her love of family and crafting

Name: Claire McManus Blog title: Whispers in the Loggia URL: http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com

Author, Rocco Palma, is a journalist with great connections to Vatican sources and insiders. His blog is well-respected by Church hierarchy and he has been invited to several forums on the use of social media in the Church.

Blog title: Not Strictly Spiritual URL: http:///www.notstrictlyspiritual.com//

//Author, Mary DeTurris Proust is the author of several books on Catholicism and other spiritual topics. Her posts are personal reflections on many aspects of life, but mostly on her love for the Catholic Faith.//

//Name: Tanya LeSane// //Blog title: Breastfeeding Bullies// //URL://
 * __ [] __**

This blog is from a lady who is pregnant and she goes into the midwife office for her regular exam and see a photo she considers to be shocking and upsetting. It is a photo of a mother in Pakistan who is feeding her twin babies. One of her children are being breastfeed and the other is being fed by formula. The breastfeed baby is healthy and doing ok because that child is being breastfeed. The other baby is very malnourished and dying because it is drinking the formula milk. The lady writing the blog is very upset to see this picture because she feels has enough to worry about without adding more fears to her pregnancy.

Name: Lois Locey
 * Blog title: Making All Things New: Transforming the whole person. URL: **__ [] __**
 * Paul Gallagher, is using Ignatian Spirituality to help a person transform their lives. He was a diabetic, who through proper diet and Ignatian spirituality, was able to reverse the disease. He writes of this, providing recipes to help live a healthy life style. He also provides tools to foster Ignatian spirituality, such as the Examen. Recently he gave a weekend retreat integrating Ignatian Spirituality and good health. He has included the follow-up exercise on the blog site.
 * Blog title: A Moment From DeSales URL: **__ [] __**
 * Author, Richard R. DeLillio, OSFS's blog is to help readers see the connection between life's everyday happenings and their growth in holiness. God is always speaking through the present moments of our daily lives. We just need to be aware of this and then have the courage to do what the Lord may be asking. When we do it can fill us with joy for joy is always a sign that God is near.

Rose Mary Saraiva > >
 * 1) Blog Title: __**Speaking of Scripture**://Conversations with the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church//__. this Blog is managed by Baker Academic and is maintained by a group of contributors who help individuals break open the Word, making it part of our day to day lives. URL: [|http://www.catholiccommentaryonsacredscripture.com/blog/]
 * 1) Blog Title: __**//The Way of Beauty//**__ by David Clayton (Thomas More College of Liberal Arts). I love art and this drew me right in. The author is bringing us a view of faith, beliefs and the majesty of God's infinite beauty through the eyes of artists. His focus is on the link of Catholic culture, focusing on art and the liturgy. URL: [|thewayofbeauty.org/]
 * 1) Blog Title: __**Sunflower Seeds**: //Celebrating Everyday Spirituality////,//__ Sr. Melannie Svaboda, SND is the author. In this blog she is helping those who follow the blog find the spiritual in their daily lives and routines. Looking for the blessings in the simplest of things, like peeling an onion. URL[|:http://www.melanniesvobodasnd.org/]

// Part 2 : Do you agree or disagree?// //**After listening to Scott Rosenberg's video,**// **10 Myths About Blogs//, do you agree or disagree with what Scott states in the video? Why? Please post your name with your answer//**

//**For example:**// //Scott Rosenberg's video,// 10 Myths About Blogs,// gave a sometimes humorous but pointed critique of the typical arguments against the legitimacy of blogging. I have to admit that some of these Myths have been some of my own! Viewing this video gave me an opportunity to look at some of these arguments and to think about blogs and bloggers differently. As Rosenberg seemed to imply, blogs and bloggers each need to be evaluated on their own merits, just as individual authors or newspaper writers. It was interesting as well to hear him speak of 'lifecycles' of blogs. Whereas blogs seemed before to sometimes to be merely 'flash-in-the-pan' and 'transitory' in nature, perhaps they are more correctly tools which can serve issues of 'immediacy' and of a 'here-and-now' nature which are time-limited. The specific blogs must then be judged against the whole of others on the same topic to discern the authority and legitimacy and veracity of the opinions and thoughts which are discussed. Pat Ruthemeyer

I am not a blogger, so I am not in the circle to know what is true or untrue. However, to give my personal impression of blogs that I have read, my comments are as follows: Blogging Isn't Journalism: I do see Blogging as Journalism as Journalism in and of itself is the sharing of news (whether personal or professional) and often opinion-based depending on the focus of the article. Blogging will kill or replace journalism: Not necessarily. You will still have those who want to go to trusted sources for their news. Blogging is a great resource to seek out opinions, but doesn't guarantee it is fact. The First Blogger: We can track just about everything as to who was the first, why not in blogging? Bloggers are Narcissists: No, to say that all Bloggers are Narcissists is saying that everyone who has every shared an opinion is Narcissists. Aside from promoting the Church or Business, etc. I feel that many of the blogs that I come across is an outlet for those who want to be heard and don't feel they are being heard in their inner circles. - Melissa Findley

I am not in complete agreement with Scott Rosenberg. My first introduction to reviewing Church related blogs was when a controversial blog made headlines in the Archdiocese of Boston. The blogger used the media to attack a very esteemed theologian as too liberal and therefore a danger tot he Church. He (I am assuming the author is male) even obtained internal documents from someone within the Archdiocesan office to post on his blog. The author is anonymous, which is a red flag! Cardinal Sean O'Malley offered to meet with the blogger but he failed to reveal his identity. There are some crazy blogs out there, so point 5: bloggers can't be trusted, is something that should be taken into consideration. Also, the link to the Catholic blogs for this assignment lists over 2600 blogs, so point 4 is absolutely true: there are too many blogs! Also, 2600 blogs can't all be of high quality, so I might have to agree that points 1 and 2 hold true for many: most blogs stink and are trivial I've read articles about journalists that have left traditional media outlets to create blogs as a way to get their point of view across without the constraints they felt from publishers. Some of these journalists are very well-respected and their blogs widely read. Point 9. Blogging will kill or replace journalism is partly true. Journalism has already changed because of this media, and those of us who still love the smell and feel of our morning broadsheet will be dwindling through the years. My children do not subscribe to a newspaper (they also don't have land lines) I don't believe point 6, that most bloggers are narcissists any more than I believe that any author is self absorbed. Blogs are another outlet for creativity, and you don't need to go through rejection by a publisher to express yourself. Still, I bet that many bloggers that aspire to publishing fame wish that they will be discovered someday by some old fashioned editor. Good luck!-- Claire McManus

Sweeping generalizations come to mine with this discussion. Yes, the myths are true and not true, depends on the individual blog -- so I agree and disagree. Blogging, to me, is like reading an on-line diary, or a Christmas letter. If you are interested in the subject matter, it can be very engaging. For example, the blogs I selected seemed to help me reflect more on my spiritual life, which is a good thing. However, not all blogs do it. Like Melissa said, some blogs are an outlet for those who want to be heard and don't feel they are being heard in their inner circles. It can also be very dangerous, like Claire's example from the Archdiocese of Boston. It can destroy the church by some unknowledgeable and unaccountable bloggers (the pen is mightier than the sword is also true for blogging). Last June, one of the blogs by Brandon Vogt, posted the Pope's first encyclicals "Lumen Fidei". It was a copyright violation and apparently illegally posted. When the USCCB called it on it, instead of taking it down, apologizing and moving on, he gave a "left handed apology" and then began to write how awful the USCCB was being (why? because Brandon stole their property) and tried to justify it-- pretty immature. Brandon stole Pope Francis' work, rightfully copyrighted by the Bishops, and he portrayed himself as the victim against the big, bad Bishops. Sad. It made me lose credibility in the blog and the author. ~ Lois Locey

Angela Jackson - I agree with my of the points made by Rosenberg. It really depends on you and what you are looking for. I personally use blogs to find out information and to do research. In this age of technology you always have to use your common sense on what to believe and not believe.

What Scott Rosenberg says here is very true. I agree with pretty much of all his statements. For me blogging is not necessarily journalism, but it is a journal and I do not fear for the journalistic world, there will always be news to share. It is true that most bloggers are looking to connect, they want to share their ideas and opinions, knowing full well that they may have biases, but by sharing those thoughts and ideas, they in turn welcome the view of others by allowing comments. As for trust, most blog postings can be quickly verified for accuracy, and the blogger is generally not afraid to identify themselves. As for too many blogs, I agree with Rosenberg, consider it a library filled with information and you select what you wish to read or garner more information on. It's a virtual library of journals, stories and facts. Blogs definitely do die, I have had many a blog I followed cease and desist, but blogging in by no means dead or dying. Yes there are definitely trivial blogs that leave me shaking my head, and once scanned I seldom go back to them. But for the most part, bloggers are sharing their stories, helping others and themselves to connect, to know that they are not alone. Many blogs give us great insight into subjects that are often left uncharted. And yes some do stink, but yet those that have depth and meaning, far outweigh those. And I have always heard that "one's man junk is another man's treasure.' -- Rose Mary Saraiva