by Kevin J. Banet, webmaster

The Pope has come to America - that is big news!

How can you use this event to reach out to friends and potential vocations?

Take a look at the website of the Poor Clares of Portsmouth, Ohio. Emblazoned across the top is a very attractive, custom-made banner that says, “Thank you for your visit to the US, Holy Father.”

Sporting a picture of a waving Pope Benedict XVI, the website also has a short prayer asking for Jesus’ protection of His Holiness. Below that is a paragraph explaining how the Poor Clares chose April 19 as a special day of prayer and retreat in response to the request of Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio for the US, for prayers from contemplative communities for the Pope on the occasion of his visit April 15 - 20.

This is a good example of the use of a current event to act as a springboard to keep in touch with your friends. Every one of us wants some kind of news about the Holy Father’s visit. We want to get caught up in the excitement of the trip, and we want a spiritual interpretation of what is going on. And most of us won’t read the text of the Pope’s speeches, so we rely on either the 10 o’clock news or on Catholic blogs, enewsletters, and websites.

Did you know that at the youth rally at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, NY, the Pope spoke strongly about religious and priestly vocations, and encouraged the youth to “discover the particular vocation God has for you”? Why not read that talk and comment on it in an enewsletter or blog? See the link below.

Your potential vocations need to know that you are thinking about them, and an enewsletter or blog is a great way to do so. After sending my first enewsletter recently, I received emails from about 20% of persons on my list just saying “hello” — some of whom I hadn’t heard from in a while.

Keep in touch with your friends, and keep them updated!

by Kevin J. Banet, webmaster

Recently I spoke with a priest who is helping a contemplative community attract vocations.

“Why don’t they put up a website?” I asked.

“They want to print a 32-page color booklet on their community,” he said.

“But that will cost thousands of dollars - and women who are searching for religious communities are looking on the web,” I said. “A website can be changed easily, and there are no postage fees.”

I explained to him that websites, blogs, and enewsletters are where it’s at in opening your doors to vocations. Single persons are using search engines to look for religious communities, and also looking at blogs, and enewsletters.

Here’s a “how to” to use the internet to attract vocation seekers:

Website: Change content frequently, since changes are noticed by search engines, which give you a higher ranking. Get incoming links from other religious communities and related organizations. Links help search rankings, too. Or write a blog that links back to your website (see below).

Blog: Start a blog, which is a kind of journal about which you can post articles and photos. Talk about the charism of your community. Your friends will keep coming back for more news. There are many free blogs sites, such as Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, and Livejournal.com. Blogs can also be installed on your website.

Check out this Google list of Catholic vocation blogs. Some are a bit goofy (with a picture of a movie star), but many inspire one to a true spirituality and community life.

Enewsletter: Keep in touch with your contacts about your Come and See days, or about the latest events in your community. Send them from your own email program, such as Outlook, or, if the list gets too big — or if you just want to make your newsletter look better with nice graphics — use an easy-to-use commercial service, such as Constant Contact, for as low as $15/mo., and which also has a free 60-day trial. Or Enewsletters Online, which offers 100 sends per month for free.

Best wishes in “using the modern means of communications” (Vatican II).

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Quote for today: “Young people, if they know how to pray, can be trusted to know what to do with God’s call.” Pope Benedict XVI

by Kevin J. Banet, webmaster

The modern mind is muddled.

What is a religious vocation, anyway?

I came across a clear description of a religious vocation today that I thought would help those who have a vocation but don’t know what it is. Too often a vocation is thought of in terms of a career, or just a personal choice. It’s more than that.

This description appeared in the June 11 blog post of the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude, in Marbury, AL.

“Each person has their own particular vocation, the one that will bring them to holiness. But the religious vocation is a special mystery all its own. … The vocation to religious life is neither a sacrament nor does it imprint a character, yet the Church, following the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, believes that the pronouncing of vows does cause an effect in the soul of the one who does it. Even in eternity the effect remains.”

Maybe I’m partial to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, since I received training as a Third Order Dominican, but I appreciate the sisters’ clear comparison of the Sacraments of Orders, Marriage, and that of a religious vocation. This kind of teaching is good for those seeking a religious vocation, who often don’t have a clear notion of it.

This blog, called “From Marbury’s Hilltop,” was started in September 2007, and averages about 185 visits per month — not bad. It features a large picture of two young happy sisters reaching out to a statue of the Blessed Mother. The sisters make an entry every few days, and nearly all of the topics are about the saint of the day, occasionally how they relate to the Dominican Order. There are colorful pictures of saints, and links to Catholic websites for further reading. Some of the posts are I think, too long, but otherwise, it is a good blog.

When you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you can subscribe to the “feed.” When you do this, your browser — for example, Internet Explorer, tucks the name of the blog onto a drop-down menu at the top of your browser (in my IE, version 7, a little gold star). Then I can click it to check on the latest blog entry.

The blog was created on the popular, free blogsite, Blogger, which says on its home page that you can create a blog in three easy steps. Another free blogsite is WordPress.

This sisters’ blog is the kind that you would tell your friends and aspirants about to keep them connected.

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Quote of the day: “One clear sign of this radical commitment is seen in the many vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life the Church in your country is currently experiencing.”
– Pope Benedict XVI’s address to Bangladesh Bishops, June 12, 2008