Learning a Way of Being Catholic in the Internet

First step
Being Catholic involves many things, one of which is having a charitable heart. And being charitable does not only mean giving money or alms. It also means giving of yourself, your time, your knowledge, your support, your encouraging words, and your compassion to people who suffer from illness or from difficult and adverse conditions. It can also mean being a source of inspiration to those who are feeling despondent or in a state of depression because of some tragic event or loss in life. If you wish to practice this spirit of charity over the Internet, you can join the first foundational lists of PCentral Online. You can check on Holy Spirit Ministries. It gives details on the ministries and the requirements for membership.

Second step
Being Catholic also involves a good grasp of our faith - both in terms of our prayer traditions and some basic theological background. In PCentral Online, the Pentecost spirituality is our focus in our way of being Catholic in the internet. Thus, much of the material and content deals with gospel passages on the Pentecost event, reflections on those and classic writings from our Catholic tradition. To know the prayer-programs and prayer-series on the person of the Holy Spirit, you can check on Theopneustos. There are three sets of novenas there plus a 30-day program and a month of daily readings for your spiritual growth.

There are articles also there in relation to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost: articles on the gifts of the Holy Spirit, plus excerpts on the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit, the theological virtues and the moral virtues, and a commentary on the gospel passage about Pentecost. Other articles that are also included are those of the Pope's two recently released documents: one on Mary (Rosarium Virginis Mariae) and the other on the Eucharist (Ecclesia de Eucharistia).

Another site that you can visit in relation also to this step of knowing a way of being Catholic in the internet is New Millenium Pentecost. Included in that website are material and content relating to discernment and Christian decision-making; Christian unity and interreligious dialogue; and the practice of effective love (charity) according to the teachings of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Third step
This step is for those who feel called to be more involved in the internet and respond to the call of the Church to proclaim the Gospel in this forum.

There are many ways of doing this step:

1. Learning to build a website
2. Learning to write a blog
3. Learning to create a webring
Brief guidelines on this are given in Site Building, Blog Writing, and Ring Mastering. Communio Sancti gives both Catholic content and material plus very basic technological tools and tips for this step.

Fourth step
This step is for those website builders who already are well versed and advanced in the craft of site building. It is meant to turn website builders into Catholic webauthors. This step involves: excellence in Catholic webauthorship, applying SEO techniques as a Catholic webauthor, Catholic internet theology and spirituality, and Catholic internet leadership. Articles that contain these topics can be found in " What's Featured?" at Catholic Internet Mission.

Fifth step
This step involves really getting into the program of the PCentral Online way of being Catholic in the Internet. The program is found in Catholic Internet Mission: A Program of Excellence. The program is simple and does not involve much expense. What you only need to do is maintain your own ISP and an email account used especially for this mission. As regards building a website, you do not need to purchase a domain. You can use the free service given by many web hosting entities in the Internet. What is good about this missionary venture is that you can perform it on a shoestring budget but with a magnanimous and generous heart for the people sharing their suffering in the Internet. And most of all you participate in the mission of the Catholic Church to make the face of Christ seen and the voice of Christ heard in the Internet.

Sixth step
Once you are able to do the five steps listed above, as a gesture of friendship over the Internet, we are all called to tightly-knit and strongly bond our productions under the PCentral Online webnetwork. There are many ways to link with each other: through membership in the lists; adding the URL of your website to the add URL feature of Catholic Internet Mission; joining one of the webrings; or contributing an article to PCentral Online Station.

Seventh step
"To do as Jesus did and continues to do through His Spirit in the Church"
What is important in this Catholic internet mission is that we do this as a support ministry and mission to whatever commitments we have in our family, our workplace, our community, our neighborhood, and our parish. Interpersonal missions are still the standard. And our being Catholic webauthors would lose its bearing and grounding in Catholic tradition if we are slack in our commitments in the family, the religious community setting or the parochial community setting. Therefore this final step is a reminder of our being Catholic in essence and that our way of being Catholic in the internet is only an adjunct and support ministry and mission. The living, liturgical and sacramental celebration of the Eucharist is still the source and summit of our Christian lives. God bless and have a good day!

Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
December 2, 2004