While he was in town to speak to people from the Archdiocese of Baltimore last week, Jesuit and renowned author Father James Martin took time to record a welcome message for us. He's appearing at the Mid-Atlantic Congress for Pastoral Leadership, co-sponsored by The Catholic Review.
If you're looking for information on the event, to be held at Baltimore's Convention Center March 8-10, 2012, here's the news release:
Co-sponsored by the Association of Catholic Publishers
and The Archdiocese of Baltimore
The Association of Catholic Publishers and the Archdiocese of Baltimore announce the first Mid-Atlantic Congress for Pastoral Leadership (MAC) to be held Thursday afternoon March 8, 2012 through Saturday afternoon March 10 at the Hilton Hotel in the Inner Harbor area of downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) and the Archdiocese of Baltimore Department of Evangelization (AOB) welcome this opportunity to co-sponsor the first of what is planned as an annual conference for pastoral leaders.
The Congress is being planned by a Core Committee composed of a diverse team of key leaders from the archdiocese and more than 10 Catholic publishing houses. Meetings began this past October to plan the program and the logistics of the Congress. The Core Committee is co-chaired by Fr. John Hurley of the Department of Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Paul Henderson from USCCB Communications representing the Association of Catholic Publishers. The theme, Witness Hope! /¡Sea Testigo de la Esperanza!, speaks to the need for pastoral leaders to be active in bringing the Gospel message to the world.
Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore noted that this first gathering of pastoral leaders in the Mid-Atlantic area could not come at a better time. “We believe that by working with ACP, whose members include the major Catholic catechetical and liturgical publishers, the Congress can offer the region a well formed vibrant professional learning experience for our parish and school leaders on an annual basis for years to come.”
In a recent survey of more than 1,600 pastoral leaders, respondents – including priests, religious, and ecclesial lay ministers – expressed great interest in a gathering of this type, one that would offer both new learning experiences and continued professional development. Both the ACP and the Archdiocese hope that this initiative will be an annual event that will serve the needs of all the pastoral ministries in the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. Organizers also hope that the Congress will be a model of inclusiveness, welcoming leaders of all ages, ministries, and ethnic groups to gather as Church. They hope as well that technology will play a major role in providing resources that last well beyond the conference itself -forming a network of pastoral leaders who will continue to be engaged in post-Congress activities.
This new annual Congress will strive to offer the best of Catholic pastoral practices, religious education/catechesis, and theology to parish leadership. It will offer opportunities for “skills development” as well as prayer and worship celebrations. It will give parish and school leaders opportunities to meet in peer groups for support and enrichment. The Congress planning team sees this event as an important way to assist Catholic parishes and schools in their work of evangelization, catechesis, and prayer - bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to our world today.
Finally, it is the organizers’ hope that Witness Hope!/ ¡Sea Testigo de la Esperanza! will focus very sharply and intentionally on the needs of pastoral leaders—and this will be the measure of its success.
Note: In the near future a MAC website (MidAtlanticCongress.org) will be available to provide more details, including registration information.
Also, follow the Congress on Facebook (Mid-Atlantic Congress) and Twitter (MACongress).
August 03, 2011 10:03
By Matt Palmer
When it comes to priests, they don't make them much cooler than Jesuit Father James Martin of America Magazine. He's become famous for his appearances on The Colbert Report with comedian Stephen Colbert and his books, My Life with the Saints and A Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything. Colbert, a catechist at his home parish, regularly mixes in some Catholic catechesis with his biting satire. Father Martin and Colbert are helping make Catholicism cool for 21st century young adults who might not know the faith.
I got to sit down with Father Martin, along with fellow Catholic Review reporter George Matysek, for an interview July 29 at St. Ignatius in Baltimore. Below are some photos from a book signing, along with some audio from our interview.
More is coming. Father Martin had a lot to say in what was one of my favorite interviews ever.
July 30, 2011 01:58
By Matt Palmer
In the next few days you'll see a story on CatholicReview.org, site of the Archdiocese of Baltimore's newspaper, about Maryvale Preparatory School implementing a new Apple iPad program in which students will be getting an iPad 2 in the fall. For now, check out this video of the presentation that took place April 13. Pretty cool, huh?
April 14, 2011 04:34
By Matt Palmer
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog for CatholicReview.org did in the last two months of 2010, when it was formed. Thanks for your readership. Here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2010. That's about 4 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 53 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 39 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 69mb. That's about 3 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was November 23rd with 180 views. The most popular post that day was Matthew Slattery update.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were
catholicreview.org,
facebook.com,
newcatholicblogs.blogspot.com,
dscottmiller.com, and
Private networks.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for best and worst christmas songs, molly sinnott, catholic review dwayne thomas, best worst christmas songs, and len bias mother.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Matthew Slattery update November 2010
2
Meet Dwayne Thomas, Loyola Blakefield student December 2010
3
Best and Worst Christmas songs Part I: The Worst December 2010
4 comments
4
Young Adult Spotlight on Sean Comber November 2010
1 comment
5
The inspiring Kleintank story December 2010
1 comment
January 02, 2011 03:17
By Matt Palmer
Here is a report from Baltimore on the Dec. 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You'll get a feel for the sights and sounds of the day.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfRKgUKjS9I&hl=en&fs=1]
December 13, 2010 10:07
By Matt Palmer
Baltimore Ravens kicker Bill Cundiff, possibly the 2010 team MVP, and running back Matt Lawrence came to Archbishop Borders School in Baltimore City with a message Nov. 29: value your education.
Cundiff said he lives by "three Fs" to succeed in the National Football League: family, friends and faith.
"You guys can go great places if you just pay attention to your teachers," Cundiff said. "You can accomplish great things, but it starts with education."
Archbishop Borders principal Cathy Marshall reminded her students that the football players "didn't just wake up one day and they were on the Ravens team. It's a long, hard process."
After students told Lawrence that they wanted to be a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, a veterinarian and a comedian among other things. he said it all starts with a dream. He said concentrating on school and homework would get them to where they needed to be, even as a Power Ranger.
The appearance was made possible by the Church of the Holy Apostles of Gambrills, which has partnerships with Archbishop Borders School that often help with supplies, uniforms and other necessities. Archbishop Borders School became a dual language school this past fall. Church of the Holy Apostles parishioner Erika Robuck said it has been a rewarding experience to work with the city school school.
"It has been great for us and them," she said.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QOAonmAwsc&hl=en&fs=1]
[slideshow id=2233785415202048883&w=426&h=320]
November 30, 2010 07:52
By Matt Palmer
Tomorrow, Calvert Hall and Loyola Blakefield will take the field of M&T Bank Stadium for the annual Turkey Bowl football game. It's the Navy-Army of the Baltimore high school football.
Adrian Amos (CR Staff/Owen Sweeney III)
If you want to get up to speed on some of the standouts from both schools, check out this piece on Calvert Hall's Adrian Amos. Also read my story on Loyola's Kevin McKeown.
You can listen to the game live on SFMSports.net, with the play-by-play from Graham Whaples and Mike Popovec. These guys do a top notch job. You can listen to the game also on FOX 1370 AM.
Be sure to read Paul McMullen's story on two men who mean so much to both schools.
Who do you expect to win?
November 24, 2010 07:28
By Matt Palmer
Cardinal Shehan students celebrate giving to others.
I had the chance this morning to visit Cardinal Shehan School here in Baltimore. Canned food drives are a staple of schools and parishes around the Archdiocese this time of the year. You see the goodness of people around late November and Cardinal Shehan is no different. The community there collected more than 4,000 canned goods, which covered the stage. You'll see a story here on CatholicReview.org soon.
I just wanted to share some videos from the prayer service ceremony this morning so you can see the talent and good nature of the people in the Cardinal Shehan community.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qulh27wmM2g&hl=en&fs=1]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySikLL_5fV8&fs=1&hl=en_US]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7wG1kigmc0&fs=1&hl=en_US]
November 24, 2010 01:59
By Matt Palmer
This week's edition of The Catholic Review features a touching story on Matthew Slattery's friends who have decorated trees for the Kennedy Krieger Institute benefit, The Festival of Trees.
St. Joseph School students decorated a tree for Kennedy Krieger’s annual Festival of Trees. (Courtesy Kennedy Krieger)
Matthew was in a horrific crash with his family. His mother died and his brother was hurt as well. Matthew is currently at Kennedy Krieger Institute.
I wanted to correct something in my story. It said he's in a coma. But, that's not true, thankfully. Word from Kennedy Krieger says, "Matthew is awake and receiving intensive rehabilitative therapies at Kennedy Krieger Institute.”
I encourage you to visit the blog from Matthew's dad, Ed.
November 23, 2010 12:04
By Matt Palmer