DES RYAN’S INTERNET

www.dailygospel.org

If you don’t have a daily missal or lectionary, here is a site owned by the US Confraternity of Christian Doctrine where you can get, free, the day’s Gospel delivered every day to your computer. (Think how grateful St Thérèse would have been for this kind of service: I believe the poor girl had no access to a proper Bible for her lectio divina.)

www.esglesia.org

I am grateful to our indefatigable friends in Zenit for news of the recent launch of this website. It’s a huge collection of Catholic links. Open it up, select your language by flag, and open the Thematic Catalogue. Almost everything you could ever want is there: Apologetics, Bible, Bioethics, Liturgy, Music, Prayer . . . it’s enough to put me out of my lavishly paid job with Media Report. Use it as a base for surfing, or simply to brush up your European languages. I myself made many discoveries on it, including concilium@legion-of-mary.ie—the splendid official website of the Legion, where I found things like the entire Prayer of the Church for the day, and the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church, plus links to other organisations.

Those included the lively website of St Patrick’s Parish in Donabate (Fingal) which has been designed by Fr Aquinas Duffy. Well worth a visit.

www.irishcatholic.ie

We have all been heartened by David Quinn’s continuing development of The Irish Catholic over the past few years. His considerable editorial skills are making the paper vigorously responsive to the anti-Catholic challenges of our time, while retaining its traditional readership. And here—at last!—is the Irish Catholic ‘update,’ an accessible and nicely designed website, with very generous helpings each week from its current issue.

www.onlinenewspapers.com, by the way, will give you easy access to 10,000 newspapers worldwide— including De Paypur, of course.
Text Box: OBITUARY Michael Aherne 1930–2003 Michael Aherne died on 26 March this year. In him, the Family and Media Association lost a member who had played an outstanding part in the shaping and work of the organisation since 1995. A native of Ballinasloe, Michael was educated at Garbally College and University College, Dublin. Joining the public service, he worked in a number of government departments, including the Department of Labour, where he reached the rank of Principal Officer. On his retirement in 1995, Michael joined the National Executive Committee of FMA, where he soon made his mark. Along with Christopher O’Farrelly, he started a group within the Association to monitor RTÉ current-affairs programmes on radio and television, the purpose being to ensure that RTÉ lived up to its statutory obligations to be balanced, fair, and impartial when dealing with matters of public controversy. Of particular concern to FMA were programmes dealing with family, Church and life issues. Michael participated in as well as coordinating the work of those monitors who were listening to and analysing programmes on radio. He put tremendous effort into this task and was meticulous in checking every detail for accuracy. He wrote a synopsis of the results for each issue of FMA’s Media Balance, and a commentary, often spiced with gentle humour, for Media Report. He was in many ways the ideal committee man. His clear thinking, his courtesy in debate, the careful consideration he gave to points of view other than his own, and his talent for easing discussions towards sensible conclusions made him an outstanding member of the National Executive Committee. Those who worked on the Committee with him will remember particularly his ready smile and his quick perception of the lighter side of the most contentious topic. Michael was a man of integrity and generosity, and was totally committed to his family and his Faith. He served as Eucharistic Minister in his parish church of St Kevin, where he was also a member of the choir. He was instrumental in having monthly exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament begun there, was leader of the parish prayer group, and had great personal devotion to Our Lady. Michael is survived by his wife Essie, his sons Raymond, Philip, Michael, Brendan and Kenneth, and eighteen grand-children, to whom we offer our sincere sympathy. Go lonraí solas buanmharthanach Dé ar Mhicheál dílis. p I. O’S Text Box: Don Alberione New Media Beatus Giacomo Alberione (1884–1971) founder of the Pauline Family, who use the media to proclaim the Gospel, was beatified by Pope John Paul on 27 April last. Recalling Blessed Alberione’s words about the media: ‘These means must be used by a group of saints,’ the Pope said that Don Alberione not only opened modern pulpits of social communication to evangelisation, but conceived his work as organic action within the Church and at its service. Using modern means “He intuited the need to make Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, known to the people of our time through the means of our time.” “From heaven,” concluded the Pope, “may Don Alberione help his family to be what he desired, ‘St Paul living today.’” (Source: ZENIT) Film on St Thérèse —for release in October What is described by its producers, Luke Films Inc., as the first non-profit donation-funded film in motion-picture history, Thérèse, will be released in the US on her feast day, 1 October. Aims to evangelise In a Zenit interview, its director, Leonardo Defilippis, said the film is “an effort to evangelise through the life of the most popular saint and woman of modern times. . . . St Thérèse desired to preach the Gospel on all five continents at the same time. Through this film it may literally be the first time since her death that this could be possible.” “St. Thérèse is a person in whom, in her own words, there is something for everyone in her life story. Of course that goes along with the legacy since her death. And I think she will have a powerful impact in the non-Catholic world. “She has a powerful influence among other religions, especially Islam. Protestants who have never been exposed to religious life and the life of a monastery will be fascinated by the window into that particular vocation.” The film is dedicated to Pope John Paul. The lead is played by Lindsay Younce, a recent convert to Catholicism from the Soci