Sauvignon Blanc, Synod and Saints — Sweet Tweets for 10/19/14

It’s been a quiet week here on the blog. Last weekend, I had the honor of speaking in the Archdiocese of Portland. Upon my return, I scooped up my dear friend Pat Gohn and headed into “retreat mode”.

If you don’t know Pat, you’re missing out. She is a noted podcaster, blogger, speaker and the author of the absolutely fabulous book Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood. Luckily for me, Pat was in my home diocese (while I was in Portland!) addressing our conference and then headed to Folsom for another engagement. I convinced her to spend the week in California and was the recipient of seven days of blessed and beautiful bodaciousness. I made the decision to unplug (rare for me these days) and to immerse myself in some mental, physical and spiritual preparation for my upcoming book launch. We spent a truly amazing few days traveling California (and yes, there may have been some wine tasting involved!).

One amazing thing about Pat is that she lives what she teaches. I’ve known her for years, but every time we come together I’m more convinced — not only of her sanctity — but also of Pat’s sincere giftedness at the mission of truly unlocking Church teachings for the laity. In a uniquely challenging and effectively entertaining way, Pat can break open some very complex material. But even more profound than her ability to make papal documents palatable is her truly open heart for Jesus and our Blessed Mother. Pat’s faith is infectious. Praying alongside her is has been a truly profound gift for me this week. If you’ve never encountered Pat’s work, I urge you to rush to PatGohn.net and and spend some time with my spiritual sister.

Blessedly, while I was away, John was keeping track of our Sweet Tweets. This was a busy week and I’ll be spending some time today (along with you!) getting caught up on all of the action. The Synod may be formally over for this year, but much work remains ahead of us to lovingly serve families around the world.

As always, I’m grateful to John Clem, O.F.S. for compiling our Sweet Tweets:

• Papal Tweet “To change the world we must be good to those who cannot repay us.” (Pope Francis, October 18th)
• Pax Christi marks 70 years of pursuing peace | National Catholic Reporter ow.ly/CD6vJ
• At Forlorn Urban Churches, Mass Gets Crowded in a Flash – NYTimes.com ow.ly/CE3Ym
• Parish Communications in New York Going to a New Level |Sarah Reinhard | NCRegister.com ow.ly/CE4Cy
• Fr. Barron on “Calvary” and the Underrated Virtue of Forgiveness (SPOILERS) – YouTube ow.ly/CE54M
• Amazing Catechists Relauched! | CatholicMom.com ow.ly/CE5sZ
• Oct. 13th was 97th Anniversary of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun (Catholic Spiritual Direction) ow.ly/CFABM
• Celebrating 10 Million Views: Fr. Barron’s Top 10 YouTube Videos of All Time | Word On Fire ow.ly/CFHJR
• Archdiocese of Washington’s White Mass: honoring the gifts of all persons, including those with special needs youtu.be/x23TiJcOijQ
• New $25,000 prize for Catholic literary arts – The Washington Post ow.ly/CGKat
• ‘Singing Friar’ to Perform Again in United States – Holy Name Province ow.ly/CGNDh
• 7 More Words You Didn’t Know Had Christian Origins | ChurchPOP ow.ly/CGPAm
• Don’t rush to judge Columbus, anthropologist encourages :: Catholic News Agency (CNA) ow.ly/CHEcX
• Shrek the Sheep Reminds Us of Jesus (God Vine) ow.ly/CHVI3
• Beauty of God in Hawaii: House of Clouds (Julian Tryba) vimeo.com/85616484
• Prayers answered: 5 Christians Held By Jihadists Have Been Released – Aleteia ow.ly/CI2o1
• About World Mission Sunday October 19th ow.ly/CKqKt
• Congrats Elizabeth Scalia! Anchoress Blog Hits the Big 1-0! (Patheos) ow.ly/CLkK4
• The Eucharist and the American Chestnut – Aleteia ow.ly/CLlAC
• Pope Francis sends message for 500th Anniv. of birth of St. Teresa: The perennial relevance of St Teresa of Avila ow.ly/CNfqA
• So Apparently People Have Been Getting Pope Francis Tattoos | ChurchPOP ow.ly/CNgut
• NEW: Catholic Miscarriage Support – Practical & spiritual support for Catholics who have lost a child to miscarriage ow.ly/CNs2U
• The Parish of the Second Ebola Patient’s Family: Our Lady of Fatima, Fort Worth | CatholicVote.org ow.ly/CNAGr
• Dallas & Fort Worth becomes first U.S. dioceses to set out new Mass guidelines because of Ebola (Patheos) ow.ly/CYFSN
• In the footsteps of St. Francis: Radical surrender to mercy and grace | The Catholic Sun ow.ly/CNPMM
• New CARA report: Individual communities show varied, nuanced trends | Global Sisters Report ow.ly/CNT0e
• Release of Highly Anticipated DVD, Mary of Nazareth | CatholicMom.com ow.ly/CO6XR
• Exclusive Excerpt from Forthcoming Pope Francis Biography | TIME ow.ly/COhao
• Freezing Eggs: Why Facebook & Apple Should Not Support This Technology (Kathy Schiffer-Patheos) ow.ly/CPh6S
• Why Does the Lord’s Prayer Ask God not to Lead us into Temptation – Why Would God do Such a Thing? (ADW) ow.ly/CR7fS
• Conference planned to mark anniv. of restoration of the Sistine Chapel ow.ly/CReSH PLUS 360 view of Chapel ow.ly/CReSI
• Apps for Catholic Kids – All Saints Day Edition | CatholicMom.com ow.ly/CRDpy
• 12 Promises From The Sacred Heart Of Jesus | uCatholic ow.ly/CROkF
• Grand Opening of Permanent Exhibit at Saint John Paul II National Shrine in DC Oct. 22 ow.ly/CRSx7
• Hangout with Fr. James Martin, SJ: Having a Personal Relationship with God – Jesuit Collaborative ow.ly/CRZyC
• Melissa Fleming: Let’s help refugees thrive, not just survive | Talk Video | TED.com ow.ly/CSngf
• The Boy with the Front Door Key to Heaven | NCRegister.com ow.ly/CSWk1
• Tech Tip – Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite Preview – FREE upgrade every Mac user should download CNET ow.ly/CSYWJ
• Why Do Marriages Fail? Here’s one often-overlooked Root « Archdiocese of Washington ow.ly/CTxc4
• Tech Tip: Here’s Why Public Wifi is a Public Health Hazard — Matter ow.ly/CXNLg
• 29 Face-Palm-Worthy Church Bulletin Bloopers | ChurchPOP ow.ly/CY53U
• National Migration Week 2015 (January 4-10) USCCB ow.ly/CYO23
• Pope Francis beatifies Paul VI (Rome Reports) ow.ly/CZhxq
• Archbishop Kurtz on synod and next steps (CNS) ow.ly/CZtVX
• Name the Goldfish Contest | CatholicMom.comow.ly/CZvFw

Extraordinary Synod of Bishops

• Synod on Family: Midterm report presented, 2015 Synod announced (News.va) ow.ly/CFBP6
• John Thavis | A pastoral earthquake at the synod ow.ly/CGDsJ
• A Stunning Change | America Magazine ow.ly/CGJ4w
• Pondering “Gradualism” and the “Mid-Term” Report « Archdiocese of Washington ow.ly/CHxnq
• The Law of Gradualness: 12 things to know and share | Jimmy Akin | NCRegister.com ow.ly/CHyaP
• Having Patience for the Sausage-Making Synod | (Fr. Robert Barron – Word On Fire) ow.ly/CJs3d
• Francis tipped his hand | (John Allen – Crux) ow.ly/CJQ9t
• Vatican feels repercussions after announcement | (Fr. Dave Dwyer & Anne Thompson on MSNBC’s Morning Joe)ow.ly/CKrw5
• Video: Cardinal Dolan on countercultural bishops (CNS) youtu.be/OSivYpv65Uc
• Teresa of Ávila and the Synod | (Fr. Dan Horan, OFM – Dating God) ow.ly/CNa3f
• Cardinal Wuerl: ‘Don’t deny the doctrine, but apply it to people’ | Crux ow.ly/CNfJ1
• Synod groups work to fine tune document on family (News.va) life ow.ly/CO8ij
• Blocked From Pope’s Synod By Ebola, Liberia’s Bishop Tells His Nation’s Story | TIME ow.ly/COaah
• Vatican retranslates synod document, muddles openness to gays | National Catholic Reporter ow.ly/CRNyN
• Archbishop Skurla: Synod aims to listen (CNS) youtu.be/X_5KGWABYiw
• Cardinal George Pell: Synod says no to ‘secular agenda’ (CNS) youtu.be/LlLqQJE9G_8
• English-speaking bishops call for major changes in synod report | National Catholic Reporter ow.ly/CT2u6
• Message of the Synod Assembly on the pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelisation (News.va) ow.ly/CXM9j
• Five Things the Synod Just Did | (Fr. James Martin, S.J. – America Magazine) ow.ly/CYFfg
• Synod on Family shows Church whose doors are always open (News.va) ow.ly/CYFvf

Beatification of Paul VI on Sunday October 19th

• Synod participants speak on upcoming beatification of Paul VI (CNS) youtu.be/gSfr9_fRUo8?li…
• USCCB Blog: Seven Things Paul VI Did Before Pope Francis Made it Cool ow.ly/CTcf7
• The Holy See – Official Vatican webpage for Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) with Bio, Encyclicals, Letters, and Photos ow.ly/CYHDK
• Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction – developers of NaPro Technology ow.ly/CYI0u
• Approved miracle attributed to Paul VI – Vatican Insiderow.ly/CYId4

John Clem, O.F.S is the Director and Media Minister at Catholic Web Services (http://catholicws.com/). John is a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order, and loves to share his talents in faith, technology, and journalism in service to the church.  John also writes a blog entitled Call To Holiness  (http://www.calltoholiness.us/). Follow John on Twitter at @Catholicwebs, on Facebook and at Google+.