Evangelization in the Digital World

The Catholic Church celebrated the 43rd World Day of Communication on May 24, 2009. The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, in his message for World Day of Communication speaks of “New Technologies, New Relationship. Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue, and Friendship.” He concludes, addressing himself to young Catholic believers:

…to take on the responsibility for the evangelization of this "digital continent". Be sure to announce the Gospel to your contemporaries with enthusiasm. You know their fears and their hopes, their aspirations and their disappointments: the greatest gift you can give to them is to share with them the "Good News" of a God who became man, who suffered, died and rose again to save all people. Human hearts are yearning for a world where love endures, where gifts are shared, where unity is built, where freedom finds meaning in truth, and where identity is found in respectful communion. Our faith can respond to these expectations: may you become its heralds! The Pope accompanies you with his prayers and his blessing.

In an attempt to respond to the Holy Father’s challenge, Mr. Andrew Guidroz has been at work improving the website – http://www.stlandrycatholicchurch.org/. Mr. Guidroz informs us:

1. The website has gone through a pretty big facelift that is still
   ongoing.
   
   http://www.stlandrycatholicchurch.org/
   
   There, you can find a new Calendar with events happening around the church parish. There is a new feedback page for folks to email the church parish. We’ve also got the Photosynth/3D photo of the Father Lafleur monument along with downloadable prayer cards in remembrance of him. The website is usually updated weekly on Thursdays with a downloadable/printable copy of the bulletin.


2. We have a blog
   
   http://stlandrycatholicchurch.blogspot.com/
   
   A Blog is a website where updates, news, and current events are written about. It gives the parish a place to provide additional and more current information than can be fit into the bulletin. It is updated daily and sometimes as much as 6 times a day!
   


3. And now we have a Twitter site.
   
   http://www.twitter.com/StLandryCath
   
   Twitter is a lot like a blog but the messages there are very tiny in size. Twitter can send text messages to parishioners as events are happening around the parish and diocese. Our Twitter name is StLandryCath.

Mr. Guidroz also says, “I would also like to encourage all parishioners to go to the feedback page and drop us a note that includes your email address. We can then include you on the notification list when updates are made. As entries are made to the blog, you’ll get an email notice.”

I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Guidroz for a great work. He is putting St. Landry Church in the forefront of the digital world.

Monsignor J. Robert Romero