For all my love of technology, I’m still a stick-in-the-mud when it comes to e-books. I’m simply not convinced that the convenience of being able to carry around a library in your backpack offsets what I see as some very real and core problems with the technology.

As I’ve refined my thoughts on the subject I continue to have two problems with e-books: one philosophical, one technological.

My philosophical problem stems from the fact that, as highly editable constructs, e-books enable the kind of post-publication tinkering that now plagues movie-making. Imagine if J.R.R. Tolkien or Aldous Huxley had been able to go back and “re-edit” their greatest works (ala George Lucas and the Star Wars special editions) and instantly propagate those changes to every copy in the world. Or imagine if others could make those changes on behalf of authors long dead, ala the colorization of black and white films that was popular not so long ago. That’s the type of skulduggery that electronic publishing makes possible.

Even more ominously, imagine if a special interest group or government action convinced a publisher to make edits to a text. It’s not too hard to imagine edits made to such traditionally controversial texts such as Huckleberry Finn or Catcher in the Rye. If all that is available are electronic texts, who will preserve the original words of the authors? Who will be able to oppose such censorship when it is built into the underlying technology itself?

(And if you think it isn’t possible, remember that Amazon was able to pull copies of 1984 from Kindles not so long ago; it’s a short step to selectively editing copies on the same devices.)

On the technological end, the science fiction nut in me just keeps picturing a post-apocalyptic world in which access to technology is limited and only those people in possession of real physical books will have access to the world’s knowledge. Good examples of what I’m talking about are A Canticle for Leibowitz, the underrated The Book of Eli, or the classic Twilight Zone episode “Time Enough at Last”:

In a modern retelling, we can well imagine Burgess Meredith dropping his iPad and unable to access all the books he ever wanted to read.

Of course, part of me is playing the curmudgeon. Point in fact, I think e-books are well suited for students, for whom lugging around backpacks filled with heavy textbooks poses real logistical and, potentially, health problems. And I think e-books may be an ideal solution for smaller niche publications which are not economically feasible under a print economy. But even then I think a print-on-demand solution should be offered, so that a physical, non-editable copy can be kept for posterity. Print is not dead, no matter how much our technological overlords may wish it to be so, and physical books still represent a lasting way to preserve what we hope to pass on to future generations.

This Year of Faith has been called to commemorate both the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The round-table was hosted as an open invitation Google+Hangout. I was very happy to be joined by

• Joyce Donahue, catechetical associate with the Diocese of Joliet
• Lisa Hendey, blogger and host of CatholicMom.com
• Russell Peterson, associate director of religious education with the Diocese of Belleville
• Wendy Scherbart, director of catechetical ministry at the Diocese of San jose
• Matt Smith, Faith Formation Director at Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Princeton, West Virginia)

We discussed both the pope’s apostolic letter, Porta Fidei, which announced the Year of Faith; and theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s Note with pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith.

You can listen to the whole episode at the Catechetical Leader website.

I’m not typically one for New Year’s resolutions, but there is something about a fresh calendar that predisposes one to changing habits for the coming solar cycle. I’m not sure if it’s cultural (do the Chinese make resolutions for Chinese New Year?) or psychological, but there it is.

That having been said, here, in no particular order, are my goals for 2012:

1. Continue to refine this blog. I have a number of items on my “to-do” list regarding my blog. My unstated goal has been to post one substantial piece a week, with breaks during the Easter and Christmas octaves. I haven’t been as consistent in that as I would have hoped; still, I’d like to bump it up to two pieces a week. I’ve actually pre-written quite a few posts over the Christmas holiday to get me ahead of the curve. Hopefully I can keep it up! I’d also like to get serious about the non-content end of the blog, especially paying attention to metrics and making better use of my various social media presences. If you have any resources to share, I would appreciate it!
2. Lose 25 pounds in time for the 2012 NCCL conference in May. This is pure vanity; I’ll be giving one of the TED-style keynotes, and want to look my best. If you want to help motivate me, like my weight loss Facebook page!
3. Grow in my understanding of liturgical catechesis. Liturgy has always been my theological weak spot (my only coursework in liturgy was a single undergrad class my junior year of college), but the lead-up to the recent implementation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition has whet my whistle for more. This year I want to do some additional reading and study on how the liturgy catechizes and how we catechize for liturgy.
4. Complete and launch the [secret awesome project]. I’ve got a secret project in the works that will be of interest to all Catholic bloggers; check back here on January 16 for details!

Do you have any goals for the coming year?

Photo by Gordana AM/flickrCC

The topics and dates are:

Grant Writing: An Overview
Thursday, October 20, 9a (CT)
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/873292987

Grant Writing: Cultivating Prospective Grantmakers
Thursday, October 27, 9a (CT)
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/909622466

Grant Writing: The Finishing Touches
Thursday, November 17, 9a (CT)
Register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/809406395

These webinars are free to anyone interested in learning how to write and submit grants for their Catholic school, parish, or ministry.

This past Saturday I attended the Catholic New Media Conference in Kansas City. I had a great time meeting some fellow Catholic new media enthusiasts, including lots of people I follow on Twitter and Google+. These were some of the highlights:

1. I started the day with an unexpected Holy Hour, thanks to the fact that I wrote down the wrong start time for Mass. (Doh!)
2. “What counts isn’t the numbers, but the presence of the Holy Spirit.” – St. Anne Flanagan, FSP
3. “ We need to do a better job of recruiting talent and leaders for Catholic New Media.” – Matt Warner
4. I got my copy of The Church and New Media signed by Brandon Vogt!
5. “Why do Catholics have to pay someone to set them on fire?” – Devin Jones
6. “A good book either offers a gift or solves a problem.” – Pat Gohn
7. Enjoyed a great keynote by Sean Patrick Lovett, the Director of Vatican Radio.
8. Got Lisa Hendey to sign a copy of Handbook for Catholic Moms for my wife.
9. “You’re a diocesan beereaucrat!” – Pat Gohn (This will now be added to my fictional business cards (along with Professional Catholic and Theology Geek).
10. Enjoyed great dinner conversation with Fr. Roderick Vonhögen, Marc Cardaronella, Helen Lee, and Pat Gohn.

I really enjoyed my first CNMC, and while I doubt I’ll be able to go every year, I certainly hope to get back again in the future!

Photo by Scott Maentz/FlickrCC

(It helps that the conference is being held 15 minutes from my mom’s house. Growing up in KC does have its advantages, kids!)

Here’s the three things I’m hoping to accomplish at the conference:

1. Networking. Honestly, this is the #1 reason I’m going. There are quite a few people I know from Twitter and G+ that are going and I’m really looking forward to the chance to meet them face-to-face.
2. Podcasting advice. While I’ve been getting plenty of good feedback on the Catechetical Leader podcast (and we’ll be coming back from our summer hiatus in a couple weeks), I’m still not satisfied with the quality of the audio and the general “polish” of the finished product. I’m hoping to be able to get some good practical tips from other podcasters on how to up the production values on a limited (that is to say, virtually nonexistent) budget.
3. Conference ideas. Our diocese puts on an adult enrichment/catechist formation conference every two years, and I’d like to add more social media into the mix. I’m sure I’ll walk away with some great ideas to bring to our local conference in 2012!

Are you heading to CNMC? What will you be looking for or hoping to hear?

In this video I discuss the highlights of my trip to the 2011 NCCL conference. I’m thinking of doing more videoes like this on the blog; let me know what you think in the comments!

If you’d like to follow the conference online I’ll be live-tweeting as the opportunity presents itself. I’ll try to point out other folks tweeting the conference, but you should be able to find them by following the hashtag #NCCL2011 on Twitter. Please pray for us that the conference may be a success!

This morning I am leading an opening prayer for a meeting. I had prepared a perfectly serviceable Liturgy of the Word for the Feast of St. Athanasius. However, given last night’s news on the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. military forces, I decided to go in a different direction.

Without getting into politics, praying for our enemies and for peace is one of Christ’s commands to us. In that spirit I have prepared a brief Liturgy of the Word for Peace. Feel free to copy and use it.

The diocese has posted videos of all the portrayals online, including my own.

The other videos can be viewed at the diocese’s Vimeo page.