Yes, I know it's been a long time since I blogged. Apologies to all those who follow the rantings of this soon to be 40-years-young Cradle Catholic. Life has truly been an adventure.

Now in this post of mine, I just wanted to share a video made by one of St Thomas More's 11.30am choir members.

Her name is Marilyn and she hails from Philippines.

Talented in singing and music, she has really given a boost to our choir. Of late, she has contributed yet again through her initiative of creating videos of the songs we sung during mass, including the psalms.

I was really very touched by her efforts and I have nicknamed her the techno evangelist. From her actions, all the songs and psalms can now continue to touch our lives even after the mass has ended.

Especially during challenging times when we need the comfort of the Word of God in song. This is the first of her videos I am posting on my blog. Why?

Because one of our parishioners said some of the youths were very touched by this particular song when it was sung during mass last Sunday

Do take note, that Marilyn just used a tiny MP3 recorder/player to record the singing, so the quality may not be so good.

Marilyn is not the composer of the song. I just wanted to clarify as her name appeared below the song. I think this happened as she uploaded the song into Facebook and I just copied the link onto my blog. I wanted to clarify this to avoid any copyrights issues.

But you know God uses the simple and imperfect things and people to touch His people. Hope this post will bring a smile in your heart today.

Have a superbly blessed day,
Hazel

Learning my faith through technology

When I first got my iPhone 3Gs, I wasn't very pleased with it as it could not Bluetooth other mobile devices other than another iPhone. It was annoying, as I like exchanging photos with friends via Bluetooth.

Yes! I would tell most friends who wanted my take on whether they should get an iPhone or Blackberry and my answer would mostly be Blackberry.

It was almost toward the end of last year that my preferences started to change. Why? Well, it started with the fact that it had increased my work productivity. Now I could respond faster to certain urgent matters while away from my office.

All was needed was my PA's availability to research what I needed. Email it to me. I'll go through it and email my clients with it. Made me feel good.

Then with FB and Twitter apps I began making a few regular online Catholic friends, whom after a while became kinda like my online faith support group especially when we share how great the Lord's works are in our lives, especially during down times.

Recently, what I really enjoy most is my free Catholic radio station apps. Since then, I have access to Catholic Answers, EWTN programmes and many more.

Now, listening to Patrick Madrid, Patrick Coffin, Fr Benedict Groeschel, Fr John Corapi and other great Catholic apologists and priests is a norm for me. I have discovered many great and beautiful things about our Faith which I never knew.

It's great for me especially when I spent lots of time in the car travelling from appointment to appointment. It is a great way, especialy this Lent, to fill my being with Godly messages, teachings and insights, as I face life's many challenges.

So far, my favourite app for Catholic radio is iCatholicfm because of its clarity. If somehow I can't get clear connection I also turn to LivingBread, which is just as good, but somehow not as clear in sound quality on my phone.

Best thing is these apps are FREE!

Besides that, I've also purchased the Universalis app which has the entire year A,B,C, Sunday readings as well as Year I and II for daily readings. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is also another purchase I made.

I've also downloaded many other free Catholic apps for Rosary, Divine Mercy and Stations of the Cross (which is very timely for this liturgical season) into my phone.

The Laridian bible I bought from my previous hp PDA could be transferred to my iPhone without any extra charges.

Thank you Lord for making all my spiritual reference at the flick of my fingers (you know the flick of all touch screen devices that are so in now).

So for those who have an iPhone or andriod phones, you can access to all that I have mentioned. So if you are Catholic and have all these gadgets, you have no more excuses to have not brought your bible or missal with you again.

Have a blessed day folks....

P.S. For those who want these apps... just go to Apps Store and click Search and search for Catholic Radio, Universalis (there's the free version too), rosary, stations of the cross...etc...then download what you like.