Site Seeing - David Palm

Lots of Love, Liturgy and Links
Your road map for exploring Catholic Web sites on the information superhighway.

The Couple to Couple League
http://www.ccli.org

The Catholic Church's teaching against contraception is a bitter pill for many moderns to swallow. But Couple to Couple League is a group dedicated to providing a spoon full of sugar to help that necessary medicine go down. They specialize in teaching Natural Family Planning (NFP), but the information on their Web site extends well beyond that specific topic.

A lead article explains succinctly the moral distinction between birth regulation using NFP versus contraception. Another section contains answers to common questions about NFP (various methods, its effectiveness, etc.), information on natural child spacing through breast feeding, and moral and medical cautions relating to sterilization and contraception.

CCL also uses the site to promote the fine chastity education curriculum, The New Corinthians. This material, along with a selection of other titles relating to sexual ethics, is available in CCL's catalog section.

You'll also find several reprints from CCL's excellent newsletter, to which you may wish to subscribe after checking out this Web site, including the excellent article on "Onanism," by Brian Harrison (you may think you know what that is, but you might be surprised by this essay). Whether the questions are yours or those of an acquaintance, you'll find some excellent answers served up by CCL.

The Catholic Liturgical Library
http://www.catholicliturgy.com

Some of the best Web sites are those that specialize on a narrow topic and cover it extensively. The Catholic Liturgical Library does exactly that, focusing on issues related to the Catholic Mass. With so much liturgical nonsense afoot, this resource is timely and useful. The site is being updated frequently; the newest additions had been made the day before I signed on. One of the most useful resources here is a large collection of the official documents of the Catholic Church relating to the liturgy. Although overt liturgical tamperers are often disinclined to heed the official voice of the Church (disobedience is endemic to their agenda, after all) it is great for you to have these resources to educate Catholics who are simply ignorant and confused, not overtly rebellious.

If you have a burning question about some liturgical custom (or abuse), then you can post it here. But be sure to check if it's already been addressed, because there is a whole archive of previously answered questions, ordered alphabetically by topic. The section on liturgical history has a nifty graphical timeline showing the development of the liturgy throughout Church history. Other sections on music, architecture and art round out a unique and helpful site.

The Catholic Goldmine
http://www.catholicgoldmine.com

So far in this column, I've steered clear of sites that primarily feature links to other sites; I prefer those that contain original material. But the Catholic Goldmine has to be an exception, if only because of its size and scope. This is a very nice "one stop shop" if one is new to the Web or just wants to get a grasp of the incredible variety of Catholic materials available online.

I had two disappointments with Catholic Goldmine; some of the links didn't go anywhere, and there was one aberrant "traditionalist" site thrown into the mix with no warning that it contains schismatic material. Other than that, this site is very useful indeed. Sections on apologetics, pro-life work, Catholic apostolates, prayers and devotions, and Church documents provide copious materials on virtually any topic relating to the Faith. The section on Marian apparitions was helpful; it's a good introduction to those unfamiliar with these phenomena. And the section covering individual Catholics — Padre Pio, Mother Teresa, Fulton Sheen, etc. — gave access to some links that I had not seen elsewhere. The large amount of traffic on this site reflects its usefulness. Add an entry in your browser to this one.