BibleGateway
http://bible.gospelcom.net

One of the most useful tools in a Catholic apologist’s belt is a good Bible search program. Again and again, you’ll want to cite Scripture in support of Catholic doctrine, or read a particular verse in its context to see if it’s being misused by a non-Catholic. Until recently, these programs were only available “stand-alone” on your PC. But now, you can get all this capability right off the Web.

BibleGateway is the host to a veritable boatload of Bible translations. Languages supported include, English, German, Swedish, French, Portugese, Italian, Tagalog and Norwegian. Of particular interest to the Catholic apologist, is access to the Latin Vulgate.

Focusing on English, there is quite a selection of translations: NIV, NASB, RSV, KJV and others. Unfortunately, all are Protestant translations, although the RSV (Revised Standard Version) comes close to being a fully approved Catholic translation (an RSV Catholic Edition exists, but not on this site). Nevertheless, the translations provided are highly useful in dialogue with non-Catholics; and, since it’s unlikely that you’ll hop on BibleGateway for your devotional reading, this is not a big drawback.

If you already know the reference of the passage you’re looking for, type it into the site and instantly see the verse or verses in question. Or, you can search the entire Bible for key words or phrases. A tool like this deserves a prominent place in your personal links.

The Catholic League
www.catholicleague.org 

Anti-Catholicism is ugly. It’s also alive and well in America. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is an apostolate whose purpose is to make sure that Catholic-bashing in the public arena does not go unanswered.
Their Web site contains a wealth of information on this rather icky topic. Lest you doubt the existence or severity of anti-Catholicism in America, be sure to check out the last five years’ worth of the Catholic League’s “Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism” on the site. Warning: this stuff is not for the faint of heart, but it will certainly motivate you to pray fervently for the conversion of souls. Perhaps it will also motivate you to support the Catholic League in its very important work.

The Catholic League has provided us with a wonderful and timely resource by placing the text of two books on the site: Pius XII and the Holocaust and Catholicism and Slavery. You can order hard copies of these works there, as well. Also available are back issues of their excellent monthly publication, Catalyst.

This site will definitely open your eyes to the very serious bias against Catholicism and Catholics that seems to permeate our culture. The more you know, the better prepared you are to spot and counter the many examples of anti-Catholic speech and behavior that pass as acceptable in this country.

SingleCatholics
www.singlecatholics.com 

For my single friends, meeting faithful Catholics of the opposite sex is difficult. There are a lot of solid single Catholics out there, mind you, but it’s just not easy getting them together. SingleCatholics provides a safe environment in which like-minded Catholics can meet.

Log onto the site (there is a fee for on-going use) and enter search criteria based on age, race, locale, and other factors. Then you can view the profiles of people who meet those criteria. The profiles include answers to a series of questions, some of them requiring short essay-like answers, which help to determine a person’s outlook on life and the Catholic Faith. A few of them (such as the person’s view of papal authority and contraception) are pretty good indicators of their fidelity to the Church. If you decide you would like to meet someone, you can send him or her a message through the site.

At all times, your messages are routed through the site. Actual contact information — e-mail address, home address, phone number — is never displayed. Each individual can choose if and when to disclose additional personal contact information. This keeps the service safe and controlled.
I think that once one gets beyond the stigma of a “dating service,” this is truly a constructive use of Internet technology. I have a friend who met a very fine young lady through this service; and the site’s operator tells me that, so far, six couples who met on the site are planning to be or have been married.