Paul's Page
| Several things have come together to
make this web site come about. They are the Holy
Father’s comments about the Internet together with
those of the Vatican Web Master, Sister Judith Zoebelein
and the desire of our Pastor, Father Tom Marut to stay in
touch with our young people and college students. Given
these inducements and my own belief that the Internet is
going to be, if not already, a great vehicle for
evangelization, I convinced Father Tom to allow me to go
forward with the Web Site project which was accomplished
with the assistance of Mass in Transit, a
division of the Catholic Catalog Company of
Cleveland, Ohio. For information on how Mass in
Transit can assist you with Web site development
find their link on our "Links Page." Sister Judith Zoebelein, in a recent interview in Columbia Magazine [September 1997] said "The Holy Father…sees evangelization as something that can be carried out on the Internet." She thinks, the article said, "the Vatican Web site can be a tool to help people who want to know what the Catholic Church teaches." The sites listed on our "Links Page" are provided in keeping with Sister Judith’s comments and the Popes vision. The page of links will be continually updated and supplemented to provide links to authentically Catholic Sites – sites in conformity and agreement with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II. We hope in the near future a link will be provided for the Diocese of Steubenville Site that is projected to be online shortly after the New Year. To further Father Tom’s goals of keeping in touch with our own parishioners, our young people and our college students we have: Father Tom’s Page, the Weekly Bulletin which may be slightly behind the weeks events, but still informative, and the schedule of events for this, our year-long celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the founding of St. Francis Xavier Parish. My page will reflect my own thoughts of evangelization on the Internet and will be directed to Meditations, thoughts, theology and will eventually provide the opportunity and forum for Catholics or non-Catholic inquirers to ask questions about the Catholic faith. My background is relatively simple. I am a retired attorney and real estate broker, and presently in my third and final year of formation classes for ordination to the Permanent Diaconate. My wife, Nancy, and I are active parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Parish as well as hospice volunteers. I got interested in computers early on in their development and simply believe that the Internet is going to be the communications vehicle of the future even more so than the present. It therefore, seems logical, as the comment of Pope John Paul II indicates, that it will also be a great source of evangelization as well. Our desire, therefore, is to bring the Parish to you as best we can, while, at the same time, inviting you to come and be involved in Parish Life. paul pettie |