Prayer sites found on-line

After Terrye Newkirk's recent move from Nashville to San Diego, she had trouble finding others willing to meet as a group to pursue Carmelite spirituality. She found her group in cyberspace and now moderates two online discussion groups on the Catholic Information Network: CINMAIN, a general discussion of Catholic issues, and CINCARM, a prayer group that explores Carmelite spirituality.

CINCARM has 20 to 30 subscribers, people who regularly "post" or discuss issues of spirituality as it impacts on their lives, including one in New Zealand and one in Austria.

The group is "a daily reminder that prayer is real and that spiritual life is real," said Ms. Newkirk. A secular Carmelite, she spends an hour or two on the computer each evening. As moderator, she must read what everyone posts.

Carmelite Father Steven Payne, superior of the Discalced Carmelite Friars in Washington, also posts in CINCARM. Much of the monastery's work of publishing books and Spiritual Life magazine has been computerized for some time, he said. But the friars recently posted their catalog on the World Wide Web and got orders from around the world.

The North American Carmelite Institute at Whitefriars Hall in Washington is exploring technological advances to promote prayer in the Carmelite tradition, he noted.

"We have been talking about producing not only publications but audio and video tapes, CDs, distance-learning programs through the Internet and teleconferenced retreats," he said.

"You can find all sorts of things on the Net," said the priest. A global search of World Wide Web sites turned up 835 sites for "spirituality" and 2,165 sites for "prayer."

But one danger, Father Payne said, is "that we get so enamored of the technology meant to help prayer that we never get to the actual praying."

(07-18-96) [[In-content Ad]]