Vatican Blog Meeting: "The 150" and Miscellaneous Links

Next Monday, the day after the beatification of John Paul II, the Vatican is hosting a meeting for Catholic bloggers in Rome.  As a Catholic blogger, I've found it exciting to follow this in the last few weeks.  I didn't sign up to be in the lottery to be invited, because I knew I couldn't go--our youngest's first Communion is May 1.  For our family, that date is especially providential because it is not only John Paul II's beatification, Divine Mercy Sunday, but also (when it doesn't fall on Sunday) the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, a big feast for our Joseph-heavy family.   So while I wish I could be there, we'll be celebrating pretty big here in Illinois.

However, my not signing up did not prevent me from following and enjoying the news of who did get invited.   There were more than 700 bloggers worldwide who applied, and 150 got invites.   I was delighted to see that quite a few people I know, through blogging, Twitter and reviews, made the list.

Lisa Hendey, the author of last May's book selection, The Handbook for Catholic Moms, is writing on her website, CatholicMom.com, all about her preparations for traveling to Rome.  Lisa is actually the only one I've met in person.   I interviewed her in Chicago last year, and it was a real highlight of my first few months writing this blog.

The Ironic Catholic is also one of " the 150."   Longtime Catholic Post Book Group readers will remember my interview with Ironic Catholic last year.  Initially, she was going to have to turn down the invitation to go to Rome, but it all worked out in the end.    Strange but true:  another invited blogger, Brandon Vogt of The Thin Veil, won a book giveaway I ran around Christmastime.  I'm excited to learn more about his new book, The Church and the New Media, to be published later this year by Our Sunday Visitor, as well as his take on the blog meeting.

Other bloggers I "know" in a more remote way (kind of like I might have met someone famous once, but I don't think that person could pick me out of a lineup) include Rocco Palmo, who writes what I used to call "my husband's second favorite blog," Whispers in the Loggia, (though in reality, he probably visits it more than mine, because Rocco is way more prolific, plus I can tell my husband in person what I write about).    Another super-prolific and sensible, thoughtful Catholic blogger to attend is Elizabeth Scalia, better known as The Anchoress.  And so many more.

I will certainly be following news of the Catholic blog meeting through the blogs of those invited, and via Twitter, which I'm finding such an interesting and helpful way of keeping up-to-date.  I also discovered (via Twitter) a blog called Vatican Blog Meeting, with helpful updates and what looks to be feeds of all the invited blogs.   Cool!  In fact, just as I thought I better go searching for this link again (since I had not bookmarked), in came a "tweet" with the link again.  Thank you @cybertheology for retweeting this!