How often do you get to the end of the day or the week and realise you haven’t prayed or thought about God? How about putting technology to use to help you get Christ into your daily life?

There are a variety of ways you can do this depending on what technology you use most often. Probably the simplest way is to use device reminders. You can programme reminders into your cell phone or Outlook calendar to pop up with a message – for example to pray the Our Father or Hail Mary when you get to work, or the Angelus at midday. Or a reminder to say a prayer of thanksgiving with your loved ones at the end of the day. If you use Google Calendar (http://calendar.google.com) you can even program it to send you a text message.

For something a bit more involved, have a look at Opus Dei or Regnum Christi for inspiration. Go to http://www.opusdei.org.nz/ and click on ‘message’ (right side of screen). If you like what you read, you can sign up to receive daily or weekly messages for reflection. Regnum Christi provides daily meditations based on scripture. Go to http://www.regnumchristi.org/english/ and follow the link (middle of page) to Daily meditation. Similarly you can also sign up for reflections to be sent to you by email on a weekly basis.

For more guided reflection, Sacred Space run by the Irish Jesuits is another option –http://sacredspace.ie/. This site moves you through a focused reflection section by section, giving time to reflect as you go. For easy access to daily readings, http://www.mobilegabriel.com/ provides both the readings and a reflection each day for the keener follower. Both these sites are mobile friendly – meaning that you can use your mobile phone browser to reflect on the go.

We’ve written before about the plethora of social networks that are out there on the internet, and the work that can be done by all of us to bring the Gospel to those sites and our networks therein. But sometimes the topics of discussion on these sites are a little…un-Catholic (to say the least). Sometimes you might find yourself wondering if there is a better way to also connect with your fellow Catholics and share our common interest in the Faith. Do you find yourself longing for a social network within the social networks?

Well, wonder no longer! It turns out that there are a growing number of social networks that aim to cater specifically for Catholics. Flocknote.com is an example of a network for Catholics. It was created to connect people to their parish and diocese and inside the site, you and your friends can create feeds with posts that are read by all those who subscribe.

For a more traditional social network, you can check out 4marks.com. This one requires registration to get to the good bits, but again it is free and is growing in popularity. 4marks has videos, groups and discussions – there’s a lot to check out.

If you wanted to build your own social network, you can use a site called Ning (www.ning.com). The podcast network SQPN has done this (sqpnconnect.ning.com) to connect those who listen to their shows. Here you can watch live video streams as well as chat with others who enjoy SQPN content.

A little closer to home, the Xt3 (www.xt3.com) network which was established for WYD 2008 is still growing and going strong. With the countdown on to Madrid in 2011, now may be a good time to explore the new ways of connecting with other Catholics around the world.