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"I was firmly opposed to the idea of addressing prayers to saints, as I believed the dead had better things to do than pray for the living, and I particularly resented the standard, seemingly preprogrammed line that my Catholic friends gave me about it: "Think of it as though you were asking a friend to pray for you...."

I say to anyone who has a problem with the way Catholics deal with the Communion of Saints: read this post by Dawn Eden. She still struggles with the question a bit, but what she writes will help anyone—Catholic or not—better understand how important the Communion of Saints is.

Sometimes you may notice yourself get sucked into a news story. You might spend hours watching a TV news channel, and then you'll go online and read articles about the news story. You may talk to someone about the story, and you might write about it and discuss it with friends.

This is exactly what I have seen happen to some people during the Terri Schiavo crisis and Pope John Paul II's last hours and death. I would caution people who find themselves enthralled by a particular news story to take a step back and think about what they're doing.

Instead of constantly trying to find the latest breaking news, try saying a prayer. Try doing something worthwhile with a family or friend—without a pager, phone, or other electronic gadget that can get the news. Think of our how our ancestors received important news: even as little as one hundred years ago, people did not have CNN, MSNBC, EWTN, sattelite communication, the Internet, blogs, etc. for finding literally thousands of pieces of information concerning a particular story in an instant!

I have decided that I will continue to maintain this blog, but I will spend less time doing so; posting will be less frequent, but I hope to only post more relevant, inspiring and interesting information.

Today, I would simply like to say a prayer for Pope John Paul II (Karol Jozef Wojtyla), who died on April 2, 2005:

Father, in your wise and loving care you made your servant, John Paul, Pope and teacher of all your Church. He did the work of Christ on earth. May your Son welcome him to eternal glory, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

—Picture and prayer found on holy card distributed at a memorial Mass in St. Louis for Pope John Paul II.

FYI: I will be blogging with much less frequency, to take time to reflect on the merits of blogging in my personal life. Sometimes things don't go the way you wanted them to, and blogging might be one of those things. I started this blog four months ago with high expectations, and this blog has come a long way. It was a great learning experience, and I even met a few people who I will probably interact with more in the future, but nothing lasts forever, and it seems this blog may be on its way out.

Right now, there are two possible futures for this blog: 1) It is never updated again, but left on the Internet as a source of information for anyone inclined to find it through a Google search or something of the like, OR 2) I will update it with less frequency but with more meaningful and enriching posts. Part of what happens will be determined by feedback via comments. I'll continue to check my email and look at the comments section here to see what anyone who is so inclined might think about this.

I hope that you will pray for Pope John Paul II tonight (in addition to the intention for the repose of Terri Schiavo's soul), as he is going through a great trial. He has received the Anointing of the Sick (the second time, the first being after he was shot some years back), and is still receiving food through a nasal feeding tube and breathing assistance through a tube in his throat.

Report from CNS News.

It would seem that Terri's parents were denied the chance to be with their daughter as she breathed her last.

Please pray for the repose of her soul, and for all those involved in Terri's life.