When Marie’s teenage son was diagnosed with lymphoma, one of her first reactions—go to the internet for information on the disease.  When Therese needs a recipe for a family meal, rather than crack a cookbook, she clicks a mouse.

            More and more, parents depend on the web for information and daily connection. Mother’s who once would have gathered in the kitchen for coffee, advice and companionship now hit CafeMom.com.

            Beverly, a mother who works part-time in her family business and raises three daughters says it's easier to get to the computer than the phone because she doesn’t have to worry about what time it is or if someone will be home.

             She told her sisters recently, “A simple conversation can take days by e-mail, but I've found a certain comfort knowing that you're all out there, just a click away. And when I'm working away and get a message, I feel that connection.” 

            Many parents cruise the web for spiritual links as well.  Michelle, a mother of five children under age ten meets other parents at her kids ball games, at Mass and her home school group. She also uses the web for information on homemaking, managing the kids and home, medical concerns, gathering information to teach a class, and to learn more about the Catholic faith.

            “It is great to be able to get this information that I wouldn't easily have access to without the internet,” says Michelle. “I love the Catholic Heritage Curricula's website:  www.chcweb.com, which is a website that sells catholic home school materials, has a mom to mom connection service where you can ask various questions regarding home schooling, mothering, teaching faith, etc. It also has stories and ideas for kids to do like coloring pages.”

Following is a list of popular websites for Catholic parents:

www.homefaith.com is published by the Claretians and offers suggestions for prayer, practical parenting and basic information on Catholic faith and practice. Very clear site and easy to navigate.

www.americancatholic.org offered by the Franciscans offers a wide variety of information including a saint of the day, minute meditations, Catholic news, Catholic movie reviews, American Catholic Radio, a catalogue of books published by St. Anthony Messenger Press, and webpage for the St. Anthony Messenger magazine.

http://stlhomeboy.blogspot.com/ Blog by a Stay-At-Home Catholic Dad with two daughters. Joel Bittle is a former high school English teacher and football coach.

http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/pages.dir/saints.htm is a privately operated site with activities for families each season of the year and for feast days. This particular link will bring you to a list of profiles of Saints, most in three versions; for young families (children 0-8), for practiced families (children 8-14), and experienced families (children 14-adult).

http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/  lists the daily Mass readings and is part of the official site of the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops.

www.sacredspace.com  published by the Jesuit Communication Centre in Dublin Ireland
this site invites you to spend ten minutes, praying here and now, as you sit at your computer, with the help of on-screen guidance and scripture chosen specially every day.

Also lists the pope’s special intention for the month so you can pray along with the pope.

WWW.DisciplesNow.com  Not for parents, but teenagers, this website looks fabulous so I’m including it here. It provides a forum for Catholic teens to discuss current issues, post prayer requests and ask questions after faith. Information about the traditions and teaching of the Church, plus Lectionary-based catechesis and reflection is presented in an attractive, interactive, teen-friendly format. The site is run by the Ministry of Disciples Now, a Catholic Youth Ministry in Maryland.