Some Catholic resources for PDAs (Palms and Pocket PCs)

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Well, I do have a confession to make: I'm a bit of a computer geek. Since high school, along with my seminary studies, I've familiarized myself with handheld computers and PDAs.

On my Pocket PC, I keep a New American Bible, a Catechism, Morning and Evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours, and a "Mobile Gabriel" channel that feeds me daily Scripture, Catechism clips, Catholic Q&A, news, etc. It also substitutes for a laptop, so all of my class notes, journal entries, and spreadsheets are on there too.

Aye, I get made fun of. But no matter; these are handy little machines. Some priests are using them for "teleprompters" during Mass--maybe some illegitimate mixing of the holy and the profane there, but it's kind of funny.

I don't know whether anyone else here owns one, but I've compiled a small list of Catholic resources in case anyone was looking.

Palm or Pocket PC-based handhelds

Palm OS only

Palm OS Prayerbook: A huge list of Catholic resources exclusively for Palm OS PDAs (Palm m or i series, Handspring Visor and Treo, or Sony Clie). Some of those documents can be translated for use on a Pocket PC.

Pocket PC only

TextAloud mp3: An application that I use to convert Church document texts to clear, computerized speech for easy listening through Pocket PC headphones.

HTTrack Website copier and The New American Bible on the USCCB Web site: I use this to keep a copy of the NAB on my Pocket PC to read using Internet Explorer. There are certain conditions for ethical use, of course--don't go giving copies to anybody. Think: personal, private use, if you already possess a hard copy of the NAB.

Coming Soon

OliveTree Dedicated PDA Bible reader, New American Bible: Once these nice ecumenically-minded Protestants get publishing rights for it, PDA owners can keep an NAB with them without lugging around the 10MB batch of files from USCCB.org.

-- JEFFREY D ZIMMERMAN (jeffreyz@seminarianthoughts.com), July 08, 2002

Answers

Oh, and OliveTree also has copies available of the NRSV with Deutero- canonicals... if you're into that gender-inclusive stuff. :P

-- Jeffrey Zimmerman (jeffreyz@seminarianthoughts.com), July 08, 2002.
Oh, and they also have the Douay Rheims! ... If you're into that Latin Vulgate stuff. :P :) Heh.

-- Jeffrey Zimmerman (jeffreyz@seminarianthoughts.com), July 08, 2002.
Jeffrey,

Thanks for that kind information. :-)

Peace & Prayers

-- Xavier (xavier_david24@yahoo.com), July 08, 2002.

Jeffrey,

Great post! I started using the "Mobile Gabriel" channel on AvantGo more than two years ago. I especially like the fact that I can have the current week's readings at my fingertips at all times (now, I think that they give you 3 weeks' worth). Plus, they give you daily reflections, etc.

Technologically-enhanced faith! What a blessed time to be alive!

Enjoy,

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), July 08, 2002.

Indeed, PDAs are a great boon to the faithful, but we should always keep things in perspective; ultimately, PDAs are lumps of dirt, and, as St. John of the Cross would say, their goodness, compared to the goodness of God, is utter depravity. In that respect, I stop short of calling it a technologically enhanced faith. In a roundabout way, this is true: the only fundamental source of faith is God, through prayer--but all of those wordly things like Bibles, rosaries, relics, and PDAs that draw us towards prayer are good insofar as they do so. They are like crutches, because it is the deformity of our souls and hearts that makes prayer difficult. A pure spirit would not need them--prayer would come as naturally as sleep and meals (the imprint of God's Word on our very souls ensures this). For this reason, we "spiritual novices" rely upon our symbols, and this is good.

This is something I remind myself of in order to keep a healthy, moderated enthusiasm for what we humans consider to be "technological wonders". To Mateo, I didn't mean to over-analyze your response, but your words gave me an opportunity to review some things I've learned in the past couple of years. For that, I thank you. :)

Still, since I'm only human, I can't help but marvel at this thing; it's a diversion, a tool, and a source of devotional material in a little 6-ounce machine. Neat stuff.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam

-- Jeffrey Zimmerman (jeffreyz@seminarianthoughts.com), July 08, 2002.

Jeffrey,

I agree with you 100%. I'd even go a bit further and say explicitly that it's only after accumulating "stuff" that we realize that they become chains that keep us from true freedom through material detachment.

Matthew 19:21 - "Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"

I wonder if a modern translation of the Bible might see this verse become:

Jeffrey,

Matthew@heaven.org 19:21 - "Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go to eBay.com, auction off what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"

Enjoy,

Mateo

PS--Jeffrey, are you going to be secular or religious?

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), July 09, 2002.

Mateo,

I'm studying for the secular priesthood, but I've been fascinated by Christian mysticism since taking a class in it at the University of Arizona. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't bring some of the spirit of the religious priesthood into the diocesan order, but of course, it would be narcissisticly presumptuous of me to "plan" such a ministry. If I put my faith in God, I will be taken where I am most needed, and given the gifts only he knows I need. That is all I need to know.

Thank you much for your post and support. :)

-- Jeffrey Zimmerman (jeffreyz@seminarianthoughts.com), July 09, 2002.

By the way, if anyone has a Pocket PC but still wants to read the PalmOS-formatted DOC files on the "Catholic PrayerBook" Website, you may use this guide to convert them to the standard Microsoft Reader format.

-- Jeffrey Zimmerman (jeffreyz@seminarianthoughts.com), July 09, 2002.
Mr. Zimmerman,

Thank you for yet another ground breaking info. :-)

Peace & Prayers

-- Xavier (xavier_david24@yahoo.com), July 09, 2002.

Here is a much more elegant liturgy of the hours using avantgo:

http://www.universalis.com/cgi-bin/display/avantgo.htm

automatic updates and much leaner than pdf files

The olive tree rsv is a decent version but we need the NAB. When I saw your link I thought it was live but alas we must await a subsequent coming.

-- carlos arazoza (cfa@arazoza.com), September 25, 2002.

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