Author Archives: Bill Schmitt

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About Bill Schmitt

OnWord.net is the home for Bill Schmitt's blog and biographical information. This blog, initiated during Bill's nearly 14 years as a communications professional at Notre Dame, expresses Bill's opinions alone. Go to "About Bill Schmitt" and "I Link, Therefore I Am" to see samples of multimedia content I'm producing now and have produced during my journalism career and my marketing communications career. Like me at facebook.com/wgschmitt, follow me on Twitter @wschmitt, and meet "bill schmitt" on LinkedIn.

Now for a word from South Africa, via Popes John Paul and Francis

Thanks to Rocco Palmo and his “Whispers in the Loggia” blog for teaching me the word Ubuntu. Wikipedia defines Ubuntu as a South African word meaning human kindness. In tribute to South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, Palmo posted on Dec. 5 … Continue reading

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This Whovian — or Whoosier? — Learned from the Doctors: The Present Isn’t Enough

The recent blockbuster episode of the brilliant BBC series “Doctor Who” got me thinking again about the danger of “presentism” in today’s world. Did you see the episode entitled “Day of the Doctor,” in which three different reincarnations of that … Continue reading

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This Just In … EWTN News Nightly

The biggest news in Catholic news right now is the debut of “EWTN News Nightly.” Thanks to Deacon Greg Kandra’s blog, you can see the Sept. 3 premiere and enjoy intelligent commentary about the telecast. Thanks to Lisa Hendey’s blog, … Continue reading

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Poetweets on a Notre Dame Theme

Have you heard of poetweets? They’re short bursts of verse that use 140 characters–the length of a tweet.  Similar to haiku being limited to 17 syllables. Thanks to the author of this Prezi description of poetweets.  This relatively new art … Continue reading

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World Youth Day: “A Positive Outlook on Reality”

One of the wonderful commentaries Pope Francis offered during the World Youth Day events in Brazil last week was his prescription of three attitudes that would help today’s young people build “a more just, united, and fraternal world.” Those three … Continue reading

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God’s in the details — and the patriotic songs

I was blessed to start out this 4th of July with Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, a Mass celebrated by Bishop Kevin Rhoades to mark the end of the Fortnight for Freedom. Especially in light of the Bishop’s remarks about … Continue reading

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Gateway Episodes: This Concept Opens Up Some Possibilities

Thank you, Abby Ohlheiser, whose post in the June 25 Slate introduced me to the concept of “gateway episodes.” Abby mused on how a TV series, perhaps a now-cancelled series that one always wanted to sample  and still can catch … Continue reading

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The Priesthood, Education, and ACE

The connection between the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) and religious vocations is very real, partly because the connection between education and the priesthood is very real. We’ve seen the ACE connection a lot recently. During Lent, it was my … Continue reading

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Stay Tuned …

The Son Rise Morning Show, which is heard on more than 180 Catholic radio stations in the United States, is not being heard in South Bend, for the time being. Because of what might be called “technical difficulties” in leasing … Continue reading

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Exploring Talent

I was delighted today to receive a book, The Little Book of Talent, as a gift from ACE. I know it will be valuable to study the phenomenon of talent, partly for my own ongoing personal development, partly for applications … Continue reading

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