Advent Resources 2023

For Children and Families

https://www.sadlier.com/religion/advent-resources Sadlier Advent Calendar, prayers, St. Nicholas Activity, Spanish and English

https://www.stnicholascenter.org/ Website all about St. Nicholas, Christmas around the world, crafts, etc

https://www.foryourmarriage.org/celebrating-advent-as-a-family/ Celebrating Advent as a family

https://www.eriercd.org/Jesse-Tree-Ornaments.html  Diocese of Erie, Jesse Tree symbols and prayers for each of the Jesse Tree Symbols

https://www.catholicicing.com/advent-and-christmas-with-kid/ Advent and Christmas crafts, etc

https://www.thereligionteacher.com/videos/advent/  Advent videos for classroom or home

https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/advent/ a myriad of Advent activities for classroom or home

General

https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/advent Advent calendars, the O Antiphons, Blessing of an Advent Wreath… Spanish and English

https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/ Daily reflections, prayers, online retreats

https://www.catholicapostolatecenter.org/advent.html variety of resources, youtubes, etc

https://www.crs.org/advent-calendar  Online advent calendar, reflections

https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/advent/ Prayers, Scripture reflections

https://bustedhalo.com/tag/advent-calendar Busted Halo (young adults) interactive Advent calendar

https://bustedhalo.com/ministry-resources/10-meaningful-advent-traditions-to-try-this-year 10 meaningful Advent traditions to start this year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP-bjpWo9U8 

Bishop Barron Three Comings at Advent. 8 minutes....this one is my favorite of many he has done on Advent.

https://hallow.com/blog/advent-calendars/ Interesting write up on Advent calendars from Hallow, which is a free app

https://churchlife-info.nd.edu/praying-the-o-antiphons Praying the O Antiphons, sign up and receive free reflections.

Join Robert Ellsberg, author of “Blessed Among Us” in Give Us This Day, for a conversation about some of the saintly witnesses of the Advent season whom he considers “friends and companions." Ellsberg is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Orbis Books, the author of “Blessed Among Us” in Give Us This Day, and the author of several award-winning books, including Blessed Among Us: Day by Day with Saintly Witnesses; All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time; Blessed Among All Women; and The Saints' Guide to Happiness.

All registered attendees will receive an exclusive 20% discount on Ellsberg's Blessed Among Us. Register now.

Register for Zoom link

Adult Confirmation Opportunities

Bishop Pohlmeier will confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on Adults (over 18) who have received First Communion on the following dates:

Sunday, January 7, 2024 at the 5:30 pm Mass at Queen of Peace, Gainesville

Completed forms due by December 4th for inclusion.

Sunday, May 19, 2024 at a 2:00 pm Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.

Registration forms for each are due 6 weeks prior. All information on forms is to be completed by a member of the parish staff and needs to be verified. We are not able to accept forms that are not completely filled out.

Norms for Adult Confirmation

Resources for Adult Confirmation

Parish checklist

Registration Form

The dust has settled...

And we have a couple of liturgical year books left (for Year B). So, if you underordered or did not order...

First come first served at the regular discounts:

2 Spanish Ordos

1 English Ordos

1 Children's Daily Prayer Book

5 English Lector workbooks

Email Erin at Erin's Email

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

We had another discussion on this programming at the Catechetical Leader gathering week before last. A couple of summers ago, we had the opportunity to bring the training to DOSA, but we did not have any interest at that time. It seems that there was some interest shown at the meeting. We currently have 2 Atriums in our parishes, one at Holy Family, Jax and one at St. Patrick, Gville.

Youtube introduction (6 minutes)

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

History of CGS in the U.S.

Training is being offered in the Diocese of Palm Beach with 3 weekend sessions. If you are interested, I would explore the concept, discuss the space and money needed with your pastor and consider taking the training. Here is the brochure for the training with dates and costs:

CGS at St. Jude in Palm Beach

Your completed lists of names and addresses for invitations to the Rite of Election are due by January 8th. The Jotform will be live next week for those who are currently on the schedule.

Eucharistic Revival Local Resources

A large project of the local committee has been to take the tapes from the live presentations on the Mass and break them down into 15-minute smaller segments for various parish and school groups. These are found on the main page of the diocesan website. There are discussion questions after each segment:

Link to videos These are large files. It will be helpful if you download separately to your device.

Sacred Silence

One of the videos introduces another resource being provided in this pivotal third year of Revival, a Gudie for Sacred Silence:

“Entering into the Mystery: Reverence and Sacred Silence”

(Bishop Erik Pohlmeier)

Guide for Prayerful and Sacred Silence before Mass: 

St John of the Cross taught that silence is the sacred place where we hear the Word of God. However, our parishes can easily lose the atmosphere of prayerful and sacred silence before Mass. The committee is providing a mini-series of lector announcements and a sacred silence guide that you can customize and print.

• Series of Lector Announcements: 10 minutes before each Sunday Mass, the priest, deacon, or lector can give a short announcement. There are a total of four announcements that can be given over four consecutive weeks. It is advantageous for the announcement to be given several minutes before Mass to allow people time to pray.  

Announcements for Sacred Silence (English)

Announcements for Sacred Silence (Spanish)

Sacred Silence Pew Card (English)

Sacred Silence Pew Card (Spanish)

Sacred silence Pew Card (Vietnamese)

• Printable Guide:  Each parish can customize and print the guide above as needed. It teaches people three different ways of prayer: Anima Christ/Family Prayer, Lectio Divina, and P.A.C.T (petition, adoration, contrition, thanksgiving). One side is more oriented for individuals and the other for families. Erin McGeever in the Office of Christian Formation has a good and reasonably priced printer and is offering to help print out large quantities for parishes.

Resources for children and youth

Eucharistic Revival Resources for Children’s Faith Formation & Religious Education (arranged by topic)

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is Sunday, December 3. To celebrate, NCPD is hosting a "Where Faith and Disability Meet" panel on Friday, November 30, from 2 - 3 p.m. E.T.

Register for free here

Our panelists will share their experiences of disability in light of their faith, answering these questions: What breaks your heart? What brings your heart joy? How can the Church improve? We will hear from: 

Andrea Kaneb

Andrea is the creator of gatheringsound.com. She is a founding member of the Audiology Leadership Council at MA Eye and Ear Infirmary, where her lifelong experiences with hearing loss inform patient-centered care. Andrea is also an NCPD Catholic Disability Foundation Board Member. 

Bob Furtado

Robert, who is blind, has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for nearly twenty years and a lifelong Catholic. He is a current member of the Institute on Theology and Disability and a Committee member of the Status of Professionals with Disability with the American Academy on Religion.

Justin Boatner

Justin is a disability rights activist who started advocating for persons with disabilities in high school through Best Buddies and Athletes Without Limits. He has multiple disabilities, including autism, PTSD, generalizing anxiety disorder, and signs of muscular dystrophy. He was baptized at the Easter vigil this year. 

A couple of Pop-Up Opportunities:

New:

Saturday, December 2, 2023

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Catholic Center Auditorium

Liturgy and Sacraments

Basic Beliefs

Brown bag your lunch

Jotform for December 2, 2023

Saturday, December 9, 2023

9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Catholic Center Auditorium

Faith Development

Catechetical/Legal

Brown bag your lunch

Jotform for December 9, 2023

The next "All in Two Weekends" will be held at Corpus Christi Parish in St. Augustine on the weekends of January 13-14, 2024 and January 27-28, 2024

January 13 Faith Development and Catechetical Legal

January 14 Role of the Catechist and Practical Skills

January 27 Scripture and Church

January 28 Liturgy and Sacraments and Basic Beliefs

Jotform to register

The excellent presentations by Dr. Ansel Augustine on racism, "Leveling the Praying Field," and Joe Meyer on Laudato Si, "Caring for our Common Home," are now available online for your personal viewing. Consider using these video presentations with leaders in your diocese or parish. 

Leveling the Playing Field

Laudato Si 2.0

January 18-19, 2024

Free Online Conference

January 18: 1-3 pm ET

Emerging Trends in Ministry with Youth

Emerging Trends in Ministry with Young Adults

Presenter

Paul Jarzembowski

Associate Director for the Laity, USCCB 

January 19: 1-3 pm ET

Practices and Models of Family Catechesis

(Reporting on the research NCCL is doing on effective models of family catechesis)

Implementing Family Catechesis in Parishes

(Strategies for implementing family catechesis in your parish)

Presenters

Paulette Chapman, Joan Weber, and John Roberto

Registration will open in December.

We selected topics based on your input from the summer NCCL survey and the interest finder at the Fall NCCL Convocations.

Catechesis on Prayer &

Prayer Practices

John Michael Reyes

Tuesdays February 6 & 13

Leadership Skills & Practices

for Catechetical Leaders

Dr. Dan Ebener

Thursdays March 7 & March14

Building Intercultural Competence in Catechetical Ministry

Sr. Ruth Bolarte, D.Min.

Thursdays April 11 & 18 

Inviting, Forming, and Supporting Parish Catechists

Jayne Mondoy

Tuesdays May 7 & May 14

Tuition for each course is $50. Registration information coming soon.

Taking Video Games Seriously and Evangelizing to Our Virtual Generation

Bobby Angel

November 28th 3:00 PM

Video games are a $200 billion industry that encapsulates everything from Candy Crush on your phone to Hollywood-quality console experiences, and the majority of young people now under the age of thirty-five are playing some kind of video game. This generation is also checking out of organized religion and serious belief in God, but their human needs for connection and purpose can still be profoundly felt. How do we evangelize in this digital space where so many young people live today? How do we connect a young person's love for the virtual world to the God who is real and loves them deeply? In this webinar, YouTube presenter, author, and former teacher Bobby Angel will offer insight into where video games intersect with a life of faith in God—how games echo Christ's call for our heroic holiness, and how we can lead young people to respond to that call in an integrated and flourishing way.

Go to this webinar

Finding the Hidden Joy of Tending to Grieving Hearts

M. Donna MacLeod

December 5th 3:00 PM

If we are to be bearers of hope, our sacred work of ongoing Catholic grief support calls for the spiritual gift of joy. For every work of love we do must come from a full heart that brings the brokenhearted closer to God. Join M. Donna Macleod, bereavement ministry specialist, bereft mom, and author of Seasons of Hope Leader’s Guide: Bringing Comfort through Catholic Grief Support and Journals, for a lively talk on the joy and happiness factor of sorrow, Jesus’ model of joy-filled serving, and the fruit of joyfully offering Seasons of Hope in our Church.

Go to this webinar