(If you don’t have time to read this now, please take note of the buttons on the right. They are free for the taking, for you to use on your Web site. Click on a button to pick up the html code.)

The Thanksgiving and Advent seasons are upon us again! Three days after Thanksgiving comes Advent, beginning on Sunday, November 30. Advent is again short this year, with only three full weeks and Christmas Eve on the Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday.

Even during the worldwide economic crisis, consumer messages during the top retailing season of the year will bombard all of us, distracting from the message of preparation for the birth of Christ. Your Web site is a key way for your parish to reach out to your members and beyond. You can tell Catholics and non-Catholics alike about the Church, encourage them to join the faith community, inspire them with words of wisdom from the pastoral staff and help them find times and dates for parish events. Most importantly, you are announcing the coming of the Kingdom in our midst!

We hope we’re able to help you make those important connections with visitors to your site through our seasonal offerings of link buttons that lead to content-rich, compelling features.

First, for Thanksgiving you can put up the linked button to our Catholic Greetings site, which will allow your visitors to send one another faith-filled e-cards of Thanksgiving.

At the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, Advent begins. We’ve updated our "Advent to Epiphany" feature again this year. You can place the link button on your site, allowing your visitors to find an Advent calendar with daily activities, meditations and peacemaking ideas. They can also find six new "Advent Catholic Treasures" from Franciscan Communications that appear on YouTube and an "Advent Radio Retreat" from FranciscanRadio.org. You can add some of these links individually to your site or simply put up a link to the entire feature.

We’re also offering new Advent and Christmas e-greetings at CatholicGreetings.org. Coming soon in December are the feasts of St. Nicholas, (Dec. 6), St. Juan Diego (Dec. 9) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12), for which there are e-greetings that you can share with your visitors. Consider using our Catholic Greetings button on your site that links to these Advent and Christmas cards as well as greetings throughout the year.

We here at AmericanCatholic.org. and St. Anthony Messenger Press wish you, your family and everyone within your parish community all of the blessings of the Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas seasons.

Peace and good,

Mark Lombard
Managing editor, AmericanCatholic.org

St. Mary's Church in Annapolis, Md. (Archdiocese of Baltimore) This attractive, easy-to-navigate site does a good job of keeping the home page fresh and providing a lot of useful and specific information for the 155-year-old parish, elementary and high school students, and parents. Important and timely links include: current week’s happenings, Sunday bulletin, the annual publication Moorings, a handout on Advent, a stewardship report from the weekend offering, directions and ministry schedules. The Support St. Mary’s area provides a host of links to point members of the community to ways to contribute "gifts of time, talent and treasure" through donations and bequeathals, attendance at parish and school events, and volunteering. Its "Paybacks Are Heaven" program at the site’s Shop area offers a chance for the schools to realize commission on every online sale. There are also scrapbooks of photos for the church and school events that help illustrate an active parish with significant lay participation.

 

National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC)
A first glance at the home page does not reveal the rich content of the site of this organization established to reflect on the unprecedented scientific developments impacting life and the ethical challenges to human culture. As the center consults regularly with Vatican agencies, the U.S. bishops and public-policy organizations, its breaking news area contains a variety of compelling statements on bioethical issues including sell-cell research, human-animal hybrids, AIDS relief, "test-tube"
babies and brain death. There are links to the center’s two journals—Ethics & Medics and The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly—and its monthly Bioethics and Public Policy Report. The site also offers bioethical FAQs, the "Making Sense Out of Bioethics" monthly online column by NCBC education director Father Tad Pacholczyk, an online Store featuring Church documents, videos and a living-will guide as well as information about its education and certification programs. Mark this site as a valuable resource for your visitors seeking some direction in the face of complex bioethical issues today.

 

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