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Resources for Advent 2006 - Web Sites Worth Visiting - Featured in Previous Issues

Additions:

Creation of a sister site to Resources for Catholic Educators. This site is called 4CatholicEducators.com and provides access to the same type of resources as does Resources for Catholic Educators, is presented as a directory for easy access to the resources. New material has been created specifically for this web site. See for example:

• Creation Posters and Clipart
• Free Content for Webmasters
• Daily Clipart and Verse Archives
• Liturgical Clipart by Zamara

Many more pages of resources will be added to the 4CatholicEducators.com Web site in the coming months.

Canadian Catholic Liturgical Calendar with hyperlinks to Sunday and weekday readings.

Catechesis for Persons with Developmental Disabilities - Resources

Gospel of Mark - Chapter 10: Articles, Commentaries, Homilies, Clipart, Coloring Pages, Puzzles, Children's Stories

The following sections have been updated:

The Latest Scoop: latest edition

Father Lonsdale Commentaries and Clipart for Year B - Several pages have been added.

Crossword puzzle - A number of additions

See our "What's New" page for a listing all the new resources added on the Resources for Catholic educators Web site in June, July, August and September.

The Father Calls Your Name — Songs by Catholic artist Pat Bickert

Sheila Hamil — Christian singer/songwriter

Who am I? Mission statement.

Catholic Digital Images - ChantArt now offers its extensive collection of Catholic digital Images free of cost.

If you have not already done so, you will need to open an account. The process to download one or several images is simple. When you find an image you would like to download, click on it. Then click on the button "Add to cart". Repeat this process as often as you like. When you have selected all of the images you are interested in downloading in a specific session, click on "Shopping Cart" in the menu bar near the top of the page. Cost will indicate $0.00. You will then be able to download the entire selection of images you chose in a zip file and these will be in large format that you can then format for your needs.

The Web site relies completely on revenues from Google sponsors to survive so I would encourage you to click on one or two Google ads when you visit the site to support the efforts of webmaster Julie Ann Brown. You might also want to write to her at catholicdigitalimages@gmail.com as well to let her know how you are using the images.

Martin Luther King Jr. — Resources, Lesson Plans, Coloring Sheets, Worksheets, Puzzle, Quizzes, Posters Good News Cafe is a place where young adults seek to understand the truths of our Catholic faith and support and witness to each other so that we may grow in love of Christ, the Church, and each other. We enrich our minds by learning God's truth, our souls are empowered through the power of the Spirit of Christ, and we experience our Baptismal call to holiness through relationships with one another and the one Church

Click on the images to enlarge Copyright notice*

Dappled Things is, according to the "About" page on the Web site,

"...a new literary magazine dedicated to providing a space for young writers to engage the literary world from a Catholic perspective. The magazine is committed to quality writing that takes advantage of the religious, theological, philosophical, artistic, cultural, and literary heritage of the Catholic Church in order to inform and enrich contemporary literary culture. Dappled Things pledges complete faithfulness to the teachings of the Catholic Church as expressed by the Bishop of Rome and the Church's Magisterium."

I find the wonderful mix of fiction, poetry, essays, art, and photography make of this magazine a delightful place to visit and rest a while... And the quality of the works presented is indeed high.

ChristArt offers free Christian clipart and art for Web sites and for print material. There are certain conditions so read the terms of use. One of the features on the site is quite innovative and and could be fun to use in creating resources for your students. Under the Clip Art section of the site, there is a page called "My Name". On that page you can write the name of one your students in a form and simply click on "Create Image" and the name you have written will be integrated in a graphic that says "Name" loves Jesus. I have done this with my first name in the graphic above. You could do that for all of your students, and save the images to use on individualised worksheets or any handout for that matter.

interparole-catholique-yvelines.cef.fr - This French Web site has all you need to build a beautifully illustrated yearly liturgical calendar to color, cut ut and assemble with your students. If you cannot read French, it would still be worthwhile to use a translator such as Babel Fish to make out the meaning of the sections "Pourquoi un calendrier liturgique ?" (Why a liturgical calendar) and "Tableau récapitulatif de l'année liturgique" (Summary table of the liturgical year). Both of these provide useful and interesting background information on how to help children understand the different liturgical seasons and feast days and their meanings.

Catholic Social Teaching Resources

I was recently invited to take a look at http://www.educationforjustice.org. I was quite impressed with the amount and quality of the resources available on this Web site. The press release I include below gives a good description of what it offers.

A small donation is normally requested to access most of the material on the site, but upon request by email (see details in the press release), you can obtain a 30 free trial period. I highly recommend that you take advantage of this offer. It is well worth the small
effort required.

PRESS RELEASE:

Educational Website Offers Catholic Social Teaching Resources

Education for Justice (EfJ) is an online Catholic Social Teaching resource library with thousands of pages of resources on more than 50 justice topics, such as poverty, peace, environmental issues, and current events. All resources are based on Catholic social thought and the statements of the Vatican and the U.S. bishops on current issues are utilized in all materials.

The member-based website, which requests a small donation for use of the site, is offering 30 days free for new member who would like to try the website out. They can sign up simply by emailing efj@coc.org.

Catholic school teachers, religious educators, parishes, colleges, and individuals can access articles, reflection/discussion guides, fact sheets, bulletin inserts, personal prayer experiences, interactive activities for groups, lectionary reflections, and more at www.educationforjustice.org .

The Catholic News Service recently posted the following article about EfJ in its News Briefs on April 3, 2006:

Web site applies Catholic social teaching to contemporary issues

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Those who wonder what the church has to say about issues frequently in the news can get answers by searching through a lot of church documents or they can go to a Web site that does it for them. The Web site, www.educationforjustice.org, lists more than 50 topics from terrorism, refugees and the situation in Iraq to corporate responsibility, HIV/AIDS, globalization and the environment. Web users can click on a specific aspect of Catholic social teaching -- just-war principles, human dignity, option for the poor, rights and responsibilities or care for creation -- to link the current news items to a specific church response. The site is the work of the Education for Justice Project, an outreach of the Center of Concern, a Washington-based social justice think tank. Catholic social teaching links on the Web site provide papal documents and bishops' statements on current issues as well as prayers and questions for discussion.

All Catholics should know about this superb website, which has helped thousands of Catholics become knowledgeable about Catholic Social Teaching, an important but often neglected aspect of the Catholic faith.

See also: Social Justice and Peace - Resources for Catholic Educators

The Living Light - this quarterly journal of the USCCB Department of Education was published from 2000 to 2004. The complete edition of all issues are available on the USCCB web site in either PDF or HTML format. Each issue has 97 pages and contains 6-7 articles on a featured theme as well as a number of book reviews. Below is a listing of featured themes for all issues.

The following issues are available in PDF format. They are quite large (over 2MB ) and may take some time to download depending on the speed of your connection:

Summer 2004:	Memory, Memorization, and Remembrance
Spring 2004:	The Sacred Scripture of Israel—A Common Heritage	The following issues are in HTML format:
Winter 2003:	End of Time and Last Things	Winter 2001:	Biblical Spirituality
Fall 2003:	The Catechizing Parish	Fall 2001:	Ministering to Body and Soul Together
Summer 2003:	100 Years of CCD	Summer 2001:	Catechesis: Conversion and/or Nurture
Spring 2003:	The Church: Who, What, Why	Spring 2001:	Reading Church Documents
Winter 2002:	Sports as Religious Education	Winter 2000:	The Americanization of Catechesis
Fall 2002:	Catechetical Classics	Fall 2000:	Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us
Summer 2002:	The Mystery of Evil	Summer 2000:	The Ten Commandments Revisited
Spring 2002:	Adolescent Catechesis	Spring 2000:	Catechesis for and in Marriage

The Birthing Tree: The Power of Story – Elizabeth Pike, Madonna - November/December 2006

"Sadly, today, there are many obvious signs of the dying of a type of religion we have known in the past. However, we must not be alarmed, because within the season of November and December we are put in touch with special events such as All Saint’s Day, All Soul’s Day, Advent and Christmas. These celebrations are reminders that point us to the central mystery of the faith given to us by Jesus that it is only through dying that new life can burst forth."

Nourish Peace by Sr. Roberta Leskey, The Way of St. Francis, September/October 2006

"I have strategically placed the statue of Saint Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio near my clock, phone, and calendar on my office desk. It is a subtle reminder to tame the unpredictable wolf that abides within when I am caught up in multitasking, meeting deadlines, dealing with a fickle computer, and attempting to see and hear the Christ in all who cross the threshold of my office."

Catholic Devotions: A means of permeating everyday life with prayer, by Ann Maree Whenman, Echoing the Word, Vol. 5 No. 5, 2006

"Popular devotions have developed gradually over years, perhaps centuries, as people sought ways of living out their faith. They have arisen in the encounter between the Catholic faith and the spiritual needs of a culture."

Eucharist: A Short History By Alfred McBride, O. Praem.

A response to Pope John Paul’s eucharistic desire with this reflection on six stages in the history of the Eucharist in the Western Church. Catholic Update October©2006

Can the Church Change? By Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M., Every Day Catholic, November 2006

"Throughout history, people have puzzled over fundamental questions: Why was I born? What happens after I die? Does life have meaning? In 2006, Every Day Catholic will address these questions and explore the fundamental beliefs of the Catholic faith." In past issues of Every Day Catholic: Why Do We Suffer? By Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M. ; ‘Who Then Can Be Saved?’ By Thomas H. Groome; Sharing Our Faith by Judith Dunlap. Upcoming in 2007: a series of articles on each of the commandments.

Jesus: A Historical Portrait

This is a series of articles. "At a time when so many different ideas about Jesus are being circulated, what more authentic source for learning about him than the Gospels? And what better way of studying the New Testament than with an expert who has spent his life pondering and teaching it? Scripture scholar Father Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., is our guide." I have already mentioned this series of articles in the previous edition of the Catholic Educators News, but several new articles have been published since then: The Death of Jesus: Then and Now; Rendering to Caesar—and to God; The Resurrection: High Point of History (coming in December); Christianity Takes Root (January 2007); When He Comes Again (February 2007)

More Online Articles

Sheila Hamil — Sheila Hamil is a Christian singer/songwriter from Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, England. Over the last thirty years she has written over 100 songs and has made a number of solo appearances and as a member of the band The United Folk. All profit made from both Sheila's and The United Folk's music has always gone to charity at home or abroad. You can listen to a number of her songs in the Discography section of her Web site and in the Songs and Lyrics sections as well. Three of the songs available on the site are for the Christmas seasons: Songs from the Christmas Story Musical.

More Humor

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