(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.)

With the Easter liturgical season in full flower in the Church, St. Anthony Messenger Press’ AmericanCatholic.org has a variety of resources to help your Web site be a more resource-rich place for the Catholic community.

Pope Benedict XVI brings the international presence of the Church to American shores April 15 – 20. He will be only the second pope in history to meet with the president at the White House and the third to address the U.N. General Assembly. The Holy Father also will visit ground zero, join with Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and Hindu leaders in interfaith and ecumenical meetings, and celebrate a closing pilgrimage Mass to a packed Yankee Stadium. AmericanCatholic.org will be the place to find up-to-the-minute staff, news service and feature coverage of the pope’s steps and remarks. The button we’ve provided for your Web site will allow you to make the link to our free section.

While we have just experienced the most sacred of Christian celebrations, the sacred Triduum, leading to the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection, the journey toward the wisdom found in the Holy Spirit at Pentecost continues. You can help visitors to your site understand the meaning of the Easter season, the feast of the Ascension and the power of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Just link to our “From Easter to Pentecost” feature.

Just around the corner is one of the most popular days of the year to send a greeting card—Mother’s Day. We have e-cards from Catholic Greetings that you can link to from your site. Place links to our Mother’s Day e-cards on your site, and help your visitors celebrate and honor the nurturing and faith-filled roles played by mothers everywhere.

Finally, May is the month of Mary, the Mother of God. AmericanCatholic.org has been covering the 150th anniversary of Mary's first apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes. Link your visitors to our material about the healings at this place of pilgrimage, what the Bible says about the Blessed Virgin Mary, what the Church believes about Our Lady and how Catholics can honor her.

These are certainly busy times! You can help your visitors sort through them with the depth and breadth found here at AmericanCatholic.org.

Peace and all good.

Mark Lombard
Managing editor, AmericanCatholic.org

This simple site does a great job of keeping the homepage fresh and relevant. Near the top, important and timely links are provided: current week’s happenings, Sunday bulletin, weekly meditations, ministry schedules and more. Scroll a bit to learn about upcoming events, and browse the site’s main navigation to learn about the church’s mission, various ministries and religious-education programs. St. Raphael provides a lot of information about the church’s adult faith-formation program and liturgy, but the site’s text is easy to read and digest. Follow a link on the homepage to the associate pastor’s blog, where you can find Father Pat Mulcahey’s reflections throughout the Easter season, homilies and links to scripture and countless Catholic sites and blogs.

 

In just days the pope will be making his trip to the U.S, an event the Pope Benedict Fan Club has been anticipating for months. (The papal visit blog has archives reaching back to August of last year!) You can find details about the pope’s visit (including unofficial events like the party to celebrate the Benedict’s 81st birthday), commentary from Catholic, interfaith and political leaders, and links to blogs, podcasts, news articles—just about everything related to the papal trip. While you’re at the site, be sure to check out FAQs, a pope forum and the fan club’s Benedict Blog, which has archives starting from the Holy Father’s first days as leader of the Church.

 

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