Celebrate the Christmas Season
by John Feister

(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.)

Q U I C K S C A N

Parish Site of the Month
Worth a Click

Merry Christmas! Of course, for Christians, Christmas starts at the celebrations on Christmas Eve, at the vigil Mass, or at Midnight Mass. But you would never know that in our culture. Christmas starts with the buying season that has now crept as far back as Halloween! Catholics struggle to live in both worlds—observing the season of Advent, preparing for the celebration of the Incarnation at Christmas, yet living in our culture with all of its early emphasis. With Christmas on a Monday this year, it’s all the more struggle. That’s why we’re sending this a little early.

We Catholic webmasters can help people to understand how Catholics celebrate Christmas—a season that starts at Christmas and is observed until just after Epiphany at the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. We offer a link for your site to our “Advent to Epiphany” feature that explains the season and offers inspiration throughout.

I’d like also to remind you of our sister Web site, PledgePeace.org, which has the lofty goal of gathering 1,000 years of peace pledges. It’s a great addition to your Christmas offerings, and especially ideal for the Church’s World Day of Peace, celebrated on January 1.

Merry Christmas from all of us at AmericanCatholic.org. You and your Web ministries are ushering in the new media for all of your people who long to hear the Gospel. God bless you!

John Feister
Editor, AmericanCatholic.org

Parish Site of the Month

St. Jerome Catholic Church (Diocese of St. Petersburg)
Established in 1956, St. Jerome Catholic Church is currently celebrating its golden anniversary and you can learn about this celebration on their site. Read about plans to close the church’s 50th anniversary, listen to podcasts from the Jubilee Mass and concert and read the “Golden Jubilee Prayer.” Also, be sure to check out church bulletins in .pdf format, a bio on the St. Jerome, a page on sacramental preparation and a collection of “Sunday Reading Reflection Questions.”

Worth a Click

St. Elizabeth Advent Reflections
The series runs weekly during Advent (and again during Lent). As you will see, the reflection is a thoughtful meditation, relevant to the season. It is composed of original text and royalty-free images and music. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish invites other parishes to offer links to the series. Each week the reflection will be revised, so there is no need to alter the link once it is posted.

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