LPi Blog

God and the Good Strong Wind

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 14:00:01 GMT

My only real memory of the Mackinac Island ferry was the physical sensation of the wind against my face. I remember, distinctly, that it hurt.

It surprised and confused me because wind had never felt painful before. Looking back now, I realize that it wasn’t just the wind but the spray from the waves that crashed against the side of the ferry — that was what produced the sharp, biting sensation on my skin. But I couldn’t have known that then, because my eyes were clamped shut. I refused to open them, even if I had, I would not have seen much, because my long hair was blown straight across my face.

I was four years old, and it was, in the immortal words of Winnie-the-Pooh, a very blustery day as my family made our way to Mackinac Island. I remember thinking I was going to die. I’m positive now that it wasn’t really all that dramatic, but at four years old, you’re awfully scared of a good strong wind.

Deep inside, aren’t we all, really?

I think of the apostles who cannot recognize Christ — their friend — because he is doing something new. Something impossible. They are so sure he is a ghost, a sinister thing — children are always frightened of what they cannot understand.

And even when he reassures them, still Peter is not convinced. He demands, essentially, a miracle. He demands that Christ make him do what only Christ can do.

And even when the miracle takes place — he walks on water, he defies physics — still he is human. Scared, doubtful, distractible. No match for a good strong wind.

“Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter…” Matthew 14:31

©LPi

The Power of a Tagline — Strengthening Your Church's Mission and Identity

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 14:00:01 GMT

We live in a fast-paced world. Attention spans are shrinking and competition for people's time is fierce. To keep up, having a strong and memorable brand identity for your Catholic church is essential. One crucial element of a strong brand identity is a well-crafted tagline — a short and impactful phrase that encapsulates the essence of your church's mission and values. Let’s explore the importance of a tagline, its potential to further your church's mission, and practical ideas for creating and integrating your tagline into your parish communications.

Understanding the Power of a Tagline

A tagline is a concise and memorable phrase, often placed alongside your church's name or logo, that communicates the essence of your mission and values. It serves as a quick snapshot of what your church stands for, leaving a lasting impression on both current and potential members. A well-crafted tagline has the power to evoke emotions, connect with your target audience, and reinforce your church's identity.

Advancing Your Church's Mission with a Tagline

A compelling tagline can be a powerful tool in advancing your church's mission. It helps your parish community to establish a clear identity, making it easier for people to understand what you are about and what sets you apart from other parishes. A tagline can convey your core values. For example:

Faith, Love, and Community
Growing Together in God's Grace
Everyone is Welcome Here
Gather in God’s Name, Grow in God’s Time, and Go in God’s Spirit
God’s Faithful Community
Walking Together with Christ
A Stewardship Community

By communicating these values, you create a sense of belonging and attract like-minded individuals to join your faith community.

Additionally, a tagline can aid in building recognition and recall for your church. When consistently used across various communications, it becomes synonymous with your church's name and logo. This familiarity can foster trust and strengthens your overall brand, making it easier for people to connect and engage with your community.

Crafting a Meaningful Tagline

Coming up with the perfect tagline may seem daunting, but it's a creative process that involves understanding your church's unique attributes and the needs of your congregation. Here are some ideas to help you get started:

Seek input from the whole church staff, parishioners, and other leadership. Gather ideas and insights from those who know the church best to ensure the tagline accurately reflects its mission.
Focus on your church's mission and values. Consider what makes your church stand out and the impact you wish to make in the lives of your members and the greater community.
Keep it simple and memorable. Aim for a concise and easy-to-remember tagline that can be quickly recalled by those who hear or see it.

Integrating Your Tagline into Parish Communications

Once you've crafted a compelling tagline, it's time to integrate it into your parish communications to strengthen your church's identity consistently. Don’t forget to:

Place it prominently on your website and social media profiles. Make sure it's visible in headers, bios, and cover images to increase brand recognition.
Include it in all of your printed materials. Feature your tagline on church bulletins, banners, flyers, letterhead, and newsletters to reinforce your message.
Use it in videos, teachings, retreats, homilies, and more. Remember to use your tagline in any videos and other multimedia presentations your parish might use in order to underscore your church's values and mission.

A well-crafted tagline has the potential to become the heart of your church's brand identity . By succinctly expressing your mission and values, it enhances recognition, fosters emotional connections, and attracts like-minded individuals to your faith community. Take the time to brainstorm and create a tagline that resonates with your church and aligns with your mission and incorporate it consistently across all parish communications to build a strong and enduring brand presence.

Need help with your parish’s overall brand identity? Learn more about how LPi can help guide your parish through a logo refresh or an over-all brand makeover!

Transfigured

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 13:00:01 GMT

We have all had moments when we seem to get a glimpse of Heaven.

For me, they come with the sacraments: in the pew following my First Communion, kneeling before the bishop as he sealed my forehead with oil at my Confirmation, standing opposite my husband on our wedding day, cradling my newborns as the priest poured holy water over their little foreheads, claiming them for Christ.

Moments when the veil between this world and the one to come is pulled away, and our hearts cry out: “Lord, it is good we are here.”

Like Peter at the Transfiguration, we desperately wish the feeling would last forever. We want to hang onto the certainty, the confidence and the joy that radiates from our souls. We want to spend forever looking upon the transfigured face of Christ.

But we are not in heaven yet. We raise our eyes, seeing only this world before us, the words of Jesus ringing in our ears: “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

“His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.” — Daniel 7:14

©LPi

Parish Dispatch — How St. Augustine Parish Has Achieved Incredible Social Media Success

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 14:00:01 GMT

So many Catholic churches have been venturing into the social media space over the last decade, we thought it was high time to interview some parish staff members who are doing a masterful job using these tools. We sat down with Michelle and Daniela of St. Augustine parish in the city of Coral Gables, Florida to discuss their parish’s social media story, strategy, and ultimately, their success.

Q. Hello, Michelle and Daniela, what are your roles at St. Augustine?
Michelle: I am the Director of Evangelization and Campus Ministry. This role lands me in the communications department as well because communications is such a large part of evangelization.

Daniela: I am the social media coordinator. I work together with Michelle to plan out the social media calendar, create content, and respond to parishioners through our social media networks.

Q. What social media platforms do you use for St. Augustine?
Daniela: We use Instagram , Facebook , and YouTube . We also use Linktree to keep all of the links that we are sharing organized in one place, especially the many event sign-ups that take place monthly.

Q. Tell us a bit about your parish and what your social media goals are for the community.
Daniela: Our parish community is a mix of all ages being very active but also uniquely, we have a large community of 20s & 30s, some students, young professionals, and young families, that are a vibrant part of our church.

We are also blessed to be a university parish. Instead of an elementary school or a middle school being connected to our parish, our school is the University of Miami. That being said, our parish social media profiles and our student ministry social media profiles are completely separate. We do cross-post and highlight events occasionally, but our church profiles operate specifically for the parish.

Michelle: Our main goals for our social media profiles are evangelization — making sure that everything we post is beautifully designed, and celebrating the life of our parish — advertising events and highlighting event turnouts, highlighting parishioners and their stories, and sharing our church with the greater community. God is always doing amazing works in our church and the life of our parishioners — social media is a way to share it with others and hopefully inspire.

We’ve been working extra hard since COVID to bring the community together in different ways. Our parish’s COVID experience really sparked us to invest more in social media. It was a catalyst for us to step back and ask ourselves “What are we doing well and what can we do better?” It is the hard work that has been put into community building at the parish over the past few years that has laid the foundation for our ability to engage people on social media. Parishioners now look forward to seeing what’s happening in our parish, the many ways to get involved, and even send our link to their friends to invite them to join them at church. Many are also open to being featured in our social media, giving them a space to share a little of their faith story through our Parishioner Spotlights.

Q. What are these Parishioner Spotlights you mentioned?
Daniela: We want to know who our parishioners are so we can create a stronger community. We have a lot of parishioners who attend Mass every Sunday, and we know who they are, where they sit, who their kids are, but we might not know their names. The Parishioner Spotlight posts on our social media profiles brings a little more information about our lovely community members to the church as a whole. We sometimes like to highlight parishioners who are especially active in a certain ministry so that we can shine a light on that ministry as well. You can find examples of our parishioner spotlights scattered through our social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram.

Michelle: We are pretty intentional about making sure our social media content matches our website and bulletin. For example, our Parishioner Spotlight is also included in the bulletin. It’s important to coordinate among the many venues of communication so that nobody misses out. Our motivation is to continue to find communication avenues to share the good news of what God is doing — be that through social media, print, or something else.

Q. Why do you think that it is important for your parish to maintain a social media presence?

Michelle: One of the biggest things we continually investigate is where people might be spending most of their time. Social media is one of those places people spend a significant amount of time interacting, so we should be present there too!

We want our community members to encounter Christ, be active in our community, and not be afraid to share the Gospel with others. We do this through the many activities in our parish as well as through the way we plan social media. We hope to inform, inspire, and get our people excited to be a part of what’s going on in their parish. We also want our parishioners to know that they are the Church! That we are so happy they are part of our parish family, that we are here to accompany them on their journey, and that they have faith stories worth sharing. Social media has been an incredible tool to help drive that enthusiasm and motivate people to get involved.

We livestream our Masses on YouTube specifically to give access to those who can’t make it to Mass. People love this too and our comments and engagement on our livestreams are high. I see our social media presence as another way to promote the bigger picture of “we’re called to be in community.”

Q. How do you build engagement? Do you intentionally spend time interacting with your followers?

Daniela: I spend many hours a week on St. Augustine’s social media presence. It’s important for people to understand that folks often see a church social media account as a persona that they can reply to, message, and ask questions.

A lot of people use the messaging feature on Facebook and Instagram to ask questions so the social media coordinator job can feel like a receptionist at times but, I make sure that I’m available for them. It is important to show them that we are human beings in community, not just someone trying to turn content for views.

I also always make sure to like and respond to the comments that people leave on our posts. I follow the church account on my personal social media accounts as well and that helps me see what our viewers are experiencing. I play a lot with what might work and what doesn’t. Lately, we have been sharing more videos with music and movement as well as posts that include something more aspirational and people have been responding well and sharing these. You can build engagement by showing people what they want and the best way to do that is to just test out different kinds of content and posts. Another post type that we’ve found has been successful is posts where we show pictures of an event the day after it happens. People love this and will frequently tag themselves and share these types of posts.

Q. Do you have a social media calendar? How do you determine what goes on it?
Daniela: We do have a calendar. I meet weekly with Michelle to talk about what we want to share on social media that week. Once we have a plan, I run posts by Michelle to make sure they are in line with what the parish has going on. It’s very helpful that Michelle and the pastor are on the same page with the direction the church is going and what’s happening in the community. Their ability to communicate these things makes it much easier for me to manage social media.

Michelle: As for content, every parish has tons of things to celebrate so it’s important to highlight those. A Baptism, a wedding, a special Mass, a line from that weekend’s homily, the opportunities to celebrate your parish life are countless. We meet weekly and look at what’s going on — focusing on events, inspiration, and building community.

Q. Have you faced any challenges?
Daniela: Although we have a lot of young adults and young families at our parish, we also have a significant number of parishioners from older generations who aren’t necessarily fluent in social media. We’ve learned that it’s important to take everyone’s level of social media fluency into account when planning, so we’ve done a few things to help accommodate those who aren’t as comfortable with these platforms. We’ve made the font bigger and the contrast higher in our designs, always make sure that any links are very visible and obvious, and intentionally follow our parish’s brand guidelines so that posts are easily recognizable as coming from our church. Another thing we’ve learned is that it’s important to make the design of individual posts more general and not overly culturally masculine or feminine but, instead, to just stick to our parish’s brand. This makes the post more accessible and attractive to a wider, more general audience.

Q. What is some advice you might give another church who wants to up their social media game?

Daniela: Don’t compare yourself to another church! Be true to your community. Cater to your community and don’t worry about what other people are doing. Also, remember that social media is just one of the many aspects of your parish — it isn’t the only one. Don’t try to make it something it’s not. It’s just one part of marketing, it’s not your entire marketing strategy. Another piece of advice I’ll give is that it’s very important to hire a social media manager. This person can dedicate the time needed to engage your community and create the best space possible online for your church.

Michelle: Social media is a worthy investment and it shouldn’t be hard to find great content. If the staff member managing your parish’s social media is involved in the life of the parish, it should be easy to find great content to share. For a healthy community, you must be excited and want to celebrate what God is doing. Social media is fun because it’s a way to celebrate the life of the parish and what God is doing through you.

If you found inspiration through this interview and want to invest more time in social media for your parish, we suggest checking out the articles we’ve gathered under the Web & Social Media tag in our blog where you can find practical information about writing a social media calendar for your parish, parish social media strategy , and more.

The Falling Action and the Field

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:00:04 GMT

In my freshman year of high school, I was fairly miserable at identifying the five essential elements of plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).

To this day, the only reason I remember anything about them at all is because my English teacher used episodes of Scooby Doo to illustrate the different elements. Falling action vs. climax is where I got tripped up, the two are similar, and only discernible if you examine them relative to each other.

Every Scooby Doo episode has a big dramatic sequence (the climax) where the ghost/monster/zombie chases The Gang through the haunted mansion. The falling action is what comes immediately after: searching for her glasses that she lost during the chase, Velma bumps into a pulley wheel disguised behind a tapestry and realizes the ghost/monster/zombie is actually the janitor in a costume, hooked up to an elaborate cable system jerry-rigged throughout the mansion. Meddling kids.

I confused the two because, to me, they are both equally dramatic: the chase and the fallout.

It occurs to me that, if you look at the course of salvation history, we are living in the falling action, not the climax. Take the parable of the treasure in the field: we have found the treasure. But we haven’t yet bought the field.

I often make the mistake of thinking I am still lost in the climax, searching for the truth. But I know exactly where the truth is.

What I need to be concerned with is this: am I doing what I need to do to buy the field?

“Wonderful are your decrees; therefore I observe them. The revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.” — Psalm 119

©LPi

Is Your Church Making These Common Social Media Mistakes?

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:00:01 GMT

Social media is an integral part of our lives. It offers immense opportunities for connecting, engaging, and spreading messages across various communities. Parishes like yours have also recognized the importance of social media platforms as a fantastic way to connect with members and the wider public. However, like any organization, a parish can sometimes make mistakes regarding their online presence. Let’s explore some of the common mistakes that churches make on social media and discuss strategies to correct them.

Inconsistent Posting — One common mistake is irregular or infrequent posting on social media platforms. Inconsistency can leave followers disengaged and cause a decline in their interest. To correct this, it is essential for churches to establish a content calendar and commit to a consistent posting schedule. This helps maintain a regular presence and keeps the audience informed and engaged.

Lack of Interaction — Another common mistake is the failure to interact with followers. Social media is a two-way street, and engagement is crucial for building relationships. Catholic churches should respond promptly to comments, messages, and inquiries from followers. By actively participating in conversations, churches can foster a sense of community, address concerns, and offer support and guidance. Don’t forget to interact outside of your own social media profile and like/comment on your parishioner’s posts, too!

Over Promotion — Using social media solely for self-promotion is a significant mistake made by many organizations. People tend to be turned off by constant advertising. To correct this, churches should aim for a healthy balance between promotional content and meaningful, inspirational, or educational posts. Sharing stories, prayers, and insightful reflections can create a deeper connection with your audience. Need ideas on what to post for your parish? LPi provides free monthly social media prompts for Catholic churches in the Vibrant Parish Newsletter.

Neglecting Visual Appeal — Aesthetics matter on social media and overlooking the visual aspect of posts is a common mistake. To improve your online presence, invest in high-quality visuals, such as intentionally thought-out photographs of their vibrant community and beautifully designed Catholic graphics. Eye-catching images can capture attention and encourage users to interact and share the content, thereby expanding the reach of your message.

Lack of Personalization — Some communities make the mistake of posting generic content that does not resonate with their specific audience. To rectify this, churches should strive to understand their followers better. Conducting surveys or collecting feedback can provide valuable insights into the preferences and interests of the community. Tailoring content to address the needs and concerns of the congregation creates a sense of belonging and fosters a stronger online community. Tools like WeCreate are useful for searching and gathering ready-to-go content for your Catholic community with resources for education, the liturgical calendar, saints, Catholic humor, and more.

Ignoring Analytics — Many organizations fail to utilize the valuable data provided by social media analytics tools . These tools offer valuable insights into post performance, audience demographics, and engagement rates. By analyzing this data, churches can understand what content resonates best with their audience and adjust their strategies accordingly. Regular monitoring of analytics helps refine your parish’s approach and will improve your overall effectiveness.

Neglecting Other Platforms — While it's important to have a strong presence on one or two key social media platforms, limiting oneself to only those can be a mistake. Different platforms attract diverse audiences, and churches should consider expanding their reach by exploring additional platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Discord, and more. Adapting content to suit different platforms allows for greater engagement and connection with various segments of the congregation. Better yet, poll your parishioners to see what social platforms they most frequently use and lean into those!

By giving some attention to these common social media mistakes and implementing some of these effective strategies, your parish will create meaningful and impactful experiences for your online communities.

“The Church can use social media to encourage respect, dialogue, and honest relationships — in other words, "true friendship.”

— Pope Benedict XVI's Message for the 43rd World Communications Day, 2009

LPi Announces the 2023 LPi Vibrant Employee Award Recipients

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 22:00:13 GMT

The LPi Vibrant Employee Award honors those who have exceeded performance expectations while modeling the LPi Core Values — passion, positive team spirit, servant leadership, embracing change, and having fun. All employees are eligible to nominate someone for the award, and all employees are eligible to win the award.

This year’s winner is Sarah Van Lieshout. Sarah started with LPi almost two years ago, serving as a Learning & Development Specialist. Her coworkers praised her in their nominations including statements with sentiments like,

“Her training sessions each week have set this entire company up for success for years to come!”

“Sarah has gone above and beyond for every single new employee here at LPi. She is so very helpful, smart as a whip, and pays close attention to detail.”

“Since I started with LPi, Sarah has been simply amazing. She was always there for me personally to answer my 1,000's of questions and that same attitude carried over to the employees on my team she has helped train and onboard. She makes the extra effort to ensure all new hires feel welcome and excited to be with LPi.”

Winners of the Vibrant Employee Award are recognized at an all-hands company meeting and awarded an all-expenses paid trip for them and a guest to a place of their choosing. Upon winning the award, Van Lieshout shared, “I'm so incredibly surprised and honored to receive this award. LPi is full of some of the most passionate and mission-driven individuals I've ever met. This only further excites my passion for continuing to help others reach their goals through learning and development.”

The Runners-up for this year’s award were ad graphic designer Amanda Carroll, and Salesforce admin Eleanor Polat. Honorable mentions this year included employees Mark Daniel, Colleen Feldner, Kristee Flynn, Dave Larsen, Becky Marszal, Karen Mueller, and Teresa Perkins.

Congratulations to everyone mentioned!

Interested in a career with LPi and a chance to win the Vibrant Employee Award? Find open positions here: https://www.4lpi.com/current-job-openings

The Catholic Bubble

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 16:32:11 GMT

There’s a dangerous myth that exists among pockets of faithful, observant Catholic families. I call it the Legend of the Catholic Bubble.

Here’s how the legend goes: you find a devout Catholic parish and a devout Catholic community filled with devout Catholic people who care about devout Catholic things, and you stay away from everything and everyone else, you and your children will be safe from the influence of the evil one. Your children will never fall away from the faith, or even be tempted, and your own faith will stay steel-strong amidst the many tempests and trials of this earthly life.

But like the Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snowman, it’s all made up.

Don’t misunderstand me: I love a good devout Catholic parish. I live for a supportive, devout Catholic community. It’s one of the biggest blessings in the Christian life, and I cannot overstate how helpful it is to raise children in an environment that upholds your Catholic faith and does not denigrate it.

But. But.

Make no mistake: the Catholic Bubble will not save you. The trials and the temptations will find you there, too: on the parish council, at Catholic school, in your Catholic moms’ group. No community on earth is so supportive that it mimics Heaven. The weeds have been sown with the good seed, and the harvest time is not yet upon us.

Cherish your community, certainly — but beware of the lure of the Catholic Bubble. We are called to be yeast in the loaf of bread, and yeast is nothing on its own.

“And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will.” — Romans 8:27

©LPi

Identify Your Parish’s Web Audience and Give Them What They Want

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 14:00:01 GMT

In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for churches like yours. A well-designed and informative website can be a powerful tool to connect with your community and reach out to potential visitors as well. However, to effectively engage your audience, it is essential to identify their specific needs and provide them with the information they are seeking. Let’s explore the diverse needs of those who might be visiting your parish’s website and discuss how to cater to each audience.

Parents: Parents are a significant audience for any Catholic church website. They often seek information about religious education programs, youth groups, and family-oriented events. To engage parents effectively, your website should provide details about children's ministries, classes, and upcoming social and educational activities tailored to families. Emphasize the importance of imparting moral values and religious teachings to their children, assuring them of a nurturing and supportive community within the Church. Don’t forget to include images of families participating in parish events!
Visitors to Your City: When someone is new to a city or town, they may turn to the internet to find a local Catholic church to attend Mass or find spiritual nourishment. To cater to these visitors, your website should include clear directions, service times, and a warm welcome message. Highlight any special events, ministries, or services specifically aimed at newcomers. Providing testimonials from existing parishioners about their positive experiences can also help create a welcoming impression!
New Residents: People who have recently moved to an area and are actively seeking a church are another vital audience. These individuals are searching for a spiritual home and want to connect with a welcoming community. Your website should feature information about the church's mission, values, and ministries for this audience. Consider including personal stories from individuals who found solace and belonging within the parish. Showcase the sense of community and fellowship to help newcomers feel encouraged to attend. Don’t forget to share photos of your community. Highlight any newcomer’s gatherings you might have scheduled with ways to register for upcoming events and classes. Registration for parish membership shouldn’t be too hard to find either.
Individuals Interested in Catholic Sacraments: Catholic sacraments, such as Marriage, First Communion, and Baptism hold profound significance. Your website should have a dedicated section explaining the sacraments and the process your parish has in place for receiving them. Include guidelines, prerequisites, and contact information for further inquiries. It may be helpful to provide downloadable resources or links to relevant documents to assist communicating about what is needed for sacramental preparation as well as images of those in your community who have experienced your parish’s sacramental experience first-hand! Don’t forget to post images of your Confirmation recipients with the bishop, those receiving sacraments at Easter vigil, and any other relevant photography you have!
People Seeking Funeral Information: At difficult times, individuals often search for information on Catholic funeral rites and services. Your website should have a comprehensive section dedicated to funeral arrangements and grieving support. Provide clear instructions on how to request a funeral, contact information for bereavement support, and any specific customs or rituals observed within your church community that are useful for people to know. Sensitivity and compassion are key when addressing this audience.
Individuals Interested in Becoming Catholic: A significant audience for a Catholic church website is comprised of individuals who wish to explore the faith or convert to Catholicism. It’s crucial to provide resources and guidance for those seeking to learn more about the Catholic faith. Offer information about your OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) programs, provide answers to frequently asked questions, and offer opportunities for personal guidance and mentorship.

Understanding the diverse needs of your web audience is paramount for a Catholic parish website's success. By tailoring your content to address the specific requirements of parents, visitors, new residents, sacrament seekers, those seeking funeral information, and individuals interested in becoming Catholic, you can foster engagement, attract new members, and build a thriving online community. Remember, by identifying your audience and giving them what they want, your church's website can become a valuable resource and a welcoming gateway to faith, support, and connection.

Need some assistance with your parish website? We have a whole team of designers who are experienced with building and maintaining parish websites ready to assist you!

Soil Conditions

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:00:00 GMT

I am a hopeless gardener. I never met a plant I couldn’t swiftly kill with good intentions and poor understanding of soil conditions.

Because really, it’s all about the soil conditions — at least, that’s what Google tells me when I helplessly search phrases like “Why aren’t any of my seeds sprouting? Please, I tried so hard.” I can never seem to match the right type of soil offering the right type of drainage and texture with the right plant. I can’t understand why it’s not enough to bury the seed in whatever ground is available, sprinkle some water and ask it, very nicely, to grow.

This is also a quality that makes me a poor evangelist to people who do not share my beliefs. How many times have I encountered a friend or loved one who left the faith, and I tried to coax them back by hurling Catechism passages in their direction, offering advice they never asked for and are ill-equipped to understand? I sow these seeds of witness and bang my fists in frustration that they rot where I plant them, never realizing that it’s all about the soil.

It is Christ, and Christ alone, who works within the heart. It is Christ who is the sower of the seed, not me. When I leave him out of the equation, when I fail to offer the Person and instead only offer the teaching, I can anticipate that any witness I have to offer will rot where it is planted just as sure as a tulip bulb in a bed of clay.

“...my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” — Isaiah 55:11

©LPi

The Ultimate Website Checklist for Parishes with Schools

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 14:00:01 GMT

Is there a school connected to your parish? If so, you understand the unique challenges that come with coordinating a parish and a school web presence simultaneously. We put together an essentials checklist to help you stay on top of it all, including some links to tools that will save you time and energy.

1. Don't try to fit two sites into one.

Although the parish and the school are ministries of the same church community, it is much more user-friendly to have a separate website for each. The sites can have links to easily navigate to each other, but there is too much content for both your church and school to squeeze onto one website. Many successful parish/school combos have used a landing page for their combined web presence that offers visitors an option to visit the parish website or the school website. This is a great option because it showcases both to every visitor you have, but keeps the information packaged in more tidy way.

2. Coordinate your websites with some familiar styles, colors, and features.

Your parish and school branding should have some elements in common. Granted, the logo for each may be different but, using similar colors and/or fonts between the two websites goes a long way toward creating unity between the different ministries. Having an intentionally created master brand book or brand guidelines that both the school and the church use is a super useful tool to keep all of your parish, school, and church communications looking professional and recognizable.

3. Use the same organizational system on both sites.
This way, people who must navigate between both sites already know where to look on each homepage for a main menu, contact information, a calendar, and more. Keeping the sites organized in a similar way will also make it easier for those updating and maintaining the sites to keep everything organized. The sites might have different information plugged into each navigational system but keeping everything in generally the same place contributes to maintaining a consistency to your community’s brand identity.

4. Make sure staff contact information is accessible on both sites.

People may accidentally end up on your parish contact page looking for a way to reach the school and vice-versa. You can save your staff some time directing calls to the opposite office by including basic contact information for the school on the church’s contact page and for the church on the school’s.

5. Keep the sites updated.

We know, we know, it should go without saying but, it never hurts to have a reminder. Keeping event information, any office hours, and staff member changes up to date goes a long way toward keeping your church and school’s online presence friendly and convenient to those visiting it.

6. Use vibrant and engaging imagery.

You’ve spent all of this time following the above steps to make your church and school websites as professional as possible so don’t be tempted to skimp on beautiful imagery to compliment your content. Here are a few time-saving tools to be sure your website graphics are as vibrant as your church and school communities.

WeCreate — You can save a ton of time by using a tool like WeCreate that already has parish and school graphics and stock photography created for you, ready to be used however you desire. You could also use our guide to parish photography to lift up the gifts of the photographers in your midst.
The Parishes Online bulletin widget — If your parish is an LPi partner, you already have access to a widget that will automatically publish your current bulletin to your website.
Automatically updated sections — WeConnect, our web builder for parishes and schools, comes with pre-built sections featuring weekly content like the saint of the week, and Gospel verse and illustration, which update automatically. Get new professionally curated content published to your sites weekly without lifting a finger !

We sincerely hope this parish and school website checklist helps you build the perfect web presence for your community.

If you get stuck, or simply want someone else to do the designing for you, check out some of the before and after images of sites that our designers have created. Let’s work together to make your parish and school website dreams come true!

LPi Celebrates 50 Consecutive Years Serving Holy Family Parish in Illinois

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 15:32:08 GMT

In her first month on the job, Lorraine Adams, a newly hired ad sales executive from Illinois, noticed that one of the parish accounts she manages was quickly approaching a very special anniversary. Holy Family Parish in Rockford, Illinois signed on as an LPi customer 50 years ago this September!

“When I was researching Holy Family, one of the things that I noticed was their original start date in 1973. I couldn’t believe it — they’ve been with us from the beginning!”

“It’s a really neat parish and very vibrant,” Adams explains. “They have a 24-hour adoration chapel that is beautiful and it’s a large parish, with over 2200 families. They have a robust history of changes they’ve been through over the past 50 years and LPi has been with them every step of the way.”

To celebrate, Adams and Marcia Boswell, the area sales manager, threw Holy Family an anniversary party. They chose a pizza place by searching the ads in the parish’s bulletin and landed on Giordano’s Pizza in Chicago. Staff members from both the parish and the from the attached school attended the celebration sharing stories from the parish’s long history.

“The parish staff and their priest, Fr. Kaim, are all very active in the production of their bulletin. WOW!” said Adams as she recalled the experience.

Happy anniversary Holy Family church! We are honored to be walking alongside you in mission! Thanks for a wonderful 50 years and, here’s to 50 more.

A Ballad of Flesh and Spirit

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 20:02:05 GMT

“My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” says the man hanging from a cross. And if we only went on what we see with our eyes — flesh driven through by nails and sword, swollen from beating and inches from expiration — it would seem like a joke.

I’ll tell you something we all know: this life on earth is hard. It’s either too long or it’s too short. It’s frequently painful. It’s riddled with problems that seem to make no sense. It is, as Dickens wrote, “made of ever so many partings welded together.”

But it’s also shockingly, senselessly beautiful. It is full of physical experiences of love, joy, and peace that are so powerful they leave you breathless.

It is both these things — good and bad, hard and wonderful, just as we are both body and soul, spirit and flesh.

No one knows the Father except the Son, who entered into our bodily existence to free us from enslavement to it. No one knows the Son except the Father, and the means by which they know one another — the love passing between them, the Third Person himself — has been shared with us, has made its dwelling within us through baptism.

“Brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” — Romans 8:12

©LPi

The Power of Color: Enhancing Web Design for Your Parish

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:00:00 GMT

In the realm of web design, color choices play a pivotal role in capturing the attention and engaging the emotions of visitors. This importance is further amplified when it comes to designing websites for religious institutions. By carefully selecting a color palette and understanding some of the basic principles of color theory, church staff can create a visually appealing and spiritually enriching online presence that resonates with their community on a deeper level.

"Color is a power that directly influences the soul."

- Artist and designer, Wassily Kandinsky

A Primer on Color Theory:
Color theory forms part of the foundation of effective design and its principles are crucial in creating a harmonious visual experience. The color wheel, for instance, presents a spectrum of hues that can be used to evoke specific emotions and set the tone for a parish’s website. Warm colors, like reds and oranges, convey a sense of energy and passion, while cool colors such as blues and greens express calmness and serenity.

As far as the numbers of colors to choose or highlight, the human mind tends to enjoy viewing two or three colors max. Having more colors than that can cause a person to feel anxious or overwhelmed and subconsciously chose to navigate away from your website faster than you’d like. Fun fact — this is why, when fast food restaurants first became popular, they would use a color pallet inside their restaurants with a ton of contrasting colors. The idea was that they want people to get their food and move on to make room for more customers, so they intentionally chose to have a crowded color pallet to inspire people to eat and go. This is exactly the opposite of what you want your parish website to inspire, so, stick to about three colors to encourage people to stick around a bit.

That’s Great But, How Do We Choose?

Choosing your website color s is important but all of this can feel overwhelming. Here are three simple items to consider when deciding which colors to use on your parish’s website.

Symbolism and Tradition: In Catholicism, colors hold significant symbolism, especially when it comes to the Liturgy. For example, white is associated with purity, innocence, and the Resurrection; red signifies sacrifice and the Holy Spirit; and purple represents penance and preparation. Incorporating these traditional colors into the web design can help communicate the church's core values and beliefs.
Emotional Connection: Color has a profound impact on emotions. By selecting colors that align with the intended emotional response, church staff can create a welcoming and comforting digital environment. For instance, earth tones like browns and greens evoke a sense of grounding and stability, fostering a connection to nature and God's creation.
Consistency and Branding: Consistency across different communication channels, including your website, enhances recognition and brand identity for your parish. Choosing a consistent color palette that aligns with the church's physical space, mission, or charism, reinforces a unified message and helps build a recognizable online presence for your community. Don’t have an intentional brand yet with colors and a logo? LPi can help you get the process started!

Avoiding Common Color Mistakes:

While color choices can enhance a church's web design, some considerations should be kept in mind to avoid potential pitfalls. Firstly, an overwhelming use of bright or neon colors can create a jarring experience, distracting visitors from the content and message. Secondly, colors that clash or lack contrast may lead to readability issues, hindering your viewer’s ability to engage with the website's information effectively.

The importance of choosing an intentional color pallet for your website and overall branding cannot be overstated. Remember, your goal is to give visitors to your website a visually appealing, emotionally engaging, and spiritually enriching online experience. By harnessing the power of color, your website can become a virtual sanctuary, inviting visitors to explore and deepen their connection with their faith and community. For more inspiration, we collected three parish websites that we think are using color well.

Need help creating an incredible website for your parish ? Our design team works with churches across the country to get their websites and brands dialed-in.

A Prophet’s Reward

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 14:00:01 GMT

“Move back in with us until you save enough for a decent house,” my mother told me over and over again as the birth of my second child neared.

My little family was quickly outgrowing our rented space, but the housing market in our area was a nightmare for first-time homebuyers. As appealing as the offer was, I kept refusing, convinced that my mother didn’t understand the chaos, disruption, and loss of personal space that such a move would mean for her and my dad.

I was wrong — she did. And eventually she wore me down. When my son was three months old my family of four moved back into my old bedroom. My parents made an office space for my husband in the basement, and they converted their den into a playroom for two of the loudest children you will ever meet. They told us we could stay as long as we needed to (it ended up being two years). They greeted us with love and warmth every morning and never made us feel like we were an inconvenience.

Today’s first reading always reminds me of my mom, not because I consider myself a prophet (hardly) but because of the way she received me — specifically, in whose name she received me.

I’ve always tried to understand exactly what makes my parents’ acts of love — toward me, toward each other, toward perfect strangers — feel so genuine. I think, after more than 30 years, I’ve finally realized the secret: my parents love God more than they love me. They love God more than they love anyone.

Like making room in their life and their home for me and my boisterous family, these acts originate in sacrifice. They don’t come cheap. They come from the cross.

“Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” — Matthew 10:39

©LPi

Church Websites Our Design Team Loves — Peep for Inspiration!

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 14:00:00 GMT

Your parish website matters! It’s a direct extension of your culture, your message, and your mission. Our design team has worked with parishes across the nation to build websites for church communities from scratch and complete website redesigns that run the gambit from elaborate to small tweaks. Our website builder, WeConnect, makes it easy for parish staff to create and maintain amazing church websites and we love being a part of the process. This week we picked three sites to show off. We hope you find some inspiration for your own parish’s website in the following designs.

Website 1 —
St. Clare of Assisi

What we love about it:

We love the vibrant color pops throughout. The pairing of green, pale blue, and brown isn't a color combination that we normally see, and it works beautifully here.
There is lovely photography throughout the site giving it a more professional and polished look while still being completely personal to the church and inviting to visitors.
The use of a serif (more decorative) font paired with a sans serif font , ties the new logo and branding seamlessly into the site while making everything super legible and elegant at the same time.
The subtle but extremely effective usage of animations while scrolling.
We love how everything about this site is super bold and clean. The use of large bold typography adds to the design, specifically utilizing black type to ensure the legibility of the homepage.

Website 2 —
St. Martin de Porres

What we love about it:

This is a nice example of how clean sidebar navigation can be useful for a church website, especially since it never disappears when scrolling. This means it’s always accessible to those visiting the website.
This design is a great example of how sometimes "less is more." There isn't a ton of content crowding the homepage which is part of the reason it is a very successful design.
The space in this site is filled without feeling overwhelming. There is no excess or unnecessary space.
This site’s navigation is organized well. For example, it’s easy to access the Mass times, the digitized weekly bulletin , the parish’s livestreaming links, and information on how to become a member.

The site does a good job of mixing two different typefaces. These are used in consistent sections to maintain readability across whole site.

Website 3 —
St. Olaf

What we love about it:

We love the contrasting and consistent color palette for emphasizing important information and links.

There is no unnecessary filler space or information. Everything on the subpages is concise and relevant to the page topic.

The pages are balanced with positive and negative space. There is enough breathing room so that information doesn't get jumbled and smashed together but there’s also not too much spacing — something that can cause the information to feel minimal or disconnected. The balance is on point.

There is the perfect amount photography used throughout the site to break up text information with inviting images of the community.
This site incorporates smart choices when it comes to the color combinations — especially introducing tints of the main colors in the palette really gives the site the proper hierarchy it needs to guide the audience through each of the pages.
This site is a great example of utilizing a clean typography pairing when the church doesn’t have a specific logo yet.
A simple and organized footer gives the homepage a clear end.

Like what you see? Feel inspired? If your parish needs help dialing in your web presence or simply wants a brand-new look , our web design team is the best of the best! Or simply start small with a new or refreshed parish logo to give your community the identity it deserves!

The Necklace

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 14:00:00 GMT

I have a necklace that originally belonged to my great-grandmother. I don’t really know much about the man who gave it to her, most of those details have been lost to time. But I know that he wanted to marry her, and that she refused, and it had something to do with religion — ultimately, he did not share her faith. And while I’ve certainly seen many interfaith couples have loving and successful marriages, in this particular case, my great-grandmother discerned that this would not be one of those marriages.

Like I said, I don’t have many details about this man, but I know that she felt she couldn’t marry him because it might jeopardize the souls of her children, and therefore the souls of their children, and their children after them — me. She turned him down because of me.

My great-grandmother never sold that necklace, not even when the Great Depression further reduced her financial circumstances. She kept it, and she gave it to her daughter, who gave it to her daughter, who gave it to me. The necklace is always given with a warning: there is something worse than being poor, worse than being scared, worse even than being desperate. Worse than all of these things is separation from God.

When I wear this necklace, I think about my grandmother and this man she possibly loved a hundred years ago. I think of the many decisions we make every day — large and small, good and bad — that reverberate down through the generations in ways we cannot, at the time, imagine. I think of the God who knows every hair on my head.

“And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” — Matthew 10:28

©LPi

This, Not That — Simple Swaps for Better Bulletins

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 14:00:01 GMT

Your parish bulletin is important! As one of your church’s main sources of communication with your members, you want it looking top-notch — easy to navigate, approachable for newcomers, packed with evangelizing content, and intentionally designed to be as vibrant and beautiful as your community.

Chances are good that your bulletin editor spends a lot of time carefully creating each weekly publication. With this in mind, we collected some tips from our LPi professional designers that can help you easily give your bulletin a fresh new look. After all, we are as invested as you are in the success of your parish communications!

Design

Swap Out — Large columns of text that run across the whole page.

Instead — Utilize a two or three-column format for your bulletin and stick to that throughout. It makes the publication easier to read, especially if it is a text heavy bulletin! You can check out some great examples on our bulletin before and after page.

Swap out — Text box frames, colored lines, and strokes around text.

Instead — Use a light, color-neutral background behind one or two text boxes on the page to separate sections. Highlight a few items by using a vibrant color box if you want something to pop! This creates a sense of order, tailored approach, and a more unified message in your bulletin layout.

Swap out — Using too many fonts and colors.

Instead — Stay consistent with your brand colors, not only with the bulletin, but everything you publish or create as a parish. This makes anything you do instantly recognizable to your community and more appealing to newcomers. Want to try something new? Consider occasionally stepping away from liturgical calendar colors. More often than not, your parish staff will know the liturgical color of the season but if you ask a parishioner, they might not even know that you use it in the bulletin. These colors can work well with special holiday cover designs but, leave the rest of the liturgical colors to those in charge of decorating the parish sanctuary.

As for fonts, find an easy-to-read font and utilize it with regular weight, bold, and italic. It’s fine if you want to use another font family for your headers but stick to that. Don't go inviting more font styles to the party as it can become busy and confusing for your readers. If you are using more than four different fonts, chances are you have some decisions to make about narrowing down your guest list of fonts.

In fact, if your parish doesn’t already have a brand book with pre-chosen fonts, colors, and a logo, we specialize in helping churches create a beautiful brand that can be used across all communications!

Swap out — Your old masthead.
Instead — Update your information and design! We see so many parishes using mastheads on the cover of their bulletin with designs that look like they’re from the 80’s. Utilize your parish fonts and colors and make sure to include any updated pertinent information. Don’t forget to include information about your parish’s social media profiles, website, and Mass times!

Swap out — Outdated logos.

Instead — If your logo is as old as your parish and looks outdated, it might be time for a logo refresh or even a brand-new design! We have created logos for countless parishes that often include elements of the parish’s architecture, a patron saint, a special style of cross, or elements of the parish’s geographic location or name in the design. We have lots of experience and are excited to help get you started if the need arises!

Content

Swap out — Over-packed pages.

Instead — Look to add white space and larger borders between your bulletin’s columns of text and content. Adding more white space helps your reader’s eyes rest and makes the experience of reading your bulletin easier and more enjoyable. Consider what you can remove for a stream-lined reading experience.

Swap out — Stretched images and clipart.
Instead — Choose images that fit the space you want to fill already. Stretching an image to fit a space can cause the image to distort and immediately makes your bulletin design look careless. If you aren’t sure about your graphic design skills, we have thousands of professionally designed images specifically made with church bulletins in mind and ready for you to use in WeCreate — our library of Catholic content. It’s also important to use photography taken of your church and community. Have you seen the Layperson’s Guide to Smartphone Church Photography yet?

Swap out — Adding your whole calendar of events to the bulletin.

Instead — Don’t overload your bulletin with too much content. Choose to highlight specific events and then point to your parish website’s event page for more. If you need help with your website, our web design tool, WeConnect , makes it incredibly easy to share your calendar online. We can even help you get started with the design work if you need.

Don’t get too specific about the events in your bulletin, simply shout the event out with a sentence or two and a great image. Don’t take up space with all of the little details. Instead, use an event landing page on your website for that or add an event flyer as an insert to the bulletin with all of the pertinent information there.

A few extras —

Did you know that LPi provides all sorts of options for bulletin content every week inside of WeCreate and that, if your parish is already one of our partners in mission, your staff already has access to our entire library of Catholic content for free?

Consider dropping some of the following LPi content into your weekly bulletin:

Weekly Gospel Illustrations
Catholic comics like Father Flood
Saint of the Week biographies and illustrations
Children’s puzzles and pages
Beautifully and professionally designed bulletin covers

If you are already a bulletin customer but need help accessing your WeCreate account to make use of the incredible graphics and bulletin content available to you , get into touch with our customer service so that we can get you squared away!

Introducing Fr. John Muir

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 14:00:01 GMT

LPi is pleased to announce that we've been working with a new writer for our weekly Gospel Meditations available in WeCreate — Fr. John Muir, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale, Arizona. Fr. Muir is a published author and speaker in the Catholic community. To introduce him to you, we interviewed him about his life and his parish family. Here’s what he had to say!

Q. Describe your parish demographic in 280 characters or less.

A. St. Thomas Aquinas parish has over 5500 registered families, made up of a variety of ages, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and economic status. Filipinos, Hispanics, Polish, Nigerians, Ugandans, Tanzanians, Italians, Irish, and many more. It’s a joyful, faith-filled place.

Q. Why do most people visit your city?

A. Near us, the Phoenix International Raceway has two big races each year. The Wigwam Resort attracts many people to our area, as do several golf courses. The White Tank mountains are popular for hiking.

Q. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?

A. “Wow, it’s so big! It’s so beautiful! It’s so colorful.”

Q. What is a fun fact about you?

Although I live in Phoenix, deep down, I’m a Vermonter. This means I love maple syrup, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and believe in lake monsters.

Q. Which communication platforms do you use to spread the message of Jesus to the world?

I have a side project called Catholic Breakfast, which is a website as well as a social media space. It’s my attempt to engage, encourage, and equip people who are “Catholic curious” or just getting started in the faith. It’s available at www.CatholicBreakfast.com .

Q. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?

A. The friendships and relationships that form when I am living my life on mission. I’m amazed at how deep and meaningful friendships are with so many priests and lay people. That’s a huge joy.

Q. You’re writing our new Gospel Meditations, what end-goal encouraged you to agree to this project?

A. I want Catholics to know and love the Bible! The Bible is breathtaking in its power to illuminate and change us for the better. The more I can facilitate this for others, the better. Writing the Gospel Meditations is a blessing for me too because it helps me be more attentive to the Scriptures, which never disappoint.

Q. Do you have a favorite Gospel-writer?

A. I have a special affection for Saint Luke because he clearly learned a great deal about the Lord Jesus from the lips of Mary, herself. Also, I love the way he records three persons breaking into song near the time of Jesus’ birth — Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon. He appreciates the connection between Christ and art from the very beginning. He understands that the love of Christ makes us sing.

Q. What is one of the scariest invitations God has extended to you and how did you respond?

A. Last year I was invited to give the opening invocation for a NASCAR race. It was broadcast on live television. I was pretty nervous because I wasn’t sure how the largely Protestant crowd would respond to a Catholic priest. Also, it was on live TV. No second chances. But, as I waited to start, I realized that God had sent me there and the Sacrament of Holy Orders would give me whatever I needed. When the cameras came on and it was my turn to speak, I spoke confidently and calmly. It went so well. As I left the race that night, many folks said to me with their southern drawl, “Nice work up there, Father!”

Q. What advice for the spiritual life have you received that has made a difference in your life?

A. Just try to please Jesus. Do everything for him, and don’t worry what anyone else thinks. Everything else will take care of itself.

The Toy

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 15:14:29 GMT

What does it mean to be God’s “special possession”? Our world is dominated by things , objects, possessions. To say we are a materialistic culture is an understatement. In that context, it can be really hard to fully appreciate the meaning of being “possessed” by God. I have so many possessions, after all. I acquire and discard them without thought. I am even overwhelmed by them. Sometimes, it feels like they possess me .

But then I think of the week after Christmas in a house with small children. In that week, there is always The Toy. The Toy that won the heart of your child under the tree, The Toy to which they emotionally attached themselves in a whirlwind of twinkle lights and sugar cookies. For that one week, The Toy is all there is. There were many gifts, but The Toy is special, and there can only be one.

So, what does it mean to be “possessed” by God? What does it mean to be of his people? It means you will be cherished and protected in ways you do not deserve and cannot understand. It means you are distinguished not by your own merit, but by the love with which you are beheld.

It means that you are always The Toy, and every day is Christmas.

“Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine.” — Exodus 19:5

©LPi

Church Communications Expert Spills All

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:50:50 GMT

We are so honored to partner with vibrant parishes across the United States, each one working to bring the kingdom of God to their communities in unique ways. At St. Margaret of York in Loveland, Ohio, Michelle Manczyk serves as the parish communications coordinator. One of her many responsibilities is to design their parish bulletin. We sat down with her this week to learn more about her experience working with church bulletin design, gather some tips and tricks, and hear about the resources she uses to create such a beautiful weekly bulletin.

Q. Hi Michelle, your parish’s bulletin is awesome! How long have you been designing it?
A. Thanks! I’ve been working for St. Margaret as communications coordinator for over 6 years now! When I first started this job, the bulletin design was a little rough, so I’ve been slowly updating and developing it over time. The current iteration launched in 2021 although I’m always working to improve it. I had a unique opportunity when I started this position at St. Margaret because we were switching from our old bulletin company to using LPi for our bulletins, so I took advantage of that transfer to build something new.

Q. What are your goals for the bulletin?

A. My vision is that our bulletin should be a vehicle for catechesis and faith formation instead of a glorified repeat of the parish calendar. Now, the calendar is important so we do include the larger calendar items, but the rest can be found on our website. This makes a lot of room in the bulletin for other content.

Q. Speaking of content, where do you find inspiration?

A. I definitely use content from WeCreate a lot. It saves me time because, with WeCreate, I don’t have to come up with a cover design by myself every week and I like to use a lot of the square graphics available. I find that even the social media graphics in WeCreate can be perfect options to fill blank space in the bulletin. My parish and I also really love the Father Flood comics in WeCreate. They’re so much fun! We put a Father Flood comic into every bulletin and my husband always flips right to the comic to start with before he reads the rest of it. Those little clips are a fantastic way to get people excited about the publication.

Q. What kind of feedback have you heard?

A. The majority of the feedback for the new direction for the bulletin has been overwhelmingly positive. Our parish is in a suburb of Cincinnati, so we have a lot of parishioners who work for big companies downtown. At these companies, employees are exposed to a polished, professional look for print publications, so it’s important to us that they can tell we’ve taken extra care to make sure the church bulletin design looks great.

Q. What is your favorite aspect of creating the bulletin every week?
A. The design layout and typography part of it are my favorite things to work on. When I first started working at St. Margaret, all we had when it came to church branding was a logo and nothing else. Over time I’ve enhanced the brand for our parish with design elements unique to us. I’ve gathered lots of inspiration from the church architecture. For example, there’s a design carved into the altar that I used to inspire a ribbon that can be found in the bulletin design. Another example of this is down by the numbers on each page of the bulletin there is a red box with a little circle. These corollate with a design element found on the outside of our parish buildings. Using the church architecture as inspiration has enriched our visual identity.

Q. What tools help you get the job done?

A. I use WeCreate a lot and I also use Adobe Creative Suite programs. We also make use of the Parishes Online bulletin website widget to keep the bulletin automatically updated on our parish website every week. We include links to the digital bulletin in many of our emails and parish communications directing people to view that week’s bulletin online in case they missed picking one up at church.

Q. Lastly, what tips do you have for other editors?
A. Don’t forget to give yourself time to look at your bulletin with fresh eyes. It’s good to build it one day, sleep on it, then come back to it the next day or even a couple days later to make sure there aren’t any mistakes you’ve missed. Also, don’t forget to have a proofreader!

Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your parish and expertise with us!

If you have a vibrant parish and would like to be featured in an upcoming Parish Dispatch or know where we can find a great church bulletin in your city, let us know!

Using Traditional Art in a Modern World - Saint Covers

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 14:00:41 GMT

In December 2022, we launched a new bulletin cover series featuring images of Catholic saints paired with a quote from the saint.

Feedback from some of the many churches we serve helps give us a perspective on what churches want to see in the art we offer. Often although a church may love Catholic traditional forms of faith expression, the parish also cares about appealing to families and young people in their neighborhoods. We wanted to strike a balance between those two desires — to honor and uphold familiar images while also thinking outside of the box with a design that can capture the attention of both the churched and non-churched alike. A steep challenge, but our designers were up for it! The results have been stunning, so we took the time to sit down with the project’s main designer, Gaby, to learn more.

Q. Hi Gaby, thank you so much for talking with us today! First-off, what is your official position at LPi and what does it entail?
A. Hi! I’ve been with LPi for almost three years now. I started as a graphic design intern and now I’m a full-time graphic designer working with publications, brandings, web design, and art and content, including this saint cover series.

Q. Why did LPi decide to make this cover series?
A. The whole idea behind the saint bulletin cover series was to create a cover design for churches that has a much more modern-looking approach. For this series, that means that the image, text, and other elements all interact with each other in the design and are accompanied by a vibrant color pallet. The series features saints, sometimes based on their feast day, but they could also be featured because the quote being used connects in some way to that week’s Scripture.

Q. What have you enjoyed about being the designer of this series?
A. As a designer, I personally gravitate toward the feel of more modern designs, so this series is right up my ally. I’ve enjoyed the fact that I get to play more with color and collage. Discovering new color combinations to use in each cover has been fun and I’ve enjoyed the challenge of creating really vibrant designs for our church communities.

Q. What cover has been your favorite so far and why?
A. This month, my favorite has been the St. Alphonsus Liguori cover because I love the quote that we included from him. I’m a Christian so sometimes these quotes are fun for me to design around. This one reminded me that living my faith doesn’t have to be super difficult or over-complicated. In seasons where we may not feel like we are hearing God or feeling God’s presence, this quote is a wonderful reminder that there is nothing easier than just talking to Him.

Q. Is there anything that you would like our customers to know about this series? What do you hope churches will get out of these covers?

A. I hope that the churches who use these bulletin covers start to feel that they can experiment with more modern graphic design while also featuring a historic Church figure like a saint. Modern art and design within the Church can cater to a diverse population of age groups and cultures, inspire conversation, and still get the point across of how important these saints are to our faith. In general, with this cover series we integrate modern and up-to-date designs that still honor the beloved traditional culture of the Catholic Church. Another point to note is that we didn’t include dates on the covers so a church can use one of the these covers for any week of the year.

Thanks, Gaby for the inside look at this special cover series! You can see all this year’s previous saint covers available for use in our WeCreate library here .

If your parish doesn’t currently have access to WeCreate, check out this short demo to see if this incredible resource is right for you!

The Priesthood and the Eucharist

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 14:00:41 GMT

“These two Sacraments were born together,” wrote St. John Paul II of the priesthood and the Eucharist, “and their destiny is indissolubly linked until the end of the world.”

The Eucharist is such a beautiful example of how God, conscious of our limitations, bends to meet us. He once came to us cloaked in the flesh, that we might recognize Him. Now He comes as the very means by which we nourish ourselves: food and drink, the most familiar and comforting thing in the world to us. How easy He makes it to fulfill his command that we become one with Him. How generous He is to make such a sacred thing also accessible.

We can say the same of the priesthood, and of the men He calls to its number. How generous of Him to make such an accessible thing — our sons, our brothers, our uncles, our cousins — sacred. How generous of Him to allow these human creations — who share in our own faults — to be the means through which He comes to us in the Eucharist.

Without the Eucharist, we would have no eternal life. Without priests, we would have no Eucharist. On this, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, let’s give thanks for our priests, and redouble our prayers that God will send us good and holy ones — manna from Heaven in our wandering exile.

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” — John 6:54

©LPi

From Blank Canvas to Vibrant Inspiration: LPi Reveals Stunning New Office Mural

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 15:14:48 GMT

We are proud to announce that our main offices in New Berlin are looking a little different these days! Why? We’ve installed a mural in one of the most trafficked areas of the building — right outside the bathrooms and next to the kitchen/break room.

The idea to install a big mural was spearheaded by the HR and Marketing departments. Candy Underwood, Vice President of Human Resources, tells the story.

“Our marketing team is THE BOMB! They created a bunch of potential designs. Every single design was beautiful yet distinctive from the others. Our HR team of six was given the heavy burden of deciding which one to pick. We met as a team, reviewed each design carefully, and then used a highly-validated, scientific approach to make our decision — On the count of three, we showed our hands with our fingers indicating which number design was our favorite. All six of us chose this design! Literally, a “hands-down” winner. The Marketing team took it from there — refining the design, finding a vendor, and managing the installation. A big thank you to our graphic design manager, Evan Vogel, and his team!”

The final design chosen was originally created by LPi graphic designer Gaby Lazcano. Jake Adams, of the marketing design team, collaborated with Gaby to ensure that this piece was the best it could be. The image is centered around sharing the LPi core values in a fun and engaging way. It incorporates our brand colors, logo, and a U.S. map with the locations of all our offices marked.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who played a part in helping this beautiful mural come to life!

We Bear the Name of the Lord

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 14:00:00 GMT

The name of the Lord is a curiously powerful thing. Say it deliberately, even in a group of people who are not particularly religious, and you’ll know what I mean. There is a shift in the mood, a change in the atmosphere. When we utter the name of the Lord, He turns His head.

Once, in confession, I admitted to the sin of using the Lord’s name in vain. “When you do that, tell God that you love him,” advised the priest, who was wise enough to know that I would repeat this sin at some point. “You’ve said His name, after all. You have His attention.”

We hear the name of the Lord, and we think of what it represents — John 3:16, salvation history summed up in a neat little sentence, the why and the how and the who of it all laid out before us. The Lord, so slow to anger that He offers us a million chances. The Lord, so rich in kindness and fidelity that He literally gave Himself to us that we might be saved.

But the name of the Lord is more than that. It is not just a symbol, it is an invitation. I think of Moses clutching the commandments, beseeching the Lord: “Come with us. Forgive us. Receive us as your own.” The Lord accompanies us down the mountain. We bear the name of the Lord into the world with us wherever we go.

I have to ask myself: do I do that name justice?

“Blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.” — Daniel 3:52

©LPi

31 Creative Church T-Shirt Ideas

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:00:01 GMT

Does your church sell or provide t-shirts or other swag for your parishioners? Make it your goal this season to offer some fun t-shirt designs to your members. There’s nothing like seeing another parishioner wearing your church’s shirt when you are out and about at the farmer’s market or gym! Custom church t-shirts are a creative way to connect parishioners to each other outside of your sanctuary walls as well as to spread the word about your parish to the greater community.

A note on printing — before you order t-shirts online from a big national or global company, check with your bulletin editor to see if there is a printing company already partnering with your parish. You may have a local printing business that is already running an ad in the parish bulletin or who your church has used to print ministry t-shirts in the past. Consider getting a quote for your project from them first. You can find out what companies support your parish and other local parishes with our free Parishes Online supporters directory .

T-Shirt Ideas that Include Your Church in the Text
These are ideas that incorporate your church’s name into the text on the t-shirt. You can print the text on the front or the back and add any images you like to enhance the design.

1. Ask me about youth ministry (or whatever ministry you are involved in) at St. John!

2. I <3 St. John Parish

3. I’m a proud volunteer at St. John’s

4. St. John’s lifer!

5. Proudly part of the community of St. John Parish

6. Have you been to St. John’s?

7. Prayer warrior at St. John’s

8. Now you know someone at St. John!

9. I’m GRATEFUL for St. John parish!

Just Add Your Church Logo
You can put your parish’s logo on the front of the shirt and then put the sayings below on the back — or vice versa! Don’t have an awesome looking church logo design? We can help you design one or simply refresh the logo you already have to make it look more modern and professional. Having a great looking logo will increase the number of parishioners who want to wear your church t-shirts!

10. Need prayer? Just ask!

11. Everyone is welcome here.

12. Serving Covington (your community’s name) since 1952(founding date)

13. Rated best parish picnic in town since 1952 (founding date)

14. Join the fun!

15. A place for everyone.

16. Skip rope, not church.

17. He is risen!

18. This is my church t-shirt.

19. I’m just out here trusting God.

20. Faith Hope & Love

21. Peace be with you.

22. Jesus loves you!

23. You are enough.

24. Straight Outta’ Church!

25. Can I get an AMEN?

26. You know, I’m all about that GRACE.

27. Forgiven

28. Saved by Grace

29. With God all things are possible.

30. Make an impact!

31. Stronger together

If you end up using one of these ideas, we’d love to see how the shirt turned out! Tag us in a photo of your community members, staff, or pastor sporting your new parish t-shirt so we can celebrate the great work you are doing along with you.

Join in the Dance

Fri, 26 May 2023 10:00:01 GMT

Soren Kierkegaard reminds us that life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced. The same can be said about God. God, who is the Mystery of mysteries, may be beyond our intellectual comprehension but not beyond our experience. Were our human minds really capable of knowing the true essence and depth of God, we would then be “equal” to God and as superior as He is. Just because we cannot fully comprehend or master and control God, it does not mean that His presence is diminished or that he is completely out of our grasp. What it does require is a change of focus. Experiencing the incomprehensible mystery of God requires more “soul work” and less “brain work.” It is only in our souls and not in our brains that a Divine encounter can occur.

One of the best tools we can use to open our souls to an experience of God is metaphor. Imaging that God is “like” something else provides an avenue for encounter and deeper understanding of Mystery. It gives us a focus. One such image or metaphor we can use is that of a well-choreographed dance. It can be truly inspirational. Each movement and step are interconnected with each contributing a piece to the unfolding artistic story. The beholder is caught up in the rhythms, music, and gestures realizing that none of the pieces are dispensable and all are necessary. Through encounter and imagination we can become one with the dance.

The same is true of the Holy Trinity. It, too, is a well-choreographed Divine Dance. Each Person of the Trinity plays a part using unique gestures and movements with each connected to the other Divine Partners. They tell a story of love and devotion. Every movement and step are born of Love, which flows on into eternity and exudes joy! The Divine Dance never ends. God the Father/Mother Creator leads powerfully, yet with gentle love. Creating and recreating, birthing and sustaining, God dances with the compassionate incarnate Son guided by the light and breath of the Holy Spirit. Moving as one They still remain three. They share one heart, one goal, one essence and one purpose — inviting all of creation to join in Their dance and experience Their joy! This joyful Trinity of Persons beckons us to join in Their artistic rendering of Love.

The energy and life of the Trinity flows through all created things. It is a dance of the heart and soul, not of the mind. It has to be experienced and cannot be dissected. It has to be contemplated, not understood. As we stand before the Divine Dance we do so in awe. We are amazed at all that God creates and sustains. The dance moves in the cry of a newborn infant and in the soul of one who has been forgiven. It flows in the cry for justice and in the wounds of the oppressed. The Dance heals and unifies and even transforms common bread and wine into Divinity itself. It circles through the changing of seasons, the cycles of birth and death, and is found in the wisdom one acquires when they find Truth. The Divine Dance continues in the majesty of a mountain, the power and wonder of an ocean, and the vastness of the universe. All different parts with diverse faces but completely one. The Dance never ends.

Spiritual Master and mystic Meister Eckhart reminds us that all God wants is for us to allow God (the Trinity of Persons) to be in us. When God’s Word takes flesh in our souls it gets passed through our desires, intentions, virtue, charity, gratitude, joy and the like. God desires to be born in us so that our lives can be choreographed in tune with the Divine Dance itself! Taking a leap of faith, let God be God in us. Meister Eckhart asks us, “what harm can it do you to do God the favor of letting Him be God in you?” We are so accustomed to living out of our minds. It takes great practice and intent to learn to live out of our souls. We must desire God’s joyful rendering of Love to be ours.

When we dance with the Trinity, our lives become intently orchestrated and less fragmented. Our minds and emotions can be overly burdened by the temporal worries and concerns of our lives. Our souls, however, can see the bigger picture of the whole of reality and touch eternity itself. Our souls can gain wisdom but they never age. A person can be 110 and still carry the youthful, playful spirit of a 5-year-old within. There is no time in our souls. Often being very fragmented and disjointed, we can easily lose our focus and center. We jump from one distraction or preoccupation to another with nothing connecting the various pieces of our lives. Rather than move with intent, unity, and purpose, we move with random movement, often struggling for what the next step should be. It is no wonder we are often anxious and discontent.

The Divine Dance always leads us to contemplative prayer. It is only there that we can leave ourselves for a bit and open ourselves to God. Living with greater direction and purpose and less fragmentation, we find ourselves much more in tune with the power of faith, hope, and love and more detached from things that can concern and distract us, especially our feelings and needs. The Divine Dance allows us to celebrate the “Now” moments of life when God is trying to keep our attention in sometimes subtle ways. We must leave the past and worry less about the future in order to appreciate the Divine Symphony playing in our souls.

Put on the eyes of faith. Stand in awe of the perfectly choreographed Divine Dance playing around you and experience its beauty and majesty. Become what you see.

—Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Trinity of Persons and Loving God,

may the rendering and dance of your love live in my soul.

May I have the courage to step aside

and allow you to be who you are,

giving birth to yourself within me.

Help me to leave the past behind

and worry less about what tomorrow may bring

so that I can see your presence

as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

dancing in, through, and around me.

Help me see this and be this here and now,

in this very moment.

May I pursue less of my own needs and desires

and set aside distraction so that I can

follow your lead to justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude.

May my eyes and soul be open enough to see

your Divine Trinitarian presence resonating and playing

in all of creation and in my brothers and sisters.

Amen.

The Fame Communicated

Thu, 25 May 2023 20:10:44 GMT

“Fire! Fire! They’re all gonna die! They’re all gonna burn up!”

I had absolutely no hope of restoring order as I read the story of Pentecost with my young children last year. As soon as they glimpsed the tongues of fire hovering over the foreheads of the apostles, they were lost to giggles and shrieks. I sighed, sipped my coffee, and wondered resentfully why the Holy Spirit couldn’t have chosen to be a dove on that particular day. Just a nice, peaceful dove.

I’ll say this, though: the fire left an impression. It usually does, doesn’t it? Fire consumes. It renews. It illuminates. It leaves you breathless with fear and awe. The memory and scent and impact of a flame lingers long after it is extinguished.

When I am trying to explain theology to my kids, I have an awful habit of overcomplicating things. I’d had a whole speech prepared for them about what the Holy Spirit is, but it went out the window as soon as they saw the flames. And you know what? It’s probably for the best. They wouldn’t have remembered that speech. The flames, though? The flames they remembered. The flame communicated.

As a result of Pentecost, the apostles suddenly had the ability to give the truth to foreigners. Aliens. People who were heretofore beyond their reach, isolated by language. The flame communicated.

God’s sense of timing is impeccable, and His delivery is carefully crafted. And on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did not descend as a dove or pour forth as water.

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit burned.

“Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” — Psalm 104

©LPi

How To Reach Every Household In Your Neighborhood!

Thu, 25 May 2023 14:00:01 GMT

Whether you call it a postcard campaign, direct mail, neighborhood mailers, or something else, church staff members around the country find value in strategically sending snail-mail to their surrounding neighborhood communities. We put together a quick guide to help you make the best use of this fantastic outreach tool.

What Services to Use
We suggest going with the trusty ol’ Postal Service. Their direct mail service, Every Door Direct Mail, has an online tool that is economical and uncomplicated. You simply search your parish’s address in their route search tool and select the area you’d like to target. Once selected, the tool automatically gives you the number of houses in a given mail route and the approximate cost so you know how many postcards to print and how much the campaign will cost you. You can choose which day to drop the mailers off at your local post office and there are options to pay via credit card on your computer right away or in-person when you drop off your mail! Now that you know how to distribute to your neighborhood, let’s talk about design.

Design Your Mailer
Before you design and print your mailers, make sure you are following the USPS’s Every Door Direct Mail Quick Reference Guide for mailing requirements. This guide will help you understand the different sizing and labeling requirements.

Not great at graphic design, or don’t have the time to spend creating the imagery needed to make your mailer stand out? Our l ibrary of professionally designed Catholic content, WeCreate , is the perfect solution. Just search a keyword for the type of imagery that you want to include in your design, find one or two designs that you like, download them, and drop them into your design for a fresh, professional look! WeCreate even has a growing number of pre-designed postcard/mailer templates for parish special occasions under our Templates-Flyers section .

You can use the WeCreate images that you download with any design program out there! Drop them into Canva, Photoshop, Publisher, or any printer’s online design tool!

What about printing?
There are three ways that we’d suggest printing your mailers:

Search for local printers who might already be supporting your parish, or one nearby, by using the Parishes Online tool ! This online directory shows you the businesses that purchase adds in church bulletins so you can choose to support a company that is already supporting you! You can choose, on the top right side of the website, to search for Parishes or Supporters.

When searching via the parishes page , simply click the parish name and then, on the right-hand side next to their profile page, you will see a list of the companies who have purchased ads to support that parish. Is there a printer in the list?

When searching via the supporters page , choose the Printing/Copy/Advertising/Marketing choice from the drop-down Supporter Category menu, type in your zip code, and search! If there is a printing company who supports any of the Catholic parishes in your area, their company information will pop up!
If there isn’t a printer already supporting your parish, you can search for other local printers on the USPS printer directory website . Under the Find a Printer headline, use the search bar to type in your zip code. This will show you results of any local printers in the area who can print your direct mail for you. If you use a local printer, you might also ask them to consider taking out an ad in the bulletin so that they are searchable via Parishes Online for other church staff members in the area who might be looking for a local printer.
Use an online printer. The USPS offers suggestions of online printing experts that specialize in direct mailers here . You can also order online via your local Staples, Office Max, or Costco.

Content Ideas:

Need some help brainstorming what topics or events your parish should be advertising with neighborhood mailers? Here are a few outreach ideas:

Is your parish having an event that non-Catholics would feel comfortable attending like a picnic, rummage sale, health fair, or food festival?
Are there summer youth programs like VBS, camps, or service opportunities happening that local parents might want to enroll their children in?
What ministries do you have that might directly impact your neighbors? Does your parish have a food pantry, a grief group, parenting classes, AA, or offer special prayer services for people? Advertise the ministries that could directly benefit your neighbors with an invitation to participate.
Invite neighbors to send in prayer requests. Add a QR code to the mailer that guides them to a landing page on your website where they can submit a prayer request. Don’t forget to follow up with them!
Share special Mass times. Is your parish celebrating an anniversary or milestone? Are you having a special holiday Mass for Easter or Christmas? Invite your neighbors!

Announce major staffing changes. If you are welcoming a new pastor, send out invites to the welcome-picnic or celebration you are hosting to introduce them to the community.

However you decide to design, print, and send your mailers, we hope they serve as a considerable tool to build community and share the love of Christ!

“May every church and Christian community be a

place of mercy amid so much indifference.”
-Pope Francis

LPi to Host Church Websites for the Entire Diocese of Tulsa, OK

Wed, 24 May 2023 22:08:45 GMT

LPi’s WeConnect website builder has been helping make incredible and easy to maintain websites for churches across the United States. Recently, Bishop David A. Konderla of the Diocese of Tulsa, OK took notice of one of the fresh designs created for a church in his diocese, St. Anne of Broken Arrow, O klahoma , and was inspired. He decided to make it his diocese’s goal to work with LPi to create a professional looking website for every single parish in the diocese!

Conversations with LPi started in early autumn of 2022 with a demo of WeConnect which led to the question of how a partnership of this scale would work. Pivotal to this partnership flourishing was Adam Minihan, director of communications for the Diocese of Tulsa, who jumped at the opportunity to think outside of the box and worked closely with LPi to develop this project.

After almost a year of planning, LPi is proud to announce a plan to host a website for every single church that needs one in the Diocese of Tulsa! Jason Perez, the LPi Communications Consultant for all things WeConnect, had this to say about the project, “LPi was open to the idea of listening to the needs of the diocese and pricing accordingly. The concept was: Let’s figure out what their needs are and then let’s build the plan together.”

So, what’s the deal? LPi is providing hosting and support for an entire year to any parishes which need a website in the diocese. After that year of tech support and hosting, parishes can decide to continue to subscribe or not.

“They wanted to sign with us because of our longevity,” commented Jason, “They figured that since LPi has served the church for 50+ years, it is likely that LPi will continue that service for another 50 years and that longevity will benefit the diocese of Tulsa.”

Bishop Konderla and Mr. Minihan expressed their hopes that this partnership will create the opportunity to provide every small mission church in the diocese of Tulsa with a website and modern online presence. There are already eight churches excited to be onboarded and he expects many more to join the process.

Interested in a website for your parish or diocese? Jason hosts free WeConnect demos so you can learn more: https://www.4lpi.com/demos .

The Holy Spirit’s Fire Transforms Us Forever

Fri, 19 May 2023 10:00:00 GMT

Once the Holy Spirit transforms us, we are free to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection of Jesus.

One of the most powerful symbols used to describe the Holy Spirit is fire. It is the reason why we wear red on Pentecost. By depicting the Holy Spirit as fire, the Scriptures teach us about the effects that he has on the lives of believers. Like fire, the Holy Spirit transforms us, purifies us, and sets us aflame with love of God.

The Holy Spirit transforms us . Fire changes whatever it touches. Once something is burned, it cannot return to what it was. Just so, once we are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit through baptism and confirmation, we are forever changed. We cannot undo baptism or confirmation. No matter how hard we may try to reject that gift of faith and grace, it is forever with us. Just as we write our names on the cover of a book we love, just so each of us has been marked by God as his special possession. So, we can go before God with confidence knowing that He will hear us. And if we find in our hearts something that must change, all we need to do is ask the Holy Spirit and there is no doubt we will be forever transformed by his fire.

The Holy Spirit purifies us. Just as we boil water to kill the bacteria in it, so the Holy Spirit's presence in our souls burns away all that is not of God. The fire of God's Spirit melts our sinful self away by giving us a love for God which makes anything that offends Him loathsome to us. This image of purifying fire also reminds us that our transformation involves some pain. We resist change and cling to our sinful habits. But as we surrender to the Holy Spirit's purifying power, we discover the peace, joy, and love that emerge once our sin is burned away.

Finally, the Holy Spirit sets us aflame with love for God . When we have an intense love for someone, we sometimes say we are "on fire" for that person. Or if we want something badly enough, we will say we have a "burning desire" for it. Just so, the Holy Spirit gives us a love of God that is intense and all consuming. It is the love which empowered Jesus to hand his life over for our salvation. It is the love that compelled the apostles to witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is the love which today inspires people to leave their comfortable lives to serve the needy. If we are feeling dead inside, we need to give our hearts over to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit. We will find that our hearts are so engulfed with God and His love that there will not be enough hours in the day to proclaim His wonders and sing His praises.

God's saving work is not finished with the cross and resurrection. Rather He invites us to enter into the mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection by making our lives an offering to Him. He desires that each of us also share in the joy of bringing His saving word to others. The gift of the Holy Spirit which has forever marked us as God's sons and daughters empowers us to do just that. He is continually at work within us to transform us, purify us and set us on fire with love. It is ours for the asking. But watch out — there is no telling what wonders the Lord will work in our lives.

—Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit of God,

You are the love of the Father poured into our hearts

Touch us with your fire

So that we can be made new.

Purify us of all that is not holy,

And set us on fire with love

So that our whole world can be set ablaze

With love for You and love for one another.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Questions Web Designers Ask Parish Staff Before Creating a Church Website

Thu, 18 May 2023 14:00:00 GMT

Our in-house web designers at LPi have worked with parishes all over the country to get their websites looking beautiful and user-friendly. We understand that parish staff are often not equipped to design and manage their church’s website, but many are required to anyway. This can be frustrating for those involved, understandably so. To solve this problem, we’ve developed our web design tool, WeConnect , to make the process much easier and user friendly for any church staff member! We pride ourselves in making church web design and maintenance uncomplicated and approachable for everyone.

To kick off a new church website project, our designers meet with parish staff members to discuss their desires and goals for their website. This discussion is guided by some pre-determined questions that we’ve found to be super helpful to the initial process.

This week, we interviewed Kristen, one of our multimedia designers, about the LPi website redesign process and what questions church communities should be reflecting on to fully prepare for their first meeting with our design team. After the interview we also share a list of those initial questions so that you can start considering your answers in preparation for your parish’s new website sooner than later.

Q. Hi Kristen, Thanks for taking the time to explain a little more about this process! First off, why do we have churches consider some starter-questions before meeting with designers?

A. These starter questions give us a base knowledge of the needs of each individual community that we work with. The answers help us understand if the church already has a large online presence or if they are just getting started when it comes to a website. This knowledge helps us bridge any gaps that we may discover regarding the parish’s digital needs.

Q. How does this process guide our LPi design team’s decisions?

A. The initial question process helps us set the tone of what each church is hoping to achieve with their new website. We want to find out what they like, and don’t like, about their current site, what they hope their new site might be like, and if there are any features that they specifically are attracted to.

Q. Of the questions on the questionnaire, which question do you find is the most informative for the design team?

A. My favorite question is “Are there any other parish websites you are inspired by that we should know about?" Learning what church staff members like about other designs is super helpful to our team. It’s also fun to see what other people find valuable in other websites’ designs and what they might not find valuable. There are some great Catholic websites out there that are designed beautifully! Additionally, if someone likes a design that they’ve found on a secular website, no problem! We can take elements of any website and incorporate those features into a church’s new website.

Q. Have you ever encountered any surprising answers when working through these questions with churches?

A. Yes! One of the questions we always ask is “What do you like about your current church website?” I was originally surprised at how frequently we received an answer of “Nothing!” to this question from church staff members. Now, when I hear this answer, I consider it an opportunity for our team to swing wide the gate of creativity and design a fresh, vibrant website for them!

Q. What do you think is the most difficult part of the web redesign process for parish staff members?

A. The enormity of the project and process can seem daunting at first. We help churches get a jumpstart on everything so that they aren’t overwhelmed. This is one thing I love about WeConnect. We are able to build and design for churches on the backend so that we can give them the tools they need to easily get started, and to make sure they don’t get lost in the process! Creating or redesigning a website can be a large task, but we walk with them every step of the way.

Q. What do you think is the most enjoyable part of the web design process for parish staff members who use WeConnect?

A. One thing people have told us is that, when working with other website hosting companies, is that they don’t feel like they have access to talk to someone who can help them when they encounter problems. With WeConnect, they are able to talk to a real person when they need support. I hope that this becomes the most enjoyable part for parish staff members working with us to create a new website for their church — that we have a team available to support them through the entire process, and beyond!

Q. What can a parish staff do to make the design process run as smoothly as possible?

A. Doing the prep work of considering what is out of date on their current website and then doing their spring cleaning ahead of time can make the process run more smoothly. They should go ahead and delete any outdated pages and other unwanted items. Having a game plan in mind for how they want their website navigation to look or items to include in their site’s navigational menu is also extremely helpful.

Q. Anything else you’d like to share about the process from a designer’s point of view?

A. We love including photography of your community in our web design! Fresh photos are great because they really set the tone for the website so, don’t wait! Start collecting images of your parishioners celebrating Mass and engaging in community events now so that we have lots to choose from for your beautiful new website.

Reflection questions to consider before your next web design meeting.

Is there something unique about your parish that makes you different than the parishes in your surrounding area?
Are there any other parish websites you are inspired by that we should know about? Any non-parish websites that you like?
Please describe what you like and dislike about your current website design.

Is your parish ready for a new website? Contact our team to see how we can update your online presence. Find out more information here: https://4lpi.com/solutions/catholic-church-websites/

“So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better
on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life.
So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of
his life which God gives him on earth.”

—Ecclesiastes 8:15

Looking to the Sky

Wed, 17 May 2023 20:51:04 GMT

In the past, I have been guilty of being a little depressed by the Ascension. Looking at it from a certain angle, it has the feel of a party that’s coming to an end. The important guests have gone home and now it’s time to turn the lights back on, switch off the music and start cleaning up.

Of course, if I view the Ascension in this light, I’m not really paying attention. I’m lingering on the mountain, staring at the sky, wondering where God went and when He’s coming back.

Christ, of course, is very much the “main event” of the Gospels, and so when he is no longer a physical, visible presence on earth — teaching, preaching, curing, dying, rising — we can be forgiven for feeling a little deflated. But the life of Christ is not a season of our favorite show. It’s not a chapter in a book. It doesn’t exist for consumption and entertainment, and it certainly doesn’t come to an end.

It’s easy to think of Christ at Mass when he is there before me in the Eucharist. It’s easy to be about the work of God during Lent or Easter. But what about the dreaded “Ordinary Time”? As full as the sky is of clouds, so the world is full of distractions: work, finances, health, politics. I struggle to see where God has gone in the midst of it all.

In reality, He is still here. He is here in the person I choose to love or to abandon. He is here in the truth I choose to embrace or to reject. He is here, waiting for me in the sacraments I all too often take for granted.

“Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” — Matthew 28:20

©LPi

Weirdly Christian

Fri, 12 May 2023 14:00:03 GMT

For some time, I have worn a brown scapular. If you don’t know much about this devotional practice, here is a very quick-and-dirty version, greatly lacking in detail: it’s two little pieces of brown cloth, connected by a cord and worn around the neck beneath one’s clothing. One of the cloth pieces depicts Our Lady of Mount Carmel appearing to St. Simon Stock, and the other piece — the one that is sometimes visible at the nape of my neck — depicts Our Lady’s “scapular promise:” Whosoever dies clothed in this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.

This reflection is not about the brown scapular, but let me just quickly say that, while I believe the scapular promise, I do not view the scapular as a get-out-of-jail-free card, and neither does the Church. I don’t wear it for the purpose of avoiding eternal fire. I wear it as a reminder to myself of my Marian consecration and as an act of humility and prayer.

I have sometimes cringed at the thought of how it looks to the person standing behind me in line at the coffee shop, should they happen to glimpse my scapular and read its brazen promise. We don’t go in for talk of hellfire and salvation in polite society these days. I wonder if they think I’m a crazy person. I wonder if I should try to tuck the scapular back down below my collar.

Sometimes I do. But more often than not, I take a deep breath and decide that it’s okay for me to feel self-conscious and trust that, if God wants to use this moment for His glory, he will — and if He doesn’t, all I’ve lost is the esteem of others, which isn’t worth that much to begin with.

I’ve always heard it said that if you do Christianity right, the rest of the world should think you’re just a little bit weird.

“...the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows him.” — John 14:17

©LPi

Be My Witnesses

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:00:05 GMT

For my 40th birthday, I wished only for a fancy pedicure — a real indulgent one complete with a massage where I could relax and escape the stress of life. On my way to the appointment, I stopped for a coffee and, while in line, this nudge to be open to sharing my faith if the opportunity arose stirred in my heart. Only moments into my birthday treat pedicure — reclined, eyes closed and prepared for an hour of quiet, I hear, "Oh, you wear a crucifix, you must be Catholic. I left for a church that follows the Bible." Opening one eye and peering toward heaven, I smirked with a wry acknowledgment of recognizing the day's earlier prompting to be open to being a witness of faith. While I wouldn't say I liked the timing, I obediently sat up and offered my attention to engaging in a friendly dialog about my faith.

The nail technician and I had a delightful conversation, including Saint Jerome's work in translating the Bible, the abundance of Scripture found in a Catholic Mass, and my love of daily meditation on the Word of God. We remained respectful, enlightened, and often amazed by the numerous similarities in our spiritual journeys. Over ten years later, our paths have never again crossed, and I will never know this side of heaven if our conversation inspired her to revisit her Catholic faith. The Lord did not ask me to convert or convince but to simply witness and share all the blessings He had (and continues) to bestow in my life. To acknowledge and relate when He touched my heart and renewed my waning faith. That is the core of evangelization, telling how an encounter with Christ has changed you for the better and increased your desire to know, serve and love him even more.

Are you willing to continue the work of the Apostles, allowing the power of the Holy Spirit —received in your baptism and strengthened in your Confirmation, to encourage you to share Jesus — especially along the normal course of your day? To be open to speaking to what you believe, why you attend Catholic Mass, and help, when necessary, correct misconceptions many people hold against the Catholic faith. That morning, while I listened to this young woman explain why she left the Catholic Church, my heart hurt at how little she knew of the faith and the role that lack of catechesis played in her departure. Recognizing, as she spoke, what she sought had actually been left behind because no one taught her the truth. She left to find Jesus, but he was right there because nowhere is he more present than in the Eucharist.

Jesus promises, just before he ascends into heaven, to send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit animates us in our following Christ more closely, to know and understand what we believe, and to have the courage to proclaim what we believe. What a magnificent gift. These "special graces are given to enable [us] to spread and defend the faith by word and deed as a true witness to Christ" (Didache Bible; CCC 900). The Catholic Church is missionary. Jesus did not intend for only the Apostles to go and make disciples. We, through our baptism, are likewise commissioned to profess the faith. We must allow the plentitude of graces and blessings we receive to provide us the courage and wisdom to encourage many other souls to encounter Jesus and pursue a path to holiness and heaven.

Our goal is not only to reach the gates of heaven — the very ones Jesus opened through his love and sacrifice, but more importantly, through our own love and sacrifice, answering his call to witness to all the ends of the earth is to bring as many others with us as possible — even if it only brings us around the corner to the local salon.

—Allison Gingras

PRAYER

May I be open every day

to courageously share

how encountering the Risen Lord

changes our life as beloved disciples.

May I take advantage of opportunities

that occur within the normal course of my day

to share the Good News.

Brilliant Tips for Successful Summer Events

Thu, 11 May 2023 14:00:00 GMT

Chances are your church staff is starting to plan for summer events and we’re willing to bet that you already have your date for your parish picnic on the calendar. Whether your summer gatherings include a BBQ, Mass on the grass, live music, games, cakewalks, or pastor dunk-tanks, make sure you start out strong with our list of summer event planning essentials. For the sake of this blog, we’ll use a parish picnic as an example, but, feel free to apply these tips to any gathering you plan to have this summer, or beyond!

1. A Personal Invitation

Picnics are great events to engage in outreach to your neighborhood and surrounding community. Consider sending a personal invitation to your neighbors inviting them to the party! Every Door Direct Mail by the USPS makes sending out neighborhood invitations like this incredibly easy and affordable. You can save even more time by using one of our pre-designed parish picnic invitation templates . Just plug in your event information, download it, and send it out!

2. Bulletins
Don’t forget to set your most recent church bulletin out for those in attendance. This way, if a parishioner brings a guest, or a family from the neighborhood attends because of the personal mailer they received, they can go home with more information about your parish. Be sure that your bulletin includes ways to join the parish, contact details for staff/ministry leaders, and any other information guests might desire. Display the bulletins near the name tags or the entrance/exit to the picnic for better visibility! If your bulletin feels like it misses the mark and doesn’t quite seem to illustrate exactly how wonderful your parish is, our design team specializes in refreshing church bulletin designs . Work with us to better represent your vibrant parish community within the pages of your weekly bulletin.

3. Nametags
When we asked our church-going staff members about what they like most when it comes to their church’s parish picnic, everyone said the same thing — the opportunity to meet and connect with people in the parish that they wouldn’t normally cross paths with. Events like a parish picnic go a long way toward fostering an environment that strengthens your community due to the new connections made between members who wouldn’t, otherwise, be in the same place at the same time. Make these new connections even easier by providing nametags for everyone.

4. Celebration Banner & Signage
Jump into WeCreate and download one of our parish picnic graphics to use in your welcome sign, banner, or other signage during the event! Having sign-in tables, food options, entrances, exits, bathrooms, and parking clearly labeled aids in creating a welcoming environment for all!

5. Church Staff & Ministry Leader T-Shirts

To easily identify those in leadership at the parish, make sure they have matching T-shirts with the church logo on them! Don’t have an awesome t-shirt-worthy logo? We can help you design one or, simply, refresh it to look more professional, modern, and great on a T-shirt!

Some of the best things about being part of a church community are the community celebrations, feasts, and holidays. We hope you have a wonderful parish picnic this year!

—Ecclesiastes 8:15

LPi Employees welcome several hundred new churches from J.S. Paluch

Mon, 08 May 2023 16:08:18 GMT

Since January 2023, LPi has expanded service to several hundred new churches who were previously serviced by printer J.S. Paluch Company. LPi has been servicing, printing, shipping, and delivering thousands of additional bulletins in a smooth and timely manner thanks to the dedicated efforts of all departments.

LPi welcomed the new churches after J.S. Paluch announced it would be closing its doors after over one hundred years of business. J.S. Paluch has served the Catholic community since 1913, where it began on Chicago’s north side as a press for local Catholic parishes and expanded to include regional offices across the United States.

LPi has been serving thousands of parishes across the country for the past fifty years as a bulletin press and communications solution for web and digital. The newly welcomed churches were also given access to WeCreate, a digital content library which houses bulletin, web, and social media content categorized by liturgical season or week, providing endless possibilities for print and digital communications.

Joe Luedtke, LPi CEO, said of the acquisition, “We are excited to welcome these new parishes and to support them in their valued work of communication. LPi is proud to offer exceptional print and digital experiences, superb customer service, and years of expertise to these and all in our LPi family.”

That “superb customer service” meant that many teams went above and beyond to ensure that churches had print bulletins as soon as possible — especially for the important Easter holiday. From customer information to customer training to increased production to additional ad sales, each department worked tirelessly to aid the process.

The transition went so smoothly, in fact, that LPi leadership decided to send a thank you gift to every LPi employee, thanking everyone for the part they played in welcoming these new churches to the LPi family. LPi employees were sent a hot beverage mug, a note, and a bag of popcorn in gratitude.

Candy Underwood, Vice President of Human Resources, tells the story: “Our leadership team has a weekly staff meeting and we always start off the meeting with ‘one good thing’.”

Underwood continues, “We knew that the acquisition would require herculean effort from pretty much every area of the company, and within a short period of time. But as we went around the table sharing, every single leader had an incredible example … of exceptional service, extraordinary effort, creativity, and problem solving. We paused in amazement at what our teams were doing and how they were working together. I don’t remember who, but someone said, ‘we should give everyone a thank you gift!’ And there was no discussion needed.”

A herculean effort indeed, thanks to the dedication of hundreds of people.

Looking to join a great team? We’re expanding and would love to chat! https://www.4lpi.com/careers

Building on the Cornerstone

Fri, 05 May 2023 14:00:02 GMT

Before I married my husband, I assumed there were “ugly houses” and “pretty houses,” and that was that. But Matt is an architect, someone who reads books with titles like “A Field Guide to American Houses” for fun and who uses the term vernacular architecture like he knows what it means.

Through him, I’ve come to learn a lot about why certain structures simply don’t have a pleasing look. There is a logic to ugliness, as it turns out. One of the main reasons a building or a home might strike some of us as ugly is because it has undergone a careless renovation. Whether out of laziness or an effort to be cost-effective, additions are made that depart from the architectural style of the original structure. The result is slapdash, confusing — ugly, for lack of a better word.

What is added on later must somewhat resemble the original. If you want to depart dramatically from the original style of a building, it’s better to build a separate structure altogether.

I think of this principle when I consider Christ as the “cornerstone.” We know we are called to model ourselves on Christ, to build on his example. But so often we cherry-pick elements of his message and attempt to build on it with additions that make no sense.

When someone looks at us, at our lives, they should be able to tell after whom that life is patterned. We must resemble the cornerstone, if we do not, it will be apparent, unseemly. You can’t see God the Father without embracing God the Son. You can’t chart the future of a house without any thought for its past.

If Christ is not our inspiration, he will be our contradiction.

“...like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” — 1 Peter 2:5

©LPi

Conversations with Jesus

Fri, 05 May 2023 10:00:16 GMT

How familiar are we with God’s Presence in our lives … I mean, really?!?! We say that we are because that’s the right answer to the question.

Recently, I came across a story of an old man dying of cancer.

“The old man’s daughter had asked the local priest to come and pray with her father. When the priest arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. ‘I guess you were expecting me,’ he said. ‘No, who are you?’ ‘I’m the new associate at your parish,’ the priest replied. ‘When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.’ ‘Oh yeah, the chair,’ said the bedridden man. ‘Would you mind closing the door?’ Puzzled, the priest shut the door.

‘I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,’ said the man, ‘but all my life I have never known how to pray. At the Sunday Mass, I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head. Finally, I said to him one day in sheer frustration, ‘I get nothing out of your homilies on prayer.’ ‘Here,’ says my pastor, ‘read this book by Hans Urs von Balthasar. He’s a Swiss theologian. It’s the best book on contemplative prayer in the twentieth century.’ ‘Well, Father,’ says the man, ‘I took the book home and tried to read it. But in the first three pages I had to look up twelve words in the dictionary. I gave the book back to my pastor, thanked him, and under my breath whispered, ‘ for nothin ’.’ ‘I abandoned any attempt at prayer,’ he continued, ‘until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ‘ Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because He promised, “I’ll be with you all days.” Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now .’ ‘So, Padre, I tried it, and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.’

The priest was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the rectory. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the priest that her daddy had died that afternoon. ‘Did he seem to die in peace?’ he asked. ‘Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, Father. In fact, beyond strange — kinda weird. Apparently just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside his bed.’”

—An excerpt from: Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart
for Intimate Belonging (p. 106-107) by Brennan Manning

What if we were really attuned to God’s Presence in our lives … like this man in the story? What difference would it make given the realities of the world we live in? How do we even begin to be aware of it?

Let’s start with this: Jesus never goes back on his word. So, when he says in today’s Gospel, “I will come to you” and “I will love him and reveal myself to him,” we can be sure that Jesus intends to do this. This is faith. But there is a qualifying clause, “If you love me” (verse 15). IF … That’s a sobering thought. Peter says to Jesus, “You know I love you” (Jn 21:15). We might say the same. But when pressed further, Peter becomes distressed. The same should be said of us. A careful examination of our conscience might reveal that we might love Jesus, but there are also other ‘loves’ in our lives which attract us. One of my former co-workers in evangelization was fond of saying, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” It’s not that Jesus is a liar, it’s that our faith can be flimsy, easily persuaded (or justified) by the ephemeral possession, the esteemed reputation, the novel commodity, the socially acceptable position, the polarizing ideology, the unexpected opportunity, the seductive relationship, or the alluring activity. These may have some value in the short term, but they are not the main thing. The main thing is Jesus, and this lesson is what the man in our story learned even later in life.

Perhaps, we can be honest with ourselves by saying that there are many loves that occupy our hearts and minds. And from that starting point, let’s learn to have a conversation with Jesus about what — or who — the ‘main thing’ in our lives should be.

—Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Lord, I want to give you my life…

My heart, my body, my soul, my words,

my sight, my actions, my songs, my thoughts…

Everything!

I want to empty myself, but as you know,

it’s painful, because I have so much pride, vanity,

impurity, laziness, insincerity, falsity.

I’m like a sheep…

I’m not lost, because I’ve found you,

but more like a crazy sheep:

I still find myself seeking consolation

and happiness in things that aren’t you.

Help me to empty myself,

so I can be filled with you,

with your goodness,

your sincerity,

your kindness,

your patience,

your charity.

—Prayer of Sr. Clare Crockett

40 Ideas for the Best Church Merch

Thu, 04 May 2023 14:00:08 GMT

Church merchandise and swag is always a good idea! Be it a gift for visitors to your parish, a special parish anniversary ornament, or aprons for the kitchen team, your community will always appreciate the thought behind a little church merch. Before we dive into our extensive list of ideas, though, let’s quickly cover how to create these items.

How Do I Create Customizable Church Merch?

First, before you buy anything, you need a professional-looking church logo . The better your logo, the more likely your parishioners will want to sport your merch and swag! If you don’t already have a logo that you love, our design team can help you refresh or even redesign it .

Second, find out if there are any printing companies who are already connected to your church. Is a local business who prints custom clothing and merchandise already advertising in your church bulletin? Use Parishes Online to find out. Another option is to inquire if anyone else at the parish has used a local company to create merch in the past. Partnering with a local business is a great way to enhance your connection to your community. If you can’t find someone nearby, simply do an internet search for the type of merchandise you would like to customize and you will find that there are a plethora of options out there.

Finally, remember to always make sure that the company you choose to buy swag from is ethically sourcing its material and labor before buying from them. It is counterproductive to Catholic Social Teaching to support unethical companies who abuse their workers and pollute the environment. So, consider the impact of the choices you make for your church swag. Cheaper may not always be better — morally speaking.

Now, onto the list!

The Best Church Merch Ideas:

1. T-shirts and other clothing

2. Baseball hats, beanies, and other headwear

3. Ceramic Mugs

4. Magnets

5. Keychains

6. Calendars

7. Magnetic fridge to-do lists/paper notepads

8. Bracelets

9. Sunglasses

10. Draw-string sports bags

11. Reusable grocery totes

12. Canvas bags

13. Stickers

14. Lawn signs

15. Christmas tree ornaments

16. Frisbees and other sports equipment

17. Window Clings (removable)

18. Candles/votives (made from left over Paschal candle wax)

19. Christmas cards/other holiday cards

20. Reusable water bottles

21. Reusable coffee tumbler/thermos

22. Bookmarks

23. Prayer cards

24. Custom candy/chocolate

25. Aprons for people serving in the parish kitchen/cookouts/picnics

26. Custom playing cards & other games

27. Notebooks/journals

28. Door hangs

29. Lanyards

30. Masks

31. Coasters

32. Buttons

33. Hacky sacks

34. Mints

35. Pens/pencils

36. House plant pots

37. Socks

38. Dog bandanas/prayer dog tags

39. Car window ice scrapers

40. Don’t forget — when you give these gifts to your parishioners, make sure that you give them in a bag with your church’s logo on it!

The Answer

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 10:00:18 GMT

“Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — John 14:6

I consider myself to be something of a connoisseur of kitschy Catholic magnets.

Having had the good fortune, in my lifetime, to spend a considerable amount of time in the kitchens of the elderly faithful, I’ve seen it all. The silhouette of a Rosary with the caption “Call your mother — she’s waiting to hear from you.” A nativity tableau that reads “Every family needs a stable foundation.” The classic “WWJD” — a real ecumenical gem, it’s a favorite across all denominations.

One that always irked me, though, was this: “It doesn’t matter what the question is. The answer is Jesus.” This particular magnet adorned my grandmother’s refrigerator for years, and my sarcastic adolescent brain just couldn’t handle it.

That’s just silly , I thought. Jesus is not the answer to every question. Jesus is not, for instance, the answer to the question, ‘What should I have for lunch?’ Or the question, ‘Who is your favorite Beatle?’ Or the question, ‘Why won’t my parents buy me a car?’

But darn it all if that magnet doesn’t pop into my head as I read the fourteenth chapter of John.

Every question has a backstory, even the little ones. Every silly, ordinary question has a larger question floating beneath the surface. What should I have for lunch? Because I am hungry. My body is tired. It needs food. It is a passing thing, a dying thing, and one day it will dry up and crumble away with the dust. Is there anything that could sustain it forever?

Who is your favorite Beatle? Because we all have opinions about this. Mine is Paul, obviously. Such a great songwriter, and such a tireless performer, and so faithful to his fans. Gosh, I love the Beatles. Their music is great. I can’t explain why. It makes me feel … I don’t know. Is there anything else that makes me feel the way that music does — happy in a way I can’t explain, for reasons I don’t understand?

Why won’t my parents buy me a car? Because I really want a car. I look like an idiot being dropped off at school by my dad every day like I’m 12 years old. Gosh, I care so much what other people think of me. I want them to like me. I want them to love me. Is there someone who could love me even though I look like an idiot all the time?

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. The answer is always Jesus. Ahh, Grandma — touché.

My grandparents are dead, their belongings long ago dispersed to various relatives. I have no idea what’s become of that magnet — probably languishing in a far-flung Goodwill with a 49-cent sticker affixed to its back. Perhaps one of my aunts salvaged it, but I doubt it — it’s not the magnet that was important. It’s not the magnet that we carried with us from the house when it was being packed up and sold. What we carried with us was the answer to all the questions.

— Collen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

Gracious and holy Father,

grant us the intellect to understand You,

reason to discern You, diligence to seek You,

wisdom to find You, a spirit to know You,

a heart to meditate upon You.

May our ears hear You, may our eyes behold You,

and may our tongues proclaim You.

— Prayer of St. Benedict

Cut to the Heart

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 16:41:28 GMT

Everyone who has been married knows this feeling: you’re in the midst of a disagreement with your spouse. You’ve really dug in your heels. You’re ready to die on this hill. And you have the awful, heartbreaking realization that you are wrong. Whatever it is you’re arguing about, you’re wrong. You.

So where do you go from here? The only way forward is to own it. Fess up. Grab a fork and dig into that humble pie. It makes me cringe just to write about it, because it’s the worst feeling.

I use the example of marriage because it’s the one I’m most familiar with — my closest relationship, the one that teaches me the most about who I am and who God asks me to be. But this is a universal experience, and everyone — single or married, child or adult, lay or ordained — knows how badly it feels to realize that you’re wrong. You’re human. You messed up.

It is hard to recognize that the Christian life is one of ongoing repentance. It is painful to acknowledge the ways in which we are falling short, even as we strive to follow in Christ’s example.

It can, in the words of today’s reading, “cut to the heart.”

But that feeling of despair is what propels forward motion. We have to allow ourselves to feel bad, that’s the fertile ground of penitence. We are meant to have not just life, but life “more abundantly.” Stasis isn’t the goal. Baptism isn’t the finish line.

Examining our conscience is hard. It cuts to the heart. It cuts to the truth.

"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” — Acts 2:38

©LPi

Tropical Recognition for EXCELLENT Employees

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 16:34:21 GMT

183 LPi guests made their way to the Henderson Beach Resort in Destin, Florida this April to celebrate outstanding accomplishments made by the sales team over the last year.

73 employees were recognized for their work at the annual “Circle of Excellence” trip. The location varies annually, this year the guests were greeted by Florida’s turquoise waters full of dolphins as they met, shared, and relaxed on sunny shores.

Organizer Jon Becker, Area Sales Director for LPi, shared that the Circle of Excellence trip is an opportunity to recognize salespeople who have successfully earned qualifying criteria. Becker says that the criteria and goals vary by department. While all the goals pose a level of challenge, they are also intentionally planned to be attainable with some effort.

Says Becker, “And we don’t cap attendance — anybody can earn the trip based off the criteria! We want as many as we can!”

To further encourage newcomers, first-year sales people are provided with a separate, simpler set of criteria. Becker shared that a modified version makes the Circle of Excellence more attainable, and the salesperson can then interact and be encouraged by more seasoned employees.

Besides the warm weather and beach, Matt Inkmann, Senior Director for Ad Sales, relates that a highlight of the Circle of Excellence is the Awards Banquet, a formal event where each salesperson is recognized. LPi CEO, Joe Luedtke, takes the time to announce each earner, who is greeted with support and applause.

“I took a brief pause during our awards banquet to look around the room and take in the scene,” said Inkmann, “in that moment I saw a room full of Circle of Excellence winners not focused on receiving their own award but genuinely thrilled and cheering for all their colleagues that were being recognized. That is the spirit of this team and the Circle of Excellence experience.”

And next year? The team is already excited for the next location — in Cancun, Mexico!

It sounds like there may be more than 73 attendees at that location, according to Becker, “After just one quarter in 2023, we are trending higher for COE attendees then we were last year at this point!”

The future of sales is bright, just like the Mexican sun!

Interested in learning more about sales opportunities and how you can land a spot at next year’s Circle of Excellence? We’re expanding our team! Learn more here: https://www.4lpi.com/careers

13 Unique First Communion and Confirmation Gift Ideas

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 14:15:06 GMT

It's that time of year! Confirmation and First Communions are often celebrated in the spring and that means youth ministers, faith formation directors, and other parish staff members are tasked with finding gifts for those celebrating. If your church has a class of Communicants or Confirmands that you'd like send off with a gift, we've compiled a list of unique options.

Free Gift Ideas:

Gather a spiritual bouquet. This is sweet way to present someone special with a collection of prayers. Start by gathering prayerful commitments from folks — a rosary said in their name, a novena offered for their special intentions, offered-up sufferings, etc. — and then document the commitments before presenting them to the recipient. Customize one of our WeCreate graphic templates with flowers in the art to complete the presentation. Spiritual bouquets may be low-cost, but they are meaningful to us who believe in the power of prayer.
Have a Mass offered for them. A colleague in your church office should be able to help you with the request. Many churches will also send a Mass intention card to the person for whom the Mass is offered so make sure you have their address on hand.
Make them a special treat like cookies, cupcakes, or some blueberry pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast if the person receiving their sacrament is in your family!
Letters from Family & Friends — make a card using one of the beautiful Gospel Illustrations or other Catholic art in WeCreate then write a heart-felt letter to the person who is receiving their sacrament. Bonus if you get other people in their lives to also write them a letter of encouragement and congratulations! Imagine showing up to a youth’s Confirmation with an envelope full of love letters from their closest pals. What a gift!
Take them on an adventure- like a hike, a picnic in a park, or to visit a church they have never been to. Check out what churches are located near you here.

Gifts You Can Buy:

Make them a custom mug, t-shirt, or other swag with their Confirmation saint on it or use WeCreate to find an image you like. There are plenty of online options to print custom products that are affordable.
Purchase them a subscription to a Catholic app like Hallow or Laudate .
Buy them your favorite scented candle to symbolize Christ’s light in their life then print your own label for it by customizing one of our WeCreate templates for Confirmation or First Communion .
Framed photo of you and the child together. Here are some First Communion themed frames and some digital pieces to compliment any first Sacrament image can be found in WeCreate.
A tree sapling for them to plant in their backyard or, if they don’t have a backyard, a potted plant to remind them of their special day.
Sponsor a child in their name for a year.
Gift an experience like tickets to a movie, a sports game, or purchase a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant.
Turn a favorite Bible verse into a soundwave art print .

“I Am Not Afraid — I Was Born to Do This.”

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 14:00:05 GMT

Have you ever felt like you weren’t doing the work you should be doing?

We have all had jobs that leave us feeling unfulfilled. Bored. Dreading the next day. We may even experience a sensation of unfamiliarity, of being unable to recognize ourselves.

Most of us have also been lucky enough to have a job that we love — a vocation, a calling that makes us look in the mirror and think, This. This is who I’m supposed to be. I recognize this person.

For me, that work is the work of marriage and motherhood. The hours are terrible, the pay is even worse, and my coworkers are frequently disappointed in me — but it doesn’t matter. When I look in the mirror every morning and see my tired, wrinkled face gazing back, choruses of “I said I don’t want the BLUE SHIRT, MOMMY, ugh!” and “Honey, I’ve got an early meeting, I’m so sorry but I have to run,” ringing in the background, I think to myself: I recognize this girl. She was born to do this.

Christ’s own disciples did not recognize him on the road to Emmaus. It wasn’t until he took the bread and broke it that their eyes were opened, and they realized they had known it all along — “Were not our hearts burning within us?”

In that moment, Christ was doing the very work he was born to do, making the sacrifice.

I don’t know what kind of vocation you are called to. I don’t know what kind of work reveals your true self. But I hope that whatever work you are doing, you can look in the mirror and feel your heart burning within you.

“He was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” — Luke 24:35

©LPi

Hope and Invitation — Good Shepherd Sunday

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 10:00:20 GMT

“The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.

—John 10:3-4

In his message for the 50 ^th World Day of Prayer for Vocations (which is celebrated each year on the 4th Sunday of Easter) Pope Benedict XVI observed, “Hope is the expectation of something positive in the future, yet at the same time it must sustain our present existence, which is often marked by dissatisfaction and failures … To have hope, therefore, is the equivalent of trusting in God who is faithful, who keeps the promises of the covenant.”

This sense of hope is at the heart of this week’s Gospel which places before us one of the greatest biblical images of God’s faithful care and mercy: the Good Shepherd. The Evangelist John uses the image of the Good Shepherd to illustrate the intimate way Christ knows each of us — the flock entrusted to his care — and how, like a faithful shepherd, he constantly watches over us and lifts us up.

The most important point of this Sunday’s Gospel is that eternal life is the Good Shepherd’s gift. Through Jesus and because he has given his life for “his flock,” we have an abundance of life. While it seems so simple, this fundamental Christian belief is one that we can often take for granted. And that is unfortunate, because this Gospel also includes an unspoken invitation for us: listen to the Shepherd’s voice.

Accepting that gift of “abundant life” means that we listen to and follow the direction of our Shepherd. We can see this lived out in the preaching and witness of Peter and the other Apostles (in this Sunday’s first reading and throughout the Acts of the Apostles) as they remind the people of Jerusalem that God is calling them to do and be more in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit blessed the Church with many new members through the obedient service of the Apostles. We have to have the same obedient spirit if we want to see the Church continue to grow in our own time.

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we ask God to bless the Church with an increase in men and women willing to serve the Kingdom as priests, deacons, and religious brothers and sisters. But the readings also remind us that each of us (and not only our pastors and religious) has a vocation follow the example of the Shepherd and listen to his commands by building up the Church as we promote what Henri Nouwen has called the “three spiritual qualities of the resurrected life”: unity, intimacy, and integrity. “We are called to break through the boundaries of nationality, race, sexual orientation, age, and mental capacities and create a unity of love that allows the weakest among us to live well” (from The Road to Daybreak ).

While we can (and should) take comfort in the Shepherd’s provident care and protection — and the gift of abundant life that he offers us — we can only say we truly know this Good Shepherd if we are willing to listen to his voice and follow his commands in our daily lives. As we continue our Easter celebrations, we would do well to remember the words of Saint Cyril of Alexandria , “The mark of Christ’s sheep is their willingness to hear and obey… People who hear God’s voice are known by him.”

— Bro. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

PRAYER

Almighty ever-living God,
lead us to a share in the joys of heaven,
so that the humble flock may reach
where the brave Shepherd has gone before.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal )

This, Not That — Are You Making These Common Church Website Image Mistakes?

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 14:00:01 GMT

At LPi, we work with churches across the USA to help them design and maintain their websites . In doing so, we’ve discovered how significantly the inclusion of sub-par photography can negatively impact a parish’s image when it’s used in their website design. To help you avoid those trends, we’ve collected the most common mistakes we encounter and provide some alternatives to help you enhance your parish’s web presence.

1. Photos of the parish building and grounds — Instead of making your hero image a photo of your parish building, feature photos of the people in your parish community. When people thinking about visiting your church navigate to your website to see what the church might be like, they will feel much more welcome and enthusiastic about visiting if they see images of people living their faith. Church websites who focus primarily on the building and pictures of empty sanctuaries miss out on the opportunity to showcase the same beautiful spaces, but with members of the parish included in the photo. Remember, your parish is the people, not the building. Making sure to include community members in your building and sanctuary photos will foster that sense of a community when people visit your site.

2. Photos of statues and other art — We hope that every church has art in their sacred spaces that they feel proud of. This being said, filling your website with pictures of your statues of Mary or images of your Stations of the Cross carvings can make the website feel a little impersonal. Instead, feature the beautiful art and culture of your parish with images of parishioners interacting with the art. For example, does your parish celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe? If so, take some photos of the celebration that feature people as well as the statue of Our Lady, during the celebration! Do you have special days during Lent when your parish prays the Stations of the Cross? Include images of those prayer days to showcase the vibrant life of your parish alongside your artwork.

3. Blurry, pixley, and incorrectly sized images, especially of staff members — We are big fans of having photos of staff members and ministry leaders on your parish’s website under a “Meet the Staff” or “Contact Us” link. One mistake we encounter, though, is that parishes sometimes use blurry, outdated, or incorrectly sized imagery for these staff profiles. Often, some staff members will have professional head shots while others have what looks like a badly scanned image from the 80’s. Solve this problem by setting up a date every year — maybe during a staff meeting or your staff retreat for example — to take updated photos of everyone specifically for the parish website. Hire a professional photographer, or just take them with your cell phone using our layperson’s guide to smartphone church photography ! The important part is that everyone gets a nice, updated photo for the website.

4. Outdated images — Speaking of badly scanned photos from the 80’s, don’t fall into the habit of always using the same old images of your community over and over again every year. Encourage different ministries to provide the parish office with updated imagery of the work they do and don’t forget to get images of important holidays and other celebrations. As a bonus, families often love seeing themselves featured on their community website so be sure to share the images being used to your church’s social media profiles to make sure your parishioners know that you’re featuring them!

5. Photos only featuring one age group or demographic — Lastly, it’s pivotal that the imagery of your community featured on your website includes images that correctly portray the entirety of your community. Don’t forget to feature young families, youth, young adults, single adults, married couples, and the elderly! Do you have a variety of cultures represented at each Mass? A variety of abilities and disabilities? Be sure to reflect that diversity on your website! This way visitors to your site will be able to see themselves reflected in your community and may feel more comfortable choosing your church as a place to visit and, possibly, join!

We’ve been publishing a lot of tips for creating the best parish websites recently. Dive deeper with our Catholic Tech Talk blog . Don’t have photos of your community just yet? We also have a growing collection of beautiful Catholic stock photography in WeCreate to get you by.

The Doors We Lock

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 14:00:02 GMT

As a child, and even for a while as a teenager, I experienced an enormous amount of anxiety whenever I went to confession. For so many years I feared it. For so many years I waited in the confession line trembling, feeling sick to my stomach.

In the upper room after Christ’s Passion and death, the anxiety of the disciples was so strong that they locked themselves away. But still Christ found a way into their midst. He would not be prevented from bringing mercy and hope to a place shrouded in despair. No door barred in a moment of fear could keep him out.

This is the genius of the sacrament of Reconciliation — and of all sacraments, really. Here we are, restricted in so many ways by an existence that is woefully physical. We feel fear, and our body reacts, just as we feel anger and our body reacts.

How can God deliver mercy to us in this flesh-bound state? Through that very flesh which can feel so confining. Through confession, which requires a physical action, and the physical participation not just of the penitent but of the priest.

I don’t know how or why my anxiety around the sacrament has lessened over the years. Sometimes, I still feel it come roaring back unexpectedly, and maybe one day it will come back to stay. It doesn’t surprise me: after all, I am in the flesh, and I will, as Peter says today, “suffer through various trials.” But in all of them Christ will find me. He will not be kept away.

Let the house of Aaron say, “His mercy endures forever.” — Psalm 118:3

©LPi

Who Travels With You?

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 10:00:05 GMT

Pope Benedict XVI suggests that “Emmaus is really everywhere, the road that leads there is the path of every Christian, indeed, every human being.” From the time we develop the gift of reason, our journeys are adventures that seek to understand the past, find joy in the present, and plot the course for the future. We are constantly in dialogue with ourselves, others, and God. We try to put together the pieces of the past so that we can understand how we came to be where we are today and what we need to do in order to face tomorrow. We reach for voices that can help us interpret and learn from events and circumstances that have affected us, helping us make sense of where life has brought us. We need to listen to the right voices as we ponder a pivotal question: where is the road of my life going to end? If we are not cautious, we can easily be deceived.

When we are walking through life with our heads held high, spunk in our step and eyes twinkling bright with glances to heaven, all is right with the world, it is easier to see God’s hand. God’s glory dances in myriad ways around us and the hand of His loving presence holds ours as we exhale songs of praise. When life’s disappointments, challenges, and difficulties are in recession and the warmth of joy’s rays are shining on our face, it is easier to see God’s love and guidance. Everything is in sync. But, when sorrow, failure, disappointment, and fear weigh us down, our eyes are fixed downward, and we walk through life looking downcast. We carry heavy burdens. We see not what is above but what is below and easily tire from the sacks we carry. It is harder to see God’s love when we are hurting and feeling betrayed or abandoned. Finding meaning in life’s ugliness can be an arduous task indeed. We need a discerning eye.

Is God a real Being or simply an idea that we entertain? Often, we reduce God to a set of ideas, rules, expectations, theories, and principles and neglect seeing him as a Real Presence who walks with us. What are we expecting God to do? If we are expecting God to rearrange and fix the disjointed and broken furniture of our lives, then we may end up very disappointed. Even the disciples on the Road of Emmaus suffered from this myopic shortsightedness. They were expecting Jesus to put Israel back together, save it from the Romans and redeem it! That’s what they were hoping for! Instead, he was killed, and they were seemingly left alone with all of their broken furniture. Their misconceived expectations blinded them to what was really going on. We lose our sight, too. Our hope gets displaced.

God’s Word wonderfully keeps it all in balance. It holds together life and death, suffering and healing, grace and sin, joy and despair, justice and injustice, and faith and doubt. The Word, who was with God from the beginning bursts forth into the Word made flesh with creative love, sustaining and creating all things for all times and in all ages. The Word, captured in the pages of Scripture, is the only thing that can interpret our lives and help us find the presence of God. The Word alone helps us lift our eyes from what is below and fix them on what is above regardless of time and circumstance. It is the Word who helps us walk with purpose and determination reminding us how foolish we are not to believe all that has gone before us. We need to trust that our companions in faith, whose lives of fidelity and witness abound in Sacred Scripture, are here to help us and interpret all that is happening.

We are called to walk with purpose and listen to and notice things that may not at first be apparent. We have to allow the One who has special claim on our soul to enlighten, instruct and inspire us! The incarnate Mystery of God is pulsating in and through all of creation, which is where the presence of the Word who became flesh can be discovered. He has been with us all along. How could we have missed him? We can become too preoccupied with ourselves and forget which kingdom is the one to which we must give our allegiance. We forget that we travel a road whose destiny ends here but whose end is in eternity. Sometimes, our slowness to understand is intentional as we struggle with whether it is our will or God’s will that is supposed to be done. We allow all of the busyness to rob us of the silence needed to simply “be” and understand.

There is something mystically, simply, majestically, and profoundly beautiful and centering about the Eucharist. There is a presence discovered there in the simplicity of some of God’s most basic gifts: flour, water, and fruit. It’s almost so simple that we find it hard to believe. Wouldn’t God want to make a grander and more spectacular entrance into our lives? God choses to walk as we walk, beside us and with us, feeling as we feel. It is an incredible moment of connection when we “take and eat,” becoming one with all of our brothers and sisters and one with our God, who is our Emmanuel (God with us). There as we take and eat our eyes are opened as we stand before the cross and death, the grave and life. It is there where not with words or thoughts but with the profound language of our souls we give voice to our faith that God is here and all is well. The eyes of our hearts are lifted high above the cross, beyond the tensions and tragedies of life. And, for a moment it all makes sense, we see clearly, and all is well. We must rest, and learn to see with the eyes of our souls.

In listening deeply to the enlightenment that comes from the Word made flesh and the written word of Sacred Scripture and the nourishment and encounter that is discovered in the Eucharist, we become more like Christ. In becoming more like Christ, we gain confidence and are able to walk through whatever life brings with head held high. Our traveling companions of faith, hope, and love are with us.

—Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me and

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think

I am following Your will does not mean

that I am actually doing so.

But, I believe that the desire to please You

does in fact please You.

And, I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And, I know that if I do this

You will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore, will I trust You always,

though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for You are ever with me and

You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

— Thomas Merton

5 Ways to Celebrate Graduations at Your Parish

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:00:02 GMT

Graduation season is upon us and churches everywhere will soon be celebrating their members’ graduations from all sorts of programs for children and adults, alike. We’ve collected some of the most common graduation traditions you might find in a Catholic setting and paired them with ideas on how you can support those events with assets from WeCreate, our Catholic library of ready-to-use content ! Dive right in to see how your parish can congratulate your graduates in a special way this year.

Baccalaureate Mass – Often held specifically for graduating high school and college students, these celebrations are popular everywhere! Advertise your Baccalaureate Mass in your church bulletin, social media, website, and through printed invitations with our graduation celebration graphics in WeCreate. Don’t forget to add these graphics to a slide or two if your church uses screens with imagery inside of your sanctuary during Mass.

Graduation Retreats – Churches with high school youth ministry programs as well as those with college outreaches attached, like Newman Centers, will often have a graduation retreat for their soon to be graduated seniors. As you are building your content for the retreat, be sure to check out the “Quotes” section in WeCreate for some inspiration and images to distribute. In the “Reflections” section there is also material available for graduates .

Ministry Moving-Up Ceremonies – Many youth programs hold a “Moving Up Ceremony” or a “Graduation Ceremony” to celebrate every grade level moving up into the next grade for the following year’s program. Some don’t celebrate each individual grade moving up but do throw a party for 8th graders who will be moving up into the high school youth group the next year. Use one of our generic colorful or festival-themed templates to make a flyer or graphic for this yearly event to share with families who are invited!

Individual Gifts – If you want to do something special for your graduates, consider getting each person in your parish who is graduating from high school, or from college, a graduation gift. Some parishes create a gift bag for graduating high school students that includes items like a prayer candle, an informational handout about Catholic college events and groups near where the student is attending college, a cross or crucifix, a book of reflections, and other spiritual items. Don’t forget to include a card from the church youth ministry team or parish staff with these gifts! Use our graduation vectors and illustrations in WeCreate to create a customized card from your parish to make the gift even more special.

Student Profiles - Some parishes celebrate high school graduates by creating and printing out a profile of the student. This little poster usually includes the graduate’s senior photo alongside their answers to a few interview questions and is posted in the church’s narthex or parish hall during graduation season to celebrate these youth.

Interview questions often include queries like:

What are your plans after high school?
If you are going to college, which one are you going to and what are you hoping to study?
What are some of the extra-curricular sports, hobbies, and clubs you participated in during high school?
Have you achieved anything special in the last four years that you’d like to share?
What advice do you have for the incoming high school freshmen at our church?

To enhance a student profile, be sure to check out the many graphic templates we have in WeCreate. If you like the look of one but it doesn’t say exactly what you need it to say, you’re in luck. You can simply click on it and when prompted, change the text in the template to fit whatever needs you have — saving yourself time and making your graduate profiles look lovely.

Do you have another special way that you celebrate graduation season in your parish? We’d love to hear about it! Tag us in a post on Facebook and let us know what your parish does for graduating seniors.

35 Million Pages Delivered, and We’re Not Slowing Down

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 21:12:20 GMT

We’ve been talking a lot about a big jump we’ve recently experienced in our sales. This has created more work for our teams in Ad Design, Prepress, etc. These jumps actually effect all of our departments and we want to share a rather amazing statistic.

Last week, we printed 35 million, yes, 35,000,000 pages of print. That’s a record for us, by far, and 40% more than we did last year prior to Easter. That number is so big it’s hard to get your head wrapped around it. If you do the math, that translates to 3,038 MILES of paper laid end to end. The distance from one end of our country to the other end is approximately 3,000 miles. That’s how much paper we printed and shipped out the door just last week to be delivered on time to our customers.

And we aren’t cutting corners to make this happen. Here’s one of our latest customer accolades:

“ I just wanted to drop you a short note to let you know that your staff is the best. We had a very special project that we were pressed to get done right and promptly. Christine in Publication Support was a tremendous asset in helping us make sure that we got the job done. Thank you so much for everything you and your staff do for parishes. I can’t tell you in a note how much you are all appreciated.”

— Doris, St. Patrick Parish

We are extremely proud of our teams in New Berlin, Cleveland, Hartford, Orlando, Dallas, and Las Vegas! They are all working incredibly hard these days and they’re doing an amazing job!

Reaching Out to Divine Mercy

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 15:04:55 GMT

On Divine Mercy Sunday, Jesus reveals the good news of his mercy and invites us to trust in him.

Between 1931 and 1938, Jesus appeared in Poland to Sister Faustina Kowalska revealing to her that he wanted her to tell the whole world how much he wanted to show mercy to sinners. At the urging of her superiors, Sister Faustina kept a diary of her conversations with our Lord which was eventually published under the title, Divine Mercy in My Soul.

In one appearance, Jesus asked that the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” Jesus told Sister Faustina, “On the day of my feast, the feast of mercy, you will go through the world and bring fainting souls to the spring of my mercy. I shall heal and strengthen them” ( Divine Mercy in My Soul #206).

And so, on April 30, 2000, Saint John Paul II honored our Lord’s request by declaring that the first Sunday after Easter would be celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday. Today’s gospel is especially fitting for this celebration.

If anyone was in need of mercy, it was Thomas. He wasn’t present when the Risen Jesus revealed himself to the other apostles. Because he didn’t see Jesus with his own eyes, he refused to believe.

The gospels do not tell us where Thomas was or what he was doing on that first Easter Sunday.

However, he was most likely walking the streets of Jerusalem listening to people talking about Jesus’ crucifixion. Some would have been saying how unjust it was. Others would have laughed at Jesus and his followers for believing in such nonsense. Wherever he was and whatever he was doing, the trauma of Jesus’ death was afflicting Thomas’ mind and heart. His spirit was crushed. He didn’t want to believe anymore.

Doesn’t this also describe the situation so many people find themselves in? We live in a time when people’s spirits are crushed. We experience much evil, deception, and cruelty in the world. Everywhere we turn we hear different opinions. We don’t know who to believe and begin to wonder what is true. We doubt, and like Thomas, we stray from the source of all truth — the Risen Christ and his Church. The longer we stay away, the deeper the roots of doubt sink within us. Eventually, we begin to lose hope.

That was the situation Thomas found himself in. He just could not bring himself to believe anymore. His heart was too broken.

How does Jesus react? Does he abandon Thomas to his fear and doubt? No. In his mercy, He appears to Thomas to relieve him of his burden of doubt, to heal his broken heart and to restore his faith.

That is what Jesus wants to do for us on Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus came to save sinners. He died on the cross so that all of us could find forgiveness. There is no sin so great that God cannot forgive it. And no one is so sinful that he or she cannot turn to Jesus and through his grace become a great saint. Jesus said as much to us through Sister Faustina when he said: “The greater the sinner, the more right he has to my mercy” ( Divine Mercy in My Soul #723) All we need to do is reach out to touch the wounds of our Risen Lord, and we will experience his infinite mercy.

—Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Eternal God,

In whom mercy is endless

And the treasury of compassion inexhaustible,

Look kindly upon us

And increase your mercy in us,

That in difficult moments

We may not despair or become despondent,

But with great confidence subject ourselves

To your holy will,

Which is love and mercy itself.

Amen.

( Divine Mercy in My Soul , 1570)

Easter Sunday and Object Permanence

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:27:58 GMT

When you play peekaboo with a very young baby who has not yet developed object permanence, you actually feel kind of mean. As soon as your hands obscure your face, their little eyes widen with alarm and their expression crumbles into confusion and despair.

Because they can no longer see you, they believe you no longer exist. Their little brains are unable to understand that just because a thing cannot be seen, it is still there, still alive, still full of love and care and protection.

Aw, man, you can hear them thinking. I guess I don’t have a mom anymore.

On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene sees the burial cloth but no body. Her human mind makes sense of the situation the best way it knows how, she assumes the Lord has been taken. I’m sure I would have thought the same thing, in her position.

She cannot conceive, on her own, the reality that Christ has risen from the dead. It doesn’t matter that he has told his disciples again and again that this will happen. They weren’t ready to understand then.

In many ways, Easter is when the human race really achieved object permanence. But we still struggle with it, don’t we? I certainly do. So often I can be heard accusing God: “You weren’t there. Where were you? I couldn’t find you.”

But I looked for him in the flesh. I looked for him in the stale yeast of the world — in money or success or affirmation or (worst of all) convenience and pleasure. Of course, I would not find him there, among the dead.

Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. — Colossians 3:2

©LPi

Introducing Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman — Writer of (Practicing) Catholic

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 13:00:11 GMT

https://www.4lpi.com/catholic-art-content LPi is pleased to present a new writer for our weekly reflection, (Practicing) Catholic , available in WeCreate — Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman. Dorman is an experienced writer in the Catholic community and beyond and has been contributing to LPi for years in many different ways! To introduce her to you here, we interviewed her about her life, writing practice, and faith. Here’s what she had to say!

Q. Where are you from and what is the name of your home parish? Tell us a little something about you.

A. I have lived in the greater Milwaukee area all my life. My family and I attend St. Eugene in Fox Point, the same parish where I was baptized, received my First Holy Communion, and was married. My children have all been baptized there as well — except for my son, who had a hospital baptism. St. Eugene is a really special place to me because of the history that my family has there. Growing up, we worshipped alongside my grandparents, aunt, and cousins at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each week, and that really impacted me. That’s why we have stayed there, because of my extended family. I want the same experience for my children. I want them to witness, every week, the people they love putting their faith first.

Q. Where do you draw your inspiration from for these reflections?

A. I’m extremely humbled to be writing these reflections, and I often find it a little daunting — who am I to be opining on the word of God? So, I always start with prayer. I offer all of the words I am going to write, and every action I am going to take, to the Blessed Mother and ask her to lay it at the feet of Jesus and pray that it will be a pleasing offering to him. I hope and pray that my inspiration is from the Holy Spirit but, anyone who reads the blog knows that so much of my perspective is shaped by my marriage and motherhood. That’s my particular path of discipleship — especially right now, when my children are young and require a great deal of physical care and attention. God is most present to me, speaking to me and teaching me, in the domestic life I share with the husband and children he has blessed me with.

Q. Do you have a favorite Bible story that you have enjoyed writing about and why?

A. Any of Christ’s miracles — they’re just so rich with symbolism, and there are so many different ways into each story.

Q. What is a fun fact about you?

A. Writing fiction used to be my biggest passion, and I always dream about being able to do that again. Maybe when the kids grow up…

Q. What has been an unexpected blessing that has come from your work on (Practicing) Catholic?

A. To sit down and reflect on the Sunday Mass readings, one after the other in a short span of time, has given me a profound appreciation for how the Liturgy of the Word is put together and how it flows so beautifully throughout the liturgical year. The readings are so complementary in so many surprising ways. They illuminate each other, and each week really builds on the message or theme of the last week. That’s something that never struck me quite this deeply before.

Q. Why do you think (Practicing) Catholic is important?

A. Whenever I write, whether I’m writing one of these reflections or working on another project, my prayer is that God will use the words to bring someone, somewhere, closer to him. Essentially, this is what makes anyone’s work important — whether you’re a doctor saving lives in the emergency department or a cashier at a grocery store. If you make an offering of what you do, it becomes important because God is working in it.

Q. What is a special Catholic tradition that you love?

A. Donuts after Mass. Oh, you mean, like, a real one? Okay, this is OG Catholic — the phrase “offer it up.” I love it so much. It’s my battle cry as I charge into a day of nonsense that I don’t feel like doing.

Q. How long have you worked as a writer for (Practicing) Catholic? And for LPi?

A. I have been writing for LPi for almost three years and have been working on the (Practicing) Catholic project since last year.

Q. What are some other ways you live out your faith?

A. I wish I could say I was one of those amazing, tireless volunteer types who devotes hours and hours to her parish or a worthy apostolate, but alas — this is not the season for that! Everything is very centered on my home and family for me at the moment. I will say, though, that I definitely feel that I live out my faith in the homeschooling of my children. It’s something that is challenging and time-consuming and little understood by others, but it’s a true vocation. It gives me true joy.

Q. What do you hope to pass along to our readers?

A. The reason I wanted to call these reflections (Practicing) Catholic is because I love the play on the word “practicing.” It implies training, preparation, a desire to constantly improve, and the reality of constant failure, too. We’re all Catholic, yes, but we’re all just practicing, right? Essentially, that is what I want our readers to take away from these reflections — that we are all works in progress. None of us gets it right all the time, but we have to invite God into the process.

Churches who print their bulletins with LPi have full access to WeCreate for free! If you don’t publish with us, reach out to us to get started. You can also purchase a subscription to WeCreate here .

Making Way for God

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 14:00:02 GMT

As Christ reclined at the Passover meal and his impending betrayal, I have to imagine at least one of the disciples thought to himself, incredulously and perhaps even indignantly: And you’re not going to do anything about it?

So often we expect God to behave like the frantic parent of a teenager, banging down the closed door of a bedroom filled with loud music. We expect him to be overbearing, snooping in our diary and waiting to ground us the minute we break curfew, desperate to keep us within the family fold, ready and willing to use judgment and force to do so.

It’s true that God greatly desires us to stay in friendship with him. But to accomplish it, he does not come to us as a meddler or an overlord. He comes in the same way he does on Palm Sunday. He waits for us to make way.

He may not be overbearing, but he is still devoted, and unfailingly patient. As the Palm Sundays of our lives — the moments of our devotion and piety — give way to the Holy Thursdays, when we inevitably deny him, God does not abandon us. The sacrifice on the cross is still there, waiting for us to accept it.

Say to daughter Zion, “Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” — Matthew 21:5

©LPi

The Revelation of the Burial Cloths

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 10:00:00 GMT

People want proof. Blind faith can be challenging, however, we know it is not only possible but actually a gift of great grace. One which, as Jesus tells the Apostle Thomas, blesses those who are able to believe without seeing (John 20:29). Yet, Jesus does wish us to see and believe and offers signs — moments that go beyond the miraculous to reveal something about who he truly is. There are seven signs in John’s Gospel. The Resurrection is the seventh. But where’s the proof? What can we see in today’s Gospel that offers irrefutable evidence as to Jesus’ resurrection versus an abduction of the body?

Let us focus on these two verses for our reflection, “When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” ( John 20:6-8 ).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (640) turns first our thoughts first to the empty tomb. “In itself it is not a direct proof of Resurrection; the absence of Christ’s body from the tomb could be explained otherwise. Nonetheless the empty tomb was still an essential sign for all.” Next, we focus on the burial cloths. In the Scriptures, when there is something important that demands special attention, it is often repeated. In John’s account of the Easter morning discoveries, we encounter the burial cloths, along with the words “saw and believed,” numerous times.

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament ’s commentary on John 20:7, speaks of “the napkin (the linen cloths, aka burial cloths) as “Corroborating evidence of the Resurrection. No thief would have taken the time to unwrap Jesus' corpse and fold his burial clothes neatly in the tomb. In any case, the grave robbers of antiquity usually stole the expensive linens and left the body behind, not the other way around.”

The Gospel of John ( Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture ) delves even deeper with their reflection on John 20:7.

“John’s description of the graveclothes suggests several important things about what happened to Jesus. The first, the presence of the burial cloths in the tomb refutes the speculation that Jesus’ body had been stolen, because grave robbers would not have unwrapped the corpse before stealing it. Second, the graveclothes point toward something unprecedented happening to Jesus through a contrast with the raising of Lazarus. When Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, Lazarus “came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth” (11:44), and Jesus then gave the order to unwrap him. But Jesus, who is not in the tomb, is not bound by the graveclothes or face cloth nor in need of anyone to untie him. Something radically different has happened to Jesus … Jesus’ resurrection is not resuscitation but God’s raising and transforming him to an immortal, glorified mode of existence …Third, the fact that the head covering was rolled up in a separate place suggests conscious, deliberate action. As Moloney points out, many verbs pertaining to what happened in the tomb, such as the stone being “removed” (20:1) and the face cloth being “rolled up” (20:7), are in the passive voice, which points to God as the agent. Jesus’ tomb is empty because God has directly acted here.”

Here's something minute but interesting to ponder regarding the way in which the burial cloths were left. Anyone who has lived with others, especially for three years, learns much about the manner in which they care for their belongings. Consider your college roommates or your own family, if you walked into the bathroom, would you know instantly who showered last by where (and how) you found their towel? Could we not then logically deduce, perhaps when Peter and John saw how the garment was arranged and left, they knew immediately who left it that way? Not to mention, how would a body — other than one risen from the dead — escape the cocoon-like wrappings of burial cloths hardened over the three days with about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes? Would a thief take the time to even remove the body from its wrappings or neatly roll the head covering?

We’ll conclude with these poignant words from John Bergsma ( The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Mass Readings for Solemnities and Feasts ), “It still requires faith to say “Amen” to the radical assertion, “The Body of Christ.” And this is part of God’s pedagogy: He reveals Himself clearly enough that we have reason to believe, but not so directly as to compel us and force our will. He always leaves room for us to exercise faith because He desires children who will trust Him, not servants forced to serve Him. Let’s come as children to this Eucharist, confident in the testimony of the Apostles Peter (in the first reading) and John (in the Gospel) that Christ has risen, and exercising faith to believe the Eucharist we receive is the same Body that was missing from the tomb.”

As Pope St. John Paul II reminded us in a 1986 Angelus address, “We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song! We are not looking for a shallow joy but rather a joy that comes from faith.” May you be blessed this Easter by believing without seeing, having recognized the greatest sign of why we can profess those words. The tomb is empty. Jesus is not dead, he is alive! Alleluia, Alleluia!

—Allison Gingras

PRAYER

My Lord and My God!

How awed by your Passion

how grateful for your salvific work upon the Cross.

My Lord and My God!

May Alleluia always be our song!

7 Ways to Use Stock Photography in Your Church’s Communications

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:00:11 GMT

Making use of stock photography from a resource like LPi’s WeCreate library of Catholic content can enhance your parish’s communication efforts. Here are 7 ways to use stock photos like a pro to communicate more effectively with your vibrant community.

1. Church Website — When choosing photographs to accompany the information on your church’s website, you should consider these 5 examples of photos every parish needs . However, if you haven’t built up your parish’s custom photo library yet, stock photos are a great option to get your message across. Even if you already use a lot of your own photography, stock photography is a great tool to fill in any imagery gaps that you may have.

2. Church Bulletin — Sometimes there’s an article in the bulletin that could use a beautiful image to go with it. Whether you print in color or in black and white , adding a professionally captured photograph can elevate a bulletin article from mediocre to awesome!

3. Advertising for Events & Programs — Whether for Confirmation preparation classes, a support group meeting, or a parish retreat, churches are in constant need of new posters, packets, and flyers. Using beautiful stock photography in their design can save you time and make these communications look as professional as possible.

4. Social Media Posts — The same goes with your social media posts. You may be advertising an event or simply sharing a thought on social media. Either way, intentionally including some nice stock photography will make the post more effective.

5. Ministry Brochures — Are you printing brochures for different ministries, initiatives, and more? No need to constantly ask parishioners for photos of events and ministries to include because we’ve got you covered. Need a trifold about your parent group or food drive? Search our Catholic stock photography library in WeCreate to quickly find images you can use!

6. Church Blog — Blog posts are a perfect example of a communication method for which people regularly use stock photos. In fact, some have found that content which includes a relevant photograph receives a whopping 90%+ more views .

7. Church Newsletter — Does your parish send out a newsletter to parishioners? Maybe a specific ministry, like the youth ministry, emails or hands out a printed monthly newsletter to its members. Using stock photography to enhance the design of a newsletter can save you time and energy while also making your newsletter more appealing to those on the receiving end!

We are constantly adding to our stock photography collection in WeCreate to cover all of your church’s content needs. This being said, we are always interested in finding new parishes to photograph. If your community is interested in volunteering to host an LPi stock photography photo shoot, contact us and maybe we’ll have one of our photographers set it up!

Offerings

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 15:00:04 GMT

Offer it up. My grandmother used this phrase with her children, and my mother, in turn, used it with me. It’s a kind of verbal heirloom, a gift of wisdom from a generation that knew suffering all too well.

We know it to be true that God will work through our suffering if we invite him to. We know it and we have seen it — we have only to look at Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary.

But, often, I invite God into my suffering only to tell Him where I want Him to stand. I make an offering of suffering but expect God to do something very specific with it. Teach me this, please. Give me this specific grace. Show me this specific answer.

The happy ending in today’s Gospel is not the alleviation of the sorrow Martha and Mary feel because it isn’t alleviated, Lazarus is still human, and death still awaits him. Someday, his sisters will have to mourn at his tomb. That loss and pain will not be avoided.

The happy ending is that he is resurrected now , and in doing so, brings so many to belief. The happy ending is that Martha and Mary do not abandon discipleship because things didn’t work out exactly the way that they wanted. They run out to meet Christ, eyes dim with tears. They fling themselves into his company and onto his providence.

They made an offering of their suffering, and their happy ending is that their offering was accepted.

“You are not in the flesh, on the contrary, you are in the spirit.” — Romans 8:9

©LPi

Participating in the Mysteries

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 10:00:02 GMT

The African American spiritual, “Were You There?” is deeply moving and widely used especially at this time in the liturgical year. We’ve heard it so often in churches over the years, but I fear that some (perhaps even me) have lost touch with the meaning behind this spiritual. We will participate venerating the cross during the Good Friday liturgy, but I fear that others (perhaps me included) may have fallen into the mechanics of the ritual without heartfully reflecting on the deeply piercing question from the song, “were you there?”

The question is posed in the second-person past tense, indicative mood. Most of us speak English without thinking about tense and mood, but in this case the distinction is important. The indicative mood is a verb form you use to make declarative statements that you assume to be factually accurate, such as when you ask a question in the form of a statement or state an opinion as if it were a fact. The question isn’t “Did you hear about this?” or “Did you read the headline?” or “Have you seen this story trending?” From a lyrical analysis standpoint , the author may have been asking the question in a literal sense, implying that the event should be remembered as if the listener had been physically present.

For us today, how can we be really present to an historical event that happened thousands of years before any of us were born? Isn’t the reading of the Passion in today’s Gospel merely a commemoration of that event? How does an event of the past have any bearing on my present circumstances or future trajectory?

The late Pope Benedict XVI gives us a clue. He writes:

“Jesus is nailed to the Cross. The shroud of Turin gives us an idea of the unbelievable cruelty of this procedure. Jesus does not drink the numbing gall offered to him: he deliberately takes upon himself all the pain of the Crucifixion. His whole body is racked; the words of the Psalm have come to pass: “But I am a worm and no man, scorned by men, rejected by the people” (Ps 22:7). “As one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised... surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Is 53:3f.). Let us halt before this image of pain, before the suffering Son of God. Let us look upon him at times of presumptuousness and pleasure, in order to learn to respect limits and to see the see the superficiality of all merely material goods. Let us look upon him at times of trial and tribulation, and realize that it is then that we are closest to God. Let us try to see his face in the people we might look down upon. As we stand before the condemned Lord, who did not use his power to come down from the Cross, but endured its suffering to the bitter end, another thought comes to mind. Ignatius of Antioch, (died circa 120 A.D.) a prisoner in chains for his faith in the Lord, praised the Christians of Smyrna for their invincible faith: he says that they were, so to speak, nailed with flesh and blood to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1). Let us nail ourselves to him, resisting the temptation to stand apart, or to join others in mocking him.”

But it is only Palm Sunday. The events of Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection will be played out again in our liturgical remembrances in the coming days. Rather than merely “attend the services” of Holy Triduum, maybe we can “participate in the mysteries” in a way we’ve never done before, so as to experience their fruits … in a way never experienced before … because “we were there.”

— Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,

you let yourself be nailed to the Cross,

accepting the terrible cruelty of this suffering,

the destruction of your body and your dignity.

You allowed yourself to be nailed fast;

you did not try to escape or to lessen your suffering.

May we never flee from what we are called to do.

Help us to remain faithful to you.

Help us to unmask the false freedom

which would distance us from you.

Help us to accept your “binding” freedom,

and, “bound” fast to you, to discover true freedom.

From: h ttps://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2005/via_crucis/en/station_11.html

Priests Won’t Ask for Bitcoin — Avoid These Common Scams Directed at Catholics

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:00:01 GMT

With the prevalence of easy-to-access technology and the vast variety of ways people communicate these days, the pervasiveness of people who make it their mission to scam people out of money using digital trickery is only increasing. We collected some of the most common scams that are directed specifically toward Catholics as well as how to identify and avoid them in order to protect yourself from online criminals.

Scammers Using Email

One of the most frequent scams Catholics encounter is scammers posing as their parish priests over email and asking for money or gift cards. This type of email communication is not something your parish priest will do. Scammers work ahead of time to find out the name and email address of a community’s pastor and then create their own, similar email address hoping that their victims won’t notice that the email isn’t coming directly from the pastor’s actual email. The email might even include the receiver’s name or other identifying information, deepening the confusion. The initial emails often look like a harmless note, similar to the following:

“Hi, Jennifer, how are you doing?
I need a favor from you, email me as soon as you get this message.

God Bless,

Fr. John Franklin ”

“Hi Dan,

How are you?

I have an urgent matter that I need to discuss with you.

Please let me know when you get this.

Peace,

Fr. John Franklin”

Messages may even be more complex like:

“Hello Nancy,

I need a favor from you, email me as soon as you get this message! I’m in a retreat meeting right now and only have access to email so that’s why I’m contacting you through here. I should have called you instead of emailing you, but phones aren’t allowed at this retreat at the moment.

Talk to you soon,

Fr. John Franklin S.J”

Once the first email is sent, if the recipient responds to the email the scammer will then go on to ask for money. This ask may come in the form of gift cards, crypto-currency like bitcoin, wire money transfers, or donations. The money ask may seem to be for the pastor, themselves, the church, or another ministry. It is important to always check with the parish office to verify that any out-of-the-ordinary email or communication from your pastor is, indeed, from your pastor.

Scammers Using Instagram and Other Social Media Profiles

Another way criminals target Catholics online is through fraudulent social media profiles. A common tactic is for a spammer to create a profile using the name and images of an existing religious person. This could be a sister or a priest or even a bishop. Once the fake account is created they will send messages with requests for prayers and engagement. If you engage they will ask for money or to connect on a different app like WhatsApp. Beware of anyone asking to connect on WhatsApp, this is an app scammers love to use. Sometimes scammers will just simply try to trick you into clicking a link. For example, you may receive a message from them that merely says, “Hey is this you in this video?” They will include a link with the hopes that you will be curious and click it. Don’t click it!

Other messages we’ve seen:

“The Lord said that you should sow a seed of Faith to THE MOTHERLESS BABY HOME before the end of three days to attract Diviner and Spiritual Breakthrough in your life. There is power in sowing (Deu 24:15). Just contact them on WhatsApp: +2348098247698. God bless you!”

“Good afternoon!

This is Sister Katherine Marie and I just got out of class. Please, I would like to be receiving motivational quotes and prayers from you if you don’t mind. I hear about you a lot and your community is blessed to have you and your great faith in God. Please send me an email at my Gmail: steve.kafm25@gmail.com. I would like to regularly hear from you.

Blessings!”

Scammers calling/texting parishioner’s phones

If someone calls your phone claiming to be from your parish and asks for credit card information, gift cards, or for your other personal information, be suspicious! Your church office will NOT call you asking for your credit card over the phone. If you give digitally to your church every month you should only be updating your payment and personal information via the secure online portal your church uses for such payments.

If you receive such a call, we suggest you decline and then go into your church office to ask about the request in person . If they were not the ones making the request you can report the suspicious behavior so church staff can spread the word.

Ways to Protect Yourself and Your Community

Be suspicious of any communication that is out of the ordinary.
Ask other church officials or trusted sources about the communication. If possible, contact the person in question via a different form of communication.
Make it a personal rule to never give out any personal information like your credit cards, passwords, etc., to anyone over any form of person-to-person messaging like email, Facebook Messenger, or even over the phone. Verify everything!
Carefully check any email addresses that claim to be from your pastor or someone in leadership at your church to verify that the email is, indeed, coming from that person’s EXACT email address.
Do not click any links without being sure they are from a trusted source and you know exactly where they are leading!
Do not engage with messages that are suspicious. Do not text or email back! Report suspicious social media profiles to the platform you where you found them. For example, if someone is posing as your priest on Facebook and asking for gift cards, report the profile to Facebook using the company’s reporting process. In fact, knowing how to report spam and criminal activity on the different social media platforms is essential !
Report all suspicious communications to your parish’s staff. It is likely that if scammers are targeting one person at your parish, they are also targeting others who might not be as well informed. Your parish staff can spread the word!
File a report through the Federal Trade Commission. You can use their easy-to-use reporting webpage to help the FTC detect patterns of abuse and fraud.
Run an article in your church bulletin, on your website, and on your parish’s social media about any scams that are going around! WeCreate offers SCAM alert graphics that you can use to draw attention to any announcements you need to make of this nature!

Ultimately, if you receive a message in any way from someone claiming to be somebody you know or someone in leadership at your parish, and they ask for an immediate transfer of money, gift cards, or your personal information, assume it is a scammer and do not engage with them!

A God Who Weeps with Us

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 10:00:01 GMT

“And Jesus wept.” — John 11:35

It strikes me every time I read the story of Lazarus’ resurrection. Of all the amazing and surprising things to occur in this Gospel passage — dead man walking! (well, dead man hopping, really) — it is this small detail that never fails to catch my eye, never fails to compel me and confound me.

Why did Jesus weep?

He knows the ending of the story. He knows Lazarus will be raised. So why does he weep?

Several years ago, I suffered a miscarriage. It was very early in the pregnancy, and so the news came to our older children all at once: there was a baby, and now the baby is gone. They understood and they did not understand. They nodded wisely at our words, accepting the information, absorbing it, wrapping their minds around this blessing-become-loss. They held the idea of a younger sibling in their mind, turning it over and inspecting it — I saw this in their eyes — and they did not know quite what to do with such a thing as great happiness that becomes great sorrow. Do any of us, really?

We still talk often about the baby that we lost — Julian, we named him — and he is a presence in their minds that makes himself known whenever we confront the subjects of suffering, pain, sadness, and loss.

“Why did God want Julian to die?” my daughter asked me recently, and I hastened to explain that God did not want Julian to die. “But why wasn’t he born, then?” she asked, shaking her head in confusion.

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Both Martha and Mary say this to Jesus when he comes to them in their grief. They don’t say it as reproach, but as testimony: their faith is great that, had Jesus been present, he would not have stood by and watched his friend suffer, and done nothing.

But Jesus was not there. He delayed in the place where he was, and Lazarus died, and now Martha and Mary have to face a future of uncertainty without the protection and companionship of their brother.

And when at last Jesus finally comes to Bethany, the sisters kneel before him and reaffirm their faith in Jesus’ love for them and in his power over life and death. And they accept that this was a power he did not use for their benefit, even though he could have. They accept their suffering.

The women had no expectations. We see that over and over again — they believe clearly that Jesus can bring their brother back, but they don’t dare to dream that he will. “If you had been here,” they say. If you had been here. If you had been here .

And Jesus wept — as if to say: I am here now .

Any suffering that we offer to God, he will sit with us and weep over. And he will accept our offering and take it and transform it from a meaningless pain into a force for good. He most often does this in ways we cannot see and cannot know — not here on earth, and not all at once. We could not bear the knowledge. It would be too much.

So, we understand, but we do not understand.

I could not tell my daughter why Julian was not born. As human beings, we are handicapped by our earthly comprehension of power. If God has the ability to make something easy, we say, then why doesn’t he do it? If God can prevent pain, isn’t it awful of him not to? And in fact, doesn’t that redirect the blame for every misfortune, every loss, every evil in this world to the feet of the One who could have kept it all from happening in the first place?

God can do anything. Can’t he make a world where we don’t suffer?

But my friends, he has . And he has invited us there. And until we can go, he will sit with us in this world — this broken, sinful, dying world — and he will weep.

—Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

Gracious and holy Father,

grant us the intellect to understand you,

reason to discern you, diligence to seek you,

wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you,

a heart to meditate upon you.

May our ears hear you, may our eyes behold you,

and may our tongues proclaim you.

Give us grace that our way of life may be pleasing to you,

that we may have the patience to wait for you

and the perseverance to look for you.

Grant us a perfect end—your holy presence,

a blessed resurrection and life everlasting.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

— Prayer of St. Benedict

Introducing Catholic Stock Photography from LPi

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 14:00:04 GMT

Looking for photography and images that accurately capture and depict Catholic life and liturgy? Look no further! We have produced over 4000 stock photographs for you to use in your parish’s bulletin, website, program advertisements, and however else you can think of to use them! LPi’s collection of Catholic content, WeCreate, now has a searchable library of stock photography images for all of our bulletin customers and subscribers to drop right into their projects! Here are some teasers of what you can find under some of the searchable labels in this expansive collection. If your church is already printing with LPi, great news — you have access to ALL of these stock photos inside of WeCreate. If not, subscribe here.

Sacraments — We are continuously adding to both our staged and candid photos of the Sacraments! Just search the name of the sacrament you are searching for stock photos of and scroll through all the beautiful imagery!

Sacramentals — Every celebration and tradition has those items that are special to practicing Catholics. Search for them by their name — for example, palms — or by the name of the liturgical practice they are associated with, which, in this case, would be Palm Sunday.

Mass — Explore images of people from different communities praying together and celebrating Mass. Scrolling through these photographs showcases the beautiful diversity of our Catholic faith!

Priests — Inside WeCreate you will find stock images of priests from all over the country! Pair your search for “priest” with another search query like “reconciliation” to dial in on the specific type of priest image you want. Looking for images of people from a different type of religious vocation? You can also search for deacon, sister, and more.

Eucharist — From Eucharistic Adoration to celebrating the Eucharist as Mass, we have a plethora of stock images to help you reach your community with the good news of Jesus!

Architecture — Our collection of photographs of beautiful church architecture continues to grow. Is your church building special? Maybe we already have photos of it!

Statues & Art — Looking to represent a specific saint or well known image to accompany an article in your church bulletin or website? Want to find unique Catholic art photography? We continue to add to this portion of our stock photography collection!

Liturgical Dates/Holy Days — We have images of Catholic celebrations from multiple communities and traditions! Search for the name of the Holy Day or specific tradition to narrow down your search.

Community — We have a plethora of images depicting a wide variety of community activities including families, youth, and people of all ages in many different locations !

We are always interested in finding new parishes to photograph. If your community is interested in volunteering to host an LPi stock photography photo shoot, contact us to discuss the possibilities!

Not As Man Sees

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 13:35:01 GMT

I don’t know Fr. Stu personally, but I’ve heard a fair number of his homilies. I think it is safe to assume that if he and I were to get into a discussion on any number of things, from church history to liturgical music to stand-up comedy, each of us would cringe at the opinions of the other.

But Fr. Stu happens to offer just about the only confession time within 20 miles of me that consistently works with my schedule. That means that, quite by accident, Fr. Stu is my regular confessor. For years now, he’s sat patiently on the other side of the grille, listening to me pour out the details of my transgressions, from the pathetic to the embarrassing, and he absolves me of my sins.

In the Gospel, Christ links vision with humility and pride with blindness. We see again and again in Scripture how God delights in surprising us, in revealing himself through people, places, and experiences we not only didn’t expect but perhaps had totally written off.

We are right to be proud of the truth, but we are wrong if the truth causes us to be proud of ourselves. The truth no more belongs to the one who believes it than sight belongs to the blind man in the Gospel. A gift does not reflect on the recipient. It reflects on the giver.

After a great deal of thought, I’ve decided to be grateful that God contrived to give me a confessor whom I strongly disagree with on so many things. It’s a powerful reminder of how much I must receive from other people, even those I may think are wrong. In that confessional, Fr. Stu is only a priest, and I am only a sinner.

“Not as man sees does God see.” — 1 Samuel 16:7

©LPi

The Messiah Before You

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 15:00:00 GMT

If you would have asked me on the morning of my confirmation what the chances were of the Holy Spirit getting into my heart, I would have told you they were about the same as getting water from a stone.

My faith was fragile at this time in my life, primarily because I viewed it as exactly that — my faith. Something within my possession and subject to my own power. And I hadn’t done the things I thought I needed to do in order to be the kind of Christian who knows the truth and lives it. I was waiting to be made stronger. I was waiting to be made more faithful. I was waiting for a transformation.

Little did I know, I was like the woman at the well, standing around talking about the coming of the Messiah, unaware that he was standing right in front of me. She wasn’t ready; she was still living in her sin. She was caught so unawares that she left her water jar at the well, rushing out to tell what she had seen.

When I was anointed with the oil it no longer mattered that I wasn’t strong enough to break open the stone that I was convinced encased my heart — God’s grace gushed forth through the cracks. While I certainly didn’t become a perfect Christian — and never will, in this life — I did learn that when God tells you to strike, it’s probably best not to second-guess Him.

“We boast in the glory of God… and hope does not disappoint.” Romans 5:2-5

©LPi

A Journey of Preparation

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 11:00:00 GMT

You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

—Ephesians 5:8-10

For those involved parish faith formation, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent are, in many ways, among the most important celebrations of the entire year. These are the Sundays of the Scrutinies, ancient and meaningful rituals that are an essential part of the OCIA (the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, also known as the RCIA).

As the Elect look forward to being received into the Church at the Easter Vigil through Baptism, Confirmation, and receiving the Eucharist, these Sundays provide the rest of us with a perspective on what the Season of Lent is really all about: preparing to renew our baptismal vows at Easter. Unfortunately, many of us don’t always understand that preparation for baptism and the renewal of our baptismal commitments as being the ultimate goal of our Lenten penance and good works.

The liturgies for these Sundays, however, are all oriented to helping us reflect on the gift and grace of baptism. The prayers, the readings at Mass (especially the Gospels), and the rites of the Scrutinites all teach (or, at least, remind us) that conversion is an ongoing process. These days aren't only about the Elect and the Candidates for Full Communion, these are the celebrations of the entire Church.

On the Fourth Sunday of Lent — Laetare Sunday — with its rose-colored vestments and joyful tones, we hear the story of the “man born blind” from the Gospel of John (9:1-41). In this story about being enlightened, Jesus gives the gift of sight to a man who was blind from birth, empowering and enabling him to see, for the first time, his parents, the people of his community, the wonders of creation, and, most especially, the face of the Savior who was standing right before him.

In John’s account of this event, the evangelist sets up an interesting parallel in this story. On the one hand, we have the blind man who, without any action on his part, is healed by Jesus. On the other, we have the crowd, including the righteous, believing observers who, it turns out, can’t see the wonder and the truth of the one who stands before them. The physical blindness of the man-born-blind is not the real disability in this story. Instead, it is the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual blindness of those who condemn Jesus and refuse to open their minds and hearts to the truth of his message.

As we reflect on this story, we are invited to consider Jesus’ words at the end of the passage. Responding to the Pharisees who ask, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus replies, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.”

When we believe we have all the answers or know all that we need to know, we can, like the Pharisees, lose the ability to see how God is at work in our lives and in the world around us. The blind man, however, didn’t have these pretensions — he was open to what Jesus was asking of him. After reading that he allowed Jesus to put mud on his eyes and washed in the pool of Siloam (a reference to baptism), we realize that it wasn't just his eyes that have been opened, his heart has been opened as well. This is why he is able to declare, “I do believe, Lord.” As Saint Augustine of Hippo reflected, “See how [the blind man] becomes the herald of grace. See how he preaches the gospel. See how, once he is endowed with sight, he becomes a witness. That blind man testified, and the ungodly were troubled in their hearts because they did not have in their own hearts what they saw in him” (from Tractates on the Gospel of John ).

The rose colors of this Sunday remind us that we are now more than halfway through the Season of Lent. As we continue our Lenten journey, we would do well to pause reflect on how our Lenten penances and good works are helping us have a right perspective and to prepare to renew our baptismal promises at Easter.

— Bro. Silas Henderson, SDS

PRAYER

By your grace,

O Lord,

make us stick to our resolutions,

act with courage,

remain constant in devotion,

extend forgiveness without measure,

love without ceasing,

and live ever in your friendship.

Enable us, with your help,

to put on Christ,

and to manifest him to others

and bear witness to him in the world. Amen.

(from The New Saint Joseph People’s Prayer Book, Catholic Book Publishing Company)

Simple Integrations that Add Value to Your Church Website

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 15:00:07 GMT

A web integration is a tool used by web designers to pull information from another system or website directly into your own website. This information can be updated remotely and automatically populates your site. This might seem confusing, complicated, and technical but, in fact, it is the opposite! At LPi, we’ve created specific drag-and-drop web integrations for our customers that are designed to make their lives easier when they are using WeConnect to build their websites . These useful tools take most of the manual work out of the process of updating certain aspects of your website with new and engaging content. Still not sure what we mean? Read on for examples of web integrations that we’ve created to make keeping your website new and relevant effortless!

Bulletin Widget — a web integration with the Parishes Online Directory.

Every week, when your bulletin editor submits your bulletin to print, your bulletin will automatically be sent to your church’s listing on Parishes Online . If you drop the Bulletin Widget into your website, it will always display your newest bulletin, updating your website for you so that you can sit back and look like a master web designer. The bulletin widget is most effective when it’s featured on your homepage so that those visiting your website can easily access all of the information that you carefully compile into your bulletin each week. Bonus — This web integration is designed in a neutral, modern way so that it will always look professional alongside your church’s brand . We also developed this brochure to teach you more about how to add this important web integration to your website.

Saints & Gospel Integrations

The Weekly Gospel Widget is an integration that includes one of the new beautiful gospel illustrations we have been releasing in 2023 along with an excerpt from the Gospel. This is already formatted to look lovely on your website.

The Saint of the Week Integration is another widget that we debuted in 2023 that includes a short biography of a saint or, saint in the making, as well as one of the custom illustrations of that holy person created by our art and content team.

These can be found within the “weekly content” section of the WeConnect menu. We have an option to select the Weekly Gospel , the Saint of the Week , or both. The best part about these integrations is that you only have to drag and drop them once into your website builder and they will automatically update with new content created weekly by us at LPi.

Google Calendar

This drag-and-drop integration incorporates your church’s live Google calendar of events right into your website. This way you can add an “events” tab to your homepage menu that links directly to a beautiful page on your site the features a constantly updated and easy to navigate view of your parish’s upcoming events. After incorporating this integration, every time you add items to your calendar it will automatically populate that part of your website! The same goes for any time you might delete an event — it will automatically delete from your website too. Simple and easy!

Fillable Forms

When you need to collect information from your parishioners, we have you covered with our Fillable Forms Integration. For example, you can easily embed a “subscribe to our blog,” “contact us,” or “register for this event” form to collect the information you need, and it works with a number of popular form sites and tools. We are also fully equipped to integrate with MailChimp and Constant Contact and can even connect with Google Sheets to compile the data you collect. All you have to do is create your form, then follow the prompts in our drag and drop fillable forms integration!

Social Media

We have a web integration for Instagram and Twitter that you can easily drop into your website anywhere you like. For example, you can share your Twitter feed so that visitors to your website can see the up-to-date content you are tweeting out. The same goes for Instagram! We have a widget that allows you to share your Instagram photo gallery

directly to your website. The gallery is updated whenever your parish posts new photos to Instagram!

Making use of web integrations when building your website will take a lot of the headache out of the web design process. If you’ve used any of these integrations in your website and want to show off how great it looks, tag us in a post on your Facebook or Twitter account with a link to your homepage — we’d love to see it!

Sacred Illusions

Fri, 03 Mar 2023 11:00:00 GMT

It all really boils down to whether we believe the Lord is in our midst. A simple response of “yes” creates the seedbed for faith and paves the way for dismantling some of the illusions we desperately cling to. We harbor illusions that inhibit our pathways not only to God but to one another. Illusions of separateness, superiority, and self-sufficiency are but a few. We all too easily forget what water we need to drink, where to find God’s presence, what we need to grow in faith, and how God acts in the lives of those he loves.

The illusions we cling to keep our eyes focused on the things of this world, causing us to believe that we are somehow responsible for our own happiness or independent contractors negotiating our way through life. These illusions, that veil the greater truth of who we are, cause us to live with dichotomies and separateness. We find ourselves falsely believing that God is here and not there, what is mine is not yours, that more is better than less, and that I have some kind of “earned” privilege over you. An illusion of arrogance makes us believe we are creators of our own destiny and better than others who may look and live differently than we do.

St. Augustine , having wrestled with his own “ego demons,” states, “Sin is believing the lie that you are self-created, self-dependent, and self-sustained.” When we are thirsty for some measure of well-being or satisfaction we tend to look for an earthly well out of which to draw water. There must be something we don’t have and must get in order to satisfy this thirsty ache we feel deep within. And so, off we go looking for the latest pleasure, most immediate satisfaction, or place of refuge where our egos can get the boost they crave. Yet, we still thirst and the sin that convinces us that our own merits matter most continues to propel us to seek more earthly wells.

What we need is living water. If we listen carefully, as our Lenten season directs, we can easily discover that we are in want and need. We know our incompleteness and also know that loneliness, sadness, and distorted self-images can propel us outward in attempts to fill those gaps, those thirsts. We can become not only victims of our own prejudices but can find ourselves overly self-indulgent in things that can only satisfy for a short time if at all. It is no wonder that money and power are things that are so fervently sought after and defended. As long as we can keep a steady supply going, the illusion of fulfillment and satisfaction can falsely persuade us as craftily as a master magician’s act. We live with illusions not truth.

St. Augustine is most correct in his assessment of the lie. Whether we admit it, the lies we believe and pursue will ultimately expose our superficiality. We need to learn how to listen more deeply to what God is echoing in our hearts.

As long as we continue to live in the boxes the illusion of separateness brings, we will never discover the life-giving water we truly need. God can be found in the most amazing and unsuspecting of places and in the least likely of people and circumstances. But, if we limit where we look to discover the truth of God and of who we are, we will miss many opportunities and moments of grace. It is easy to fall victim to the world’s illusion that we can handle this human journey without God. This distorts our relationships and removes us from the true axis of our lives.

Only God can reveal the truth of our sinfulness, the superficiality of many of our pursuits and the illusions we hold so dear. Only Jesus can save us from ourselves and give us what we really need. St. John Paul II reminds us that, “The greatest deception and the deepest source of illusion is the illusion of finding joy by excluding God, of finding freedom by excluding moral truths and personal responsibility.” Our technological world allows us access to a tremendous amount of information and stimulations, to possess and accumulate things, and to accomplish many tasks. We have become less the stewards God intended us to be and more the consumers we were warned not to be. It is difficult for us to face our illusions and dependencies. They are so engrained in daily life and held by many around us.

As human beings, we do not like change. But, when it’s all said and done what is it we really want to achieve? Is it greater status, financial wealth and security, more popularity or power? Do we measure ourselves purely with an earthly yardstick or is something deeper seeking our attention in the midst of life’s busyness? Do you want to stay with the status quo of life, or do you want to set sail into the wonderfulness of the surprises God has in store? Illusions keep us stuck and keep our eyes focused on what is below us.

When you are feeling unsettled, empty, a bit unfulfilled or frustrated, to what well do you journey to quench that thirst? Is it one constructed by human hands or by God’s?

—Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

My Lord God,

help me understand that you are my God,

the limitless source of unconditional love and mercy,

who fashioned and created me in my mother’s womb.

You alone knit together every fabric of my being

and gave me life in this time and place.

May I have the faith and courage to put aside

my dependencies on created things

and to see the utter dependency of my life,

my soul, and the very blood that flows through my veins

as being on You.

You love me more than any earthly love

and more than I love myself.

This love alone sustains my life both now

and in the world to come.

As attached as I am to this world,

help me know that this world is only my ship

and not my home.

I am on an exciting journey to other times

and other places with new unfolding surprises

You have in store for me.

My true home is found with You.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Long Walk

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:28:54 GMT

The walk down from Mount Tabor after the Transfiguration must have been a long one for Peter, James, and John. How differently they must have viewed the world with the eyes that had seen what they had just seen. How uncertain they must have been.

I think it’s important to remember that, on the mountain, they were amazed, yes — but first, they were afraid. We are given the image of these three grown men — these saints, these giants of salvation history — cowering in fear at the voice of God. It was not until Jesus touched them that they could even bear to look up.

Christ was transfigured on Tabor, but in a way, the disciples were transfigured as well. We are all changed by what we see and what we hear. That change can be hard because knowledge is hard. Truth is hard. Sometimes cowering is easier.

Go forth, God told Abram. I will make of you a great nation.

Rise, Christ told his disciples. And do not be afraid.

I spend too much time cowering in fear at the voice of God. I cower even when the voice whispers into my heart instead of booming from the clouds. When it’s the start of a hard day or a tough conversation. When it’s the middle of a half-finished battle, big or small. When I know where Christ is and what he is asking, but I’m afraid because the walk down the mountain is so long, and the world that awaits me is so uncertain.

“Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.” — Psalm 33

©LPi

Introducing Lupita Vital — Our Spanish Gospel Meditation Writer

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 17:14:38 GMT

This interview is posted in both Spanish (first) and English (second). For the English version, simply scroll down.

Presentamos a Lupita Vital Cruz — Nuestra escritora de las meditaciones del Evangelio en español

LPi se complace en presentar a nuestros lectores a Lupita Vital, nuestra autora desde hace mucho tiempo de las meditaciones del Evangelio disponibles en español en WeCreate . Ella recibió la medalla P ro Ecclesia et Pontifice de la Santa Sede , otorgado a los laicos y el clero por su destacado servicio a la Iglesia Católica. Autora publicada, también tiene múltiples títulos de diversas instituciones y actualmente es la directora del Apostolado Hispano de la Diócesis de San José, California. Para presentársela, la entrevistamos acerca de su vida y experiencia como escritora. Esto es lo que ella compartió con nosotros.

P. ¿De dónde eres y cuál es el nombre de tu iglesia local?
R . Soy de Jalostotitlán Jalisco, México. Sin embargo, crecí en Guadalajara, Jalisco México. Aunque, a veces me gusta contestar que soy de todas partes.
Mi iglesia local es el Sagrado Corazón de Jesús y Santa María Goretti en San José, California. En mi pueblo natal es la Parroquia de la Asunción y en Guadalajara es Santa Clara de Asís.

P. ¿Por cuánto tiempo has trabajado como escritora de estas meditaciones del Evangelio?

R. Pues, no recuerdo exactamente. Lo único que sé es que me encanta hacerlo, disfruto mucho meditar la Palabra de Dios y compartirla con ustedes.

P. ¿De dónde obtienes la inspiración cada semana o de dónde viene esa inspiración para cada semana?

R. Parte de la inspiración viene como un Don dado por Dios a mi vida. Desde pequeña mis padres acostumbraban leer el Evangelio todas las noches después de rezar en familia el Rosario. Y a mí me encantaba escuchar la historia de los Evangelios. Leer, escuchar y hacer oración con la Palabra de Dios, también me inspira cada semana.

P. ¿Tiene una historia del Evangelio favorita sobre la que haya disfrutado escribir y por qué?

R. Una de tantas favoritas es la de María Magdalena, quien de madrugada fue corriendo hacia la tumba del Señor en la mañana de la Resurrección, buscando a su Señor, hasta encontrarlo. Me arde en el corazón, como a los discípulos del camino de Emaús, el diálogo entre Jesús y María. La respuesta de María y su compromiso de anunciar al Resucitado, me inspira para reflexionar en las otras historias y parábolas del Evangelio.

P. ¿Cuéntanos un hecho divertido sobre ti?

R. Entiendo, que, esta pregunta es sobre un hecho al escribir las reflexiones. Pues, una vez terminé mis reflexiones y me sentí muy feliz. Pero, me di cuenta que había escrito las reflexiones del ciclo pasado. Si, así como lo lees. Me reí tome la tarde de descanso y al día siguiente comencé de nuevo. Creo que el Señor Jesús también descansó y disfrutó conmigo el hecho de haberme equivocado.

P. ¿Cuál ha sido una bendición inesperada que has recibido al trabajar en las meditaciones del Evangelio?

R. Nunca pensé que, al hacer este ministerio de las meditaciones del Evangelio, se sintiera la presencia de Dios en mi vida tan real. Y eso es una bendición. Compartir lo que me inspira, el Espíritu Santo con todos ustedes, es otra gran bendición. El que muchas personas tengan alcance a estas meditaciones es una bendición para ellas y para mí.

P. ¿Por qué crees que es importante que LPi ofrezca contenido escrito en español desde una perspectiva católica hispana?

R. Porque es una bendición que muchas personas tengan alcance en su propio idioma de leer y meditar el Evangelio de cada domingo de una manera sencilla y entendible para aplicarlo a su vida cotidiana. Además, es importante poder seguir las enseñanzas del Evangelio y de la Iglesia Católica en una sociedad bombardeada de tanta cosa que nos agobia distrayendo nuestra vida espiritual. El Evangelio desde la perspectiva católica nos libera y nos acerca a Dios.

P. ¿Cuál es una tradición católica especial que amas?

R. Son varias tradiciones. Una es la celebración de la Virgen de Guadalupe, porque se celebra dentro del Adviento. El Vía Crucis que nos prepara para celebrar el Triduo Pascual. Y el Santo Rosario que nos lleva a meditar en el Misterio de Cristo y nos acerca a María, nuestra Madre, que nos ama con ternura.

P. ¿Cuáles son algunos de los desafíos que enfrentan los católicos hispanoamericanos?

R. El idioma, la inmigración constante, el racismo, la de falta de sacerdotes hispanos en algunas diócesis del país, la vivienda y recursos adecuados para la salud, líderes laicos que terminen su educación teológica y sirvan de puente entre las culturas que existen en la Iglesia católica y en la sociedad.

P. ¿Qué esperas trasmitir a nuestros lectores?

R. Que se enamoren del Señor Jesús y de su Palabra, que vivan con esperanza. Y que sientan que Dios los quiere y acepta tal como son. Que sean cristianos comprometidos, promotores de la paz y la justicia. Como dice el Papa Francisco, “Salgamos de nuestra zona de confort”. Luchemos por el Reino de Dios que ya está aquí entre nosotros.

¡Las iglesias que imprimen sus boletines con LPi tienen acceso completo a WeCreate y a todos los recursos disponibles, como las meditaciones del Evangelio en español, de forma gratuita! Si actualmente no publican su boletín con nosotros, comuníquense con nosotros para iniciar sus publicaciones. También puede comprar una suscripción independiente para WeCreate aquí .

Introducing Lupita Vital Cruz — Our Spanish Gospel Meditation Writer

LPi is pleased to introduce our readers to Lupita Vital — our long-time author of the Spanish language Gospel meditations available in WeCreate . She is a recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from the Holy See, conferred for distinguished service to the Catholic Church by lay people and clergy. A published author, she also holds multiple degrees from multiple institutions and is currently the Director of the Hispanic Apostolate for the Diocese of San Jose, California. To introduce her to you, we interviewed her about her life and experience as a writer. Here’s what she had to say:

Q. Where are you from and what is the name of your local church?

A. I'm from Jalostotitlán, Jalisco, Mexico but I grew up in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. However, sometimes I like to answer that I'm from “everywhere.”

I attend Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Mary Goretti in San Jose, California. In my hometown, I attend the Parish of the Assumption and in Guadalajara I go to Santa Clara de Asís.

Q. How long have you worked as a writer on these Gospel meditations?

A. Well, I don't exactly remember. All I know is that I love doing it, I really enjoy meditating on God's Word and sharing it with you all.

Q. Where does your inspiration come from each week?

A. Part of the inspiration comes as a God-given gift to my life. From a young age, my family would read and pray the Gospel every night. And I loved hearing the stories of the Gospels. Reading, listening, and praying with God's Word also inspires me every week.

Q. Do you have a favorite Gospel story you've enjoyed writing about, and why?

A. One of my many favorites is that of Mary Magdalene, who at dawn ran to the tomb of the Lord on the morning of the Resurrection, seeking out her Lord, until she found him. The dialogue between Jesus and Mary is burned onto my heart, similar to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Mary's response and her commitment to proclaim the Risen One inspires me to reflect on the other stories and parables of the Gospel.

Q. Tell us a fun fact about yourself!

A. I will take this question to mean a fun fact about writing the reflections. Well, one time I finished my reflections and I felt very satisfied. But I soon realized that I had written the reflections on the past cycle! Yes, you read it correctly! I laughed and took the afternoon off and the next day I started all over again. I believe that the Lord Jesus also rested and enjoyed my mistake as much as I did.

Q. What has been an unexpected blessing you have received as you worked on the Gospel meditations?

A. I never thought that as I worked on this ministry of Gospel meditations, God's presence in my life would feel so real. And that's a blessing. Sharing what inspires me, the Holy Spirit with all of you, is another great blessing. The fact that many people have sought out these meditations is a blessing to them and to me.

Q. Why do you think it is important for LPi to offer content written in Spanish from a Catholic perspective?

A. Because it is a blessing for many people to be able to read and meditate on the Gospel each day in their own language. Especially in a simple and understandable form that they can then apply to their daily lives. In addition, it is important to be able to follow the teachings of the Gospel and the Catholic Church in a society that bombards and overwhelms us with so much, distracting us from our spiritual lives. The Gospel from the Catholic perspective frees us and brings us closer to God.

Q. What is a special Catholic tradition that you love?

A. There are several traditions. One is the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe, because it is celebrated within Advent. Also, the Way of the Cross prepares us to celebrate the Easter Triduum. And the Holy Rosary that leads us to meditate on the Mystery of Christ and brings us closer to Mary, our Mother, who loves us with tenderness.

Q. What are some of the challenges facing Spanish-speaking Americans?

A. Language challenges, ever-present immigration, racism, the lack of Hispanic priests (in some parts of the country), adequate housing and healthcare resources, and lay leaders who finish their theological education in order to serve as a gateway between the cultures that exist in the Catholic Church and in society.

Q. What do you hope to convey to our readers?

A. That they fall in love with the Lord Jesus and his Word, and that they live with hope. And that they feel that God loves and accepts them as they are. That they become committed Christians, promoters of peace and justice. As Pope Francis says, "Let's get out of our comfort zone." Let us fight for the Kingdom of God that is already here among us.

Churches who print their bulletins with LPi have full access to WeCreate and all of the resources within, like the Spanish Gospel meditations. If you aren’t currently publishing with us, reach out to us to get started . You can also purchase a stand-alone subscription to WeCreate here .

A Small Glimpse of Jesus’ Great Glory

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 11:00:00 GMT

Jesus provides us with moments of joy and consolation on our journey of faith to sustain us through the dark valleys.

In today's Gospel , Jesus leads Peter, James, and John up a mountain and reveals to them his glory as the only Son of the Father. They had already come to believe in him because of his words and miracles. In the previous chapter of Matthew's gospel, Peter had made his profession of faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This, now, was an opportunity to see for themselves the divine glory of Jesus hidden in his humanity.

There was a specific reason why Jesus did this. He wanted to give them a glimpse of his resurrection so they would desire it enough to endure his passion and death, and to endure the demands that ministry with Jesus would place on them.

Jesus was asking a lot of Peter, James, and John. He called them to leave their families and jobs. He required them to believe that he was the Son of God. And he sent them to proclaim that to others. In time, he would ask them to accompany him through his suffering and death. Remember, it was Peter, James, and John who would also go up to the Mount of Olives with Jesus as he suffered the agony in the garden. For them to accomplish all this, they would need something to hold on to, a memory of Jesus' glory to sustain them along the way. And so, Jesus' transfiguration gives the apostles a taste of the future resurrection to help them accept the suffering and shame of the cross.

Paul encourages us in the second reading, "Bear your share of the hardships which the gospel entails." Jesus is asking a lot of us as well. Unlike the apostles, we have never seen Jesus, yet he expects us to accept him as Savior and Lord. To each of us he has given a certain mission which he expects us to undertake. Whether our mission is to be a good parent, a good student, a good spouse or a good priest or deacon, we need help, especially when we encounter hardships. For us to be faithful to Jesus and to the mission he's called us to, we need small glimpses of his glory.

God is revealing to us His glory in the face of Christ so that our desire to know and love Him will be greater than any difficulty we may face on our journey of faith. Peter, James, and John were privileged to see for themselves Jesus transfigured in glory. We have to hold on to less dramatic manifestations of Jesus' presence in our lives as a small taste already on earth of the life that we will share with Jesus in heaven. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Eucharist. Bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ to give us on earth a taste of the intimacy we will have with God in heaven. Through the Eucharist, Jesus is really present among us and within us. We hold on to that small taste of future glory to sustain us during the hardships which come with living the gospel message of love. And we claim it as a promise that one day that glory will be ours with Jesus at the end of time.

—Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus

Your glory is present to us always

In the love of a spouse

In the smile of a child

In the beauty of creation

In the word that consoles us

In the sacraments that strengthen

And heal us.

Open our eyes to those glimpses

Of your glory hidden everywhere

So that we can find strength

To bear our cross

And so that we can help others

Bear their burdens as well.

Amen.

Formed and Fallen

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 17:54:21 GMT

There is a version of myself that walks into church on Ash Wednesday and a version of myself that walks into church on Good Friday. Aside from having the same face, these women bear very little resemblance to one another.

Ash Wednesday Me is fired up. She’s ready to go. She’s got a stomach full of pączki, a forehead full of ashes, an oven full of fasting bread and a whole list of Lenten resolutions. She’s got a plan for the next 40 days and she’s ready to be transformed.

Good Friday Me is tired. She’s lumbering into church dragging six weeks of failure and unfulfilled expectations behind her. Nothing went the way it was supposed to (again). She didn’t accomplish what she wanted (again) and she doesn’t want to dwell on it (again).

If Satan offered both versions of myself the same deal he offered Christ — submit to me, and you will have the whole world — I have to wonder: which one of these creatures, formed and fallen, would be strong enough to defy him? Would either?

I can’t say that the chipper, optimistic woman on Ash Wednesday has more strength than the tired woman on Good Friday. To each of these women Satan offers an easy way out. But to each, too, Christ offers an abundance of grace and the gift of justification.

This Lent, I know that I will be tested. I know that I will fail in many ways. I know that my intentions and my best efforts will not be enough.

But I bring them to the altar anyway, and I leave them there as an offering. And I know that Easter morning will dawn, and the tomb will be empty.

“The gift is not like the transgression.” — Romans 5:15

©LPi

A Beginner's Guide to Marketing Your Church

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 14:30:00 GMT

Your church is awesome! It provides resources and services to your local community. You have wonderful worship services and faith formation programs that connect people of all ages to God. You’re working hard to make a difference but, how are you effectively sharing everything you have to offer with your greater community? How are you attracting new members? How do people know about all of the ministries that you have? You are pros at spreading the message of Jesus at Mass, but how does your neighborhood know that your members are out there putting in the work? Sounds like it’s time to build a church marketing plan!

Branding

First things first — If your church doesn’t have an up-to-date brand design that you can use across all of your marketing materials, it’s time to make this happen. Remember, branding is not just your parish’s logo . Branding encompasses the colors you will use, the fonts, and the overall style of your marketing materials. You will use this brand on letterhead and envelopes, websites, social media, certificates, posters, livestreams, invitations, everywhere! Get started with a brand refresh or a totally new look with our in-house design team.

Website

Make sure your website is easy to navigate, up to date, and optimized for mobile devices! Your homepage is often the very first place potential visitors investigate before deciding to walk through your front doors, so having a professional looking website that reflects your welcoming community is one of the most important tricks of the trade when it comes to successfully marketing your church. What photos you decide to include , how well it’s designed, and these further tips and tricks can get you ahead of the game. If you don’t feel confident when it comes to updating your parish’s website, our team can help!

Social Media

Having your social media profiles dialed-in can make a big difference when marketing your parish! Don’t forget to share your calendar of events on Facebook via the Facebook event feature and publish them publicly. Doing this will allow Facebook to suggest your events to people browsing the app for things to do during the week and also provides a landing page for events that parishioners can easily share on their own social media profiles! In fact, creating sharable content across any of the social media platforms encourages parishioners to share your content which, in turn, provides free marketing for your church. Double down your efforts and use our beautifully designed Catholic graphics in our WeCreate library to enhance your posts!

Printed Bulletins

Your bulletin is the perfect place to advertise your events and ministries to those already in attendance at Mass, but did you know that the bulletin can also be a great way to partner with local businesses and organizations? These partnerships can help your marketing efforts. As businesses advertise in your bulletin , parishioners will use their services. The more parishioners tell local businesses that they saw them in their church bulletin, the more likely the business is to be open to partnering with you to accomplish local community goals, execute great events, and whatever else you can dream up. Having good relationships with local businesses and organizations can go a long way to helping you market your parish!

Press/Media Releases

Creating a press release for major events, changes, or celebrating milestones in your parish is another important way to make sure you are properly marketing your church. Press releases allow for news from your church to reach the greater community — often people who wouldn’t normally hear about your parish.

Special Event Marketing

Every major event at your church should be marketed through the following avenues:

Your church website
Bulletin
Social media platforms
Neighborhood mailers
In print via posters or flyers that are easy to pass out after Mass
Via your spoken Mass announcements

When creating advertisements for each of the different avenues, be sure to always use your church’s logo and branding, any identifying information needed for people to easily locate your parish, where and when the event is being held, and how they can acquire more information.

Lastly, Be Present!

Hands down one of the best ways to market your parish community is to attend, sponsor, and participate in community events. Is there a farmer’s market that happens every Saturday in your city? Consider renting a booth with information about your parish’s ministries or selling parishioner’s homemade crafts to raise money for a youth retreat. If there is a local theater group looking for sponsorship, consider sponsoring a play. Do local club sports need benefactors every season? Sponsor the team and then organize parishioners to attend games and root for them to win! Does your neighborhood throw a community festival every summer? Set up a relief station offering free refreshments for attendees! Being present and supportive in your local community may be the absolute best way to market your parish. This concept is so true, in fact, that we recently compiled 65 unique ways to connect with your neighborhood.

The time to get started is now! Happy marketing!

The Hardness of Holiness

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 14:30:19 GMT

Want to know the words I find hardest to say? “Lord, give me the strength.”

The world tells us to push ourselves outside of our comfort zone if we’re training for a marathon or applying for a job — but if we’re talking about God, everything is supposed to be easy. If it comes “naturally” or without struggle it’s supposed to be right.

Only God is perfect, the world tells us. What’s the use of trying so hard?

I’m really good at finding excuses for myself, especially when it comes to holiness. Holiness, often (not always, but often), is about choosing the hard, but right, thing. The invitation to holiness is whispered in the hardest moments of my day when I am the most hopelessly human. After the kids’ bedtime, when I really just want to watch Dateline and eat too much ice cream instead of saying the Rosary. When I’ve committed to helping someone, but it suddenly becomes incredibly inconvenient. When I see a social media post that’s just begging for a snarky reply. When the conversation becomes gossip and I’m dying to make myself feel superior to someone.

The reason it’s so difficult for me to mutter these five simple words is because I know that if I say them and I mean them, they form a prayer that God will always answer in the affirmative. He will give me the strength I ask for, and then I will have no excuse.

It’s not unlike my kids claiming they’re too tired to clean up the playroom. If they would just ask me for help, it would all be so doable. But where would that leave them?

With a job to do, that’s where.

“Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” — Leviticus 19:2

©LPi

An Anatomy of Sin

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 11:00:01 GMT

Kichijiro is a supporting figure in Martin Scorsese’s 2016 drama/history movie, Silence . In the movie, Kichijiro is a Japanese guide who serves and accompanies the French Jesuits, Frs. Rodriguez and Garupe. The Jesuits go to Japan on a mission to find their lost mentor, Fr. Ferreira, who has been rumored to have committed apostasy. Kichijiro is a cowardly drunkard who denies being Christian and betrays his visitors to the Japanese officials, only to return to Fr. Rodriguez, begging to have his confession heard. This cycle happens a number of times throughout the movie.

From Kichijiro’s character in the movie, we can surmise what some might call the “anatomy of sin.” Sin is mysterious and predictable, depending on how you look at it. We can come to understand what the early Church Fathers have described as a four- fold path: Suggestion, Conjunction, Acceptance, and Captivity. In Suggestion, a thought or image, desire or feeling is presented to the soul. (For the sake of clarity, I’ll just use the word “thought” to encompass all these sentiments.) Some of these thoughts draw the soul towards God, but not all. The next step, Conjunction, is the interchange that we have with that thought. We can entertain the thought with delight or repulsion. Up to this point, these thoughts can be temptations towards sin, but we have not yet committed it, either in thought or in action. Acceptance follows, wherein the thought is embraced by the will, and a plan for carrying out a corresponding action ensues. Up until this point, the person — you and I — have the will power to make course corrections on the thoughts which have been presented to us. But if we linger in this acceptance, we become enslaved — or held Captive, the fourth stage — to the thought and its expression, from which there is no escape of our own volition.

Some of you might be thinking to yourself, “Gee, this sounds like a summary of an addiction recovery course.” Well, in a certain sense, yes. This approach does fit in that arena. But it also applies to our spiritual lives, at least I know it does for me! This cycle helps me to understand why it is that when I go to confession, I usually have the same set of sins. I have often reflected at how my life can look like Kichijiro’s: the fears I can have about the loneliness of virtue, the anxieties about wanting to save my reputation among people with conflicting ideas, the need for unconditional acceptance without embracing the consequences of my actions, etc. When external events trigger these thoughts within me, there are predictable outcomes, none of which I am proud.

The wisdom of the Church gives us six weeks to reflect on how we have this tendency to prefer the fleeting pleasure or power of sin over the goodness and mercy of the Father. This is where sin is a mystery to us: why, when given the choice to pursue goodness and virtue, do we instead choose pleasure and vice? Are we even mindful or aware of the diversity of thoughts that we have throughout the day? Are we conscious at how our actions and speech are dictated by those interior thoughts? St. Isaac the Syrian gives us a hope-filled insight here: “the inflamed thoughts are uprooted and turned to flight by constant occupation of the mind with God . This is a sword that puts them to death… Whoever always thinks about God drives the demons away from himself and pulls up the seeds of their malice.”

While we cannot know the interior dimension of a fictitious movie character, we can examine our own interior with the wisdom of the Church during this season. Maybe we can practice being mindful of our thoughts during this time. Maybe we can learn to be more discerning of what we allow our thoughts to entertain. Maybe, during this Lenten season, we can learn to think more about God throughout the day and let His thoughts become our thoughts so our actions and words might better reflect His.

Br. John Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Father,

You know that I don’t do so well when I look inward, so I’m going to stop.

I am relying on You to point out to me the things that I need to see.

I promise to stay in Your Word.

You said that Your Word was a sword—so please use it to cut me deeply.

Expose those things in me that are not pleasing to You.

But in doing so, please give me the grace to forsake them.

I also promise to come before You daily. Your presence is like a fire.

Please burn from me those things that are unpleasing to You.

Melt my heart until it becomes like the heart of Jesus.

Be merciful to me in these things.

I also promise to stay in fellowship with Your people.

You said that iron sharpens iron.

I expect You to anoint the “wounds of a friend” to bring me to my senses when I’m being resistant toward You.

Please use these tools to shape my life until Jesus alone is seen in me.

I believe that You have given me Your heart and mind.

By Your grace I am a new creation.

I want that reality to be seen,

that the name of Jesus will be held in highest honor.

Is Your Parish Ready for Visitors This Easter? Use this Checklist to be sure!

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 13:00:08 GMT

Churches all over the world welcome visitors every week, but Easter and Christmas take the cake when it comes to the number of visitors attending Mass at any given church. They are your parishioner’s family members, friends, and significant others. They are folk who are new to the neighborhood looking for a church home. They are Catholics returning to Mass for the first time in years as they remember the joy of the Easter season or want to experience the Easter Vigil again. They may even simply be people curious about the faith and encouraged to visit during this special time. Regardless of who they are, who brought them, or where they come from, be sure that your parish is prepared to welcome them to Mass with this handy checklist of ideas.

Are your Mass times updated on your website, bulletin, and anywhere else they are displayed?
Is your website optimized to be mobile-friendly ? If not, we can help you !
Are your entrances and bathrooms clearly marked?
Are you welcoming visitors at the ambo before Mass?
Do the bulletins you are passing out at Easter services have visitor information prominently featured?
Do you have ushers or greeters signed up for each Mass to both welcome and answer visitor questions?
Are there welcome cards in the pews that visitors can fill out if they want to receive more information about the parish directly to their email or via a phone call?
Do you have visitor information (like a handout, brochure, or visitor gifts) readily available?
Is your pastor planning on inviting everyone to introduce themselves to their neighbors at the beginning of Mass?
Are you planning on inviting those attending to share a prayer request with their neighbors before Mass?
Do you have a printed Easter program that explains the Mass parts for visitors to reference?
Is information about your faith formation programs for youth and adults displayed in a place where visitors can easily see?
Is information about your ministries and services easily accessible on your website?
Are your buildings, including your sanctuary, disability friendly ?
Do you provide tools for families with small children upon their entrance? For example, a coloring page that corresponds with the readings and some crayons, or directions to the nursery if they have an infant and need a quit space. We have resources available like this in our WeCreate library of Catholic content for you to use!
Do visitors have access to free masks in the event that somebody wants one or your church requires them?
Do you have extra bulletins ready to be passed out to accommodate the larger crowds?
Do you have e ngaging photos of your parish community members prominently featured on your website and social media feeds, so people interested in visiting your parish get a glimpse of your welcoming environment?
Is your parking lot and property clean and clear of debris or anything that might make someone trip?
Do your Mass announcements include information on how to register or how to gather more information about the Parish and what your community has to offer?

We at LPi wish your parish, and all of those who will be visiting you this year, a very Happy Easter season. May our hearts and minds be open to everyone we encounter during Mass and may our greetings of “Peace be with you” resound with genuine love for our neighbors — whoever they may be.

Feelings and Shiny Things

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 15:30:00 GMT

A friend of mine has a tradition on the first birthday of her children. Three items — a coin, a shot glass, and a rosary — are placed in front of the one-year-old, and whatever object he grasps supposedly bears insight into his future. A coin promises wealth, the rosary indicates holiness, and the shot glass…well, I’m sure you can guess.

Of course, the kid just grabs whatever looks coolest. They’re not really choosing money or God or a party. Their choice is ruled by impulse.

These days, “I’m not feeling it,” is a genuine excuse to avoid something. “I feel that,” we say to indicate agreement. “I feel like…” is an acceptable way to offer our opinion. Feelings carry a lot of weight.

Before Christ, there was only the law, and the law dealt primarily with actions. Do this. Do not do this. All well and good. But with the fulfillment of the law, Christ wants us to look inwardly. He wants us to consider the influence of our feelings on our actions, and to understand how our chosen actions can, in turn, inspire certain feelings.

I’m a millennial, so, depending on your age, you may think that I feel either too much or too little. One thing I have learned, though, is that when I give my feelings free rein, my instincts immediately turn into actions. I become the toddler grasping at shiny objects with no thought for what they represent. Anger becomes unkindness. Jealousy becomes cruelty. Fear becomes selfishness.

Free will, I have come to understand, means freedom from the tyranny of feelings. If a feeling is strong enough, it can build a prison.

“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” — Matthew 5:30

©LPi

The Power of our God of Love

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 11:00:01 GMT

An excerpt from: Father Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father (pp. 30-31). Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press . Kindle Edition :

“The weather outside was ferocious. Many prisoners froze to death and many new prisoners arrived to work in their stead. It was a difficult time for everybody, but the “political” prisoners had it worst of all. For two days in a row their rations were stolen by the prisoners who were criminals. That night, after roll call and the locking of the barracks, a large fight erupted between the two factions over these rations. Avsenkov took the leadership of the “politicals.” The criminals were headed by “Ivan the Brown.” He was a hardened criminal, a good-for-nothing, and a murderer many times over. In camp he had also killed more than once; he liked card games in which the one who lost paid with his life. The battle that evening was over the rations that the criminals had taken laughingly — they said that they were used to taking what did not belong to them. The camp administrators, for reasons of personal safety, were always on the side of the criminals.

The fight started with fists, and then logs, then knives appeared in the hands of the criminals. Knives were, of course, forbidden. The guards searched for them but never seemed to find them. One of the prisoners, a soldier, was cut up; several “politicals” had their heads cracked. The criminals knew how to work together; most of the “politicals” could only shout and were afraid to help their own. The criminals were cruel. They were winning over the “political;” blood was flowing. Father Arseny ran to Sazikov and begged him, “Help! Please help, Ivan Alexandrovich! They are cutting people up. There is blood everywhere. I ask you in the name of God to stop this! The criminals will listen to you!” Sazikov only laughed and said, “Sure, they will listen to me, but why don’t you help with your God? Ivan the Brown has already killed two of your friends, and now he is going to kill Avsenkov. Your God seems not to notice this!”

Father Arseny looked all around him. He saw blood on people, he heard screams, swearing, and moans, and his soul was full of pain for their suffering. He lifted his arms, went into the very midst of the heated fight, and said in a clear and loud voice, “In the name of God, I order you! Stop this!” He blessed them with sign of the cross and said in a whisper, “Now, help the wounded,” and he headed for his bunk. There he stood, as if in a different world, as if surrounded by light. He stood there, having receded into himself, praying. He did not hear the dead being carried to the door, nor did he see the wounded being helped. He stood; his attention focused on prayer. All was quiet in the barracks now. You could only hear people getting into their bunks and the moaning of a seriously wounded man.

Sazikov came near Father Arseny and said, “Forgive me, Father Arseny. I doubted your God. I see now that he exists. It even scares me. A great power is given to one who believes in him. Even I am frightened. Forgive me for making fun of you.” In two days, Avsenkov came to Father Arseny after work and said, “Thank you. You saved my life! You believe in God unconditionally and, looking at you, I’m also beginning to understand that he exists.”

—Father Arseny

I wonder how I would fare in that situation … but I have to catch myself in that moment of impending discouragement and remind myself that I am not living in wartime concentration camp amid the cruelest situations where the end result is death for most. I have to remind myself that I live in 21 ^st century America, in a democratic country, in a post-modern secular humanist culture, where there are churches almost on every other street block that I can choose to attend, and there is a wide array of ecclesial options to cater to every seeker and believer, where there are online videos available on demand for every catechetical topic imaginable given by experts from all across the globe, where there are mission opportunities to help the poorest of the poor, even those right on the other side of town, where there are appeals regularly for financial aid for a variety of humanitarian projects, where there are donation centers to distribute goods that I no longer use, where books and podcasts are available at my fingertips to sharpen and deepen my faith … With all the conveniences of modern Christianity, I should be an expert at ‘loving my enemies,’ right?

Perhaps, one of the reasons why the Lord called me into the monastic life is to teach me two lessons: “the certainty of being infinitely loved by Love Himself, and the certain ability to love without limits. Nothing but the Cross and Resurrection can give, in a full and definitive way, these two certainties and the freedom they bring.” ( Fraternal Life in Community, Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 1994 .) In this lies not only the perfection in the monastic life, but the perfection of all the baptized in their pursuit of Christ in their chosen state of life. For in each lies ample opportunities to choose a virtue over vice, to choose another’s good before my own, to choose sacrifice over comfort, to choose the good over the easy, to choose Jesus’ way over all other seductive options.

—Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

God of Heaven’s Armies,

my Father, You are near to me.

Even in the valley overshadowed

with the threatening specter of death,

You are beside me giving me my every breath.

In this season of strife and shadow,

I need Your power.

Father, strengthen me by Your Spirit.

Grant me the fortitude to withstand

the slings of the enemy.

I ask this in the name of Your Son,

who, when He was facing the cross,

did not falter in His resolve. Amen.

How to Make Holy Week Social Media Posts Using WeCreate

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 15:00:04 GMT

Anyone who has ever worked or volunteered at a Catholic church during the Lent and Easter season knows that the church schedule, especially during Holy Week, is jam-packed with special events. With this in mind, we decided to save you a little time and create a guide to help you make the best social media posts possible for Holy Week using WeCreate, our library of digital Catholic content .

Ready-Made Graphics

WeCreate has multiple professional-looking Holy Week graphics already optimized for social media and waiting to be used by you! Our professional in-house design team creates around 200 new WeCreate images every single month focusing on Catholic holidays, liturgical seasons, and every-day church happenings. Our goal is to anticipate what you might need for important times, like Holy Week, and then do the work of creating beautiful digital imagery so that you don’t have to.

To help you create your Holy Week social posts, we went ahead and tagged every graphic that relates to Holy Week with keywords that you can search. For example, use the search bar to search “Triduum,”“Good Friday,” “Easter Sunday,” or, simply, “Holy Week” to see our curated selections for each of those search terms. We also have collections already pinned for you that can be found right above the search bar. These pinned collections are indicated by the little push-pin graphic next to each of them and are curated by our team to correspond with the changing liturgical year and upcoming holidays.

Once you’ve found something that you like, you can download it and use it for any social media post! In fact, you may notice that there are a few social-media-specific sections that you can browse. Selecting one of the social media sections in WeCreate will allow you to limit your search to our collections of images designed specifically for social media use. Using our professional images will enhance your posts and attract attention to the important information you are sharing! Everything you find in the WeCreate Library can be repurposed for your parish’s use.

Templates

Our templates are similar to our ready-made graphics except for one very important difference — you, the user, can change the wording to fit your own needs! The process for creating these customizations is straightforward. First, select the WeCreate section titled “Templates – Graphics,” then use the search bar to search for something specific. For instance, maybe you want to advertise your Youth Stations of the Cross event, but you prefer an image in the collection that happens to read “Stations of the Cross at Our Parish,” instead. No problem! You did your search in the template section so that means you can change the wording to - whatever you like. Once you click the template, you will see a window with text boxes on the left and the image preview on the right. All you have to do is type your own custom text into the boxes and watch as the image refreshes, reflecting your customizations. Once you’ve changed the text, you can download the graphic, complete with your new wording, and use it any way you like!

Facebook & Instagram Stories

Don’t forget to take advantage of the high viewership that comes with using the stories feature on Facebook and Instagram when you are sharing your Holy Week posts! In fact, we have graphics that are the perfect size for posting onto your church’s stories. These can be found in our WeCreate section titled Social Media Stories . Don’t forget to use the title slides we make for each of our social media story graphic series so that your parishioners know what content you are offering them! We also have stand-alone story graphics that say things like “Join us for the Stations of the Cross” as well as story series that do things like explain the three pillars of lent, teach about the use of ashes on Ash Wednesday, or help you share your parish’s Holy Week schedule. Don’t forget that you can always add more content to our story graphics and many are made with extra space available so that you can do things like drop in your Mass times, stickers , or any other content you might want to share.

Social Media Banners

Does your church use Facebook events or another social media event sharing site like Meetup.com or eventbrite to share the happenings at your parish? If so, we have a selection of properly-sized social media banners that you can drop into the templates that Facebook and others use for their event pages! These banner-sized graphics are found under our WeCreate section titled “Social Media Banners.”

Although this blog is specifically about using WeCreate for social media posts, these resources don’t have to be restricted to use solely on Facebook and Instagram. Use our graphics on any social media platform or even on your website! We love seeing how you use our designs, so don’t forget to tag LPi in your posts this Easter season so that we can celebrate all of the creative ways that you are using LPi content online!

If...

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 14:30:01 GMT

It’s a surprising little word — if. For such a short word, it holds an abundance of excuses.

Personally, I could buy a new car if I had a dollar for every time I used the word “if” to explain away my own flaws. “If I wasn’t so tired. If we had more money. If the kids weren’t always on my last nerve. If I had more talent. If life wasn’t so hard.”

If, if, if.

I don’t always feel like being the salt of the earth. Can’t someone else season the dish? Sometimes it’s more than I want to give, more than I want to do, more than I want to be. Sharing my bread, sheltering the oppressed, clothing the naked, and accompanying my neighbor — doing these things in the literal or figurative sense can be completely exhausting. Mediocrity is so easy. It’s so comfortable.

But if. It looms again, that short but powerful word.

“If” can be deep with excuses, but it can also be wide with possibility. If I bring it all to God. If I stop relying on my own abilities. If I prayed more than I talked. If I make my heart firm. If my faith does not rest on human wisdom.

If not me, who? If not now, when?

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.” — Matthew 5:14

©LPi

The Heart in Your Hands

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 11:00:00 GMT

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” — Matthew 5:17

In my work as a freelance writer, I often find myself producing content on the subject of Catholic schools. For more than ten years, I’ve written hundreds of articles about Catholic schools, coming at the issue from every angle. I’ve written about current Catholic school families, and the sacrifices they make to ensure their children receive a Catholic education. I’ve written about alumni and their feelings about the education they received in a Catholic educational setting. I’ve written about the importance of Catholic identity in a Catholic school, and the lengths to which teachers and staff members will go to ensure their classrooms aren’t offering merely a private education, but a Catholic one.

All this writing — hundreds of thousands of words, if you added it all up, I’m sure — and it all says basically the same thing. It’s about the whole person .

In a Catholic school, you’re not just going to learn math and science and language arts and all other sorts of things that are good for your intellect, you’re going to learn about the Incarnation, about God’s plan for you, about salvation history and the Great Commission. You’re going to learn about the stuff that’s good for your soul.

It’s about the whole person .

That’s the catchphrase when it comes to Catholic education, but it reflects the Catholic worldview as a whole, and it’s a worldview that has its origins in today’s Gospel passage, when Christ breaks the bad news that he hasn’t come to do away with any rules, but to add one ginormous, supreme, uber-important clause to every existing part of God’s law. It’s a clause, I think, that can best be expressed in the words of St. Camillus de Lellis , “Put your heart in your hands.”

It matters if you have anger in your heart, Christ tells us. It matters if you have lust in your heart. It matters.

It’s about the whole person .

Whatever you do, you have your heart in your hands. It doesn’t matter if you’re offering a sacrifice exactly as the Book of Leviticus dictates it should be offered. Your heart is now in your hands, and if the heart is not pure, neither is the sacrifice. It’s the whole-person approach to the law.

It’s significant, too, that, when Christ tells us to “be reconciled with your brother” before making an offering to God, he doesn’t forget to tell us to make the offering in the end: “and then come and offer your gift.” As he said, he’s not here to abolish the law. He doesn’t care only about what is in our hearts, he cares what our hands are doing, too. The law is still in effect, it matters what you do. But it also matters why you do it. The law now includes the heart.

It’s about the whole person.

—Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

Direct, O Lord, we beseech you,

all our actions by your holy inspirations,

and carry them on by your gracious assistance,

that every prayer and work of ours

may begin always from you,

and by you be happily ended.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

— Prayer Before Study or Work

Six Web Trends for Church Websites in 2023

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 13:00:02 GMT

The new year is off to a great start and high on the list of New Year’s resolutions that keep popping up for our church partners is, “update our parish’s website!” With this in mind, we decided to give you a head start and share a list of some of the most important trends our web design team has identified so far for 2023 — all of which can be applied using our church website builder WeConnect .

Video Headers as the Hero Image
The hero image is the very first thing that visitors to your church’s website see before they begin to scroll. More and more we are seeing churches use a short video clip that showcases their parish community as the hero image on their website. We’ve got to say, it’s a powerful way to make a great first impression! This is a built-in, super easy function of our web builder, WeConnect. With it, you can drop in your own video or even link to another video that is already being hosted on Youtube , Vimeo , or DailyMotion ."
Real Customer Testimonials and Reviews
Also known by designers as “social proof,” having positive reviews prominently featured on your website for visitors to easily view has become the norm for many organizations. Consider featuring a few parishioner reviews on your homepage to encourage people to visit your vibrant parish.
Clean Layouts
New year, new commitment to de-cluttering your homepage! Remember, keeping your layout clean and well-designed helps your community navigate your site and find what they need quickly. WeConnect has great custom options with sections that are pre-formatted for users to drag and drop into their pages. This can get you ahead of the game.
Embedded Instagram Feeds
You already spent the time to populate your parish’s Instagram account with awesome pictures of your community, advertisements for events, and more! Now, be sure everyone sees it, even if they don’t have an Instagram account, by using our social media widget and embedding your Instagram feed into your website! It will automatically update your website’s image gallery in real time as you upload new content to your Instagram account!
Modern Branding
Don’t be left behind with a website that includes branding elements or a logo that looks like it was designed in the 90’s —or *gasp* before! Make sure your church’s branding and overall image is updated with modern colors and a modern design. Not sure where to start? Our team of designers loves working with parishes to update their brand!
Interactive Displays/Micro-Animations
Lots of websites are incorporating interactive micro-animations. These are often small features found on a website that, when a visitor clicks, a little animation is triggered. These could also be described as interactive layouts where sections might have a transition animation when a visitor scrolls past them. Want to see an example? Check out an animation on our website by going to our main website and scrolling down to the bottom where we link to our most recent blogs. When you do this, you will notice that our blog sections “slide up” into the main page via micro-animation. These transitions are easy to apply to sections on your website in WeConnect.

Now it’s your turn! Be a trendsetter and start implementing these features into your parish website for an updated look in 2023!

The Humble of the Earth

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 14:00:02 GMT

When I think of the Beatitudes, I think of collectible coffee mugs emblazoned with the words Blessed are the peacemakers, with little pastel flowers stenciled in the white spaces of the lettering. I think of greeting cards and decorative wall hangings.

Why? These are the Beatitudes, for heaven’s sake — revolutionary and radical. An uncompromising impeachment of worldly values. They are the opposite of banal.

But I cringed from my head to my toes when I read my first draft of this reflection, a retelling of a time in my life when I decided to embrace humility and meekness. I realized that the Beatitudes aren’t something I can tell you about. Poverty of spirit, the hunger for righteousness, the gladness God gives to the downtrodden — these are concepts that must be animated within us. They must be lived. So instead of telling you my story, I want you to tell yours.

I invite you to think of a time when you were vulnerable. When you were discouraged or humbled or felt like a failure. A time when you were cut low. The loss of a job, perhaps, or the rejection of a loved one. The abrupt end of some road that you felt sure would be long and prosperous.

Resentment, envy, and vengefulness flourish in moments like this. Did you experience those feelings? Did you embrace them? Did you want to?

What did the world tell you this moment should mean?

What does Christ tell you it should mean? Have you figured it out, or are you still working on it?

God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong. — 1 Corinthians 1:27

©LPi

Called to be Salt and Light

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 11:00:01 GMT

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

—Matthew 5:14-16

Were you afraid of the dark as a child? Are there little ones (or even “grown-ups”) in your life who can’t stand being left in a room with no lights?

If so, you might be happy to know that science now has some insights to offer.

Centuries and millennia ago, our ancestors lived in a world in which darkness was a time when people were especially vulnerable. In order to stay safe outside of the small ring of light that a fire or, later, a lamp might provide, human beings developed what would become an innate fear of the dark. It’s perfectly reasonable, if we stop and think about what was at stake. While there have been numerous studies and articles about this in the last decade, science writer Josh Hrala summed things up in an article for sciencealert.com : “Our ancestors were constantly on the look-out for predators that wanted nothing more than to chow down on human sandwiches. To make that even scarier, most of these predators hunted at night — a time of day when we are especially vulnerable to attack because of our relatively poor eyesight.” He continues, “Over the years, this nightly fear became instinctual, and we still experience it today as a form of mild anxiety.”

This danger of darkness remained in force until the modern era when streetlights and flood lights began to push away the darkness more effectively than anything that we ever had before. But there still remains, in each of us, a certain fear of what may be lurking just beyond the reach of the light or hiding in the shadows.

Ultimately, fear of the dark is a fear of the unknown.

In this Sunday’s Gospel , Jesus uses the image of salt and light to remind his followers of what they — we — are called to be in and for the world. Part of this means that we are called to live lives that, like salt and light, enhance the “flavor” of the world and dispel the darkness of fear and doubt.

We can see what this looks like when we think of so many of the great saints of our faith tradition. Saint Francis of Assisi certainly embodied this ideal in his willingness to commit his life wholeheartedly to living out the demands of Gospel poverty and joy in an age when the Church was becoming more and more mired in bureaucracy and the quest for power. With his band of “Lesser Brothers,” the light of Francis’ faith and the “salt” of his joy brightened and enhanced the world in which he lived.

At the heart of Jesus’ message and Francis’ mission is love.

Certainly, this means our experience of God’s love and our love for God. But, on a more practical level, this means the love that we show to one another. The first reading this Sunday brings this point home, as we hear these words from the Prophet Isaiah:

Share your bread with the hungry,

shelter the oppressed and the homeless;

clothe the naked when you see them,

and do not turn your back on your own.

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn…

If you remove from your midst

oppression, false accusation and malicious speech,

if you bestow your bread on the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted;

then light shall rise for you in the darkness,

and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

This is what love looks like and when we reflect on all of the acts of mercy Isaiah describes, we can see how these good works — expressions of our love — can help drive away the ugliness, fear, and, yes, darkness that brings grief, despair, and death into the world.

In the end, the liturgy this Sunday is reminding us that we don’t have to be afraid of the dark any longer. If we have love — and live that love — then the light of Christ that we carry within us will drive away the darkness of fear and sadness.

—Br. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

PRAYER

A Prayer for the Faith the Overcomes All

O Lord,

grant us faith,

the faith that removes the mask from the world

and manifests God in all things;

the faith that enables everything to be seen

in another light:

that shows us the greatness of God

and lets us see our own littleness;

that shows us Christ

where our eyes see only a poor person;

that shows us the Savior

where we feel only pain.

O Lord,

grant us the faith

that inspires us to undertake

everything that God wants

without hesitation,

without shame,

without fear,

and without ever retreating;

that faith that fears

neither danger, nor sorrow, nor death;

the faith that knows how to go through life

with calm, peace, and profound joy,

and that makes the soul completely indifferent

to everything that is not you. Amen.

— from the writings of Saint Charles de Foucauld

Tips to Increase Disability Inclusion in Your Parish

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 13:30:01 GMT

"Creating a fully accessible parish requires not only the removal of architectural barriers, but above all, helping parishioners to develop attitudes and acts of solidarity and service toward persons with disabilities and their families.”

— Pope Francis

Papal message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Dec 3, 2020

According to the CDC, 1 in 4 adults in the United States has a disability . These disabilities can include challenges with mobility, cognition, independent living, hearing, vision, and self-care. Recent estimates also show that about 17% of children, or 1 in 6, have one or more developmental disabilities . These can include challenges with learning, physical development, language, cognition, and behavior. The CDC has found that Autism Spectrum Disorder alone, affects about 1 in every 44 eight-year-old children in the U.S.A. and 1/3 of children with ASD also have intellectual disabilities.

Despite the prevalence of those with disabilities in our communities, schools, families, and churches, many parishes still don’t know what type of services or guidance to provide to those in their number with special needs. In fact, people with disabilities are often said to be one of the largest unchurched populations in the United States. The Society for Disability Studies found that persons with disabilities are 40% more likely than those without disabilities to report that they never attend worship and that this trend is a direct result of barriers to participation — those being architectural, communication, or attitude.

"The worst form of discrimination ... is the lack of spiritual care.”

— Pope Francis

So, how might a parish become more friendly to those with disabilities? Here are a few ideas and resources.

Check Out the National Catholic Partnership on Disability

This organization has a plethora of resources and information for parishes who are working toward expanding their worship, ministry, and other practices to better include those with disabilities. They link to best catechetical practices and family support resources. The organization provides services like trainings, consultations, keynote talks for events, and accessibility surveys/assessments. Their LAMB Inclusive Participation Assessment Tool (Language, Accessibility, Meaningful Participation, Belonging) is specifically designed according to the website to guide “the development and evaluation of programs, materials and/ or other resources for use in the Church, relative to accessibility or usability for all persons.”

Start a Parish Advisory Group

“Nothing about us without us,” is a commonly used slogan among minority groups to communicate that no rules or policies should be made by anyone in the organization without the full and direct participation of members of the group(s) affected by those rules or policies.

Inviting individuals and families to participate in a group specifically made to advise church leadership on the needs of those members of your church with disabilities not only creates a bridge between those with disabilities and those without but can also ensure that your parish uses its time and resources wisely. This type of ministry can also provide a structured environment for people with similar experiences to connect with each other and can deepen and enrich a parish’s overall community development.

Train Ministers to Invite and Recognize

Including disability sensitivity training in the process of learning how to serve at Mass or minister in different programs at the church is a great way to increase options for those with disabilities. Consider this — when was the last time that the sacristan asked someone using a wheelchair to help take up the gifts, or might it be possible for the point person to invite a family with a deaf child to be the 9 a.m. Mass greeters? Pope Francis, again, reminds us that everyone is encouraged to participate in their faith and contribute in their own unique way to their community.

“Every man and every woman, in whatever condition they find themselves, is the bearer not only of rights that must be recognized and guaranteed, but also of even deeper needs, such as the need to belong, to relate and to cultivate his/her spiritual life to so as to experience it to its fullness and bless the Lord for this unique and wonderful gift.”

— Pope Francis

Increase Disability Awareness for Visitors:

Have signage clearly visible near the entrance to your sanctuary and other buildings for resources like a quiet room or hearing aids and any other support you provide to visitors. Include this information on your website homepage as well.

Continue to invite and assure parishioners that their family members with disabilities are welcome to Mass, youth events, and more! Even better — invite families with disabled members to share their needs with parish leadership through your advocacy group or parish advisory group.

Make sure to include disability access information and resources whenever you host a newcomer’s gathering!

Include disability access info in your bulletin every week with who to contact if a visitor wants more in-depth information. Don’t forget to include both an email and a phone number so that those who may have hearing or sight problems always have an option.

Find even more tips o n how to make your parish more disability-friendly to visitors and new members, in our blog “ How to Comb Your Experience Through the Eyes of a Visitor . ”

In his message for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in 2020 , Pope Francis said, “Prayer is a mission, a mission accessible to everyone, and I would like to entrust that mission in a particular way to you. There is no one so frail that he or she cannot pray, worship the Lord, give glory to His holy Name, and intercede for the salvation of the world. In the sight of the Almighty, we come to realize that we are all equal.” So, how does your parish work to include members with disabilities?

For more resources, ideas, and information about advocacy organizations that include a variety of Christian denominations, check out the Collaborative on Faith & Disabilities .

The Art of Retreat

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 14:00:02 GMT

Social media has made it far too easy for me to share my opinion.

These virtual spaces tend to strip our words of all empathy. Someone will post something that I think is nonsense, and I just have to tell them why — and quickly! Hurry! Before they delete it!

Nine times out of ten, when the dust is settled, I find that I’ve said too much and listened too little.

As I’ve gotten older, the motto I try (not always successfully) to live by is this: You do not have to be on the attack all of the time, even if it’s for what you think is the truth.

I can’t help but notice that the first thing Jesus does when he hears of the arrest of John the Baptist is to retreat. He doesn’t punch a hole in a wall or take to the streets in protest. He withdraws.

And what does he do after withdrawing? A lot of praying, I would imagine. A lot of thinking, a lot of reflecting. A lot of listening to the voice of his Father.

Sometimes we mistake stillness with vulnerability. But Christ shows us that to withdraw, to contemplate, can actually be a tremendous show of strength. Even the fiercest dogs wait for the command of their master before they act.

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence.
— 1 Corinthians 1:17

©LPi

Nothing Ordinary Here!

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 11:00:01 GMT

There is nothing ordinary about Ordinary Time. This couldn’t be truer today when Zephaniah reminds us of the mysteriousness of God’s way and Jesus lays out his Gospel blueprint in his Sermon on the Mount. God’s ways certainly are mysterious. Those who are first are actually last and those who have the most will end up with the least. There is an ironic twist to God’s wisdom and this is no more evident than in the Beatitudes. Of the Beatitudes, St. Oscar Romero states: “These are the paths along which true Christians travel.” Indeed, the Beatitudes embody the heart of the Gospel and define what it means to be Christian.

There is a tendency, however, to overly spiritualize and individualize the message of the Beatitudes. This keeps them at a safe distance, engaging them merely as interior virtues necessary for personal holiness. Seeing them exclusively as dispositions needed for the salvation of our souls, sidesteps what Jesus intends. Whether we want to admit it or even like it, the Beatitudes have dramatic implications for how we structure our lives and treat our brothers and sisters. Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati , dubbed by Pope John Paul II as the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes” said, “We will never be truly Catholic unless we conform our entire lives to the two commandments that are the essence of the Catholic faith: to love the Lord, our God, with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.” The Beatitudes are definitely a matter of personal holiness, but only when accompanied by radical action. The Beatitudes are all about putting things in right relationship.

How do we love our neighbor? Consult the Beatitudes! Loving our neighbor as ourselves cannot be reduced to simply praying for them or wishing them well. Loving our neighbor means that what I desire and want for myself I desire and want for my neighbor. In addition, it means that my actions and lifestyle must work to achieve those goals. Our resolution of conflict must serve the good of our neighbor and reflect peace. Our economic life must work in service of all so that all of God’s children have access to the goodness of God’s creation and are able to engage in profitable work. The kingdom of heaven, the fullness of which is eternal, begins here. What we do here must mirror the life to come. Bl. Pier Frassati adds that, “charity is not enough, we need social reform.” It is the hope of heaven that gives us the courage to work for justice here.

Some find discussion of the social implications of the Gospel unsettling. St. Oscar Romero’s words offer insight, "Christians cannot allow sin, the enemy of God, to reign in the world. Christians must work to banish sin and establish the kingdom of God. To struggle for this kingdom is not communism; to struggle for this kingdom is not meddling in politics. It is simply what the Gospel demands: that Christians today commit themselves more fully to history.” There is a great tradition of Catholic Social Justice teaching that exists in our Church. This reflects the Church’s attempt to translate into action the profound words and vision found in today’s Gospel. The cries of injustice are heard throughout history and continue through today. The Church can draw from the Gospel the very things that can resolve these ills and bring them to peaceful ends.

One of the most notable social justice teachings in our history is Pope Leo XIII ’s encyclical Rerum Novarum (Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor) . In it, he discusses the condition of the working class, the relationships and obligations between labor and capital, as well as governments and citizens. Subsequent popes also echo this teaching in encyclicals of their own. Our own United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has detailed the Social Justice teaching of the church, highlighting seven principles : the life and dignity of the human person, a call to family, community and participation, rights and responsibilities, an option for the poor and vulnerable, the dignity of work and the rights of workers, solidarity and care for God’s creation. It is incumbent upon every Catholic to familiarize themselves with these essential teachings. We all have to learn how the Church tries to unite respect for human rights and respect for the duties that flow from these rights.

We need faith. We need love. But we also need to know how to translate all of this into action. Jesus pulled no punches and clearly told those listening that what they did to ONE of the least of these they did to him. People are victims of famine and starvation, struggling with mental illness, being abused, and being sold and used for profit. Innocents are killed in senseless wars, families are stressed trying to make ends meet, and people are victimized. There is no scarcity of injustice and greed, corruption, lust, power, envy, anger, gluttony, and pride reign supreme. None of this needs to be. It can all be fixed.

Take an honest look at our world. Now, picture Jesus standing on the mountain delivering the sermon on the Beatitudes. Is this the world he was envisioning? It’s very unlikely. How did it all go so wrong?

The basic themes of Ordinary Time, which lead us into the fullness of the mystery of our loving God, are nothing ordinary at all. In fact, they are quite unordinary. Piercing the truths of the Gospel and delving into the teachings of our faith, we find a radical and more equitable way of living coming into focus. Sadly, it has yet to be really tried. For some reason we have successfully skipped around where the Gospel message is intended to lead us, preferring instead a style of living of our own design. Human beings struggle with their need to cling to things, foolishly thinking that’s where security lies. What’s mine is mine and yours is yours and we become frightened and defensive when challenged to think out of the box. After all, doing precisely that sent Jesus to the Cross.

Parishes and individuals do amazing acts of charity for those in need: clothing drives, food collections, diaper drives, serving in soup kitchens, and the like. All of this is good and necessary and deserves commendation. However, charity is only one piece of the bigger picture. It is also necessary to study our great treasure house of Social Justice teaching, to begin to acknowledge, understand and work to change the systemic causes of poverty and injustice. Education is key. Once we open our minds and eyes, we begin to recognize how even some of the little things we do contribute to the larger problems of our world. A little education and enlightenment go a long way.

— Rev. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end war;

for we know that You have made the world in a way that people must find their own path to peace within themselves and with their neighbors.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end starvation;

for You have already given us the resources with which to feed the entire world, if we would only use them wisely.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to root out prejudice;

for You have already given us eyes with which to see the good in all people, if we would only use them rightly.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end despair;

for You have already given us the power to clear away slums and to give hope, if we would only use our power justly.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end disease;

for You have already given us great minds with which to search out cures and healing, if we would only use them constructively.

Therefore, we pray to You instead, O God, for strength, determination and will power,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish. Amen.

— Rabbi Jack Riemer

Professional Designer Spills Church Website Secrets

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 13:00:07 GMT

At LPi, when a church asks us to redesign their website, we connect them with our in-house team of talented graphic designers. These designers then work alongside parishes to design beautiful websites for their communities that can be easily updated by church staff after the initial design process is finished — all using WeConnect, our powerful and user-friendly website builder . This week we had the opportunity to speak with one of our designers, Heidi, about her experience guiding a church through the website redesign process.

Q. Hi Heidi, Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us! To start — When redesigning a site for a parish, what’s the first thing you consider?

A. Hi! The first thing we consider is the church’s design preferences. We base all of our design choices on trying to best represent each individual parish. Do they have a branding? If so, what are their brand colors? What are their brand fonts? If they don’t have a branding, what colors are they drawn to? What fonts? Are they more drawn to icons or photos?

Q. What do you think is important for every parish to feature on their website?

A. Features we see most often are Mass Schedules, Bulletins/Newsletters, Pastor’s Notes, and Calendars/Upcoming Events. The most important, though, in my opinion, is clear and easy to find contact information. That way, anyone who wants to show up for a Mass or ask a question can find what they need — including all of the sections most featured.

Q. What makes working with WeConnect a good experience? What are some WeConnect features you like to use?

A. In WeConnect, the drag and drop sections are very easy to use, even for those who may be inexperienced in website design. I like to use them as a starting point to create something unique. The global styles are great too! You can set colors and font header styles for use throughout the entire site and this feature makes keeping consistency very easy.

Q. Are the staff members of churches able to update and maintain their website through WeConnect after you design it for them?

A. Yes — First LPi works out the site design and navigation for the parish’s website. We focus on the design of the home page as well as two additional pages so the church can see some examples of how to best use the WeConnect sections for their content. We then work with the church to get the design approved and we also make sure to train their staff to make updates to the site by themselves. Of course, we do help out if the parish needs extra support and are also available to answer questions.

Q. Are there any cool widgets that you use?

A. I’m a big fan of the social media widget. You can select icons, or even add your own, to feature only the social media options that are a focus for your church. There’s another widget, our ParishesOnline widget, that allows for their current church bulletin to be automatically updated on their website each week!

Q. What design aspects do you focus on to make a church’s community look inviting to visitors?

A. It’s important to show quality photos of the church, both of the building and of the church community. Having the building is nice because if you’re visiting you can see exactly what you should be looking for, plus many church buildings have beautiful architecture. However, only having pictures of the building can seem a bit cold, so to add that welcoming factor you should also feature photos of the people in the community.

Q. What else might be important to add?

A. A large percentage of site views happen on cell phones, and that number is only going to grow. WeConnect is great at translating pages created throughout the site to the mobile platform, so church content is shown at its best no matter where you’re viewing it!

A huge thanks to Heidi for sharing her thoughts as a web designer! If this interview inspired you to take a closer look at your parish’s website and, in doing so, you think you’d benefit from a professional redesign, we’ve got you covered. You might even get to work with Heidi! To learn more about our website building tool, WeConnect, be sure to attend one of our free demos . If, instead, you want to jump right into learning more about our website design services, here’s what we have to offer!

Showing Up

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 14:00:00 GMT

I broke my foot once, when my second child was only 12 weeks old, and I was about to move houses. For six weeks I was confined to a chair, a shrieking newborn in my arms, a toddler running circles around me, and my right foot rendered useless by a plaster cast. I couldn’t do anything without assistance. I couldn’t eat or get a drink or change my clothes or feed my children.

My family was in dire straits. A lot of people offered help, but there was a core group of friends and family members who really saved us.

These are the people who turned up in my driveway with empty vans and cooked meals. These are the people who blocked off their Saturdays to haul furniture, mow our lawn, and run after unruly kids. These are the people who said: “Here I am. Give me a job.”

If you’ve ever really, really needed another person’s help, you know that “showing up” means more than saying: “Let me know what you need.” It means saying: “I’m already here. Tell me what to do.”

So often, I pay lip service to the idea of submission. “What do you want, God?” I ask, and I secretly hope that what He wants isn’t one of those things that I’m not willing to give.

What if I really strove to “show up” for God? What if I was ready to give what He asks of me, whatever it is?

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. — Psalm 40

©LPi

Living the Good News

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 11:00:03 GMT

The message of Jesus is simple. It can be boiled down to two sentences. “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the good news.”

In this Sunday’s gospel , Jesus appears in Galilee for the first time preaching the good news. At the Lake of Tiberias, he calls simple fishermen who drop everything to follow him. Their immediate and wholehearted response teaches us what it means to repent and believe in the good news. It means encountering the person of Jesus, following him and leaving everything behind.

Believing in the good news means having an encounter with Jesus Christ. The apostles didn’t leave their families, homes, and jobs because they believed in an ideal. Rather it was coming face-to-face with Jesus that moved them. Meeting Jesus changed everything for them.

We cannot have the same face-to-face encounter with Jesus that the apostles enjoyed. But we are still able to meet the Risen Lord when we read the Bible, receive the Sacraments, and serve our sisters and brothers who are his living body. We are not on fire for our faith because we like to follow rules. Rather it is because we have met and fallen in love with Jesus Christ. This personal relationship with him that we have through faith and the ministry of the Church drives everything that we are about.

Believing in the good news also means that we must follow him. Our life of faith can be understood as a journey with Jesus leading the way. It means that, like the apostles, we have to give up our own plans and put our trust in God and His plan for us. It is not easy because very often the road is steep and the pathway rocky. We will not always see where it is headed, and we will stumble frequently along the way. We will see our friends walking a different way that seems easier, and we will be tempted to join them. But God will give us the strength and the courage to follow Him. And we will be blessed with joy because we are with Jesus.

Finally, believing in the good news means leaving everything behind. The apostles could not follow Jesus and stay fishermen. We cannot follow Jesus and continue to live the same way we did before. When we choose to follow Jesus, some things will have to stay behind. We may have to end friendships because they lead us to bad behavior. We may have to change our business practices because they are deceitful. We will all be called to live simpler lives so that we will have more left over to give to the poor. Some will even be called to sell everything and to give their lives totally over to Jesus in religious life. For all of us, gaining Jesus will mean the loss of something or someone we love. It was that way for the apostles, and it continues to be that way for us. There is no other way if we are to put our lives in the hands of our loving Father.

The Kingdom of God is among us. The Risen Lord is present in our midst. His presence soothes our fears. His words touch and heal our hearts. His Sacraments nourish and strengthen us. We meet him in one another, and we fall in love with the one who died for us. We gladly leave everything behind to follow after the one our heart longs for. Despite the difficulties, we know that it is the path of life. We walk with ever growing strength because we have met Jesus and our lives can never be the same.

— Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Loving Father,

You sent your Son to proclaim the

good news of our salvation.

Help us to answer his call courageously

may your Kingdom become a reality in our midst

as we hear his word proclaimed,

gather at the table of his Body and Blood,

And serve one another in love.

Through our encounter with the Risen Lord

may we live the good news with faith and hope

and bring the light of your love

to the darkest places of our world.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

How to Engage Youth With WeCreate Content

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 12:00:05 GMT

Need some help engaging the youth at your parish? No problem! We’ve collected some resources for you directly from our WeCreate library of Catholic art and content that will assist in reaching the younger generations.

“I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

3 John 1:14

Elementary School

Under the Children’s Art section in WeCreate there are over 150 assets featuring our Growing With The Gospel coloring pages and puzzles. Each week of the liturgical year has 2 corresponding Growing With The Gospel options for parishes to drop into their bulletin, print out for families, or use within a faith formation setting or children’s liturgy. One of these weekly options is catered to younger elementary aged children and the second, corresponding one is catered to children in the later stages of elementary school.

The more engaged children are with your church’s bulletin, the more engaged their parents will ultimately be! Consider adding one of these puzzles, coloring pages, or both to your weekly bulletin and passing out crayons to little ones as they arrive with their families to attend Mass. If families are in the habit of taking a bulletin at the beginning of Mass for their children to color in, you may increase the number of bulletins taken by parish families who might otherwise forget to grab one on their way out as they wrangle their kids and socialize.

Middle School

The church teaches that parents are, first and foremost, the main catechists of their children . Knowing this, we provide a plethora of useful content in WeCreate that can be useful to catechists, both inside the domestic church and out. Here are a few asset collections catechists can use to help middle school youth grow in their faith:

The "Month of" Series — This series highlights a theme from the liturgical calendar for each month. Bulletin editors can drop these ready-to-go images into the bulletin each month alongside a little educational description about the month to assist families in teaching their children about that particular season of the liturgical year.
The Saint of the Week Series — Here we have a collection that provides an image and biography of a new saint, or holy person on their way to sainthood, to make use of every single week of the year. The educational pieces are ready to be dropped right into your bulletin, added to your website, or posted on your social media platforms to assist families in talking with their children about these heroes of the church. This year we are focusing on featuring American saints and our team is making custom illustrations for each! We even have bulletin page templates you can make use of in WeCreate that already incorporate the saint of the week, saving you time when it comes to formatting!
Our Weekly Gospel Illustrations — This series can also be used for educational and entertainment purposes. It features a weekly modern, original illustration that gives youth a glimpse into the story being told in the Gospel readings at Mass. Including these illustrations in your church bulletin can assist parents in redirecting youth’s attention during the readings and can also help spark conversation about the Gospel after Mass is over. For example, at brunch after Mass, a family might reflect on the readings using these illustrations — “Remember the Gospel reading from Mass? What part of it is this illustration representing?”

High School

Engaging high school youth can be tricky but, we’ve got you covered! Parents, youth ministers, catechists, campus ministers, retreat leaders, and anyone else who is invested in walking alongside teenagers on their faith journey have an incredible resource in our WeCreate library.

Social Media – WeCreate has entire sections where we’ve collected all of our assets that are made especially for sharing on social media platforms — making it easier for you to find these pieces and use them for youth ministry Simply select the sections titled Social Media Posts , Social Media Banners , and Social Media Stories to access hundreds of images already optimized and ready for you to post.
Youth Event Support Imagery — If you can think of a youth group event, we likely have images to support it! Search WeCreate for vibrant and fun digital graphics to use for event advertisements, youth group newsletters, Sacrament preparation programs, celebrations, retreats, game nights, camps, and more.
Flyer Templates — Use WeCreate’s growing collection of flyer templates and save time when it comes to securing the advertising for your next youth retreat, game night, or service project! We’ve done the design work for you so, all you need to do is drop in your event’s information into the template. Voilà — A professional looking flyer for your next youth event!

Have you come up with any uses of our WeCreate content to engage with the youth at your Parish that aren’t included here? We’d love to hear about your success!

Faith and Fear

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 15:00:00 GMT

When I was little, you could tell I believed in the destructive power of the monsters who lived beneath my bed because I would never let my ankles anywhere near the bottom of the mattress. (It’s common knowledge that bare ankles are premium monster bait — ask any child you know).

You can often tell what a person believes by what they fear.

But here’s the thing: belief isn’t always enough. It’s obvious that Herod believed in Christ’s power because of how terrified he was by it and by the room he made in his life for the possible impact of the Messiah. In fact, if belief was the only measure of orthodoxy, you could stand most modern Christians next to Herod and he would tower above them.

Remember, there’s something just as bad as disobeying God: discounting Him. I know I am guilty of that in a thousand small ways each day. In the person I ignore or the opinion I sneer at. In the unkind words I let roll from my tongue. In the prayers of thanksgiving that I don’t say because I am “too busy.”

I believe in God, but I do not fear Him — mostly because my very modern understanding of the concept of “fear” would lump God in with those monsters beneath my bed.

But what if we understood fear in a more traditional sense — awe, reverence, and wonder? “All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him.” — Psalm 72:11

When Herod heard the news of the coming of the Messiah, it compelled him to do something. Not the right thing, mind you, but something. It moved him into action.

So, then, it should move us all.

We saw his star at its rising, and have come to do him homage. — Matthew 2:2

©LPi

Behold the True Lamb

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 10:30:00 GMT

During this time of the National Eucharistic Revival, the faithful should take every opportunity to reflect on the Real and True Presence of Jesus. As John the Baptist urges, don’t miss the Messiah in your midst, “Behold the Lamb of God.” For us living in this particular age, the best way to behold the Lamb is to gaze upon Him in the Blessed Sacrament — Eucharist. To encounter His presence — Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity — in the Mass or Eucharistic Adoration.

A lamb is central and absolutely crucial to the Passover ( Exodus 12: 1–13 ). Hearing John the Baptist refer to Jesus as a lamb would have evoked powerful connections for the Jewish people, particularly the lamb’s role in their salvation. While it would take years for the fulfillment to take place upon the Cross, at that moment, with those powerful words, John testified to Jesus’ true identity — the spotless victim whose blood would redeem the world. As John baptizes the Lord and recognizes this is the one for whom he had been preparing the way, these prophetic words affirm the redemptive sacrifice Christ would make. The Lamb, whose Precious Blood would do far more than the blood put on the doorposts and the lintel at the first Passover in Egypt. This Lamb would open heaven and offer salvation from the plague of eternal death.

John testifies to Jesus as the Messiah, as the Anointed One, the Christ, as he “saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:10b-11). How does Jesus refer this truth to you in your daily life? How do you witness and testify, as to prepare the way, for others to come to know and believe?

Jesus is the Lamb born to take away the sins of the world. Not only our original sin through our Baptism but also to extend His mercy upon us, again and again, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “The sin of the world” also refers to the consequences of our personal sins, and this “expression can also refer to the negative influence exerted on people by communal situations and social structures that are the fruit of men’s sins” ( CCC 408 ). Many wrongly believe their sin affects only themselves, but as the Mystical Body of Christ, our actions, words, and, yes, our sins ripple throughout the entire Church.

Pope John Paul II explained it this way: “By virtue of a human solidarity which is as mysterious and intangible as it is real and concrete, each individual’s sin in some way affects others. There is no sin, not even the most intimate and secret one, the most strictly individual one, that exclusively concerns the person committing it. With greater or lesser harm, every sin has repercussions on the ecclesial body and the whole human family. In this sense every sin can be considered a social sin.” ( Reconciliation and Penance, 2 )

In this new year, make resolutions to behold the Lamb with more time in Adoration, or arrive early to Mass so you can pray and prepare your heart to receive the Eucharist. Also, as you add new events and appointments to your calendar, include regular participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation — Confession. This unselfish act for the good of the entire Church is the best way to ensure the Spirit of the Lord remains with you.

— Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Lord, help me to behold your presence in my life better,

especially your True and Real Presence in the Eucharist.

Thank you for taking on the sin of the world,

so I could have the precious hope

of being with you forever in heaven one day.

Parish Dispatch: Fr. Kevin Roelant, St. Thecla Catholic Church, Clinton Township, MI

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 12:00:01 GMT

We are so honored to partner with vibrant parishes across the United States, each one working to bring the Kingdom of God to their neighborhoods. In the Archdiocese of Detroit, Father Kevin Roelant serves at St. Thecla Catholic Church in Clinton Township . Here he answers some questions about his special parish. (Answers have been edited for length).

Q. Describe your parish demographic.

A. Our parish is a predominantly Caucasian community. A decent amount of this group has Italian and Polish heritage. We have people of all ages in our parish. Our pre-k to 8th grade school of about 270 students keeps us young and active in our parish.

Q. What makes your community unique?

A. The parishioners here are very kind and welcoming. We are people of prayer — living lives of prayer and dedicating time to prayer every day with litanies, devotions, and other types of prayers. The Mass and the Eucharist are at the heart of our community with Sunday worship as the high point of our week. We also have a weekly holy hour with adoration of the Eucharist. We are people of service and help those in need. The parish has a St. Vincent de Paul Society and a food pantry open two days a week. The parish also hosts a shelter for a week each year and does other acts of service. We offer several opportunities for people to grow in faith including weekly Bible studies, a men’s fellowship group, and regular faith study sessions on different topics. The Knights of Columbus are also very active in our parish. Our grade school is a huge and very important ministry of our parish, helping to form our children to be more like Jesus — growing in wisdom and knowledge.

Q. Why do most people visit your city?

A. Several reasons people might visit Clinton Township are for C.J. Barrymore’s which is an indoor and outdoor amusement park, Partridge Creek mall, and our nature parks.

Q. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?

A. I believe visitors say that our people are kind, welcoming, and dedicated to their faith.

Q. Where (and what) do you recommend for your best local eats?

A. Sajos , J.Baldwins , Luciano ’s , and Green Lantern Pizza . We also have two microbreweries nearby, Kuhnhenn Brewing Company and the Great Baraboo Brewing Company .

Q. What is the last film you saw that you would recommend to your parishioners?

A. A while ago I watched a film on Saint Faustina and Divine Mercy entitled: ‘ Faustina: Love and Mercy .’ The devotion to Divine Mercy is a beautiful devotion, truly focusing on Christ’s passion and love and mercy for us. I highly encourage growing in this devotion and watching this film.

Q. What is your most used App?

A. Google Maps and, with decent occasion, I use the iBreviary app . This app has the liturgy of the hours on it. The liturgy of the hours is a public prayer of the Church, a prayer with the scriptures, especially the psalms of the Bible, that I and other priests made promises to pray every day for, and with, the people of God.

Q. What is your most used emoji?

A. A smiley face ��

Q. What is an underrated book of the Bible and why?

A. I would say the Gospel of Luke. One of the themes of this Gospel is that we have a God who is rich in mercy and love for us. This love and mercy is manifested in the person of Jesus. God wants us to live in the knowledge of his love and mercy for us.

Q. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?

A. A grace people might not think about is the spiritual fatherhood experienced by the priest. That is a grace I give thanks to God for and have grown in — that spiritual fatherhood for the parish, being that spiritual leader, and sacrificing and laying down your life for your spiritual children.

Q. What’s the coolest thing about your parish?

A. Our kind, welcoming, and dedicated parishioners of all ages and places!

Q. Who in your community inspires you?

A. I am inspired by the dedication and faith of both of our deacons, Tom Houle and Tim Maxwell.

Q. What evangelization risk have you taken in the past year that has born great fruit?

A. Under my leadership, we are using our parish Facebook page to share many things, including aspects of evangelization and faith formation.

Q. What is your most innovative method of communication with your community?

A. It is not that innovative, but our parish Facebook page.

Q. What is the best piece of ministry advice you have received?

A. It has been said in different forms and manners, but — allow Jesus to love you. Allow God to love you. Allow His Holy Spirit to live in you.

Q. What is important to you in a great parish website?

A. The website should be accurate and up to date, but, more importantly, it should help people encounter Jesus in a small way and allow people to grow in faith.

Q. How do you personally use social media to communicate with your faithful?

A. I don’t use social media much. I often ask one of our parish employees to post certain things on our parish Facebook page that might evangelizing or help people to grow in faith. I communicate with staff and parishioners here with regularity through personal communication, emails, bulletin articles etc.

Thank you, Father Kevin, for sharing your parish and experience with us!

If you have a vibrant parish and would like to be featured in an upcoming Parish Dispatch or know where we can find a great micro-brewery in your city, email: dcenter@4lpi.com.

She Kept All of These Things in Her Heart

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 15:48:57 GMT

“What was my first word? Who was there when I was born? When did I start to walk? Which toys did I play with? What made me cry when I was a baby?”

My oldest has reached the age where she has started to ask questions like this. As she grows up, she is realizing that, in order to understand the world around her, she must first understand herself. This makes her insatiably curious about her own identity, her history — her “origin story,” as they say in the movies.

I’ve got most of it documented either in writing or in photos, but even if it’s a detail that wasn’t scribbled in a baby book or saved to my digital cloud, it’s a memory that I can quickly summon and make real for her as we snuggle and talk about who she was, who she is, and who she may become.

I’m the mom. I have kept all of these things in my heart.

The Blessed Mother knew more about God before opening a book than most of us could discover after a lifetime of study and prayer. There is no one whose knowledge of Christ was so intimate, so deep, so simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, as the human woman who bore him, birthed him, nursed him, raised him and eventually gave him up.

In the way that I can tell my daughter everything there is to know about the part of her life she cannot recall, Mary can tell us everything we need to know about Christ. All we have to do is ask.

Mary kept all of these things in her heart. — Luke 2:19

©LPi

Celebrating Nine Years of Everyday Stewardship

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 14:15:00 GMT

When I started writing Everyday Stewardship nine years ago, I wanted to convey how a stewardship way of life could transform one. If enough of us found ourselves in a different place because of this lifestyle, we could change our parish communities and the world around us. I chose to do this by using what I called “everyday language for everyday people.”

This meant I would write stories about my family, sports, and pop culture. Looking back, I fondly remember a conversation with a priest over a reflection on George Harrison, being asked at a parish mission to explain Yacht Rock, and even receiving emails about how to buy plots of land in Ireland. If connecting spiritual and theological truths with everyday people, places, and actions, can help someone understand them better and incorporate them into daily life, that was the plan.

This journey of nine years has led to two books and a Way of the Cross booklet. It was a wonderful ride. This coming January, I will no longer be producing new content in this series. However, the good news is all the reflections will be available through LPi’s WeCreate art and content library which is free to anyone who prints their bulletin with us.

What I am REALLY excited about is the NEW series from LPi, (PRACTICING) CATHOLIC, written by my friend, Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman. This series will speak to families as they practice their daily faith to the best of their abilities, and it will have a style somewhat familiar to Everyday Stewardship readers. Colleen is going to knock it out of the park with this series and I hope it lasts at least nine years as well.

Thank you to all the readers, attendees at workshops and parish missions, and all the parishes that provided a pathway for my words to touch others. All praise to God, who makes all things possible. And watch out, there might be a special Everyday Stewardship reflection from time to time as the years go by.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Star of Wonder, Star of Light

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 10:30:00 GMT

There is a story of an astronomy professor who was enthusiastically discoursing in a planetarium about the marvels of the known universe. Noticing an unpretentious priest who had joined his group of students, the professor asked him, “What do your Scriptures say about cosmic space and its myriad stars?”

Instead of giving a direct answer, the priest, in turn, posed a question, “Tell me, Professor,” he said, “do you think that science will invent still more powerful telescopes to see farther into the universe?”

“Of course! Progress is possible, and science will always be perfecting its instruments for exploring outer space!” replied the professor.

“There is hope, then, that one day you will have developed the necessary technology that can show all that there is in the cosmos, even down to the last detail?”

“Well, that would be impossible … The cosmos is infinite,” replied the professor.

“So, there is a limit to science?”

“In that sense, there is.”

“Well, Professor,” said the priest, “where your science comes to a full stop, ours begins; and that is what our Scriptures tell of.”

We sing the song about the Three Wise Men who follow the ‘star of wonder ... westward leading’ to Bethlehem. We see images of the three men in Nativity scenes holding their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We can even be deeply moved at modern movie depictions of the birth of Jesus and the arrival of these Magi from the East. What did they come to see?

Quite literally, they saw parents with their firstborn in an animal stable. Or from another perspective, they were stargazers who saw a remarkable anomaly in the night sky and felt compelled to make a long journey on a hunch.

But is this all they saw? And was their journey worth the effort?

I like to think that the Wise Men saw a mystery unfold before them, and rather than rush to solve or explain it, they simply beheld it. Of course, they had seen stars before, and they certainly had seen newborn babies before, but something within them knew that there was something different going on here with the stars and the baby. They intuited that the connection here was no mere happenstance or coincidence. They realized that they had stumbled onto a mystery — a delightful one at that — that led them on a journey on which they would be forever changed, evidenced in the homage that they gave to the Christ Child upon meeting him.

I wish I could have been privy to the conversations that the Wise Men had among themselves, or even with the Holy Family. I’ve often wondered how they would have tried to explain their amazing journey to parents who were surprised at their unexpected arrival.

This central kernel of Christianity — that of the Incarnation, God becoming man — is a mystery, one to be beheld with awe and amazement, just like the Wise Men experienced on that short visit. But for us, that sense of awe and amazement need not disappear after all the Christmas gifts have been opened and all the holiday parties attended. This sense of awe and amazement could be a regular disposition in our lives when we take the time to ponder the mystery of the Person of Jesus even throughout the year. The story of the Epiphany is about the Wise Men’s encounter with the mystery of the Christ Child that can be ours every day when we make time for quiet prayer as a regular habit in our lives.

The Wise Men beheld a mystery that night. In return, that mystery of the Incarnate God — Jesus — probably smiled back at them, which only confirmed the hunch that their journey was not in vain, that they indeed found what they came to seek. From the encounter, I’m sure they’d spend the rest of their lives trying to explain to themselves and others what happened on that journey when, at night, a star led them to a baby.

—Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Prayer of St Anselm

O my God, teach my heart where and how to seek You,
where and how to find You.
You are my God and You are my all and I have never seen You.
You have made me and remade me,
You have bestowed on me all the good things I possess,
Still I do not know You.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek You.
I cannot seek You unless You teach me
or find You unless You show Yourself to me.
Let me seek You in my desire,
let me desire You in my seeking.
Let me find You by loving You,
let me love You when I find You.

Amen

Using Video and Animation to Engage Parishioners

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 12:00:03 GMT

Churches all over the world are tapping into the power of video and animation to engage their members, build community, and share the Gospel. We’ve collected some ways to regularly harness these tools for your parish.

Facebook and Instagram Stories/Reels
The story and reel features on your church’s Facebook and Instagram profiles are a great choice for incorporating video and animation because the editing software you might need for your video clip is included right there in the apps. Simply upload a video you want to use and then follow the app’s prompts for editing. You can also use their tools to add animated stickers, music, captions, links, and more to make your post stand out.

Make Your Website’s Hero Image a Video
Our designers suggest using a hero image on your church’s homepage to capture the attention of viewers visiting the page right away. Consider using a video clip of your community during Mass or your pastor greeting parishioners as this hero image. We recently designed a website for St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hutto, TX that does just that! Our website building tool, WeConnet, can make adding a video as your hero image easy for you.

Clips from your Livestream Masses and Event
If you currently livestream Mass or other special events, consider taking segments out of the full livestream recording and repurposing them as video clips to post to your social media or website. Viewers might enjoy seeing —

The amazing job your choir did on a song at Mass, or a great solo
Father’s joke during his homily that landed just right
A special moment during a cultural celebration
Special blessings for groups like catechists or graduating high school seniors
Youth acting out the Gospel at a special children’s Mass

Accompany Mass Announcements with Video or Animations
If your parish uses video screens inside of your sanctuary, videos and animations can be a fantastic way to help people stay engaged during your Mass announcements. Even simply using a little animation in the digital slides that accompany the spoken announcements can help people remember what has been shared.

Hearing from those involved in an upcoming event via a short video interview about the merits of the event or the work that goes into holding the event, is another great way to make a Mass announcement more memorable. This can also be useful as a back-up announcement if those who are supposed to make the announcement in-person are unable to. Rotating between a parishioner making an announcement and a video announcement at the end of Mass can also be engaging!

Parishioner Testimonies
Consider making a few 2-minute videos of parishioners talking about their faith journey or what they like about your parish. These could be uploaded to YouTube, put on your church website, or used on your social media feeds. Don’t forget to acquire parental permission first before posting any videos featuring a minor.

Priest Engagement
What might help your parish get to know your pastor a little better? He might be interested in being featured in short clips about why he loves the parish, a book he is reading, stories from his childhood, or current events happening at your church. These types of videos make great social media content and can also help your church feel more welcoming when featured on your homepage.

Some Last Points to Consider —

Keep video clips short. The longer the video, the more of your audience you will eventually lose as it plays on. For social media sharing, aim for 1 minute or less.

There are many free or low-cost video editing programs out there, but some computers and smart phones already come with editing applications pre-loaded. Check your apps to see if there is already an editing solution waiting for you on your device. If not, a simple search in your device’s app store will pull up plenty of great options.

Use your parishioners! Some of your community members might already be skilled at creating and using video and animation content. Ask them to volunteer to help the church staff learn or to take charge and dream up new content. This may prove to be a useful way to engage with the young adults of your parish.

St. Joseph the Steward

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 14:30:05 GMT

St. Joseph is one of the greatest examples of stewardship we have in the Gospels. Here is a man who understands care and reverence for the property of God, a man chosen to be steward over the very life and breath of God’s Son and Spouse.

Joseph was mindful. He recognized what belonged to God. When he understood that Mary was to be the mother of God, he was not jealous or bitter. He did not presume to claim ownership over her.

Joseph was prayerful. He accepted the opportunity to be in relationship with God, even if it was in a radical and unexpected way. How many of us would trust a crazy dream we have where an angel tells us our fiancée is carrying the Son of God? Well, those of us who are already profoundly connected to God through prayer. Joseph was open to receiving God, and so he was open to the truth in a way many of us would not have been.

Joseph was gracious. Even before he had full understanding of the situation, he was unwilling to expose Mary to shame. He did not give himself over to feelings of betrayal.

Joseph was committed. He persevered. The Lord had no shortage of strange and even dangerous-sounding tasks for Joseph, but he submitted to each one.

Joseph was accountable. When he awoke from his dream, “he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took his wife into his home.”

Joseph was a man entrusted with many gifts, and he gave of them wisely. Let us pray that we have the grace to follow in his example.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Living Under the Gaze

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 15:32:30 GMT

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

— Numbers 6:24-26

“Today is gonna be a Mommy-and-me day,” my preschool-aged son told me recently. He was perched on the kitchen countertop, his favorite spot in the mornings, where he likes to sit while watching me unload the dishwasher.

“Oh, is it?” I said, my hands full of damp plates. This was news to me. “What does that mean? What are we going to do?”

“We’re gonna read books and put stickers on walls and you’re gonna watch me play,” he told me. “And then at the end of the day you’re gonna make dinner and I’m gonna sit here and watch you, and we’re gonna smile at each other.”

I am not the best version of myself in the mornings, I am grumpy and anxious, and any suggestion of a deviation from the day’s planned activities usually makes me bare my teeth like a threatened Rottweiler. But my son’s little itinerary pierced me through the heart. I stopped what I was doing and looked at him. We smiled at each other.

I wrote down what he said because I didn’t want to forget it, ever. It wasn’t just that he wanted to spend the day with me. That was sweet. But what really got me in the feels was how he described it. Us watching each other, smiling at each other, turning our faces to each other in love. It was astonishing in its simplicity.

There are a lot of different kinds of prayer, a lot of different ways to be with God, to adore him, to sit in his presence. But I think the way that I like best is exactly what my son described for his Mommy-and-me day, the way that famous peasant of Ars described to St. John Vianney two centuries ago. I like when God and I sit and look at each other.

If you are blessed, as I have been, to have a warm relationship with your parents, you know the power of their gaze. You know what it is to lock eyes with them during one of life’s profound moments — a moment of sadness, a moment of triumph, a moment of joy, a moment of confusion. You know that words are not necessary; sometimes they even get in the way. What you need is in the gaze.

When I reflect on the various ways I have experienced God “letting His face shine upon” me, I keep coming back to His mother. How often, for me, has God chosen Mary to communicate His kindness, His love, His protection, and His faithfulness. How often has He desired her to be the Theotokos, the “God-bearer,” in my life. How often is her intercession and encouragement the means by which He turns His gaze upon me.

I think of a small Christ child sitting cross-legged on the ground two thousand years ago, watching his mother go about some domestic work as the sun rises over Nazareth. She looks up, absent-mindedly, and sees the God of Heaven and Earth smiling at her. She smiles back. Without words, they communicate. This happened for her every day.

I think of Mary at the foot of the cross, gazing up at the face she knows better than her own. The forehead is streaked with blood and the mouth is contorted in agony, and all who look upon him are stricken with despair. But not Mary. Mary sees the face of a feeble infant staring up at her from a manger. Mary sees the face of salvation. Mary sees hope. They lock eyes. Without words, they communicate.

Whatever this year brings you, be it good fortune or great trials or a mix of both, may you remember that through it all, you are under the gaze of the one who has loved you since the beginning of creation.

—Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

Remember us, O God;

from age to age be our comforter.

You have given us the wonder of time,

blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.

Bless your children at the turning of the year

and fill the months ahead with the bright hope

that is ours in the coming of Christ.

— From “Prayer for a New Year,” by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Comb Your Parish Experience Through the Eyes of a Visitor

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 13:00:11 GMT

“The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven, and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel.”

-Pope Francis

Have you ever considered putting yourself into the shoes of a visitor and evaluating how visitor-friendly your parish is? Here are a few areas to examine when contemplating how to better equip your parish to welcome visitors all year ‘round.

Disability Accessibility

Some churches might be tempted to say, “We just don’t have many people with disabilities at our parish.” If this is your first reaction when thinking about disability access for visitors, you might be surprised to learn that 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. has a disability . It is very possible that, if you aren’t seeing people with disabilities at your church, it may be because you don’t have the resources available to make your community feel welcoming and inclusive to those with disabilities.

Increase disability access for visitors by doing the following —

Make sure those serving at Mass, especially greeters, are trained to offer resources to those in need and have some sort of ongoing sensitivity training.
Have signage clearly visible near the entrance to your sanctuary and other buildings for resources like a quiet room or hearing aids and any other support you provide to visitors. Include this information on your website homepage as well.
Make sure Mass and event announcements occasionally include information about these resources and are also used to educate your parishioners about how your church community expects its members to treat those with disabilities.
Provide printouts or digital slides on screens in the sanctuary of prayers, the order of the Mass, and words to songs for anyone deaf, hard of hearing, or who might have trouble processing audio quickly.
Continue to invite and assure parishioners that their family members with disabilities are welcome to Mass, youth events, and more! Even better — invite families with disabled members to share their needs with parish leadership.

Mass

When it comes to a visitor walking through your sanctuary doors for Mass, are they able to easily find where to sit? Is it easy to find the bathroom or nursery if they need? Did they know the correct Mass times because they are posted clearly online, somewhere on a sign on your campus, or near the drive? Is there clearly marked first-time-visitor-parking to make them feel like they are already accepted and wanted? Do newcomers get any material about the church when they walk in from the greeters at your front doors? Does Father welcome those visiting at every Mass and tell them where to find more information or how to get connected?

Youth Programs

Some things to think about when it comes to youth programming — Do you encourage youth to bring friends to the program? If so, is there a form for them to fill out when they arrive so that you have safety information about that child and their parent’s contact information in case of an emergency? Are their parents contacted by the program leader at some point during the event to just touch base and introduce the program and themselves? How do you welcome new youth or new families to the programs you have and connect them to the larger church? Are your programs accessible to children with disabilities? Do families with disabled children know about this access and extra support?

Sacraments

The celebration of Sacraments always brings visitors to your parish. Aunts and uncles, grandparents, friends, and all sorts of other connections walk through your church doors to attend Baptisms, First Communions, Marriages, Confirmations, and even funerals. Sacraments are a great place to build some strategy around how you want to welcome visitors. Having a printed worship-aid that also explains some of our Catholic customs in more depth can go a long way when it comes to welcoming newcomers to these types of events. A recognizable and welcoming person making a few announcements before the ceremony explaining where different facilities are and how to get connected to resources in the church can be helpful. It’s a bonus if the same person doing the welcome announcement can stay after the event for a little while as a point-person to chat with anyone who might have questions. Some parishes make sure to have small gift bags with parish information and a little gift inside for visitors during Sacramental events. These can be handed out by the greeters to anyone who self-identifies as new or visiting. They can even be left out on a table after an announcement telling visitors to pick up their gift on their way out.

Website & Digital Presence

A well-designed website and intentionally curated social media presence can go a long way toward making visitors feel welcome. Often the very first thing someone will do before even deciding to visit your church is seek out your parish website. Some things that might deter a potential visitor from choosing your church as a place to visit are —

A homepage that is difficult to navigate. For example, if visitors have to click around a ton just to find out your Mass times or basic church information, you will lose them before you start. Inviting homepages make a big difference.
An outdated website design. Think about it — if the website for any establishment is outdated and unprofessional, the establishment may also be outdated and unprofessional. We can help you avoid this.
Imagery on your website that shows only your architecture and empty interiors. Remember, people are attracted to communities that they can easily envision themselves in. You can solve this problem by simply replacing images of buildings and statues on your website with a plethora of alternate images showing off the smiling faces of people in your community, your church staff, fun events, and cultural celebrations so that potential visitors can see how vibrant your church is. Not sure where to start? Here are 5 example of photos that every parish needs.
Social media post and profiles that are unresponsive to messages. Some people use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to message organizations when they have questions. Inquiries about Mass and event times, Sacraments, and more might be sent through an app like Facebook and if nobody is there to respond, the person messaging your parish may just give up and look for a more responsive church. Does your parish have a point person in charge of regularly responding to comments and questions coming from your social media profiles?

Newcomer Gatherings

Lastly, don’t forget the power of the newcomer gathering! This is a fantastic type of event to help people get introduced to your lovely parish, staff members, and to connect with other parishioners and ministries. These monthly or quarterly gatherings should be regularly advertised in your bulletin, Mass announcements, and on your website and social media.

The Season That Gives Back

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 14:00:01 GMT

I don’t have anything left to give.

You can’t pour from an empty cup.

All I do is give. Who is giving to me?

Raise your hand if these thoughts have ever run through your head. I’m sure they occur to all of us from time to time. We can become so easily depleted by the fast pace of life and whatever vocation God has called us to, whether that’s parenthood, a demanding professional career or the caretaking of friends and family (or as so often happens, a hybrid of all three). Many of us also undergo certain seasons — seasons of the year, but also seasons of life — that seem to sap us of energy and leave us totally empty.

In these times, it seems impossible to continue in the spirituality of Everyday Stewardship. Graciousness, mindfulness, prayerfulness, gratitude, accountability — maintaining some semblance of these characteristics in our daily life feels not only overly optimistic, but totally impossible.

The Church gives us certain liturgical seasons that are meant to fill us up, almost like spiritual pit stops. Advent is one such season, and the Scriptural passages we reflect on at Mass during these four weeks are filled with images of nature defied. We see the dry steppe blooming. We see the weak made firm. We see the frightened made strong. We see the lame walk. We see the Virgin give birth.

If you think you don’t have anything left to give this Advent, think again. This is the season of miracles when what we thought was depleted brings new life.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Grand Illusion

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 21:09:45 GMT

We are easily misled. Media stories often leave us wondering what really happened. Faked photos of astounding things go ‘viral’ and many believe they are real. The internet can be a confusing and often misleading place to find what is true. Is what we are seeing or hearing the truth or simply some illusion created by an imaginative or devious mind? We tend to follow the masses and are easily convinced of something’s authenticity when it is seemingly verified by a majority of folks. This is the case for fashion trends, the latest figures of speech, philosophies or social styles. We need a yardstick to measure whether what we are buying into is authentic, trustworthy, and real or just something trendy and illusory. Perhaps we do not need to be too careful about the trustworthiness of matters like fashion and style, but we certainly ought to be when it comes to understanding ourselves as human beings. The World Wide Web may affirm what we want to hear, but it cannot tell us who we really are.

Who are we? To what reliable and trustworthy source do we look to understand ourselves? We live in a consumption based, disposable world. If something breaks, we buy a new one. In our materially dependent world, it is easy to cast aside the permanent in favor of the changeable and replaceable. Everything becomes fluid. What worked yesterday is replaced with a new and improved version tomorrow. We fill our lives with business. Often feeling stressed, what is immediately before us is enough to attend to. It is no wonder that many choose not to explore deeper existential questions. Human life runs the risk of being viewed with the same lens as everything else: disposable, replaceable, and changeable.

However, there is one interesting fact about life that is most certain: none of us chose to be here. We simply are. Taking the world at face value, one can certainly conclude that human life is just a random affair. Make the best of it, get whatever you can, avoid hardship and suffering. Soon enough, the ride will be over. Is this true? “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.” (John 1:12-13) Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a birth that reveals God’s greatest accomplishment. Today humanity knows that it is not here by some random act or by pure human choice but because of a magnificent and wonderful Divine blessing. The humble birth of Jesus Christ shows the world that every human being is a unique, incredible, blessed and infinitely loved child of God. God wants us to be who we are! There is no way that the world can reveal this eternal truth to us. All the world can do is offer us illusions and myths that entertain us but do not redeem us.

Much of the violence we see in the world occurs at the hands of people who do not know they are loved. Loving well can only happen when a human soul first knows that it is loved by God and then realizes his or her sacred obligation to love others. Rooting the gift of love in God is the only way to perfect it. Sadly, due to centuries of sin and error, human love has been distorted and the unloved and unaccepted now walk among us. Consider what life would be like if Advent’s peaceful and harmonious vision could be tasted just a bit as we walk through this world. Life would look so different if we only believed, with our whole hearts, minds, and souls in God’s vision for who we are meant to be. Harmony, gentleness, and peace would more easily be found. Christmas would not be something we simply celebrate, but actually live.

If a person takes their cues about who they are solely from the secular world, they will most certainly be lost. Many people aren’t willing to give up on the whole “god-idea” but are very reluctant to invest themselves completely into specific ideologies, conceptions, and theologies about God. Hence, we find the growing popularity of the phrase “spiritual but not religious.” Instinctively they realize there is something more to who they are but are hesitant to commit to what precisely that is. Given the growing popularity of this illusion, it is no wonder why in many parts of the world, including here, institutional Christianity is in decline. Yet, in the midst of all that captures and intrigues us in our self-created virtual worlds, this longing for the anchor of faith that makes sense of it all still pulses within each soul.

In order for the birth of Christ to have power and effectively mean something, it cannot be something that is just celebrated once a year. We have to completely buy into what God is saying to us today and find the courage to allow it to change our lives. How do we live the incarnation? Do we really have faith that God became one of us in Jesus Christ? If we do, we will see that it is a game changer for sure. A real living faith in the incarnation means that our lives need to change. Our priorities have to shift, how we understand our identities in God becomes clearer, our life goals, and our souls all take on a crisper importance. As we sing Silent Night, O Holy Night, Joy to the World and Hark the Herald Angels Sing with fervor these next couple weeks, we also ought to be thinking about how all this talk can translate into greater action.

Christianity is in decline. That is for sure. There is a reason why people are no longer finding faith, hope and love within our walls and in our lives. The birth of Christ will not fit into a neat little box like those we find under our Christmas trees. It never did and it never will. The incarnation is always carried forth by the creative and rejuvenating power of God’s Holy Spirit. The message today confirms that God never abandons his people, he is always with us. And so, God is with us even in the confusing moments of where the tides of life are bringing us today. The silence is not really silent as it speaks softly to us and always calls. There are people, who may not call themselves Christian, who are living the Beatitudes and the unconditional love taught and embodied by the Son of God. There is something instinctual about the incarnation. God does not leave his people.

If the systems around us, both secular and religious, are losing their effectiveness and relevance, then what are we going to do about it? This question needs to be at the heart of dialogue in the Church’s magisterium, dioceses throughout the world, every parish in every town and in every home. We have been given the gift of a message today that God wants the world to hear. If it remains just a pious sentiment with little relevance or purpose, then the sights, sounds, and smells that lift up our souls today will soon become a nostalgic memory. Trusting in the guidance that led that first star to Bethlehem, we have to trust that if we can remain open and listen, God will bring us where we need to be. We need to trust. Faith inspired Joseph and Mary to leave their home, love brought them to Bethlehem and hope was brought into the world. People need this. People need to believe in the Gospel. People need a Church that can bring that Gospel into the world. People want what is real.

— Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

God of love, Father of all,

the darkness that covered

the earth has given way

to the bright dawn

of your Word made flesh.

Make us people of this light.

Make us faithful to your Word

that we may bring your life

to the waiting world.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

10 Ideas for Small, Manageable Communications Goals for Your Parish in 2023

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 13:00:12 GMT

Is “become better at communication” on your parish’s short list of new year’s resolutions? If so, here are 10 ideas for small, manageable communication goals you can strive for to make your parish a more vibrant community in 2023.

Tidy up your email lists. It’s a good idea to check in with your members once a year to make sure the information you have on file for them is still correct. You can take this goal one step further by making sure that you have notes on the kinds of communications each member likes to receive. For example, you might send one kind of email to parents of school children and another to empty nesters. Our blog about targeted email messaging may be helpful.
Use the same branding across all communication channels to make it easier for parishioners and visitors to recognize your communications. Not quite sure what to make of this tip? Learn more about church branding here.
Is the signage at your parish easy to read and in the right locations? For example, do visitors know the best place to park or where to find the office vs. the sanctuary?
Post your Mass times everywhere. Make sure Mass times are posted on your website, in your bulletin, on your social media profiles, on lawn signs in front of your buildings — everywhere!
Advertise parish happenings through multiple platforms. Flyers, Facebook, Instagram, bulletin inserts, everywhere you can think of to reach more people.
Don’t forget the pulpit announcement. Events and happenings will get the most attention if they are announced at Mass! Even better if a parishioner who has a personal experience with whatever is being announced does the announcing.
Brag about your ministries in the bulletin frequently. Commit to making a Good News section in every weekly bulletin where you celebrate all sorts of things — from youth group service projects to new ministries starting and old ministries still doing great work! How else will people know about all the great things going on?
Commit to sending out 4 mailers via the USPS Every Door Direct Mail program to your neighborhood this year inviting everyone to different parish events.
Post more on social media. We have you covered every single month in our Vibrant Parish Newsletter which always includes an infographic with ideas on what to post about each month! Register to receive this free newsletter directly to your inbox here.
Lastly, make sure you are letting the world know about all of the great things your community is doing! Commit to writing a press release for at least three of your community events or happenings this year.

“The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.”

-Sydney J. Harris

How Much Is Enough?

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 18:48:00 GMT

I’ve got some great news for some of you: Jesus Christ doesn’t care what name you bear. He doesn’t care where you were born, and he doesn’t care what your family tree looks like. He doesn’t care where you grew up or where you went to school.

I’ve also got some bad news for some of you: See above.

It’s so easy to take our salvation for granted. The mercy of God makes it so. Look at John the Baptist — he was pouring water on everybody who wanted it. Everybody but one group: those who expected it. Those who thought it was a given because of who they were, because of what they were. Those who had no intention of doing the work of repentance.

Sometimes, because God is so faithful, we make the mistake of forgetting that He is also just.

I am baptized, we think. I made my First Communion, and I was Confirmed. That’s enough.

I went to Catholic school. I know all the Ten Commandments and I can tell you anything you want to know about the Popes. That’s enough.

I’m on parish council. I put money in the basket, and I volunteer. That’s enough.

None of it is enough. It would never be enough. And before we look upon the Pharisees and Sadducees with too much judgment, we need to remember: the work of repentance is ongoing. It is a process that we must commit to within ourselves, continuously.

God is the missing element to this equation. He is the one who raises children to Abraham from the stones. If we rely only on our own abilities, our own merits, our own offerings, it will never be enough.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

©LPi

The Greatest Gift

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 15:40:57 GMT

"Joseph, son of David,

do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

For it is through the Holy Spirit

that this child has been conceived in her.

She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel ,

which means " God is with us ."

—Matthew 1:20-23

If we have really been following the readings and other texts of the liturgy during the first weeks of Advent, we see that the Church has been inviting us to focus our attention on that day when, in the fullness of time, Christ will return in glory. In the final days of Advent, however, the focus shifts and we recall those prophecies, people, and events that preceded the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem more than two millennia ago. In the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we hear God making a promise to King Ahaz — through the words of the prophet Isaiah — that virgin shall bear a child and how that promise was fulfilled in Mary, the betrothed of Joseph of Nazareth.

These are stories that we know well. Some of us learned the story of the Jesus’ birth through Christmas pageants or holiday TV specials. For others, it was Bible stories, attending church services at Christmas, and in classic carols and hymns. In a sense, the Christmas story has become part of our spiritual DNA, and because of that, there is the risk that we lose sight of how shocking these events really were to those who were living those events and we miss what they reveal about the mercy and love of God.

However, if we are able to take time to pray with and reflect on the readings for this week, we begin to recognize a thread — a central idea — pulling these wonderful texts together: Gift.

In the first reading, God makes the promise of Emmanuel who will lead the Chosen People in freedom despite the king’s unwillingness to even ask for anything from God. In the Gospel, God’s angelic messenger interrupts Joseph’s sleep, breaking into one of the most ordinary human acts with the most extraordinary news. And St. Paul names the grace and call that he himself received and which he, in turn, shares with the Christians of Rome (in the second reading). In each instance, we are being confronted with the truth that God offers us deliverance, grace, and mercy freely, simply out of love for us.

In an Advent reflection, spiritual writer Loretta Ross-Gotta remarked:

Jesus observed, “Without me you can do nothing,” (John 15:5). Yet we act, for the most part, as though without us God can do nothing. We think we have to make Christmas come, which is to say we think we have to bring about the redemption of the universe on our own… “Oh, but nothing will get done,” you say. “If I don’t do it, Christmas won’t happen.” And we crowd out Christ with our fretful fears. (Found in Watch for the Light: Reflections for Advent and Christmas )

How much time and effort do we waste holding our breath, treading water as we navigate wave after wave of expectation and responsibility? Rather than trying to hold on to some semblance of control or the sense that we have to keep things moving forward, God is inviting us to let something new come to birth within us.

Exhale.

Remember: the one who is both Giver and Gift asks us only for open heart and a willing spirit. Dwell in the mystery that is being made present to us in the liturgies of Advent and Christmas: Grace to you and peace from God our Father / and the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:7).

— Bro. Silas Henderson, SDS

PRAYER

A prayer for the final days of Advent

O Divine One,

you came into our world

in the form of a newly emerged child,

fresh and fragile as all of us are at our birthing.

You came as a beloved one

filled with the radiance of eternal Light.

As you grew in humanness,

your life and teachings revealed

the vast goodness of your inner being.

We now carry your loving Spirit of radiance within us.

We can easily miss this gift in the press of our activities

and our clouded, inner vision.

Skim away the inattentiveness of our minds

and the crusts of unloving on our hearts.

As we prepare to celebrate the wonder of your birth,

help us discern your concealed presence

in each part of our life. Amen.

(— From the writings of Joyce Rupp, OSM )

LPi's New Website

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 20:35:06 GMT

LPi is proud to announce a new corporate website to better serve Church communities and local businesses across the United States.

Visitors will notice improved navigation, cleaner design, and honed messaging. Careful attention was paid to the discovery experience, and there are a few specialized additions — like the engaging videos about bulletin and web services, or the sliding bar that allows a visitor to view a before-and-after of real churches who have had a bulletin redesign!

This site is built on the WeConnect platform, LPi’s website solution for parishes. WeConnect features drag-and-drop editing for painless web creation and simple personalization. While WeConnect is low-barrier for those new to web design, it also has advanced coding options for the web expert.

The new site was officially introduced on Monday, December 5, 2022, with great excitement for the future of Church communications. Check out our new site and tell us what you think!

3 Things Your Church Can Do to Encourage Visitors This Year

test@4lpi.com (Web Team) — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 13:00:03 GMT

Your church takes the challenge of Christ’s missionary mandate seriously. You want to be known as a welcoming place for visitors and a community that people feel comfortable inviting others to. Here are three tips on how to maximize your efforts this year when it comes to encouraging visitors and creating an environment of pastoral care.

1. Dial in your web presence.

Visitors will often check out your website and look you up on their preferred social media platform before they walk through your front doors. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that your online presence is professional-looking and inviting — not just for computer users but for those searching for information about your church on their mobile devices as well. Statistically speaking, recent data suggests that over half of all visits to a church’s website are from phones and tablets. At LPi we find that 68% of our website visits come from mobile devices! This means that you should expect that at least half of your visitors will be using their phone to view your content as well. Your homepage should be designed to be attractive and easy to use when someone navigates to it via their cell. Feel lost already? LPi’s design team is available to help you get your website ready for visitors this year! They can optimize your online presence for mobile visitors and even give you a logo refresh! We also recently published a blog with more in-depth tips and tricks to make your website more inviting!

2. Equip your members to invite.

Consider what tools you may or may not be giving your parishioners when it comes to inviting new folk to your parish. Some things you can do to equip your community to reach out and invite others into the fold are:

Remind parishioners that there is advertising space for local businesses available in the weekly bulletin!

Help coach your members on how you’d like them to approach visitors at Mass on Sunday

Make sure there is a visitor welcome brochure ready for any new folks and that your parishioners know where to find it so that they can direct new people to it

Create a visitor welcome table that stays on display in your church narthex, gathering space, or entry to your sanctuary so it’s easy to find friendly information

Commit to making your parish accessible to those who might be disabled. This could include hearing devices, special signage helping direct people to resources, a quiet room for families, and more

Have visitor parking close to the doors of your sanctuary reserved for first time visitors

Put a sign or banner out by your parking lot entrance facing the road inviting visitors to a specific event or Mass time

Welcome visitors at the beginning of every Mass and encourage them to visit a point person who can connect them to parish resources and information

Encourage your parishioners to bring friends and invite others to upcoming parish events

Make sure your Mass greeters are trained to be welcoming of ALL

For more ideas, we’ve collected over 60 ways for your parish to reach out to your surrounding neighborhoods.

3. Hold distinctively visitor-friendly events.

Whether events are catered to adults, youth, families, singles, or special groups, your parish should be holding a variety of visitor-friendly events every year. What do we mean by this? A visitor-friendly event might be an event that isn’t overtly religious — an event with an environment that focuses on community building instead of a specific Christian teaching. A great example of this would be a church BBQ, parish picnic, or service project! Youth group open mics, campfires, and game nights can also be options for great events to invite a friend to! Having a free holiday Christmas concert? This type of event is perfect for an invitation to your entire neighborhood! Check out these free flyer templates that are ready for you to customize . Just make sure that your visitor-friendly invites focus on events where your parish isn’t asking for money.

Do you have more ideas on how to encourage visitors into your vibrant parish this year? Let us know!

Being Surpised by Christ

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 20:48:51 GMT

Some people hate surprise parties. There are those who are uncomfortable with a last-minute vacation or even an unexpected travel upgrade. If it wasn’t part of the plan, it’s a cause for consternation.

There is a temptation to view these folks as curmudgeonly — sticks in the mud, obsessed with predictability. But I think if we’re being honest, there’s a little bit of the surprise-averse in all of us.

Deep within the very heart of the element of surprise is a kernel of shock. And shock, in the moment, can feel similar to trauma. If we reflect on the most traumatic occurrences of our lives — a loss, an accident, a calamity — it is likely that we will say this: “It was the shock more than anything that got to me.” Grief or fear, those feelings were overwhelming as well, but they came later. In the first moment, all we knew was we were going about our lives on one path until we were thrust on a different one and then the whole future changed.

This is the natural rhythm of our life here on earth. We never know what is coming — which is to say, in a beautiful way, we always know what is coming. More importantly, we know Who is coming.

Like the early riser who sets the “pre-alarm” (the one on which he knows he’s going to hit snooze just to take the edge off the disappointment of waking up), we are always being given a heads-up in Scripture. From the earliest prophecies of the Messiah to Jesus’ reminders in the Gospel to the very last words of Revelations, God has communicated to His stewards: You know the time. The time is now. We are called to constant vigilance, perpetual renewal, steadfast accountability.

In the end, the coming of Christ may be the only event in history that was a surprise, but not a shock — and so it will only be beautiful, even for those who hate surprise parties.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Are You the One Who Is to Come?

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 20:43:22 GMT

What Messiah are we making a way for this Advent Season? Is it one who only fits our limited expectations or the Savior of the World who fulfills the hopes of all peoples?

The question that John’s disciples pose to Jesus in today’s gospel is curious. How can he be unsure whether Jesus is the “One Who is to Come”? Didn’t he see the heavens parted and the Spirit of God come down upon Jesus at his baptism? Didn’t he point out Jesus as the “Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world”? What has changed that he now seems to doubt who Jesus is?

Though we cannot know for sure, many speculate that John, like many Israelites, was expecting a Messiah who would conquer all of Israel’s enemies. In particular, it seems that John the Baptist was expecting that the One to come after him would exact punishment on all evil doers. As we heard in last week’s gospel, he warned the Pharisees about “the wrath to come.” He prophesied that, “Every tree that is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

It could be that John, from his prison cell, heard that, instead of punishing sinners, Jesus was welcoming them and eating with them. Maybe Jesus was not the type of Messiah John was expecting, and so he wondered whether he should wait for someone else.

In his usual way, Jesus didn’t answer John directly. Instead, He quoted from the prophet Isaiah that the blind were regaining their sight, the deaf their hearing, and the lame were walking. In effect, He was telling John that he had come not to condemn the world but to save it. Like the rest of the people, John now had to make a decision. Could he believe in a Messiah who offered forgiveness to sinners and treated them mercifully? Or was he so attached to his ideas of what a Messiah should be that he could not accept Jesus?

God is always greater than our puny ideas about Him. If we are to find Him it is not going to be in the places where we feel most comfortable. Rather we will have to reach out to people we normally would not associate with in neighborhoods we would not normally visit. When he walked the earth, Jesus was found among the blind, the poor, the lame, and other outcasts. Today, He can be found among prisoners, drug users, migrants, and others who are at the bottom of the social ladder. Unless we are willing to go out of our comfort zones and to reach out to those we would otherwise ignore, we will miss out on all the graces that God is offering us.

This Advent season we celebrate a God who is close to us. Too often we lose sight of Him because of our rigid ideas and narrow expectations. Today we are being called to broaden our vision and raise our eyes to a God who is always greater than we can hope for or imagine. Though He is the One we have been waiting for, He has too often passed us by because we were looking the wrong way. Like John the Baptist we are being challenged to look for our Heavenly Father in the people, places, and situations we would otherwise run from. If through His grace we can find the courage to do so, then His coming among us will not be a nice thought or fanciful wish but a reality in our hearts, in our homes and in our world.

— Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, Master of both light and darkness,

Send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces

To hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things

Look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways

Long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy

Seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people,

Walking in darkness yet seeking light.

To you we say,

“Come Lord Jesus!”

Amen

(Henri J.M. Nouwen)

Parish Event Marketing Checklist

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Your church has an event or program coming up and you want to make sure that everybody in your parish knows about it. In order to help you cover all of your marketing bases, we created a checklist to use whenever you are planning the marketing for one of your parish’s events.

Details, Details, Details!

Details are so important! You don’t want to overload flyers and other advertisements with TOO many details, though so just make sure the following items are included on your advertisements and that more specific details are all found on your landing page/website. Always include your event’s:

• Name or title of the event
• Location
• Time
• How to register
• Contact information
• Who specifically is invited
• If there is any accessibility information for those with varying needs — for example — Will there be a sign language interpreter? Will the event have childcare available? Etc.

Other things to consider:
• Might there be a QR code that you could include that points to a landing page or something that has more detailed information about the event? We have a guide to using QR codes here.

• Are you using imagery from your parish photo library? Images of parishioners and your church community are an inviting way to advertise an event. Some tips on what photos you might want to start including in your parish photography library can be found here.

• Make sure you are working with whoever is running your parish’s social media accounts to get the information about your event shared across all platforms. Not quite sure of how to properly use social media for your parish yet? For the basics on setting up social media for your church you can check out our Social Media Strategy 101 for Parishes blog here .

As far as lasting tips go, we cannot express enough the need for every event to have its own landing page on your parish’s website. This page can have all of the information you’d ever want about the event on it as well as a form for registration if you need one, event pictures from the past, and anything else you want to put there. An event landing page like this will free up your other advertisements when it comes to copy and content so the focus can be on good design instead of squeezing in tons of information. Simply put, use the landing page for all of your exhaustive information and your advertisements like flyers and social media posts for a quick look at the event and a hook to direct people to the website!

Want a little jump-start on your event flyers? Our WeCreate library of content and resources has flyer templates for all sorts of church events that have been designed by our LPi graphic design team for you to customize for your own parish events. Every month we add even more templates alongside other graphics for you to use. If you don’t already have access, you can learn more about WeCreate here .

Is Christ King in Our Hearts?

Fri, 25 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

When you think of a king, who is the first person to pop into your head? It may depend on how much history you know, or which historical period intrigues you the most. As Americans, the first person we might think of is King George III, whose reign has become synonymous in our national lore with the concept of tyranny.

We don’t have much familiarity with kingship in modern American society. Kings tend to make us uneasy. Presidents, on the other hand — we can handle those, because we know we are a president’s boss. No matter how much power he has, we are the electorate. We are the source of that power. We’re comfortable with this arrangement.

But with kings it is profoundly different. Traditionally, the king derives his power from God. His rule bridges humanity with the divine.

We should reflect carefully on whether or not we have made Jesus Christ king in our hearts, or whether we regard him as a president. The difference isn’t just one of titles, it’s one of roles. Subjects do not demand anything of a king. They beseech. They entreat. They submit, and they accept.

Do we demand of Christ, or do we beseech? Do we tolerate God’s edicts with grumbling, or do we embrace His word as the means of our reconciliation with Him?

The “good thief” treated Christ as a king. His counterpart treated him as a president. And it’s worth remembering that Jesus Christ is not the President of the Universe.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Repentance and Preparation

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 15:50:00 GMT

For Sunday, December 4, 2022

2nd Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12

Tagore ’s poem about a beggar might seem “ nice ” at first glance, the story of an unlikely exchange with a traveling king and a village beggar, which left the latter in tears at his home. But this story can help us understand today’s Gospel during Advent.

The story of John the Baptist is familiar to all of us: the cousin of Jesus, dressed rather haggardly, preaching and baptizing before the Messiah. But we might have glossed over one simple line in today’s text which might be likened to the proverbial record-scratch at a poignant moment, “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance” (v. 8). How, during the merriment of the ‘most wonderful time of the year,’ do we do this?

The word “repentance” is rendered μετάνοια (metanoia) in Greek and means “a change of mind.” Many of us might not realize that the liturgical season of Advent is also a penitential season. In our monastic community, we liken Advent to Lent, but with some sugar sprinkled on top!! It is certainly difficult to sense a penitential liturgical season amidst the rampant consumerism during the season. Precisely for this reason do the Church’s penitential seasons prepare us for a solemn celebration of our faith. Advent prepares us for Christmas, just like Lent prepares us for Easter. The preparations involve repentance of some kind.

The prophet’s words that stung the hearts of his listeners should also sting our hearts today. What is the good fruit that can evidence our repentance — a sign of our effort making preparations — during Advent so that we can experience a deeper immersion into the mystery of Jesus’ incarnation that we will celebrate on December 25 and throughout the Christmas liturgical season?

We know that the real merriment of Christmas is not in receiving gifts, but in giving them, and watching our loved ones delight in our present. And yes, we know about the ultimate gift that Jesus gives to us in becoming human … hence, the reason for the season … he who is the only gateway for us to become who we really are meant to be. So, if Jesus himself is his gift to us — and we do indeed delight in that gift of himself — what gift will we give to Jesus in return this Christmas? And will it delight him?

Would it be a mere “little grain of corn”— the meager response of miserly beggar — to a divine request for alms, who, even in his poverty, thought it generous to give from the insignificance of his pocket rather than from wealth of his heart?

We know that nine months before Jesus’ birth, the Blessed Mother gave her fiat in response to the angel’s invitation, a gift of total surrender to the divine will. We also read that a few days after Jesus’ birth, three wise men and their entourage come from the East, having traveled many miles for quite some time, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. All of these are costly gifts, indeed. Perhaps, our experience of preparations (i.e., metanoia, or repentance) this Advent could produce a good fruit that will indeed delight the Baby Jesus. I don’t think Baby Jesus wants some gift that can be bought online or from a store, but rather, a comfortable space in the manger of your heart where he can rest his head this season. What interior preparations will you undertake — as costly as they may be — to prepare a suitable place for the Christ Child to lay his sweet head?

— Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

God,
Thank You for uniquely creating me to serve You.
I want to use the gifts You’ve given me to bless You and Your people.
I want to be a faithful manager of all that You entrust to me.
So please show me how to use my talents to serve others and glorify Your name.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Introducing Brand New Art and Content for 2023!

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Our team has been working hard behind the scenes to produce brand new liturgical content for our WeCreate Catholic art & content library. In 2023 we bring to you new gospel illustrations, new authors, and more outlined below. If you don’t have access to WeCreate yet, click here to learn more about this resource library.

Introducing Practicing Catholic

You may be familiar with the Everyday Stewardship Reflections written by Tracy Earl Welliver. In January 2023, Tracy will be retiring from writing these reflections as we introduce a new, complimentary series that incorporates many of the same themes called (Practicing) Catholic! These reflections, written by author Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman, speak to families in your parish as they practice their daily faith. Colleen has been writing Catholic content with LPi for many years, including contributing to Connect Sunday Reflections. In this new reflection series, you’ll find relatable, shareable ways to evangelize your community.

New Gospel Meditations

We are thrilled to introduce Fr. John Muir as our new English Gospel Meditation author. For an in-depth introduction to Fr. Muir, check out an interview we did with him recently here . Our Spanish Gospel Meditations will continue to be written by our long-time author Lupita Vital. These Gospel Meditations can be used in many ways, including, but not limited to, homiletic inspiration, bulletin content, and personal reflection.

Every month we add hundreds of new pieces of Catholic art and content across WeCreate to help you create vibrant communications. All LPi bulletin customers receive full access to this resource library. Not a bulletin customer yet? Learn more!

As always, we love to see how you use our content, be sure to tag LPi in your social media posts so that we can see the incredible work you are doing in your home parish.

A World Whose Time Has Come

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, November 27, 2022

1st Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

There is an old-fashioned phrase that always charms me when I see it, “a woman whose time has come.”

It describes a pregnant woman whose due date is close at hand, and it is a relic of an era where all references to pregnancy and childbirth in polite society were wrapped in rhetorical cotton. “In a delicate condition,” “In the family way,” “Expecting.”

Part of me is inclined to roll my eyes at these euphemisms, because I really believe that creating a pro-life culture demands that we talk frankly about the experience of being pregnant and giving birth. And yet . And yet. I cannot help but be attracted to these expressions, in all their affected preciousness. There is something so reverent — so deferential — in how they frame the reality of childbirth and all that leads up to it.

Interwoven themes of timeliness, expectation, and preparedness course through the Advent liturgical season. We are streaming toward the mountain of the Lord’s house, seeking the God of Jacob, knowing that “salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” There is a clear parallel between the Incarnation — the coming of Mary’s hour — and the fulfillment of all things, the return of Christ. Get ready, get ready, get ready , is the drumbeat of every Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word. The time has almost come. Stay awake . Be prepared.

I think one of the devil’s greatest ingenuities is the chaos of modern Christmas — and I say that as someone who sincerely enjoys Irving Berlin tunes, Hallmark movies and all the other trappings of the postmodern secular “holiday season.” But it’s all so much , isn’t it? It’s so intense. It’s so distracting. It’s a poor man’s Advent.

In the four weeks of Advent, I think I ask myself, “Am I ready?” about 400 times, but it’s so rarely in reference to anything that really matters. I’m worried about the gifts for the kids, the potatoes I promised to bring to the family party, the delayed shipping on the Christmas cards. For what am I preparing here?

I’m not advocating against Irving Berlin, Hallmark movies, holiday parties, and extravagant gift-giving. There is something magical about the flurry of activity leading up to Christmas. All I am saying is (and I’m saying it to myself as much as I am saying it to anyone else), keep these things in their proper place. They are not what make you ready for Christmas.

I love Christmas — but do I love Advent well enough, too? With each of my babies, as I held them in their first moments of life, there was sadness mingled with the joy as I wondered quietly to myself if I had not missed something in those last weeks as I frantically washed bottles and prepped freezer meals, making checklist after checklist to ensure that I have “everything ready” for when the baby comes.

Well, the baby always comes, and I am never ready. Because all the neatly stacked diapers and freshly laundered onesies in the world don’t make you ready for a baby, just like all the wrapped presents and frosted cookies don’t make you ready to receive the gift we are given on Christmas.

— Colleen Jurkiewicz

PRAYER

God of Jacob,
I am ascending the highest mountain,
raised above the hills.
The journey is long.
The climb is arduous.
The destination is beyond my sight.
Give me your light, that I may walk in your paths
and go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

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Eyes On Your Own Paper

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place.”

Looking at these words, I have to wonder. Am I reading the Bible or today’s newspaper headline?

It’s never easier to despair than when you glance up and take a good look at what’s going on in the world: disasters, natural and contrived, wars, resentments, rivalries, and divisions. It is almost too much sometimes, isn’t it? The twenty-four-hour news cycle doesn’t help. Add social media and it’s enough to push anyone into a nervous breakdown.

When you find yourself in this place of despair, remember Paul’s admonishment in his letter to the Thessalonians. Work quietly and eat your own food.

It’s not so different from the old “keep-your-eyes-on-your-own-paper” rule of the classroom. Poking our noses into other people’s business, we may think we are getting a shortcut to the right answer, but we’re really just getting distracted. When we become too preoccupied with events that we cannot control — whether they are happening in our neighborhood or half-a-world away — we are tempted to leave off the very specific work God has given us in our own lives. We are easily lured into anger, bitterness, and anxiety.

What is the work that God has called you to? Is it your career? Your family? Your community? What is your food — what nourishes you, sustains you, connects you to something real, powerful, and life-giving? This is what you should be concerned with. This is where your thoughts and your efforts should be.

Work quietly and eat your own food.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Introducing Father John Muir

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

1. Describe your parish demographic in 280 characters or less.
St. Thomas Aquinas parish has over 5500 registered families, made up of a variety of ages, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and economic status. Filipinos, Hispanics, Polish, Nigerians, Ugandans, Tanzanians, Italians, Irish, and many more. It’s a joyful, faith-filled place.

2. Why do most people visit your city ?
Near us, the Phoenix International Raceway has two big races each year. The Wigwam Resort attracts many people to our area, as do several golf courses. The White Tank mountains are popular for hiking.

3. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?
“Wow, it’s so big! It’s so beautiful! It’s so colorful.”

4. What is a fun fact about you?
Although I live in Phoenix, deep down, I’m a Vermonter. This means I love maple syrup, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and believe in lake monsters.

5. Which communication platforms do you use to spread the message of Jesus to the world?
I have a side project called Catholic Breakfast, which is a website as well as a social media space. It’s my attempt to engage, encourage, and equip people who are “Catholic curious” or just getting started in the faith. It’s available at www.CatholicBreakfast.com.

6. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?
The friendships and relationships that form when I am living my life on mission. I’m amazed at how deep and meaningful friendships are with so many priests and lay people. That’s a huge joy.

7. You’re writing our new Gospel Meditations, what end-goal encouraged you to agree to this project?
I want Catholics to know and love the Bible! The Bible is breathtaking in its power to illuminate and change us for the better. The more I can facilitate this for others, the better. Writing the Gospel Meditations is a blessing for me too because it helps me be more attentive to the Scriptures, which never disappoint.

8. Do you have a favorite Gospel-writer?
I have a special affection for Saint Luke because he clearly learned a great deal about the Lord Jesus from the lips of Mary, herself. Also, I love the way he records three persons breaking into song near the time of Jesus’ birth — Zechariah, Mary, and Simeon. He appreciates the connection between Christ and art from the very beginning. He understands that the love of Christ makes us sing.

9. What is one of the scariest invitations God has extended to you and how did you respond?
Last year I was invited to give the opening invocation for a NASCAR race. It was broadcast on live television. I was pretty nervous because I wasn’t sure how the largely Protestant crowd would respond to a Catholic priest. Also, it was on live TV. No second chances. But, as I waited to start, I realized that God had sent me there and the Sacrament of Holy Orders would give me whatever I needed. When the cameras came on and it was my turn to speak, I spoke confidently and calmly. It went so well. As I left the race that night, many folks said to me with their southern drawl, “Nice work up there, Father!”

10. What advice for the spiritual life have you received that has made a difference in your life?
Just try to please Jesus. Do everything for him, and don’t worry what anyone else thinks. Everything else will take care of itself.

Welcome Us into Your Kingdom

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, November 20, 2022

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

2 Samuel 5:1-3
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

Above him, there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38). These words would spark the poignant exchange between Jesus and the two thieves. One is unwilling to consider a need for saving, mocking this innocent man suffering beside him. In contrast, the other receives the promise of paradise through a humble, contrite acknowledgment of his sins and the recognition and proclamation of Jesus as Messiah. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And Jesus demonstrates God’s great mercy as He promises the good thief, on that very day, entrance into the kingdom.

What is the kingdom Jesus will come into? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2816) describes it this way,

While we understand the kingdom of God to be heaven, this quote reminds us — in God’s mysterious ways, it also dwells among us — present in every Tabernacle of the world in the Eucharist. The totality of Jesus remains fully present among us in the guise of a little white host, having come into his kingdom through the salvific work upon the Cross.

While everyone’s idea of heaven on earth is very different, none of us can begin to imagine the heaven that awaits us.

In my typical tendency to limit the majesty of Jesus, I’ve only hoped for a tiara and an all-you-can-eat buffet filled with gluten and dairy that I will finally be able to eat! My anxious mind cannot begin to comprehend the peace experienced in heaven. “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity — this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed — is called “heaven.” Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” ( CCC 1024 ).

The Catechism teaches for whom the kingdom has been prepared, “Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations” ( CCC 543a ). Then instructs, “To enter it, one must first accept Jesus’ word: The word of the Lord is compared to a seed which is sown in a field; those who hear it with faith and are numbered among the little flock of Christ have truly received the kingdom. Then, by its own power, the seed sprouts and grows until the harvest” (543b). My Lord, my God, and my King — forgive me my trespasses, and remember me as you reign in your Kingdom.

In a recent homily, my pastor shared the subtle evidence that Christ’s nobility was revealed in how his body was prepared for burial after removal from the Cross.

For a frame of reference, Father Matthew explained a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloe would be equivalent to twelve gallons of milk. Only a noble burial, he concluded, would warrant this quantity of anointing materials.

The Good Thief needed nothing more but a stirring of the heart to acknowledge Christ as King and receive the promise. Today, may we allow the Truth to penetrate our hardened hearts to make room for the kingdom here and the world to come.

— Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Our Lord Jesus Christ,
King of the Universe,
we anoint you with our worship and praise;
come reign in our hearts.
Remember us,
show your mercy upon us,
and welcome us into your kingdom.

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The God of the Living

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

“Sic transit gloria mundi,” is what they used to say at papal coronations. “So passes earthly glory.” Everything is fleeting. Nothing is here to stay. But in reality, some things are forever. Our actions on earth do have the potential to reverberate in eternity.

Everyday Stewardship is a lifestyle that embraces what will last. It is being aware of how our choices and our actions can be received by God, and through His grace, amplified to showcase His glory.

Your great-grandparents were married for 60 years. Maybe they shared the greatest love anyone in your family has ever seen, and maybe they raised up a whole family of kids. But they’ve been gone for a generation now, and no one living remembers the softness in their eyes when they looked at each other. And to read today’s Gospel, you might even get the impression that their marriage was nothing more than an earthly whim. Gone. Fleeting. Temporal.

This week’s readings invite us to contemplate the question: what exactly is immortal? What lasts beyond our earthly sojourn?

The seven brothers and their mothers whose martyrdom is told this weekend in Maccabees didn’t die for the letter of the law, they died for the One who gave the law. In the same way, a marriage contract does not extend into eternity, but the fruits of a sacrificial love will live forever.

Good works, devotion, gratitude, selflessness, graciousness, accountability — these are all of God. He is not God of the dead; He is God of the living — and these are the things that last an eternity.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Church Branding for Beginners

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Our teams meet with churches all over the United States. Did you know that many of the churches we meet with don’t have a unique brand for their parish!?

We hear it all the time — “We need to reengage our youth and get them back into Church!” and “We want to make our church a place that attracts more young families.” When our design team asks parishes what their goals are, one of the answers is inevitably, “We want people to know that we are a welcoming community,” or “We want strangers to feel comfortable here.”

Now, imagine that you and your family JUST moved to a new town. You’re looking for a great restaurant to make into the weekly family brunch spot and your neighbors keep recommending a place called Grandma’s Kitchen. What’s the first thing you’re going to do? You’re going to pull out your phone and look up directions to the diner as well as look for information about it online. If the logo you see for Grandma’s Kitchen looks outdated, if the menu looks like it was typed up and printed in 1995, or if their website is lacking clearly delivered information and is outdated looking, you will likely skip the place and keep looking. THE EXACT SAME CONCEPT applies to church communities! If your branding is outdated or unprofessional looking, visitors will skip your parish and move on with their search. Do we have your attention? Good. Let’s talk about church branding.

What is Branding Anyway?

Branding commonly refers to the distinctive design your church uses to display, promote, and advertise yourselves. Your brand is present everywhere and on everything your church has a hand in. This doesn’t just mean a church logo! Branding includes a logo, fonts, specific colors, and can even include specific ways that you present these things. All of these items should be collected into a “brand book” or, in your church’s case, let’s call it a “brand bible!” Where should these elements of your parish’s brand bible be frequently found?

For a cohesive look and feel that is consistent across all your parish communications, your branding should be found in:

How Can I Tell If Our Branding Needs Help?

Use this checklist to see if it’s time for a refresh — if you check anything on this list, it’s time!

1. If you can’t really pinpoint if you even have a logo or if you notice that what would be considered your church’s logo or branding looks dissimilar on different items. For instance, the name of your church at the top of your bulletin looks a lot different from the sign out in front of your property or the logo on your church’s Facebook profile photo.

2. Your brand was created way before your church even had a website or used email or, if you haven’t had a branding refresh in the last decade.

3. Your community has grown and changed, and you find that your branding doesn’t reflect your current vibrant parish community.

4. You are merging with another parish and need to help the communities come together with a fresh look.

5. Your parish recently recovered from a natural disaster or other tragedy, and you need a fresh look to help everyone move forward into a fresh start.

6. Your parish recently decided to open or close a parish school and needs branding to reflect this change.

7. You poll your parishioners, and they say that the brand needs to be … updated.

How Do I Improve Our Branding?

First, find a designer who is skilled in creating brandings for churches. They should know about logos, fonts, color pallets, and be able to incorporate your unique parish community into the design! We have a team dedicated to this at LPi that you can contact here!

Next, consider thinking about the following questions before meeting with your designer. Having the answers to these questions already fresh in your mind can enhance your meeting experience and ensure you don’t miss anything important to your community when you are helping the designer plan a branding for you!

1. Is there something unique about your church that you want reflected in the brand?
2. What are some of your parish’s strengths?
3. What are some descriptive words that describe your parish?
4. Are there any existing brand elements like colors, fonts, logos, or icons that need to be included in the design?
5. Do you have a mission statement that could be reflected in the design?
6. Is there anything about your church’s history or traditions that might be important to include?

Lastly, consider who will be deciding on the final branding design. Often, designers will provide a few options to choose from after meeting with you. At LPi, our designers commonly give churches 3 or 4 designs to deliberate over! Will you be polling your parishioners to rate their top choices? Is it up to the parish leadership team to decide? Is the pastor the one making the last call? Whoever it is, make sure they have ample time to decide as well as all of the information about the new brand and what information went in to creating it.

Check out our Facebook page to see frequent posts about how proud we are of the branding redesigns we are doing for other churches! There are also a plethora of samples of complete branding packages we’ve done on our website . Like what you see? Jump start your rebranding process and contact us today using the form below! You could have your very own fresh brand, style guide, and branding bible before you know it!

Do you REALLY want to know?

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, November 13, 2022

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Malachi 3:19-20a
2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19

We are hearing the word “Armageddon” tossed around the media and even out of the mouths of leaders on several occasions these days. While Armageddon has specific Biblical significance, it is a term that is loosely used to describe a cataclysmic battle signifying the end of the world. Between the Russian/Ukraine war and rising concerns with North Korea and China, one can easily wonder if world tensions are escalating to an alarming fever pitch and coming to a head. Political, religious and ideological disparities as well as many people giving voice to a general feeling of discontent with increased acts of violence also cause many to wonder. Does everything that is happening indicate that the present world, as we know it, is coming to an end?

Jesus told us that the world would one day come to an end. On this point he is very clear. He even goes on to describe some of what we will see in the Gospel for this Sunday . He tells of wars and insurrections, nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom, of powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues, awesome sights, and mighty signs from the sky. Even the prophet Malachi, chastising people centuries before, warns of a purifying fire. These themes are evident in salvation history and must be acknowledged. It is certain that the world will one day come to an end and Christ will reign supreme. This is our faith.

Some people make it their personal ambition to attempt to determine precisely WHEN this event will take place. They read the signs of the times, cite scripture references, and consult popular prophetic predictions, some of which are centuries old. They purport to have a certain credibility in this discipline, gaining a hearing in some circles even if just an entertaining curiosity. But is it really necessary to know? It seems to me that if Jesus thought it was important for us to have that answer he would have been more specific when the disciples asked the question. All Jesus acknowledged is what scripture already confirms: the end will inevitably come.

What Jesus did spend some time detailing is what his disciples need to do before the end comes. He is quite clear that we must remain faithful, face persecution, endure suffering, face wars and insurrections, and give testimony. Jesus firmly reminds us that everything we have created, no matter how beautiful and durable we may find it to be, will pass away. What is our level of attachment to earthly things? Even our houses of worship, shrines, and temples capture our attention and concern more than the one they are meant to honor. If what we seemingly will “lose” when the world comes to an end becomes a worry, obsession, or preoccupation, then we need wonder how deep our faith really is. Consumed with all of the things we have built and established for ourselves and seeking to preserve them, we forget that we belong to a different kingdom, the Kingdom of God. Are all of these things what we are ultimately called to preserve and serve?

The Gospel is always our guide. We can never tire or lose sight of our vocation to live just lives and be non-violent pursuers of peace. We are always and everywhere called to act on behalf of the poor, turning our cheek to those who hurt us most. But when powers that are dark, persistent, strong, and dominant override the path to peace and love that we hold so dear, we have to stand firm and realize whose kingdom we ultimately serve. We serve the Kingdom of God! Jesus cautions that we do not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed or overly terrified by the agonies, power struggles and disappointments of the world. Although we may be apprehensive and uncertain when faced with complex challenges, God is with us. God is the One who can never be taken away!

True, authentic, and unconditional love is not subject to time and seasons. It is always and forever. Our love of God must be the same. Our love of God must not be the love of sometimes or when it’s convenient. What matters to us as we embrace a new moment or a new day in our lives? Preserving what we have established for ourselves or deepening our devotion to and relationship with God? If our relationship with God, the strength and integrity of our souls, and the steadfastness of our character are of utmost importance, then it matters little when the physical end will come. Our priorities will be in order, and we will be ready to go where God will take us. We will fall into the arms of love’s author and become who we wanted to be all along. As St. Ignatius of Antioch reminds us, “only on my arrival there (in heaven with God) can I be fully a human being.” God will give us the strength and inspiration we need. We will discover the necessary courage ahead, in spite of persecution and even death itself.

Sometimes knowing too much is a bad thing. It can take the adventure, wonder and excitement out of living. Do you really want to know the exact day, hour, and circumstances of your death? Knowing too much can bring one to apathy, disillusionment, fear, anxiety, dread, and cynicism, robbing the soul of the love and freedom it needs to soar! Not knowing can be a beautiful thing! It allows for daily surprises, wonder and awe, new discoveries, playfulness, joy, contentment, and even laughter in the midst of the direst of circumstances. The unknown of the future allows us to discover the riches and depth of God, who is the delight and joy of our souls.

Learning to hold all of life’s experiences in balance is one of the goals of the spiritual life. Finding our way through death and life, suffering and bliss, war and peace, anger and acceptance, love and hate, violence and peace, while still holding firm to the providential and unconditional love of God is paramount. Acts of violence and the brokenness of life can easily harden us and make us bitter. We have to resist this temptation and bring ourselves back to love. We must keep ourselves focused on what really matters and not get too dependent upon the material, tangible, and superficial. It is the only way we will find God and become who we are meant to be. Christians have to show others the path to unconditional love. The world desperately needs this message. People need to have their relationships with God, others, themselves, and the world restored to proper order so that all can work together in service of the Kingdom of God. This message is not always received with open and welcome arms. But, it is a message that must be heard and one that must be preached.

— Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Prayer of the Body of Christ

We come from many nations;
We are one.
We come from many backgrounds;
We are one.
We are rich and poor, male and female;
We are one.
We are one in you, Christ Jesus,
And we call up on you to strengthen us
In the face of that which seeks to divide us.
May we steadfastly turn from hate
As we answer your call to love so that
Your kingdom may come.
Amen.

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Do We Watch Jesus from a Distance?

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 09:30:00 GMT

It seems to me that Zacchaeus may have gotten more than he bargained for when he scaled that sycamore tree.

We can only speculate as to what the original intentions of the wealthy tax collector were. We know he wanted to see Jesus, of course — but what does that mean? Was he simply curious about this famous and controversial man? Was he moved by what he heard of Jesus’ teachings? Was he trying to catch a glimpse, or to get close?

Whatever his initial motivations, we can safely assume he did not expect Jesus to look up and say: “Get down. I am coming to your house today.”

I often find myself taking the same posture as Zacchaeus in the tree. Perhaps I have a problem I’m wrestling with or a personal fault I need to overcome. At times I know I need to give of myself in ways that scare me. Whatever it is, I am watching Jesus from a distance. I am removed. Because I worry that when he gets close, he will get in my space. He will see whatever it is I don’t want to deal with or tackle.

I need to remember that Jesus does not come to condemn, but to assist. It is God’s desire to make us “worthy of His calling.” To do that, He knows we need help. He knows we need Him in our space.

I’ll say this for Zacchaeus — he was ready. He jumped right down, acknowledged what he had to be ashamed of, and vowed to do better. He brought Jesus home.

May we all have that same courage.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Church Graphics Our Designers Loved Making — 2022 Edition

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Did you know that there is an entire team of graphic designers behind the thousands of graphics, designs, templates, and more that we release every year? These images are created for you to use in your bulletins, websites, social media posts, flyers, (and any other way you can think of) through our WeCreate collection !

We asked our designers to share about the pieces they most enjoyed making over this past year, collected their responses and examples of the work, and compiled them here so you could get a little behind-the-scenes view of who your LPi design team is and a taste of the passion that they put into their art!

If you want access to all of these graphics along with the thousands of others we have available, make sure you are subscribed to our WeCreate library . If LPi already prints your bulletin you are already subscribed! Our customer support team is always ready to assist you so if you need help accessing these tools you can contact them here ! We always love when people share with us their favorite pieces, so, if you have a favorite LPi graphic please share about it in the comments so we can pass on your praise to our design team!

Living Hope

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, November 6, 2022

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Luke 20:27-38

At the end of each liturgical year, the readings and prayers of the liturgy invite us to turn our gaze toward the future. That is certainly true in the readings for this Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, as Jesus offers us a glimpse of what the fullness of life will be like: “They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God” (Luke 20:36). But this sort of living for the future that the liturgy is inviting us to is hard work, which demands perseverance.

As we know, the demands of daily living can often be complex and all-consuming. When we begin to factor in the uncertainties and suffering that are all too common in our communities, nation, and world, it can be hard to do more than simply move on to the next task. And so, we might ask, how is living for the future possible when there are so many things about today pulling us in countless directions?

The answer, simple as it may seem, is hope .

For Christians, hope is more than a mere optimism that, at some point in the future, things will be “better,” that current tensions or struggles will come to an end and life will be somehow different. For disciples of Jesus hope has a very different sensibility. This is because, for Christians, we don’t simply hold our breath and suffer through until that moment of change arrives. Rather, we live the present moment to fullest — with all its blessings and challenges — confident that God is with us now, journeying into the future with us. This confidence, this hope, is based on our conviction that we believe in a God who keeps promises. As Pope Francis reflected in a 2017 General Audience, Christian hope is “A hope based on a promise that, from the human point of view, seems uncertain and unpredictable, but which never fails, not even in the face of death, when the One who promises is the God of the Resurrection and Life.”

Even Jesus knew the stresses of daily life. Not only did he see first the struggles of his working-class parents and many families like his in Nazareth, but he also saw countless broken, struggling, and hopeless people in his travels and ministry. The gospels tell us that Jesus, himself, also grew tired and overwhelmed because of the many people who were constantly coming to him for a healing touch or blessing. And it is Jesus — both fully divine and fully human — who helps us to see what hope looks like: when the world was closing in, he stepped away, took time for prayer and to relish the closeness of his Father, and he returned to the mission the Father had entrusted to him, moving into his own future confident of the presence of the Father.

As we look toward the end of the Church year and to the fullness of time, when all of God’s promises will be fulfilled, we are able to do so in hope because we recognize that God is with us here and now, even in the messiness of the present moment. Stand firm. Trust. Be confident that, beyond sadness, oppression, and even death, the last word will be the Lord’s and, as Pope Francis reminded us , “it will be a word of mercy, of life and of peace.” After all, the Holy Father concludes, “Whoever hopes, hopes to one day hear this word: ‘Come, come to me, brother; come, come to me, sister, for all eternity.”

— Bro. Silas Henderson, SDS

PRAYER

A Prayer to God Present Everywhere in the World
O my God,
you are in heaven,
and you are there in all your immensity.
You are also in the world,
which is entirely permeated with you,
because it contains you —
or rather because you contain it.

O my God,
I believe that where I go I will find you
and that there is no place
which you do not honor with your presence. Amen.

(Based on the writings of St. John Baptist de la Salle, taken from The New Saint Joseph People’s Prayer Book )

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More Than a Buzzword

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

If you roll your eyes at the mention of the term stewardship, it’s probably because, in the modern Church, stewardship has become something of a corporate buzzword. It’s often used interchangeably with the concepts of financial endowment and volunteerism.

What’s wrong with supporting your parish monetarily? What’s the issue with giving of your time in service and ministry? Nothing at all, in fact — we should all be doing more of these things.

But as we do them, we should be constantly asking ourselves the all-important questions: Why am I doing this? How am I doing this? For whom am I doing this?

A donation to the parish school is a great thing. But ideally, the donor would have made the gift regardless of the ability to name the school gym. A tireless volunteer who always finds time for her parish certainly glorifies God with her commitment. But hopefully, her commitment would be just as enthusiastic if she knew there was no prospect of being written up in the bulletin as Volunteer of the Month.

God knows no favorites. The prayer of the Pharisee in the temple did not justify him because the Pharisee didn’t really mean it as a prayer. His intent wasn’t to thank God, his intent was to draw attention to his gifts. God did not reject the Pharisee’s fasting and his tithes, he rejected the spirit in which they were offered.

God desires to transform us — our hearts, our souls, our communities. When we give of ourselves — either through money or through time — he is honored by the act of giving, not the gift itself. We should never make the mistake of thinking that stewardship is “time, talent, and treasure.” Stewardship is the spirit of offering these gifts freely.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Take Your Church Flyer Game Higher

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Have you ever heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder”? When it comes to church events, having a work smarter goal can save you some major headaches over the course of your event planning and execution. We all know that having professional looking flyers and advertisements for your event or program is essential to people attending or signing up, but let’s be realistic — how many graphic designers do you actually have on your church staff to make them? If your answer is NONE then, this blog is for you! We’ll outline a few best practices, give you some examples, and share about a template tool that can save you loads and loads of time!

Too Many Words!

The single worst thing anyone can do when trying to design an effective flyer is to put way too much information on it. Remember, a flyer is not a brochure. Flyers are not meant to share every single little piece of information about a program or an event. All of your event’s little details can be outlined in a program, webpage, or brochure that your flyer ultimately directs people to. The purpose of a flyer is to grab a person’s attention, create interest, and invite a call to action. That call to action might be to register, visit a website to learn more information about something, pick up a brochure/program, or to simply show up! Before creating your flyer, ask yourself what the most basic important information is that needs to be communicated.

The specifics that are most likely needed on your flyer include your event’s:

Information that you may be tempted to include but should probably be put in a web page or brochure instead includes:

“Join us for our winter dance fundraiser where everyone can have a lot of fun and raise money for the Covington Food Bank”
should, instead, simply say —
“Winter Dance” with “A benefit for the Covington Food Bank” on the line below.

The Psychology Behind Good Design

Did you know that our brains are wired to be attracted to some types of designs and repelled by others? Some tips that will attract people to your flyer design are:

Our Best Time-Saver Tip

Let’s give you a major leap forward into the “work smarter” arena and introduce you to the LPi ready-made flyer template tool. WeCreate, our ever-expanding collection of thousands of graphics, stock photos, and design templates , provides subscribers professionally designed downloadable content for your church’s print and digital projects! In WeCreate we have a collection of flyer templates made by our design team that you can very simply customize and use for your own events! New designs added every month. Want a sample? We selected a few of these flyer designs to offer to you, on our free Catholic art page.

If you use one of our flyer templates for an upcoming event, we’d love to see it! Tag us on facebook when you post it for your community so we can see the great work you are doing!

A Little Man’s Way to Jesus

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 12:52:00 GMT

For Sunday, October 30, 2022

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 11:22-12:2
2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
Luke 19:1-10

What do you suppose drove Zacchaeus to go out and look for Jesus?

As the chief tax collector, Zacchaeus was a wealthy man and very busy. He was hated by the people who considered him a traitor and a crook. Zacchaeus had every reason to avoid the crowds that gathered to see Jesus and every reason to think that, as a sinner, he had no right to even lay his eyes on such a holy man.

However, something compelled him to leave his home, run into the streets of Jericho and even climb up a tree to get a glimpse of the wonderworker from Galilee.

Could it be that there was something missing in his life? Despite all his wealth, despite all his power, he was not happy. As a short man, he may have hoped that wealth and power would have made him tall in the eyes of others. However, no matter how much he had, he still felt small inside. Could it be that, when Zacchaeus heard the news that Jesus was passing through town, he hoped that this would be his chance to discover the love and the meaning he had been striving for all his life? Is this what compelled him to climb that sycamore tree — the desire for a more abundant and fulfilling life?

In this, Zacchaeus is very much like us. We run after happiness, fulfillment, and pleasure. We dream about what our lives would be like if we just had more money, more friends or more comforts. As hard as we work, happiness always seems just beyond our grasp. No matter how much money or possessions we have, they never seem to be enough. We grow bored with them and look for something new. In the end, we are left with the same ache within us.

What a surprise it must have been for Zacchaeus to hear Jesus call out his name. He doesn’t say, “Hey, you in the tree,” but “Zacchaeus.” Jesus not only singled him out from the crowd but already knew who he was. Zacchaeus climbed down quickly from the tree because this was his chance to meet the one whom his heart longed for. Saint Luke goes on to tell us that Zacchaeus “received [Jesus] with joy”, a joy that no doubt had been eluding him all his life and that he finally found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Like Zacchaeus, we can discover the one whom our hearts long for, the one who can give us true peace and joy. All we have to do is invite him into our hearts and into our homes. We do not have to convince him that we deserve it because we are nice people. We do not have to grovel because of all the sins we have committed. Like Zacchaeus, we will discover that he already knows us. We will discover that he is already calling out to us before we reach out to him. And we will soon discover that whatever we have to give up to welcome him into our homes pales in comparison to the joy he gives.

— Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Living God,
We long for your love in our hearts.
This world has left us cold and alone.
Fill us with the life that only you can give.
Call our name, and we will run to you.
Pick us out from the midst of the crowd,
And we will welcome you.
Tell us what we must do to bring you into our homes,
And we will do it.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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Sparking Holiness

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

As the seasons change, a lot of us like to clean out our homes and unload some of the junk we’ve acquired over the summer. One trendy approach to decluttering is the Marie Kondo method, named after the author who popularized it. Overly simplified, it’s a process that compels you to go through your closets, your garage, your basement — all the places you collect the dreaded “stuff.” As you do so, you hold up the items and ask yourself: “Does it spark joy?”

It’s a question that is bold in its simplicity. In answering, you’re supposed to go with your gut. If it’s a quick “Yes, it sparks joy,” the item should be kept. If the answer is no, it gets tossed.

There are people in life who will support our efforts to do God’s will. There are those who will, as Paul says, “convince, reprimand, (and) encourage,” unafraid of the reaction we give them. There are those who will shore up our defenses when the battle goes longer than we thought.

The same goes for hobbies and pastimes. There are those that will ennoble our minds and bring us closer to God. And there are also those that will drain our funds and our free time, with nothing to show for it.

During these autumn months, don’t just declutter your basement in preparation for the hauling out of the Christmas ornaments. Take stock of the people and pursuits that make up your life. With each one, ask yourself: “Does it spark holiness?”

If the answer is yes, thank God that our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. If the answer is no, maybe it’s time to declutter.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Writing a Social Media Calendar for Your Parish

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

So, you’ve spent the time to set up accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and maybe even Twitter for your amazing church to better connect with your parishioners, but, now what? Note — if you haven’t set these important forms of communication up yet and need some help getting started, our blog post Social Media Strategy 101 For Your Parish Community has everything you need to get you set up for success! Assuming you have already gotten things set up, though, let’s talk about best practices, tips, and free tools that LPi has for you when it comes to setting up a social media posting calendar.

First Thing’s First — Who’s Your Captain?

Figure out who is running the show! Who will be overseeing all of your social media accounts and making sure that each account is being regularly updated? Who’s doing the actual posting? If there are multiple people with access to your accounts who are regularly posting content, it’s time to have a meeting with those people and choose a captain for the job! This person should be in charge of approving content and making sure everything looks in-sync with your church’s branding. Another quick commercial break here to mention something important about branding and design — if your church doesn’t have a branding system dialed in, LPi has a great team of friendly designers available to make this happen for you! To learn more about our church branding packages you can check out that part of our website here .

Ok, back to the main topic — social media calendaring. The person who will be your lead when it comes to social media posting and scheduling should ideally be familiar, or in the process of familiarizing themselves, with the various social networks you are using. They should be someone on your church staff or, at the very least, someone who has frequent access to the many ministry leaders and staff members at your Parish.

A Tool to Save You Time — The Social Media Management Program

To make the process of managing your church’s social media accounts as easy as possible, we suggest you employ a SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT PROGRAM . As social media content for upcoming events — or whatever else your community is posting about — begins to flow to you from the different ministries at your church, you might find that you are making many of the same posts across all of your social networks. Although some content might be best suited for just one of your networks, for example maybe you only post livestreaming Mass information on Facebook if that’s the network you use for livestreaming, you will likely find that the majority of your social media posts are basically the same across all of your platforms.

Instead of taking the time to log into each social network individually, do the work to create the post in that app, then re-do the entire process again for every app you use, social media management programs make it possible to post to all of your social networks at once with just one post! These programs allow you to manage your many social media accounts from one single place. You can create one single post and then choose which platforms to post it to and the program will take care of the rest of the work for you. Another MAJOR bonus of using a social media management platform is that you can schedule posts ahead of time via an easy calendar view system. This makes it possible to plan out your social media posting calendar and do the work ahead of time, then you can sit back and relax and know that all of your posts will show up on the day and time that you directed the program to post them.

There are many tools out there for social media management. Common ones that are easy to use, affordable, and have a great calendar layout system are:

Calendar Time!

You may have heard that, in order to have a healthy social media presence, you need to be posting every single day. In reality, when you are first starting out, posting every day is much less important than making sure that the things you that you do post are intentional, designed well, and include all of the information your viewers may need. So, for now, just focus on confirming that everything that needs to be posted is, in fact, being posted and don’t worry so much about constantly having content just for the sake of … having content.

Creating your social media calendar will always take cross-departmental cooperation so your first step in calendar creation will be to set up a monthly meeting with the leadership of your parish. This may include people on staff, important volunteer ministry leaders, your parish council, liturgical leaders, and anyone else who might have content that will regularly need to be posted. Tell meeting members to be prepared for the monthly meeting with the next month’s upcoming calendar items for their areas of ministry as well as information about those events and items ready to give to you if possible.

During your monthly meeting you will collect post ideas from everyone as well as plan the date for each post based on the feedback from those at the meeting. Remember, sometimes if you are advertising an event, it’s important to post about it a few times during the weeks, or even months, leading up to the event. You can easily schedule duplicate posts way ahead of time using your social media management program to make sure that they aren’t accidently forgotten when things get busy!

What Should We Be Posting Anyway?

If you are having a hard time coming up with content ideas, LPi has you covered! We publish an infographic dedicated specifically to timely social media ideas as part of our Vibrant Parish Newsletter every single month. This monthly infographic always has social media content ideas for the upcoming month, specially curated for Catholic parishes! There is clickable content that will take you directly to comparable graphic resources in our WeCreate collection for you to download for your posts! You can view an example from a previous month here .

On top of the ideas in our infographic every month, don’t forget to inquire about the following topics in your monthly content meeting:

Where to Find Beautiful Catholic Graphics For Your Posts

You’re almost there! Your calendar is dialed in and now all you have left to do is create the actual posts. To save you loads of time on this, LPi has thousands of specially curated Catholic graphics, photographs, and even templates for you to use at your convenience. You never have to create your own Christmas, Feast Day, or special event graphic again when you use the WeCreate collection that is available free when LPi prints your bulletin. We even have ready-to-go Facebook and Instagram story content that you can use to engage your parish with those app’s story tools and a blog, here, to teach you how exactly to do that!

Don’t forget that we always love when parishes tag LPi’s Facebook profile , our Instagram profile , or our twitter account when you put the WeCreate content that our design team has made to good use in your social media posts! We love when parishes tag us so that we can see how they are using the content we provide! See you out there!

Note: Remember, our WeCreate library is free for all LPi bulletin customers, learn more about our service or you can become a subscriber today!

Be Humble and Bear Fruit

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, October 23, 2022

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14

St. Dorotheus of Gaza said, “In some kinds of trees, no fruit is produced as long as the branches grow upwards; but if somebody takes a stone and binds it to a branch and pulls it down, then the branch will bear fruit. It is similar with a soul; when it humbles itself, it bears fruit, and the more fruit it bears, the humbler the soul becomes. The more the saints approach God, the more they see themselves as sinners.”

A few years ago, I was caught in disobedience here at the monastery. I argued the righteousness of my position, until I heard the sound of arrogance coming through my words. I was quite horrified because I had never spoken like that before. It was a humiliating experience to admit my fault in a chapter meeting and to ask for forgiveness publicly. But I learned a huge lesson that day: my own sense of righteousness can lead to my downfall. While I now regret the decision I made that day, I realize there’s a wisdom that comes from experience, something that cannot be gained through reading a book. Perfectionism is, perhaps, just another word for self-righteousness, the sense that I am entitled to live my life the way I see fit. There is a human prudence here, certainly. But from another perspective, self-determination can often put us at odds with God’s will in our lives … as I learned that day years ago.

Humility is difficult for us because it is an admission of submission to a higher authority. In other words, it is giving someone else (aka, God) the permission to be in the driver’s seat of our lives. It is for this reason that the Rule of St. Benedict outlines 12 steps towards growing in humility. The fifth step deals with the revelation of thoughts to an elder. This isn’t the same as sacramental Confession, but “the revelation of secret thoughts to an elder was a central practice among the early monks, less for the content of the elder’s response than for the self-knowledge it evoked in the monk. Speaking honestly about oneself to an elder was considered a means of testing objectively the reality of private imaginations.” (Michael Casey, “Living in the Truth: St. Benedict’s Teaching on Humility”). One can liken it to having conversations with a therapist or spiritual director or sharing in an accountability group. When we find the courage to share vulnerably in a healthy manner, we verbalize what were mere thoughts in our minds, and we can learn to see the accuracy and/or the distortions in our thought processes before we take action.

While this kind of humble attitude is not easy to pursue, it does have an added benefit: it endears you to others. I saw a graphic on Facebook recently that said, “Those who talk about their strengths build walls; those who talk about their weaknesses build bridges.” Think about this in your own life: who are the types of people that attract your attention? And who are those who turn away your attention?

Perhaps this is the lesson that Jesus wants to teach us in today’s Gospel: humility, or radical self-honesty, is a necessary component of our faith. It is precisely this depth of self-knowledge that can begin to open us up to a deeper knowledge of God beyond what can be read in books or blogs or heard in podcasts or at conferences. Can you imagine what life would be like if our deepest thoughts could be gently received? Can you imagine what life could be like if we knew that there would be no condemnation for sharing the darkness of our interior dimension? Can you imagine the relief of knowing that our distorted self-talk no longer had control of our lives?

Indeed, I am no different than the rest of humanity in that I am a sinner. But also indeed, it is for this reason that Jesus is the savior for humanity. Let’s learn to call upon our need for a savior by remembering that we all have needs for which Jesus is the only remedy.

Br. John-Marmion Villa, BSC

PRAYER

God, I am far too often influenced by what others think of me.
I am always pretending to be either richer or smarter or nicer than I really am.
Please prevent me from trying to attract attention.
Don’t let me gloat over praise on one hand or be discouraged by criticism on the other,
nor let me waste time weaving imaginary situations in which the most heroic, charming, witty person present is myself.
Show me how to be humble of heart, like You.

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The Zeal of the Convert

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

When you work in the Church, professionally or on a volunteer basis, you become familiar with the phenomenon known as “the zeal of the recent convert.”

Sometimes, it really seems that the newly baptized are just stronger Catholics than the cradle Catholics. They smile more at Mass. They are awestruck by the Eucharist. They come out of the confessional beaming.

It’s not that they are naive. It’s not that they are in some honeymoon phase of religion, living outside of reality. It’s simply that they remember. They remember what it felt like before the Eucharist or before Confession. They recall before the sacraments and the oil and the grace and the relief. It was more recent for them than for some of us older Catholics — especially those of us who were baptized as infants.

Let’s ask ourselves: Have we become too comfortable? Do we receive God’s grace with expectation instead of surprise? Have we ceased to marvel and wonder at the goodness of God? If the answer is a resounding yes, don’t despair. Look at the Gospel — a literal nine times out of ten, God goes un-thanked and un-noticed.

So many of us have forgotten, or never understood, what it meant when the leprosy was washed from our souls. But when we remind ourselves, we become more keenly aware of the extraordinariness of the gift we have received.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

5 Examples of Photos Every Parish Needs

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 15:23:00 GMT

Recently, we shared a blog post called A Layperson’s Guide to Smartphone Church Photography . In that blog we mentioned five essential photo subjects that all parishes should strive to have for use on their website and social media accounts. This blog expands upon those photo ideas with examples from our own LPi stock photography collection to help you envision how to cover this subject matter at your own church.

When taking your photographs, regardless of what equipment you are using, make sure to take a variety of wide-angle shots as well as close-ups. Shoot some in a vertical format as well as some horizontally so that you have a variety of formats to choose from when you decide to use these online or in print! Take some during special church occasions as well as during Ordinary Time. Try to cover all of the liturgical seasons evenly. If you do this focusing on these five topics, you will find yourself with a robust library of church photographs for use in your church media!

Photo 1: Families Gathering as Mass is Letting Out
Be sure to capture families with a variety of people of different ages!

Photo 2: Your Pastor Greeting Parishioners
You may consider running these by your pastor before using them so that he can approve the images of him you plan to use before they go on the website for all of the public to see.

Photo 3: A Well-Attended Mass Inside Your Sanctuary
Don’t forget to tell your parishioners ahead of time that you are planning on photographing a specific Mass time(s) that month so that people can come prepared.

Photo 4: at Their First Sacraments
In fact, all Sacraments make for great photo opportunities to showcase your amazing community! Consider Marriages, Confirmations, First Communions, Baptisms, and the special Masses for each. Don’t forget to get photo releases from parents if you are planning on using any photos captured of children in your congregation.

Photo 5: Parishioners Participating in Parish Events
We’ve already got Sacrament down so let’s see those photos from the unique events your parish has. Picnics, youth groups, anniversaries, speaker series, Bible studies, service projects, concerts — whatever events you are proud of!

Are you proud of your parish’s photo library? If so, tag us in a post you make on Facebook using some of your favorite parish photographs so that we can see them! We love getting inspiration from you!

If you are already a subscriber to WeCreate, or if LPi prints your bulletin, click here to view or even download and use the stock photography we collected for this blog and more!

** Not a subscriber yet and wondering if your parish could benefit from WeCreate? We offer trials and giveaways for folks like you! Fill out this contact form to learn more.

Let Yourself Pray

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, October 16, 2022

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Exodus 17:8-13
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Luke 18:1-8

…Pray always, without becoming weary. — Luke 18:1

For the first nine months of my daughter’s life, she didn’t “sleep” so much as she succumbed to 45-to-90-minute power naps against which she struggled viciously, like a fugitive resisting capture.

In those blurry, melatonin-deficient days of early parenthood, I don’t think I once said a nighttime prayer that lasted more than five seconds. As soon as my daughter had finally passed out for the first “nap” of the night, I hastened to make the most of my window of opportunity and tried to get to sleep as quickly as possible. Prayer was a mumbled half-thought, half-groan that went something like, “I’m so sorry, God, I’m just so tired, but I love you” as I was borne away on the irresistible current of a REM cycle.

And when I tell you that those were some of the most profound moments of communion with my creator that I have ever felt, I am not lying.

After my daughter began sleeping more and I stopped having an “excuse” for these brief, intense moments of conversation with God, I felt I had to return to my previous way of praying, a practice which closely resembles the recitation of the Gettysburg Address by a disinterested and slightly nervous fifth grader.

One evening not long ago, as I faceplanted into bed after the house went quiet, I actually got angry at the thought of praying. I am so sick and tired of everything. I am so done with giving. I do not have the strength or energy to coddle the ego of the creator of the universe , I told God resentfully. I am not praying tonight .

In other words, I was praying about how I was too tired and cranky to pray.

St. Therese of Lisieux , a true genius of the relationship between the human and the divine, described prayer as “a surge of the heart … a simple look turned toward heaven … a cry of recognition and of love.” It’s such a beautiful description, and far more appealing than “a long and belabored list of requests shamefully presented, compliments lazily given, and gratitude halfheartedly offered,” which more accurately describes the type of prayer I’ve engaged in since childhood.

For most of my life, I have believed that I struggle with prayer — with finding the time for it, with doing it correctly and effectively. But I have recently come to realize that I don’t struggle with prayer. I struggle with understanding what prayer is.

Prayer does not have to be a litany (though it can be!). It does not have to be a love letter (though it can be!). It does not have to be an act of worship like Mass, with rubrics and protocols (though it can be!). Prayer is not a transaction or a test or a compulsion. If it is any of these things, then it is not prayer.

Prayer is Moses raising his hands to Heaven — wearily, and with assistance. It is the widow desperately banging on the door of the indifferent judge. It is something that needs to be done, yes, but also something that we cannot help but want to do, because it is natural. It is what we were designed for.

I recently heard that the reason babies resist sleep is because they have not yet learned that sleep will bring relief for the discomfort of exhaustion. So, they thrash and claw and scream, protesting the cure for their ailment because they do not understand it.

Just let yourself sleep , I would whisper to my daughter all those years ago as she used every ounce of energy in her small body to fight against the thing she needed most. You’re making this too complicated .

Just let yourself pray , God whispers to me. You’re making this too complicated .

— Colleen Jurkiewicz

PRAYER

Lord, teach me to pray without growing weary.
Let all of my actions and all of my thoughts be a conversation with you.
Help me to seek out your company in the course of my day
In the midst of my labors and among the people I meet.
Teach me that prayer is a surge of my heart
A connection
A lifeline.

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Be Careful What You Wish For

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Be careful what you wish for.” In my experience, it’s not often utilized with a lot of charity. You usually hear it said as a warning. The unspoken sentiment behind it is this: You’re not as strong as you think you are.

As Christians we shouldn’t be surprised to look ourselves in the mirror and own that reality. We are not as strong as we may think. We are time and time again shocked and dismayed by our own weaknesses, our own fears, our own shortcomings.

Should we be careful what we wish for? The apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, and He told them it would take work. It would take suffering. It would take patience. But He didn’t say it was impossible.

As everyday stewards, we need to continue wishing recklessly. Ask God for anything and everything, come to Him with all your needs. Beg Him for grace without limit.

When we hear God’s voice, it does not always say what we want to hear. But it always speaks the perfect truth. If it tells us of a hardship that we think we cannot bear, let us take solace in the knowledge that we are the stewards — not the landlord.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Using the Facebook and Instagram STORIES Tool for Engagement

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 09:30:00 GMT

An awesome tool that both Facebook and Instagram have developed over the last few years is their STORY feature. This tool is so robust and a great (free!) way to engage with your community when used correctly. In this blog you will find some tips and tricks on how to utilize the social media story feature to share your own vibrant parish community with the world!

Stories? Why should I have to learn ONE MORE THING?

Social media is an extension of the wonderful community that your church has already built and, simply put, the way that the majority of your parishioners are communicating with each other in their daily lives. Did you know that 82% of people in the United States use Facebook to communicate with each other on a daily basis? Since this is the case, churches should consider using all of the tools that Facebook and other social media platforms offer in order to connect daily with their community and keep their community connected!

The story feature on Facebook and Instagram is designed specifically to encourage your following to message you and engage with each story post you make. Story posts expire after 24 hours and are usually quick and sweet while also incorporating easy to use tools for engagement. For this reason, using the stories feature makes it easier for you to engage with your followers on a daily basis! Stories are also a quick and easy way for you to collaborate with followers and repost their content — another tool you can use to engage with your community and lift up your parishioners!

So, What Exactly ARE Social Media Stories?

On Facebook and Instagram, a story is a post you can make that consists of either a photo or a short video. These posts work like a slide show and offer a new photo or video after a few seconds. Story posts show up in your STORIES FEED instead of on your regular ol’ newsfeed. Stories expire in 24 hours, so this feed is constantly refreshing. This is appealing to your users because they know that they should look at your stories if they want to find quick, current content from you. This attraction is evident in the fact that most posts using the stories feature get many times more views and interactions than newsfeed posts do. This is due to the allure of quick, current content, as well as the fact that Facebook provides more access points for users to view your stories than it does to your permanent newsfeed.

Why does Facebook prefer to promote story posts over regular newsfeed posts? In part it’s because story posts have a bunch of options for INTERACTIVE features that you can add to your photo or video which keep people using the app for longer amounts of time. These features are how you can direct more engagement with stories, and Facebook is ALL ABOUT getting as much engagement as possible.

Engagement tools you can add to story posts:

All responses to a story post will go to the app’s messaging feature as a direct message to you instead of being posted as a comment or a “like” as is standard on newsfeed posts. You can then message the user who interacted with your story, “like” whatever they sent via messenger, or use the engagement data collected from that story post. For example, if you are doing a poll and you get poll results, you could put those results in a new story post for even more engagement! Engagement, engagement, engagement!

What Kind of Content Should I Be Posting in Stories?

It’s this author’s opinion that all regular newsfeed posts should also be mirrored in your stories as story posts. Remember, more eyes are usually on stories than on newsfeed posts so one way to draw attention to a new newsfeed post is to also post it as a story!

Need help getting started? You’re in luck! In WeCreate, LPi’s digital library of ready-to-use content made specifically for you, there’s an entire selectin of images created specifically to be used in social media stories.

In WeCreate, these images can all be found under the section titled “Social Media Stories.” If you click that section and then use the search bar, the words you search will only turn up results that are sized and designed specifically to be used as Facebook and/or Instagram stories. Often these images are grouped in WeCreate with other images that are visually similar to them so that you can use them, one after the other, for multiple story slides! Basically, we made it really easy for you to just take our ready-made images and create in-depth stories for your church in the blink of an eye! You can simply save them from WeCreate and then drop them into whatever platform you are using — or if you are feeling fancy, you can overlay one of the special engagement tools (mentioned earlier in this blog) onto them.

Remember that for maximum viewership, it’s important to make sure that the privacy settings on your stories are set to public. This way, anyone who visits your church’s Facebook or Instagram can view them and interact with you!

The All-Important Story Highlight Menu

For Instagram users, your stories don’t actually have to have a 24-hour expiration date. To avoid this, make sure to build a library of your most important story posts by using Instagram’s Story Highlights tool. When you highlight a story, you are effectively building a catalogue of story content that you want to save permanently on your Instagram feed. You can separate these permanent story posts into categories of your choosing like news, milestones, staff introductions, polls, parishioner highlights, or whatever else you can come up with. This library of story content will show up as part of your Instagram profile and viewers will see these category options for story highlights before they even see your main newsfeed!

Conclusion — Tag us!

Want to connect with us? Tag LPi in your stories! Tagging another user in your story post makes it possible for that user to easily re-post your story into their own story feed! This is a great way to promote each other online by sharing content so, if you use our WeCreate story resources, feel free to tag us and maybe you will find your story reposted on our own social media accounts! On Facebook we are @LitPub and on Instagram we are @LPi_Community . See you in the social sphere!

Return to the Lord with Thanksgiving

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 13:41:00 GMT

For Sunday, October 9, 2022

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kings 5:14-17
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

Naaman was cured of leprosy by dipping seven times in the Jordan according to the prophet Elisha’s instructions. Recognizing the miraculous movement of God at that moment, he returned to Elisha, proclaiming, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.” Naaman experienced a profound conversion as the power of God transformed him from the outside — in. He knew this was not a magical cure and from where the healing came, vowing to offer worship to no other god than the one true God.

In Psalm 98 , we hear, “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds.” Church father, Origen of Alexandria (c.185 – c.253), interpreted the “new song” as a prophecy of the death and resurrection of Christ. Naaman’s cleansing from leprosy, and his encounter with the one true God, put a new song in his heart long before the Passion of our Lord, and we should continue to sing this new song two millennia later.

In Luke’s Gospel , Jesus cleanses ten lepers, yet only one returns in gratitude with thanksgiving. He, too, having been profoundly moved by the grace of God upon him, cannot help but make a return to the Lord, and for that is told, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” When healed from your suffering, faithfulness seems easy compared to those who remain steadfast in love and trust in the Lord, when the illness, pain, or dilemma remains.

In 2 Timothy , St. Paul addresses this, jailed and suffering for the Gospel, “if we persevere
we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him, he will deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” St. Paul offers a remarkable example of uniting our crosses with those of the Lord and presenting them as intercessory prayer for the conversion of souls, “[bearing] with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.”

I have suffered from Dyshidrotic Eczema for years — it is characterized by blistering and peeling of the skin on one’s hands and feet — I often referred to myself during particularly gruesome flares as a leper. At times, the disease rendered my hands useless, and I found myself begging for the Lord to heal me. It took three years for those prayers to be answered. However, while I waited on the Lord, I learned many beautiful lessons. My condition presented numerous opportunities to embrace the virtue of patience, humility, and fortitude.

Just as the disease left my hands, it attacked my feet and remains to this day. However, I can accept this suffering, seeing the blessings instead of wallowing in self-pity and disappointment with how the Lord chooses to answer my prayers. I prefer to focus on this suffering as intercessory prayer for others, just as St. Paul taught, especially my loved ones away from the faith. Grateful in His mercy, I’ve regained full use of my hands so I may live my vocation as wife and mother, Catholic writer, and social media evangelist to the fullest.

Throughout all three of today’s readings runs a thread of gratitude and thanksgiving at seeing the wonder and goodness of God. There is a profound desire to be close to the Lord. To develop and maintain a relationship with Him — not for what He does but for who He is.

How do we make a show of thanks to the Lord? Do we remain a few minutes after Mass, having just received the Eucharist, whose very meaning is thanksgiving, and offer a prayer to the Lord? When was the last time we went “glorifying God in a loud voice; [falling] at the feet of Jesus and [thanking] him,” even if only in our hearts and upon our knees. Does our behavior reflect, like Naaman, the knowledge there is no other God but our good and mighty God?

— Allison Gingras

PRAYER

With joy and trust in my heart,
I will make a return to the Lord,
with thanksgiving for all
He has done for me.
For the blessings, the challenges,
and everything in between,
I will offer worship only to you,
the one true God!

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Competing Like a Steward

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Picture it: family game night. What are you playing? Monopoly? Clue? Chess? Poker?

Whatever your game of choice, I’ll bet the night is a lot more fun when everyone tries their best to win. Sure, no one likes an obnoxiously competitive opponent — but if we’re being honest with ourselves, it’s actually more annoying to face off with someone who just doesn’t care. A little competition gives the activity a pulse. It keeps everyone interested. It speaks to the worthiness of the endeavor.

We are told to “compete well for the faith.” These are confusing words, perhaps, since cutthroat competition doesn’t jive with the spiritual ideals of submission and humility. So why is God asking this of us? He isn’t setting up some kind of cosmic contest to reward the smartest, strongest, and fastest among us with His mercy and grace.

Competition doesn’t have to mean aggressive self-interest. It doesn’t have to mean ferocity and lack of principle. Competition can — and should — mean witness. Think of the Olympics. There’s a competition that isn’t a conquest or a performance but rather a testimony — a feat of strength! A celebration of ability, hard work, and effort. Does anything glorify God more than that?

Let’s strive to be competitive, but with the competitive nature of an everyday steward: that which seeks the good of all running the race.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

How To Write a Media/Press Release

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

A media release, also known as a press release, is usually a one-page written statement used to announce an upcoming event that your parish pitches to journalists for publication in your local, or national, media outlets. The word “press” usually refers to print media like magazines, newspapers, or newsletters. The word “media” is generally a broader term that can include TV, radio, social media, and more. Contextually, when people refer to this format of writing, these words are often used interchangeably. To avoid any confusion, we’ll be using the term press release for the rest of this blog post.

A press release is one of the founding formats of your organization’s public relations efforts and is written specifically with the objective of being picked up and reported on by the media. A press release that is brief, formatted correctly, and presents a strong narrative, will have the best chance of getting promoted. Want your parish to be in the news? If so, let’s get started!

What Type of News Should I Consider Worthy of a Press Release?

Important topics that may warrant a press release might include, but are not limited to:

Who Do I Send my Press Release To?

Press releases usually go out via email to assignment editors and journalists who work for newspapers, magazines, television networks, radio stations or online media outlets. You may want to talk with your pastor about this as sometimes dioceses have distribution lists ready, or even a communications policy that can help guide you.

On the “contact” section of most new outlets there will be a clearly listed email with where they want press releases or news tips sent. Often, the contact section can be easily found at the very bottom of an organization’s homepage if it’s not in the main menu.

Consider sending your press release to local or national:

How do I Format my Press Release?

1. Logo
Be sure to write your press release on your church’s official letterhead. This can be in PDF format or just included in your email. The point here is that your release should look official and professional.

2. Contact Info
Your logo should be followed by your contact information. This should include your name, job role, church name, email, and phone number.

3. Release Date
Often this is simply “for immediate release” which means that anyone can release it as soon as it’s received, however, if there is a specific time that you want the information released, it will be important to include it here.

4. Headline and Sub-Headline
Often called the “hed and dek”, these may be the only item that your targeted journalist reads so make sure that these grab your reader’s attention. These should be clear, informative, and engaging. An example of an effective hed and dek for a church’s new associate pastor may look like:

Hed: Fr. Friendly to be St. Mark’s Friendliest New Addition!

Dek: Maplewood neighborhood church St. Mark’s welcomes new associate pastor, Fr. Friendly, to their staff, and are now claiming to be the friendliest church in town.

5. Location and Date
Make sure to start your first paragraph off with your parish’s location and the date of your news. The location should be in all capital letters and if you’re reporting from a well-known city, there’s no need to include the state as well.

6. Lead Sentence
This is your hook! In one sentence, try to answer as many questions about your story as possible. Consider the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your story. An example lead sentence for a church’s new associate pastor may look like:

Lead: On Sunday the 17th of July, St. Mark Catholic Church — a hospitable parish in the Maplewood neighborhood in Awesomeville, Ohio — will welcome Father James Friendly as our new associate pastor at the 9 a.m. Mass followed by a coffee and doughnut reception in our church hall .

7. Body
Support your story in the body content. This should include information that supports what you stated in your lead sentence. The key here is to elaborate on your topic with engaging information that draws your audience in. Images, statistics, quotes, details, methodologies, links to relevant sources, research, and all your most interesting details go here in just two or three short paragraphs.

8. Boilerplate
The term boilerplate is simply the fancy press release way to say, “informational content about your church or organization.” In a couple sentences, provide your reader with a brief description of your parish simply using the facts and plain language. This can be copy/pasted from all of your other press releases as it will likely be the same on every one.

A boilerplate for our fictional St. Mark’s new associate pastor release may look like:

Boilerplate: St. Mark is a Catholic parish located in the Maplewood Neighborhood of Awesomeville, Ohio. Founded in 2001 by just five families, we now have over 400 families registered and provide 25 diverse ministries to our members, neighbors, and greater community. We have both English and Spanish Mass options and embrace everyone who visits our church home.

9. End notation ###
Every press release traditionally ends with three pound signs. Literally, you can just copy and paste the following after your boilerplate:

———————– ### ———————–

10. Final Note
This is just in case there is more information on the story in a location that the reader can access, for example, on your website. It is common to just link your church’s website here along with any relevant social media handles.

Great work! Your news is now ready to be shouted from the mountain tops! To see some great examples of different types of press releases check out this gallery of customizable press release templates online .

Fixing the Scales

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Most people don’t intend on being selfish. The reality of selfishness usually lies in the grey shades of our decision-making. We would never go out of our way to kick a homeless person begging by the highway exit. We would never steal money from our parish collection plate.

But would we drive past the homeless person without even extending a thought or a prayer toward his need? Would we justify stinginess in time, talent, and treasure because of our own comfort? We all have been guilty of transgressions such as these in the past. We will fall again in the future.

Most of the evil in this world can be traced back to a feeling of entitlement that lurks deep within each of us — a frantic concern for our own good that we find difficult to shake. The same instinct that compelled Eve to reach for the fruit that would give her the knowledge of good and evil still compels people to focus on what they are owed, on what they have “earned,” on what they have “coming to them.” We are so tempted to fix the scales. We are so tempted to keep score.

We would do well to remember that our God is not a God who keeps score. He is not a God who acts entitled or who tacks on extra dues, taking as much as He can get. He is a God who seats the lowly with princes. He is a God who seeks avenues for reconciliation and mercy.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

An Increase of Faith

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, October 2, 2022

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Luke 17:5-10

After hearing Jesus teach about what the future inevitability will bring and the need to offer unconditional forgiveness regardless of circumstances, the apostles ask him to increase their faith. They may have had difficulty understanding the rationale behind his teachings or found them lacking practical sense. What they are hearing is something new. After all, people had settled into what were considered acceptable protocols for dealing with sinners, prostitutes, adulterers, those who hurt you, the poor, the physically challenged, adversaries, and law breakers. Now they are presented with a teaching that turns all of this upside down and conveys God’s nonviolent vision of how human nature and the world are intended to operate. It is very possible that these early hearers of the Word found themselves ill equipped to do as Jesus taught. While truth resonated through Jesus’s words and actions, they were asking to have what Jesus had so that they could more adequately do it. They knew they needed more.

God’s presence and His vision are not immediately visible to the naked eye. Faith becomes the lens a person needs to see, with Divine light, beyond the limits of human sight. This “faith-seeing” gives everything its proper sacred character. St. Augustine tells us that, “faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Jesus saw his way through moral dilemmas, conflicts, questions, and challenges differently than other leaders of the day. He acted in ways that were not the norm and often against Sabbath law. The apostles knew this. They also realized that he had a conviction to Truth that they admired. These close friends of Jesus knew that they were new travelers on this road of discipleship and needed all the help they could get to stay their course and remain committed to the journey. We are not much different.

The apostles wanted faith. Faith not to despair at the inevitable suffering and evil that are a part of life. Faith to patiently wait knowing that God’s vision still has its time and will not disappoint. Faith to forgive unconditionally even when hurt in the harshest way. Faith to love, especially those who are most difficult to love and those who have wronged us. Faith to welcome the sinner, comfort those who are afflicted, break a Sabbath rule when a situation calls for mercy and compassion, and to work for justice and find nonviolent solutions to conflicts. Faith to step aside so that someone else can be first. Faith to know that God is love and that how we treat one another reflects our love for God. Faith to know that it is God’s kingdom that must be built and not our own and faith to know that it is only in dying that we find eternal life.

The world today is not much different than it was in Jesus’ day. We still have great measures of inequity, injustice, corruption, violence, excessive power and privilege, entitlement, selfishness, greed, the exploitation of human beings, disregard for human life, and the persecution of those who challenge popular political and societal principles. As present-day disciples of Jesus Christ our feet are in two worlds. While we know what Jesus says is true, we are also mired in a world that can easily pull us in other directions. It is easy to give into popular and contemporary philosophies or trends, knowing that we are really compromising our Gospel principles. It is hard to do what is just and right. It is difficult to trust. We need faith.

Our world is experiencing a crisis of faith, the loss of meaning and an absence of hope. There is so much confusion about what truth is, what it means to be a human being and what happiness is really all about. Corruption, greed, and violence are on the increase and conflict of one kind, or another are all too commonplace. Even believers find themselves a bit “weak kneed” when confronted with a defense of their faith and the ramifications for doing so. We are afraid to speak up and afraid to offend. Yet, the Gospel is the Gospel and we either believe it wholeheartedly or we do not. The first disciples were in exactly this same place. They knew what they needed to succeed.

Friends of Jesus, no matter in what time or place, have a lot in common. We have heard the same teachings and often find ourselves in exactly the same place as those who have come before us. Our nation, world, and Church are all in crisis. We need to tone down the voice of violence and start speaking gentle words of peace. We need to stop using words suggestive of battle, defense, and war and bring ourselves back to the quiet place where the words of the Beatitudes were first spoken. Those words, as well as the perfect prayer given to us by Jesus, are what call us back to truth. And, if we ever feel ill-equipped to do as Jesus asks (which may be more often than we think!), may we have the humility and courage to ask him, “Lord, increase my faith.” Then, if we are truly in love with God, we will do what needs to be done and say what needs to be said without a desire for acknowledgement or praise or concern about the consequences. We are only doing what we are asked to do.

— Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Bring these words from St. Oscar Romero to prayer:

“Peace is not the product of terror or fear.
Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression.
Peace is the generous tranquil contribution of all,
to the good of all.
Peace is dynamism.
Peace is generosity.
It is right and it is duty.”

Gentle God,
help me to be a vessel of love
to those who are broken and lost.
Help me be a witness of faith
to those who have lost their ability to trust
and help me be a beacon of hope
to those who are often trapped in despair.
Amen.

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Social Media Strategy 101 for Your Parish Community

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Good news — social media strategy for parishes does not need to be confusing! We’ve put together a simple step by step guide that you can follow to get you started, or restarted, on the right foot when it comes to your parish’s social media presence! Already a pro? Let everyone know what strategies are working for your community in the comments of this blog! If, though, you aren’t sure about how the social media world works, or, if you are curious about whether you’ve set up your parish’s strategy for maximum benefit, read on!

1. First thing’s first — Learn about the tools you are choosing to use.
Many people dive right in when it comes to creating social media accounts for their parish without even realizing what features each platform provides! We suggest always taking a few free online tutorials before setting everything up and learning some specifics about each platform. Remember, social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are companies that each have their own specific goals and business strategies. When using one of these platforms, your church is essentially partnering with that company to use the tools that they have created to engage socially with your community. In order to use the tool properly it’s smart to know a bit about the company and the platform first before diving in. Plus, free knowledge is great, right?

A simple YouTube search for “Instagram tutorial” or “setting up a Facebook business account ” can yield a plethora of free resources for you to choose from. One YouTube channel we recommend that has great step by step social media tutorials is: https://www.youtube.com/c/StewartGauld

For example, here’s a tutorial on how to set up a business Instagram account for your parish — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H99YUL-VRk&t=32s

And here is one on how to set up a professional Facebook profile — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trBA7xGgzjk

2. Decide how you want to use these tools.
Now that you know a little about the social media platforms you want to implement, it’s time to brainstorm how you want to use these tools with the leadership of your parish. For example, are you hoping to share images of your community? Are you using the platform to livestream Mass or other events? Remember that you don’t have to do everything at once! You might start with simply posting about upcoming events or sharing weekly facts about your parish. Below is a quick non-exhaustive list of ways parishes often use their social media platforms that you can use to brainstorm. We suggest doing this on a platform-by-platform basis. For example, you might start with brainstorming how you want to use Instagram first and then move on to Facebook, etc.

A quick note on cross-posting — you might notice that some of your posting goals overlap onto several platforms. For example, both Instagram and Facebook use stories in a similar way, so you can post the same story to both platforms at once. By linking apps that use similar features, you can save yourself time while also covering more ground! Interested in how to do this but don’t know how? Remember that YouTube tutorial channel we mentioned in the first step? Here’s a video from it on how to connect your Instagram to your Facebook profile — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10UKnFsBvXA

3. Make sure your branding looks professional.
Now that you have some goals, let’s make sure you accomplish them in style! Don’t let your church’s branding be an afterthought. For many of your Millennial, Gen Z, and even your Gen X parishioners, social media will be the primary way that they interact with your parish! When people native to social media encounter an organization without a nice-looking logo or professional branding, they often discount it and quickly move on.

Not sure where to start? LPi can help! We have an entire branding and design team that specializes in rebranding and can even redesign your parish website, your bulletin, or both!

Your church’s professional branding should include these things:

4. Find your following.
To grow your following all you’ve got to do is advertise, advertise, advertise!
Some ways to do this successfully are to —

5. Don’t forget to Interact!
Remember, social media is meant to be SOCIAL. It is not good practice to just make a post and then walk away. Someone at your parish should be monitoring your social media presence and interacting with your followers when they engage with your content. It’s important to make sure that every comment and message gets a reply as promptly as possible. Every engagement increases your chance of the network’s algorithm displaying your content to a wider audience.

Engagement is, at the most basic level, how these social media algorithms choose what to show users and what to skip. If your post is getting lots of engagement via likes, comments, and shares, the algorithm will take note and consider it to be an important post and, thus, display it to more people. It’s key to remember that the goal of many of these platforms is to get users to stay on their platform, looking at content, for as long as possible. For this reason, the more interactions your post gets, the more the platform will connect other users to your content. You can hack this system a little by encouraging your staff members and volunteers to follow each of your parish’s social profiles and frequently remind them to engage with your posts! This way you can get the process going by having key people already in place expecting to interact with your content.

Congratulations on putting in all of the groundwork to get your church’s social media profiles up and running! To make posting on social media much less daunting, remember that LPi has a massive collection of customizable graphics, ready-made Instagram & Facebook stories, illustrations, stock photos, and more, in our WeCreate library just waiting to be used by you for all of your social media needs!

Living the Call to Discipleship

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 14:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, September 25, 2022

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amos 6:1a, 4-7
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Luke 16:19-31

Jesus was undoubtedly a gifted storyteller and the parable of Lazarus that we hear proclaimed this coming Sunday is certainly among one of the most powerful that we hear in the gospels. Falling as it does within a section of Luke’s Gospel that contains several teachings on wealth and material goods, it is easy to reduce the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man (traditionally named “Dives”) into a sort of mortality tale about the dangers of greed and selfishness. However, the liturgy for this Sunday invites us to take a broader view, particularly when we consider the story alongside the second reading , taken form the First Letter to Timothy.

In this passage, Saint Paul urges his young disciple, Timothy, to “pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses” (6:11-12). Paul is reminding Timothy — and each of us — that our faith demands total dedication to God and faithful witness to Christ. While few of us have pastoral responsibilities like Timothy, each of us does have a part to play in the life and mission of the Church. Not only do we see this demonstrated in wonderful ways in the lives of the saints, but, as Pope Francis has reminded us, “Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the ‘peripheries’ in need of the light of the Gospel” ( The Joy of the Gospel , no. 20). Each of us is being invited to seek those things that are of God and “compete well for the faith.” This means that we are called to persevere in living out our individual, unique vocation of service to God and the Church. In accepting the Lord’s invitation, each of us accepts the demands of a discipleship that takes us out of ourselves, and which calls for us to move beyond our preferences, comforts, and complacency.

This sacrifice and service is what the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is really about. As Pope Benedict observed in his encyclical Spe Salvi : “Jesus admonishes us through the image of a soul destroyed by arrogance and opulence, who has created an impassable chasm between himself and the poor man; the chasm of being trapped within material pleasures, the chasm of forgetting the other, of incapacity to love, which then becomes a burning and unquenchable thirst” (no. 44).

Competing “well for the faith” — living our call to be disciples and to manifest the presence of Christ in the world — doesn’t allow for selfish ambition, apathy, complacency, or indifference to the plight of others (cf. Amos 6:1a, 4-7 ). This isn’t about political agendas, government budgets, or some radical ideology. Rather, this call is grounded in the Gospel which forms the starting point and is the focus of our faith: “Being Church means being God’s people, in accordance with the great plan of his fatherly love. This means that we are to be God’s leaven in the midst of humanity. It means proclaiming and bringing God’s salvation into our world, which often goes astray and needs to be encouraged, given hope, and strengthened on the way. The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven, and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” ( The Joy of the Gospel , no. 114).

— Bro. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

PRAYER

A Prayer to Brighten the Lives of Others
O God,
who cover yourself with light as with a garment,
shine in us,
putting to flight all the forces
of darkness and guilt,
of sin and selfishness.
Shine also through us
to any that live in shadow,
and so fill us with your radiant spirit
that we may be a lamp unto a neighbor’s feet,
and a light unto their path.
And when this day is done,
may ever face we have met
be the brighter for our meeting,
and every heart braver,
with new joy and cheer and grace and strength.

— Theodore Parker (d. 1860)
(from The New Saint Joseph People’s Prayer Book )

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Rise, and Go to Your Father

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

“If you pull into my driveway and honk, you better be dropping off a package, because you’re sure not picking anything up.”

I first read these words in the pages of W. Bruce Cameron’s “8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter,” (that’s Rule No. 5, by the way).

There’s a certain respect that is shown by someone who takes the time to come to the door, ring the bell and wait to be greeted. Being willing to go through the niceties for the sake of appearances is a small act of deference on the part of the person doing the picking-up, even if it’s not for a date. Without it, the whole scenario becomes entitled.

I want you to think of something that you want or need, but do not have. Is it peace? Is it financial stability? Is it strength? Is it friendship?

The brother of the prodigal son had a lot of unexpressed desires. He sees his brother heaped with gifts and favors, feasting on the fattened calf, and he is enraged. I haven’t been given half of that , he thinks, and I’ve worked so hard.

But for all his faithfulness, one has to wonder — did this son ever simply ask for what he needed? Did he get out of the car, so to speak, and ring the bell? Or did he sit in the driveway leaning on the horn?

God wants us to come before Him. He wants us to ask. He wants us to be like Moses — sure enough of our Father’s indulgence to boldly ask for it. Think again about what you need but do not have, and ask yourself: Have I approached the door and rung the bell?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Tell Your Story: 65 Unique Ways to Reach Your Neighborhood

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

How well does your neighborhood know your parish? Are you involved in local festivities and events? Do your neighbors know about your St. Vincent de Paul program, your grief support group, or other ministries you offer? If you need some help reaching out to the communities around your parish, we’ve collected 65 unique approaches to help share your story!

Mailers — Do you know about Every Door Direct Mail by the USPS ? The USPS has a super simple way for you to create and send out mailers to everyone in your surrounding neighborhoods right from their website! You can even download one of the thousands of graphics available on WeCreate , or a flyer template to get you started* or a beautiful mailer to send out!

Use neighborhood mailers to spread the news about:

Church Swag — Having clothing, stickers, and more helps your community stand out wherever your parishioners go! Consider including an inviting message on your church swag that inspires people to look up your website or start a conversation. Partner with local printers to print your swag! If they aren’t already, local printers might also be interested in advertising in your church bulletin! Don’t have a great church logo yet? Our design team can help you with that!

Church swag ideas to get the word out:

Lawn Signs — Create lawn signs for your parishioners to take home and put on their property. Imagine having customized signs advertising your church or ministries wherever your parishioners live! Just be sure to include a large enough QR code that someone could scan it from their car to access more information from your church homepage.

Here are some ideas for take-home lawn signs:

Local Schools — Your parish may have a school connected to it but, if not, be sure to seek out the local school(s) in the area because there is a plethora of ways that your community can be active alongside your neighbors via your attached or local school.

School outreach could look like:

Community Events/Celebrations — Become a frequent sponsor at local events!

These could include:

Your Website and Other Apps — Is your homepage dialed in? Can people easily access information about what events are happening and what ministries your parish offers? We recently posted a blog with 4 tips to help you make sure that your parish’s homepage is super inviting. Check it out here .

Be sure to advertise events in the following places online:

Partner With Local Small Businesses — especially those businesses advertising in your bulletin! These are folks in your neighborhood who are already invested in your parish community, so you have every reason to work with them! If they aren’t already advertising with you, participating in their events might help you develop the relationship you need in order to secure them as an advertiser!

Ways to partner with local businesses:

Share Your Space — do you have a church hall, meeting rooms, or grounds that could be used by other organizations in your neighborhood? This might be something you’d want to advertise to your parishioners or via your online social networks so that the greater community outside of your parish members knows that you have space available!

Some groups who might want to use your spaces to meet are:

Host Neighborhood Events — You could also engage your neighborhood with special community events designed for outreach and engagement.

Consider the following engagement opportunities:

Use Feedback From Your Community —Think of ways that you can make your neighborhood a part of your events and activities.

Do you have other fun ways that your parish engages your neighborhood? We’d love to hear about them in the comments!

**Wondering if your parish could benefit from WeCreate? We offer trials and giveaways for folks like you! Fill out the contact form to learn more .

Where’s the Sacrifice?

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

“It’s not that I want you to do it. It’s that I want you to want to do it.”

If you’re married or in a relationship, your partner has probably either said something like this to you or you have said it to them. If one of you hasn’t said it, you have probably wanted to, and it’s likely that a big argument or two was had where you dance around the sentiment, these exact words flashing in your mind like an old-time movie marquee.

The “it” never really matters much. Taking out the trash, painting the bedroom, traveling to your in-laws’ for Christmas — whatever the subject matter of the disagreement is, it’s all just so much set dressing. The heart of the matter is the sacrifice and desire. That’s what it all hangs on. Am I with a person who will sacrifice for me?

When Paul writes to Philemon that he is sending Onesimus to him, he says exactly this. He tells Philemon that he would prefer to keep Onesimus with him, but that he does not want to deprive Philemon both of Onesimus and the opportunity to make a sacrifice worthy in the sight of the Lord.

The point is not who gets to hang out with Onesimus. The point is, as it says in the Gospel, who is willing to carry his cross? Who is willing to renounce his possessions? Who is willing to do the good deed for the sake of the other?

God doesn’t care that much about what we have to offer. He cares much more that we have the strength to offer whatever we have.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Giving Voice to Our Faith in the Public Square

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, September 18, 2022

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Amos 8:4-7
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13

Our faith is meant to be at work in every area of our lives — not just the personal and private, but the political and public as well.

People have a tendency today to separate politics and religion. They see religion as having to do with the afterlife and politics with the here-and-now. Religion is private and politics is public. They don’t want religious leaders to comment on public policy and they don’t want politicians meddling in Church doctrine and discipline. People want a clear separation of church and state.

However, politics and religion are not always easy to keep apart. As followers of Christ, we’re not only called to be saints in the kingdom of God but good citizens of our planet. We bring our faith into everything we do. Faith for the Christian is never just a private matter. It touches upon every aspect of our lives including the choices we make as citizens.

Our responsibility to bring our faith into the public square is founded on the commandment that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Politically, our love for neighbor displays itself most keenly in our support for the poor. As followers of Christ, it is our vocation to give a voice to the voiceless. Though they are the ones who most need the support of the government, their concerns often go unheard because they lack the money and influence to lobby politicians. Many like the unborn and immigrants cannot even vote. It is up to us, then, to use whatever influence we have to make sure that their needs are heard and acted upon.

Why should we care for the poor? Because God does. This Sunday’s reading from the prophet Amos makes it clear that God is aware of injustice toward the poor. Because they have no one else to defend them, our Heavenly Father promises that He will stand up for them. God will judge harshly those who have failed to see justice done for the powerless. When we stand before Him, we want to be sure that we did all we could in this life to be on the side of the little ones whom He cares so much about.

Concern for the poor is not only good religion, it is also sound politics. Government should be on the side of the needy. Wealthy people can take care of themselves. It is the poor who need the government to defend them against those who would exploit them. Also, as the saying goes, “Everyone does better when everyone does better.” When the hungry are fed, when the homeless have shelter, when the penniless get an education there is less crime, less disease, and less restlessness in society. We all benefit when the common good is served.

T his Sunday’s second reading teaches us that we should pray for politicians and all those who have authority over us. We too often have a disdain for those who enter politics. However, we should be praying for them, asking God to guide their hearts. Their actions have a tremendous influence over our lives so we should be raising our hands daily asking God to give us women and men of courage, insight, and virtue to lead us.

As followers of Christ, we are called to bring the good news of God’s love wherever we go including into the public square and the voting booth. In particular, we are called to announce God’s love for the poor. Then God’s kingdom will increasingly influence the earthly city making His peace and justice more of a reality in our world today.

Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Almighty and eternal God,
May your grace enkindle in all of us
A love for the many unfortunate people
Whom poverty and misery
Reduce to a condition of life unworthy of human beings.
Arouse in the hearts of those who call you Father,
A hunger and thirst for justice and peace,
And for fraternal charity in deeds and in truth.
Grant, O Lord, peace in our days,
Peace to souls, peace to our families,
Peace to our country, and peace among nations.

– Pope Pius XII

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A Layperson’s Guide to Smartphone Church Photography

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

One of the most significant mistakes that we see churches make when it comes to their website, social media, and branding, is the use of outdated, low-quality, or irrelevant photography. Luckily this is also one of the easiest mistakes to remedy! Having current, high-quality photos of your community is one of the best ways to show how vibrant and relatable your parish is!

Are you already feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry! You don’t need to hire a professional photographer every time there’s a parish event to build a high-quality photo library for your community! Here is an easy guide for the photography layperson to capture fantastic photos for your church’s digital and print

The Best Equipment

Good news — You likely already have a high-definition camera built into your phone! If you aren’t sure how to use all of the features of your phone’s camera, a quick google search can help. Just search your phone’s make and model along with “camera tutorial” and watch a couple of the videos that come up. You may discover that your phone has more camera features than you realized!

If your photos are coming out blurry it may be that your indoor lighting is dim. Check to see if your phone has a low-light setting for indoor spaces. You probably don’t need to, but if you wanted to try out a new gadget you could use a smart phone enabled tripod to cut down on camera movement in dim lighting. Tripod stabilization can help you avoid using a flash during a Mass or ceremony!

5 Great Shot Ideas to Get You Started

Make sure to take a variety of wide-angle shots as well as close-ups. Shoot some in a vertical format as well as some horizontally so that you have a variety of formats! Take some during special church occasions as well as during Ordinary Time. Try to cover all liturgical seasons evenly.

These five photo ops are essential library starters:

Other Parish Photography Ideas:

• Advertise that you will be taking photos at a certain Mass time and date so that your parishioners can plan ahead! This way, they can prepare and come to this specific Mass expecting to be part of your community photos! We suggest doing this a couple of times a year.

• Have a photo booth at parish events where families can take pictures! You can’t always rely on families to share photos with you, so, make sure you have someone designated to take photo booth photos for the church’s collection too! Check out this online how-to for church photo booths.

• Speaking of encouraging individual parishioners to share photos with you — Be sure to create a hashtag (#) for your parish so that, when your community members use it, their photos are collected into a neat library for you to access. To make this work, though, you must create a very specific hashtag that’s unique to your parish. If you only use your church name, for example #StMark, the hashtag will yield results from St. Mark parishes all over the world. Instead, design your hashtag to be much more specific to your community. An easy way to do this is to add your church’s city and state abbreviation to the hashtag. For example, if St. Mark is in Kent, Georgia, your hashtag would be #StMarkKentGA. This will distinguish any photos that people tag with your hashtag as photos belonging to your specific community and not to a St. Mark parish somewhere else in the world.

Lastly, Don’t Forget:

To get people’s permission — especially when minors are in photographs. It’s important to have their parent’s permission to use a child’s photos online and in print. Does your parish have a standard photo-release? Some parishes build these into their faith formation program permission slips for parents. Click here for more information on photography releases .

To dedicate a specific place to store these photos — Many people may need access to your parish’s photo library. The youth minister might want to make a flyer that includes a recent photo of a parish family, or your administrator may be updating the website and need fresh photos for the homepage. Be sure that the parish staff all knows how to access up-to-date church photography and that it’s stored in a safe place. Storing photos in a web-accessible cloud storage space like Google Photo is a great way to ensure that password protected access is available to those who might need it, even from home!

To use these photographs all over your parish’s website, social media, and bulletin!

If you find yourself longing for a better-looking bulletin or website to match your newly updated photography, LPi can help!

I print with LPi and would love to learn how I can refresh my bulletin — Just contact your customer service agent to get started!

I don’t print with LPi but would love to learn more .

Learn about LPi’s church website tool, WeConnect .

Humility and Stewardship

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 13:56:00 GMT

Some people have “the rich relation” in their family tree. Aunt Cindy, who is always traveling somewhere new and exciting. Cousin Richard and his lake house. Your sister and brother-in-law who buy a new car every year.

Oftentimes these relatives take great happiness in sharing their wealth. You can usually count on an exotic gift from Aunt Cindy’s latest adventure or an invitation to go out on Richard’s pontoon boat at the end of the summer.

Yet sometimes, that person wants something in return. Not money, of course, but something else. Attention. Flattery. Gratitude. Cindy wants you to ask her where she got the priceless artifact in Istanbul, so she can talk about the many antiquities dealers she visited. Richard wants you to ask about his new boat, so he can talk about how well business has been this year. Maybe the person just wants to know you like the gift or that the experience offered is pleasing to you.

This is a natural inclination that we all possess. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be the person people count on. There is nothing wrong with wanting to offer worthy gifts. There is nothing wrong with hoping that maybe, just a little, we might be appreciated.

What matters is the spirit we carry within our hearts when we do it. What matters is our destination as we approach that proverbial table. Are we headed for the place of honor, expecting it to be waiting for us? Or are we making our way to the lowest place, simply thankful to be invited to the meal?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Grace of Indelible Value

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, September 11, 2022

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-32 Or Luke 15:1-10

An Excerpt from: Spiritual Freedom: God’s Life-Changing Gift by Fr. Dave Pivonka , published by Servant Books, Cincinnati.

I remember being so deeply moved by this story when I first read it that I’ve used it often when I’ve given talks around the country. A simple penny, overlooked as being insignificant monetarily, has much to teach us precisely because of its immutable value. Be it clean or dirty, it always has the same value: $0.01.

In a world where value loses its meaning because it is oftentimes interchangeable based on circumstance or preference, the penny teaches us that value is not determined by choice or opinion. Value is assigned by the one with authority to confer it. Our value as humans is assigned by God Himself, that transcends personal preference or public opinion or any other human convention. It is a value not dependent upon our cooperation, our abilities, our status, our neighborhood, our ethnicity, our employment or education. It is His gift to us who bear the imago dei — the undefilable and unrepeatable Image of God within the very essence of our being.

Unfortunately, as Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas (OCA) has said, “the greatest danger in the modern world is the attack on man as the image of God. That God became man in order to unite man to God is the only sure Divine underwriting of human worth. We have value because of the image we bear.” When God is no longer understood as a such, other human entities will jockey for its place. We have all been entangled in a complicated web of seductively marketed options perfectly suited to our preferences, with clever jingles, appealing graphics, scripted testimonials, fact-bearing notices, backed by experts and verified by popular demand, each claiming an authority to assign value to our lives.

It is the Christian’s responsibility — our personal and ecclesial responsibility — to witness with the resplendence of our lives that God alone determines the value of human life. How can we do that?

These all-too-famous parables from Luke’s Gospel have one thing in common: the intrinsic value of what was lost (the sheep, the coin, the younger son) causes a desperate search on the part of an ‘owner’ (the shepherd, the woman, the father) to begin to reclaim it at all costs. In other words, we know how precious our value is when we come to realize what drastic measures were spent to save what was lost, to restore what was utterly broken, to relieve what was oppressing, to empower what was hopeless … in me! When we have come to experience the unfathomable richness of God’s mercy and forgiveness in the face of our utter brokenness and inability to do His will apart from grace, it is then that we have come to realize our value in the eyes of God. Without recognizing and safeguarding that intrinsic value, I can certainly betray Jesus again and find myself entangled in that seductive web of sin all over again. Grace is real, but fragile and doubt is always closeby. Still, how amazing indeed is that “grace that saved a wretch like me. I was once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see.”

Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Lord, Jesus Christ,
have mercy on me, a sinner.

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Parish Dispatch: Rev. Paul-Michael Piega, S.T.L., St. Patrick Catholic Church, Hutto, TX

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 09:30:00 GMT

We are so honored to work with vibrant parishes across the United States, each one working to bring the Kingdom of God to their neighborhoods. In the Diocese of Austin, Paul-Michael Piega serves at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Hutto. Here he answers some questions about his special parish. (Answers have been edited for length).

Q. Describe your parish demographic in 140 characters or less.
A. We exhibit generous hospitality, joyful faith, humble service, and Spirit led innovation of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Q. What makes your community unique?
A. Our community is unique because we are consistently growing in fulfilling our mission, which is to walk with Jesus and one another as a family striving for holiness! We are also a young parish that is constantly growing every week.

Not only that but which parish can say that come Christmas season they can show off their Lego Nativity scene? Yes, I am an avid Lego Master and I spread the joy of Christmas and Jesus’ birth through 20,000+ brick Lego nativity scene.

Q. Why do most people visit your city?
A. Many people visit our city due to another unique trait … the Hippos. We are the only city in the country to claim the hippo as our mascot and thus there are many unique characteristics about our city, namely, all the hippo statues at various businesses.

Q. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?
A. Many people have said that our parish is the most welcoming parish they have ever been to and that the Holy Spirit is truly present here. I believe this speaks to our core value of generous hospitality and that many people truly feel welcomed, feel loved, so as to receive Jesus, because they are part of the family.

Q. Where (and what) do you recommend for your best local eats?
A. The Texan Café is famous for its pies, Hippo Café with its unique wall art has great homestyle food especially their chicken fried steak with gravy, Southside Market and BBQ for good Texas BBQ, and Cork and Barrel is an Irish Pub/Restaurant nearby where people should try their appetizer the flamin’ bacon … yes, they literally light the bacon on fire in front of you.

Q. What is the last film you saw that you would recommend to your parishioners?
A. I wouldn’t say film, but rather a TV series named Avatar — The Last Air Bender. I had my doubts at first because it was a cartoon, but after watching the series, I highly recommend this for families because it is filled with great scenes and stories about growing in virtue and the plot is pretty epic … no pun intended.

Q. What is your most used App?
A. I would say my Google Calendar app and Instagram app.

Q. What is an underrated book of the Bible and why?
A. Book of Jeremiah … there is tons of wisdom in his prophetic writing.

Q. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?
A. The grace and joy of being a Spiritual Father to thousands of souls.

Q. What’s the coolest thing about your parish?
A. Our parish is at a truly unique point in our history in which we are growing at an alarming rate and yet we are limited in our resources. Thus, the coolest thing about this parish is the amount of potential for our future as a parish family.

Q. Who in your community inspires you?
A. I truly believe our youth inspires me to be a better Spiritual Father for them and to be a father who strives to provide for his children. It makes perfect sense that Jesus commanded his disciples to become like children in the faith. This is not a childish faith, but rather a childlike faith of complete surrender to our Heavenly Father’s will for us.

Q. What evangelization risk have you taken in the past year that has born great fruit?
A. Listening to the Holy Spirit in moving our Faith Formation to a more family-oriented formation. We realized as a community that the classroom model of religious education was not working anymore due to the fact that the faith is not being affirmed in the household. Thus, we have moved to a family formation model and the fruits have been quite amazing. Parents are not only growing in their faith, but they have each other to teach the faith to their children, which is essentially one of their main responsibilities and one of the promises parents make at their children’s baptism. Moreover, children are growing in their knowledge of the faith through the affirmation and example of their parents.

Q. What is your most innovative method of communication with your community?
A. One innovative method of communication with our community is the fact that we are being more intentional in our conversations and relationships with one another. For example, our staff calls our parishioners with a birthday or anniversary greeting and we “check-up” to see how they are doing spiritually.

Q. What is the best piece of ministry advice you have received?
A. God truly desires good for us and for our community, all we need to do is simply surrender and trust in His goodness.

Q. What is important to you in a great parish website?
A. One important feature of a parish website is to simply share our story with the world. Jesus taught his disciples through parables and stories and thus a key feature of a website should be just that … a storybook of our unique St. Patrick parish family.

Q. How do you personally use social media to communicate with your faithful?
A. I personally use my social media accounts to share the day-to-day joyful stories of my life as a priest. It has been a gift to live this life and I desire to build the kingdom of God through whichever means of communication God creates for us.
Thank you, Father Paul-Michael, for sharing your parish with us!

If you have a vibrant parish and would like to be featured in an upcoming Parish Dispatch, email: dcenter@4lpi.com.

The Prayer of an Earthen Shelter

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, September 4, 2022

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 9:13-18b
Philemon 9-10, 12-17
Luke 14:25-33

“This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.” – Luke 14:30

If I had to choose one of the Bible’s 31,102 verses to have inscribed on my tombstone, it would be Luke 14:30.

As a companion piece, my obituary could tell the story of my life through the list of projects I never finished. Swimming lessons in preschool. Piano in the sixth grade. Every journal I’ve ever tried to keep. That trip to Europe. The house my husband and I designed and never built. My life is littered with these unfinished projects, races for which I could not make it across the finish line. Whether it was strength, interest, money, or something else, I just didn’t have “it.” I came up short.

And these are just the literal examples. Every day, I am compelled to begin building what I feel inadequate to finish. I wake up so tired, but the day must start. I don’t have enough time or inspiration, but my work must be turned in. My patience is long gone, but the children must be parented.

I am writing this at 7:13 in the morning, and already my mind is racing through the tasks I must complete this day, tallying up my strength against the job and finding it insufficient. My earthen shelter is weighed down by many concerns.

When my first child was an infant and I was adjusting to the demands of working motherhood, I got into the habit of beginning each day by inviting God into my weakness. This sounds like a pious spiritual practice, but it isn’t. It’s a prayer born from desperation. It’s not poetic and it wouldn’t look pretty on the back of any holy cards. Here it is: “Lord, I have no idea how I’m going to make it through this day. I assume you have some ideas. Let’s go with those ideas.”

When I read of Christ’s admonition to renounce our earthly possessions, I think of this clumsy prayer. My anxieties, my fears, my expectations — these are my possessions, and I cling to them like a child clings to an old, smelly blanket. My stamina, my abilities, my insight, my good intentions — these are also my possessions, but I don’t have enough of them. I never have. I never will.

When I was younger, I learned to ride horses. The thing you have to accept about horseback riding is that the animal does not need to listen to you. He chooses to, and there will come a time when he chooses not to. He will be spooked by something and take off at a gallop you never intended, or he will become irritated and begin to buck you from his back. I learned that if you try to control the horse in his mania, you will almost certainly be thrown. The only way to stay in the saddle is to take a deep breath and become small on the back of the beast while he thrashes. Recognize the strength of the horse and melt into it. Accept it. Cling to it. Renounce control.

It’s a feeling of vulnerability and fear that quickly turns to calm strength as the episode passes, the horse settles, and you find yourself still seated in the saddle, knuckles white around the reins.

It’s the same feeling I have every morning when I sit and take stock of my life and myself and acknowledge that I don’t have it — whatever “it” is. And I turn my empty palms to God, saying: fill me at daybreak. Turn me back to dust. Prosper the work of my hands. Make straight my paths.

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

O Lord our God,
grant us to trust in your overshadowing wings.
Protect us beneath them and bear us up.
You will carry us as little children,
and even to our grey-headed age you will carry us still.
When you are our strong security, that is strength indeed.
But when our security is in ourselves, that is but weakness.
Our good abides ever in your keeping,
but in diverting our steps from you we have grown perverse.
Let us turn back to you at last, Lord, that we be not overturned.

— St. Augustine, Confessions

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Chancing the Narrow Gate

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

From doctors to counselors, anthropologists to schoolteachers, it seems like everyone has their own parenting style to peddle, guaranteeing it will result in a happy and well-adjusted kid.

You’ve got “gentle parenting,” predicated on respect for the child’s feelings and needs. You’ve got “attachment parenting,” based on the belief that kids need time to adjust to being outside of the womb. You’ve got “free-range parenting,” where self-sufficiency reigns supreme.

But of all the parenting approaches I’ve come across, I’ve never encountered a philosophy that rejects discipline altogether. There are lots of conflicting opinions on how best to administer that discipline, but I’ve never heard any parent or parenting “expert” worth their salt say that a mother or father should completely ignore misbehavior that threatens the well-being of the child himself.

Discipline is in our human DNA. Consider for a moment what the world would look like if it came to be filled with people who had never been taught to reflect on their life challenges. People who bristled at the suggestion of personal growth.

And yet we become this way with God. Even the most “devout” among us shy away from occasions of divine constructive criticism. We avoid confession and forego daily examinations of conscience. We keep things superficial in our prayer life, avoiding depth of heart and real intimacy with God, afraid of what He will speak to us.

But when we do this, we rob ourselves of an opportunity to rely on God’s fatherly strength, to rest in His mercy, to fill ourselves up with His goodness. We’re putting up our hands, saying: “No thanks, Father, I’m good. You can keep your discipline. You can keep your grace.”

When we do this, we are making a beeline for the “narrow gate,” sure of our own strength and ability to pass through it. All I can say is this, proceed at your own peril. Are you so sure of yourself?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Using Parishioner Art on Bulletin Covers

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Sean Reilly is the Director of Communications at Our Lady of the Wayside Parish in Arlington Heights, Illinois and he’s discovered a fantastic way to connect his church’s ministries to their larger church community using original bulletin cover art each week. We sat down with him to talk about this yearlong project and how it has positively impacted his community.

Q. Tell us a little about what inspired you to use parishioner art on the covers of your bulletins.
A. I came on as Director of Communications during the first of the COVID lockdowns and my goal was to make sure that any signs of life happening at our parish were conveyed to parishioners during those uncertain times. One of the things I recognized was that there were communication gaps between our church’s ministries, the good work each was doing, and our larger church community. We needed to find a way to bridge the gaps and create something interactive to bring families and community members together.

Q. Amazing! What ministries have contributed bulletin cover art?
A. Well, to start, we decided to focus on our parish youth, so we had our 3rd to 5th graders, both in the religious education program and in the school, create our first wave of covers. I asked our school and religious education leaders to present the idea to them, and to select the covers we’d be using from those submitted. When it came to cover selection, it wasn’t always about going with museum-quality art. Sometimes it was about assuring certain kids, who might be in need a self-esteem boost or peer-recognition, receive recognition. We figured this was vital, and what a church community is all about!

We received art from the youth from both the school and religious education programs including the youth group. It gave them a chance to have a spotlight in the parish. Youth whose covers were selected received framed copies of the covers so that they could hold it up and say, “I did that!” and be proud of their work.

We’ve gotten covers from the school, religious education program, youth ministry, our SPREAD program who work with young adults with disabilities, lectors, and ministers of care. Our summer VBS program submitted a boatload of covers over summer break! This week’s cover is from an adult choir member. Our goal is to have parishioners of all ages involved, not just our youth.

Q. How many covers will you do?
A. 52 covers! We started in Advent of 2021 and will finish in Advent of 2022, so, a full year’s worth of parishioner art on our bulletins. Advent was a great time to start because it is such a magical time in our church calendar and people are getting excited about Christmas.

Q. How have the covers been received by the community?
A. All positive! The parishioners have enjoyed seeing the covers and the interpretation of the week’s readings through the eyes of their younger members. One email I received from a long-time parishioner said:
“I love the children’s drawings on the cover of the bulletins. What a great way to get to the heart of the message that: We love God, we believe in God, we listen to God. And what a great way to help children know that they are an important part of the parish community.”

Q. Have you seen an uptick in bulletin distribution and interaction?
A. There were a few times when our reserve bulletin supply in the office totally ran out because people whose children’s art was featured wanted to pick up extras to give to family members and friends. That’s great because the bulletins become an evangelization tool that extends beyond the parish and into the greater community. The merits of this program exceeded my expectations and I believe it truly was Holy Spirit inspired!

Q. Do you have any favorite covers done by the youth?
A. It’s hard to choose a favorite but one that really blew me away was anonymously submitted by a member of the youth group and featured the Baptism of the Lord (that week’s gospel). It was rich with blue water and red fire swirling around, and when it hit my desk, I was just like, “Whoa, THAT is powerful!” and everyone who saw it agreed!

Q. What advice would you give a church interested in doing this themselves?
A. Just do it and, once you do it, promote it! Put it in the weekly newsletter, on the website, on your church’s social media channels, everywhere!

A great big thank you to Sean for sharing this experience with us! If you want to learn more about this special bulletin cover project, check out the OLW parish website or check out some of their covers .

A Steward’s Growing Pains

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Have you ever written a check or seen the charge on the credit card machine that had far too many zeros on it for your comfort?

The brakes finally give up on the car you were hoping to nurse through the season. The water heater dies on the coldest week of the year. A medical procedure wasn’t totally covered by insurance. We’ve all been here in this place, being asked to part with a not-so-small sum of money for a not-so-fun reason.

It’s a little easier to bear when you’re forking over dollar signs for a fun vacation or even a worthy cause like your child’s education. But when it’s something you weren’t expecting, something negative, that uneasiness in the pit of your stomach can quickly become despair.

The next time this happens to you, embrace it. Celebrate it. Wrap your arms around it and welcome it as a growing pain.

We are often asked, in life, to give more than we wish. Our loved ones demand greater patience than we think we have. Our prayer life is stalling, and we feel God isn’t holding up His end of the communication bargain. The daily grind seems to be grinding us down. We feel that uneasiness in the pit of our stomach, just as we do when we part with money we thought belonged solely to us.

That place of uncertainty propels us in life, in stewardship, in relationship. All forward motion comes from that feeling. Put out your hands and let yourself be thrust into the pit — He will stoop to take you out from the mud. Spread your arms on your cross — joy is waiting for you.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

A Meek and Humble Heart

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, August 28, 2022

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Luke 14:1, 7-14

The overarching theme found in Sunday’s readings is humility. The virtue of humility, sagely defined by C.S. Lewis , “is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” As we hear Jesus’ words in the Gospel, this is precisely what we are invited to do by allowing space at the head of the table for others to be honored above ourselves. Jesus lived the ultimate example of humility — incarnate, reliant on Mary and Joseph as an infant and child, handing himself over to be crucified, and now allowing himself to be consumed by the faithful daily, in the guise of bread and wine in the Eucharist.

For over ten years, Deacon Jerry Ryan started our spiritual direction meetings with the words, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.” A simple yet profound prayer seeking to have a heart so humble, loving, merciful, and precious as to resemble the heart of Jesus. I remember thinking how it felt almost hypocritical to pray for meekness and humility with the bold confidence the deacon possessed, yet, at the same time, knowing this is exactly how we are to approach our Lord. Deacon Jerry quietly lived this prayer with a simple resolve, a vow to the Lord to say yes to whoever came seeking his assistance. Perhaps this is how this kind, elderly man became my spiritual father and guide for over a decade. Accepting my awkward, albeit desperate, request to help me navigate my relationship with Jesus. Even as he battled the end stages of cancer, he insisted we keep our meetings to ensure I continued my faith journey.

Ordained to serve, his vocation consisted of much more, as he taught by his faithful example what it meant to embrace a meek and humble heart. He taught me that every human is called to this disposition of the heart. I could never repay Deacon Jerry for all he did for me, and he never wanted to be compensated other than by my promise to share with others all he taught me, so the gift of faith bestowed on us by Christ would abide in more hearts. Deacon Jerry referred to himself as a hammer for the Lord. Lying on the tool bench until the Master required him to complete the task before him. When complete, returned to the bench, content to wait until Jesus called upon him again. Other times, he thought of himself as a somewhat lazy albeit faithful beagle. Lying at the feet of the Master, eyes always upon Him, at peace, watching, waiting, and ready when beckoned into service.

A meek and humble heart resembles Jesus best when it serves those least able to offer any benefit back for the good they receive — when we possess a heart not only open to the will of the Father but also docile and prepared to be obedient to what He asks of us. This exchange is mirrored in the vast gifts and blessings showered on us from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for which there is no adequate remuneration. The reward will be great in heaven, for those who give without expecting anything in return will be “blessed indeed … because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).

Allison Gingras

PRAYER

O, Jesus,
meek and humble of heart,
make my heart unto thine.
May I seek,
always and only,
to do your will,
for my good works to be seen
only by you,
and most importantly,
to one day, be raised
to your heavenly banquet.

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Practical Ways to Recruit and Maintain Volunteers

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Volunteers provide numerous vital services for parishes. Recruiting and maintaining a consistent volunteer corps may require some creativity. Beginning with identifying parish needs, recognizing groups and individuals available to whom you can reach out, and most importantly, helping parishioners discern how their particular gifts and talents can bless the Church and the community. There are certain liturgical seasons, like Advent and Lent, when parishes may find an uptick in those interested in volunteering. It’s good to optimize those times to encourage assistance with charitable and parish activities throughout the year. Introduce a variety of volunteer opportunities so those men, women, and even families will continue to serve well beyond the season.

One strategy for achieving success in creating a core of dedicated volunteers comes from offering a wide range of volunteering opportunities. Brainstorming a list of all the tasks throughout the year requiring extra hands is pivotal. Parishes can then find ways to tap into people’s gifts and talents. Consider adopting a broader definition of volunteer work beyond collecting donations, teaching in your religious education programs, and serving at Mass in order to engage a larger potential volunteer population.

Thinking Outside the Volunteer Box

Not everyone may feel comfortable to assist in the more spiritual activities of a parish — they may even consider themselves unworthy. Why not begin with the parish’s building and facilities needs such as snow removal, raking leaves, window washing, and even floor-sweeping to help parishioners understand that they can be of great use to the church in many capacities outside of the traditional spiritual activities.

Does your parish have a small clerical staff? Could the parish use assistance with filing, email sending, or contact collection? What about phone calls or emails for pastoral outreach, follow-up on missing sacrament forms or inquiries, or assisting families to complete registration forms for your faith formation programs.

There are many ways to open people’s hearts to the possibilities of sharing their unique gifts and talents. Try to introduce how someone may be able to bless the parish through singing, crafting, graphic design, managing social media, formatting the weekly bulletin, or organizing parish fundraising and social events!

Help Wanted Description

Make sure to create a clear summary of each role and duty. Be clear about the time commitment, skills, and talents that you are seeking for the role, and of course be sure to share if there are any benefits! After all, who wouldn’t show up for a free meal after volunteering?

Once you have a description, share it in the bulletin, mailings, parish website, social media, and any other avenues of communication your church has. Rotate the “wanted ads” and consider including testimonies from new and current volunteers. These types of testimonials can be great during Mass announcements as well!

Don’t Overlook the Little Things

Here’s an example of how a parish embraced one woman’s desire to volunteer although she initially felt that she was inadequate to serve. She shared with the Director of Religious Education how embarrassed she felt when volunteers were sought at meetings, especially when asked to help provide food for parish events. Cooking and baking were not within her gifts or talents. The DRE suggested finding something else that might be needed for the event, something that she could buy instead of cook. Taking this advice, she chose to start supplying the potato chips for events at the parish.

After a while, the woman’s donation of potato chips became what the DRE would refer to as the woman’s “secret recipe,” particularly when requesting the item in front of other parents. The woman reported that this simple gesture helped her to see how she could easily contribute in a meaningful way, and over time, she found even more ways to contribute to the parish.

The Great Commission

Every church is unique. Each has different demographics, programming, charisms, and missions. One thing that stays consistent throughout, though, is that volunteerism is foundational to the mission of Christianity. Remember, the Great Commission calls each of us to be part of the whole Body of Christ. Creating a sound strategy to recruit and maintain volunteers provides the Church with an opportunity to assist our members in answering that timeless call. After all, we’re in this together!

For more information on guiding parishioners toward discerning their gifts, check out the Strengthsfinder white papers on our Resources page.

Caught in the Rising Action

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Think of some of your favorite iconic movies. I’m not talking about the feel-good comedies or the offbeat coming-of-age flicks. I’m talking about the movies that you found had a profound impact on you or made you go “Hmmm.”

I’m willing to bet that the plot of this film features some tough moments and difficult scenarios. However happy the ending, at some point, the situation for the protagonist might look awfully hopeless. The script speaks some truth to you about what it is to be human in difficult circumstances. What it means to persevere.

We’re attracted to the tension that exists when the hero is besieged. We’re captivated by the decisions he makes in the darkest hour of the night when it seems like the dawn will never come. Why? Because we know that feeling so well. This is the essence of our human life on earth: waiting, hoping, doubting — and enduring.

We know the ending to our story, but we don’t know when it’s coming. We live our whole lives in the rising action of the narrative. Sure, it gets old. Tiresome, even dull. We may start to despair that the climactic scene is coming at all.

But faith is the realization of things hoped for, and evidence of things not seen. We feel it watching a great movie, because we recognize it intuitively: it is faith which earns the happy ending. No one is drawn to the story when the hero gives up or gets tired of waiting for the payoff. Everyday stewardship is the collection of choices we make while we’re waiting, because we are called to action, not idleness, even in our perpetual state of expectation.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Disciple of Discipleship

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, August 21, 2022

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66:18-21
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Luke 13:22-30

Abraham Lincoln is said to have remarked that “discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” What is it that you desire most? This is a powerful question that must be asked and answered if we want to avoid a haphazard, disjointed, and chaotic life. It also must be asked and answered if we claim to be a person of faith who is committed to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We all have smaller desires that motivate us throughout the day. I may desire to complete a project that has been sitting undone for some time or to spend some quality time with someone I love. But at the end of it all, what is it that you really desire?

St. Augustine tells us that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. If we really believe that we are lovingly and intentionally fashioned and created by a God who wills us into being — and that we are destined to live eternally with that same God in heaven — then these are wise words indeed. Therefore, in order to be true to our real nature, the answer to the question of what we desire most ought to be, “Union with God.”

If we are distracted by our lesser desires, we can easily lose touch with our truth and quickly find ourselves off track and restless. But a person who lives a truly disciplined life is always able to call themselves back to the greatest desire, to put their wants and impulses in check, and to do what is necessary to achieve the greater goal. For the believer, this can only be accomplished by developing a habit of strong, centered, and focused prayer. The discipline of prayer allows us to keep our relationship with God fresh so that we become best friends with Him and always stay connected and in touch in one way or another.

It is very possible for relationships to go sour, even our relationship with God. While God never abandons us, we can certainly turn our backs on Him. In doing so, we may find ourselves recognizing His presence and surprises less and less and even find ourselves less willing to put ourselves out there for the advancement of the Gospel. Those lesser desires and impulses can gain great control. It is the discipline of prayer that allows us to become the very likeness of God! We then become His true disciples by living and acting in our world as He would live and act in it. The gift of contemplation keeps God in clear focus and our hearts set on our true desire: union with Him.

It will not be easy at first. Who among us really likes discipline? But we all know that the maturity process always involves reluctance, pain, stretching, and honesty. We are constantly learning new lessons about life, God, ourselves, others, and our world, and we must vigilantly be willing to leave one way of doing things in pursuit of another of greater value. Knowing that our ultimate desire is union with God, we can then go about the task of true discipleship and begin living the vision Jesus taught. It is a vision that involves great self-denial, suffering, and possibly even death. However, all of these are always in service of obtaining our ultimate goal.

Life teaches us some hard lessons and can easily disappoint. But God’s ever-present love is always available to transform even the most self-focused of hearts, and His holiness touches all of His children. It is our task, then, to ensure that everything possible is done to preserve and respect the sacredness of life and the dignity of every human being.

God’s vision, whether we like it or agree, has a great deal to say about the immigrant, the homeless, our economic system, power, wealth, distribution of the world’s good, the value and place of work, abortion, euthanasia, war, violence, and all of the other ills plaguing our world. The problem is that we often seek secular solutions to difficulties that have a spiritual base. The person with a truly disciplined life can recognize the difference and act accordingly.

Rev. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Loving God,
I can easily get confused
between what I think I need and what I truly desire.
You have placed your glorious presence within me.
You flow through my veins and
reside in the depth of my soul.
May your Holy Spirit help me see
what is within so that as I live and move in your world
I can begin to recognize you in all you have made.
Help me create a discerning and disciplined life
so that I can dwell more fully in your presence,
unite myself with you and contemplate your glory.
May I notice you in the smallest and most humble of your creatures
and in the vastness of the ocean’s depth!
May I smell the nectar of your presence in the air that I breathe
and know that nothing I can imagine
will ever give me what only you can bestow upon me.
May I learn to watch for your surprises
and relish in the daily blessings that come my way.
May I not fall into despair and always live with hope.
Then, when I am asked to leave this world
and continue my journey to you
may I do so without regret and with an eagerness to possess
the wonder of your embrace.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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4 Tips to Make Your Church’s Homepage More Inviting

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

We hear it all the time, “When people visit our website, we want them to know that we are a welcoming and inviting community!” At LPi we are fortunate enough to have our own professional user experience designer, Megan, to help guide this process. When we sat down with her to ask if she had anything to share about homepage best practices, she shared four tips for parishes who want to create the most welcoming homepage user experience possible.

Tip 1: Use a HERO Image that reflects your community.

A HERO image is the first image people will see when visiting your homepage. This might be your website’s banner, background image, or simply a featured image that will be a focal point on the very first screen someone sees when navigating to your page. Consider featuring a diverse group of parishioners in this image or a snapshot of a community celebration. Images of actual members of your community instead of images of church buildings can help a potential new member envision themselves as part of your church family.

Tip 2: Collect information into easy-to-access menu groups.

Along with your hero image, visible menus with buttons should be placed directly in the visitor’s immediate line of sight. When considering how to group information items into your homepage’s menu, think about the main reasons somebody may visit your website: Mass times, ministries, contact information, Sacramental information, etc. Put the most searched for topics front and center! Lots of churches make the mistake of having too many things in their navigational menu all at once. When churches collect items into groups that are similar and present their menus more simply, this can create an easier, and thus more welcoming, homepage user experience.

Some common menu groupings that she finds successful have been:

About | This could include your parish’s history, staff information, updated photos, media mentions, testimonials from parishioners, location, and more.

Ministries | This menu item can lead a visitor to view a list all of your church’s ministries or even to a sub-menu of ministry categories where they can easily navigate the wonderful work your parish is doing.

Parish Life | Use this grouping to highlight events, calendars, celebrate recent accomplishments, share photos, or make your community’s swag available to purchase.

Sacraments | You know the ones: Baptism, Frist Communion, Confirmation, RCIA, Reconciliation, and Marriage.

Worship | Lots can be couched under this category. Some of these items might include Mass times, prayer requests, livestreaming, Holy Day schedules, Confession times, music/choir information, Adoration times, Funeral information, and more.

Faith Formation | This important category could also include a sub-menu for Adults, Youth, Elementary, Young Adult, Bible Studies, or any other formational programs your church offers.

Connect | We prefer the term “ connect ” rather than “ contact ” because it can include social media, your church’s digital bulletin, staff information, a pastor’s letter, links to ministry newsletters, all alongside the parish’s general contact information.

Tip 3: Use good quality images

Quality imagery is super important in making your homepage look inviting to new visitors. Sometimes churches make the mistake of relying on old or grainy pictures, or they depend too much on stock imagery instead of featuring their actual community. Having vibrant, up to date imagery of your church, real parishioners, and events/holidays is one of the simplest ways to make your website more engaging and welcoming. LPi has an extensive library of professional images available for you to use on your website via WeCreate, our art and content tool: https://4lpi.com/solutions/catholic-art-content/

Tip 4: Don’t forget about cell phones!

Statistically speaking, recent data suggests that over half of all visits to a church’s website are from phones and tablets. Don’t believe us? Check out some statistics here . At LPi we find that 68% of our website visits come from mobile devices! This means that you should expect that at least half of your visitors will be using their phone to view your content as well. Your homepage should be designed to be attractive and easy to use when someone navigates to it via their cell.

At LPi we have incredible people like Megan and an experienced digital design team that works with parishes to create branding tools and resources to get your homepage, social media, bulletin, and over-all visual parish identity dialed in. We also have a vast library of ready-made images and tools for you to create your own, custom, high resolution imagery to use on any digital or printed resource you may have. To put these four tips to use and to create the most welcoming homepage and inviting digital experience for potential new parishioners, contact our team to see how we can give your online presence a refresh. Find out more information here: https://4lpi.com/solutions/catholic-church-websites/

What We Store in the Barn

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

I once knew a godly woman who had truly tasted the bitterness of this earthly life. This woman knew pain. She knew sacrifice. She knew hard labor and loss, including the death of a cherished child. She worked each day at a low-paying job, waiting patiently for her 65th birthday, when she could retire and devote herself full-time to her grandchildren. She crossed off the dwindling days on her calendar like a first grader waiting for Christmas.

Ninety-eight days before she was set to retire, she died suddenly. Her name was erased from the schedule at work and penciled over with that of her replacement hire.

All things are vanity.

I think we all know someone like this, don’t we? If the details aren’t exactly the same, the outline of the story is: someone labors “with wisdom and knowledge and skill,” in the words of Ecclesiastes. And what profit comes to him? Sorrow and grief all his days. The proverbial barn filled with harvest and left to rot.

But I’ll let you in on a secret: this isn’t a sad story. I’ve only told you part of it.

This woman heard, daily, the voice of God, and against it she never hardened her heart, whatever news it brought her. This woman loved as hard as she worked. Every action was a form of evangelization. To talk to her was to feel the embrace of Christ.

As much as she waited for that retirement that never came, it was never the harvest in her barn.

This is what it means to be a true steward: to seek what is above.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Fire of Discipleship

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, August 14, 2022

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53

What are you passionate about? What stirs up the fire within you?

For some of us, it’s the demands of justice — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing drink for those who thirst, freeing those wrongly imprisoned, and making a home for the stranger — that brings forth fire. Others among us are passionate about prayer and the spiritual life. And then, of course, we have those relationships that we protect fiercely. And these are good and worthy… and they are also intimately connected, since we can never compartmentalize our relationships, spirituality, and the work for justice.

In this Sunday’s Gospel , we are given a sense of the passion that is burning within the heart of Jesus: The Reign of God. But this impassioned, fiery Jesus might startle us, as he proclaims his desire that the world be aflame with the same fire that consumed him.

The passages from Luke’s Gospel that we are hearing in this span of Ordinary Time are inviting us to reflect on what it means to live our faith, putting into practice what we profess. At the same time, the passage proclaimed on this 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time presents a different, perhaps even startling facet of Jesus’ teachings as the Prince of Peace asks, “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth?” Of course, because that’s what we’ve been taught to expect. That is our hope.

When looked at from the perspective of discipleship, we recognize that what Jesus is asking us to consider is the prophetic stance that is part of discipleship. However, as we see in story of Jeremiah proclaimed in the first reading this Sunday, that prophetic stance can put us at odds with those who are opposed to the truth. This was certainly true for Jesus, as well.

The challenge is that our passions — especially when we take a prophetic stand — can put us at odds with those who are opposed to the truth. As we think of the story of Jeremiah and the mission of Jesus, we know that there were some who welcomed their preaching and who were caught up in the fire of their mission. Others resisted, however, because Jeremiah and Jesus were calling for change and the comforts and complacency of these resisters were being burned up by the fire of the prophetic proclamation. This is what put Jeremiah in prison. This is what put Jesus on the cross. The status quo couldn’t be maintained and the old attitudes and behaviors had to be refined within this transforming fire.

In 2016, Pope Francis spoke of this refining fire , when he reflected:

And it is here that we discover a sort of two-fold examination of conscience within this Sunday’s Gospel.

First, do you ignore or try to silent those prophets who are calling for change — change within ourselves, our communities, or even in the Church? Are you willing to risk dialogue and even conversion, as we are invited to reflect not only on what is possible, but on what might be essential? This can become especially difficult for us when we are being asked to reconsider beliefs, customs, or practices that are near and dear to us. However, as was noted above, discipleship demands that we not become complacent or settle.

Second, are you willing to live out your call to be a prophet yourself? Where are the injustices or abuses that need to be named? What wrongs need to be made right? What wounds need to be healed? While we are called to pray for peace, we are also called, by virtue of our baptism, to adopt a prophetic stance and call for change — for conversion — where change is needed. This also means that we have to be courageous enough to stand alone, at times.

As we continue our journey through Ordinary Time, reflecting on the demands of our discipleship and what it means to truly live the faith we profess, recall the words of Saint Catherine of Siena, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”

Br. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.

PRAYER

By your grace,
O Lord,
make us stick to our resolutions,
act with courage,
remain constant in devotion,
extend forgiveness without measure,
love without ceasing,
and live ever in your friendship.
Enable us, with your help,
to put on Christ,
and to manifest him to others
and bear witness to him in the world. Amen.

(From The New St. Joseph’s People’s Prayer Book
Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1993)

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Is Your Parish Making Common Website Mistakes?

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Dan Rogers from Mission by Design knows a thing or two about websites. For weeks this winter, Dan called and interviewed parishes about church websites — learning about what churches are doing, what they’re looking for, and, most importantly, how they can improve and grow.

Dan was kind enough to join us for a conversation about church websites … and common mistakes he has seen.

Q. Why do websites matter?
A. Websites matter because we live in a digital world. The internet is the primary way that people discover new restaurants, attractions, things to do on the weekends and … churches! Websites are the #1 method of communication between people of similar experiences, and they are the method by which people discover.

Q. Websites vs. social media … what’s your perspective?
A. Often parishes prioritize using websites like an online bulletin board, thinking that parishioners are logging on and seeing what’s new on a website every day. But that’s not how websites are used. Think of them more like brochures: glossy images of what you’re like or what’s inside.

Social media, text, email, those mediums are the better ways to communicate events and up-to-date stuff. Sometimes parishes get these two mediums tangled up, and it muddies the website.

Q. What should we think about when laying out a new website?
A. When laying out a website, it’s important to think about the end user and their user journey. Remember that your website exists for other people to use, not you, so make it as easy to use and as simple as possible for your visitors.

Here’s an exercise: Think like a person who has never seen your website before. Who is visiting your website, and what are they looking for? Write out a few potential audiences. For instance:

Think about common questions, common reasons that people are looking at a website.

Q. How do I know what to put on my parish site?
A. Think about what most people are looking for on your parish website.
Some ideas include:

I would say that the most important thing is pictures of people smiling . Catholicism often gets a bad rap for being a religion of heads-down, quiet prayer. We want people to see that our religion is joyful, and our community is joyful. It’s critical to talk here about fallen-away Catholics. Why might someone go to a different church? Because people seem happy there, it’s more welcoming, its more joyful. You want your church to be the one that attracts in that way.

Q. What shouldn’t be on a parish website?
A.

And I say this because: buildings are not warm and welcoming, people are. There isn’t anything wrong with statues or interiors, but they don’t convey the warmth and life of your community.

I also think that there shouldn’t be too many links to things like Catholic news or theological content. There are other websites that are updated daily with incredible theological content, let other people do that for you. And you? Focus on keeping your website simple, inviting, and easy to use.

Q. What is a common mistake that many parishes make when it comes to layout and design?
A. I have three.

First, a home page that has a big banner of text announcing an event . So, instead of seeing smiling faces I see a pixelated very big thing that says, say, “Fish Fry next Friday.” Right away that says to me, “I only care about my parishioners, and I don’t care about anyone else.” We need to be thinking about making our parish inviting and welcoming so we can fulfill the great commission.

Second, outdated information . When parishes are trying to keep up with daily updates, they can too easily become outdated. Save your daily updates for social media, email, and texting. Your large seasonal announcements can go on your website.

Third, a non-mobile friendly site . Over 55% of people are hitting your website on mobile phones. People on vacation or new to town are probably on their phone, and that is an audience you want to reach. So, you want your website to be attractive from a mobile perspective.

A friendly heads up about mobile friendly sites: Google is now actively penalizing websites that are not mobile friendly by not listing them as high in the search results. If you want your parish to grow, people need to find you, and they’re going to look on Google. Reach out to a communications savvy member of your community to ensure that your website looks good on a phone. Still stuck? LPi’s team can help build a website that is mobile friendly. Now is the time!

Q. What kinds of things belong on a parish website?
A. Some things that I love to see:

1. Smiling people of different ages and backgrounds.
As a visitor, I’m looking at a picture and thinking: Will I fit in here? This is a human response to life, wondering if there is space for me in this community.

I also like to see pictures of your liturgy, pictures of your small groups, and pictures of people interacting and thriving in your parish setting.

2. Testimonials.
Short stories from parishioners about what they love being a part of your parish community belong on your website. These could be as simple as, “My parish community is welcoming to my kids. I’m nervous about brining my kids to other parishes, but We’re always welcome at St. Pat’s.”
If I was a millennial and I saw and heard that, I would immediately believe them and want to bring my kids there to find out.

Q. Thank you so much! What closing thought do you have for our parishes?
A. Don’t be overwhelmed. You most likely didn’t go to school to be a professional parish web person. This might seem daunting, but you don’t have to do this alone. Look for help in your community. There are a lot of people out there who want to help — like LPi!

LPi loves helping parishes improve their web presence. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out .

Dan Roger’s company, Mission by Design , offers non-profit strategy for communications and fundraising.

Less Stress, More Faith

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, August 7, 2022

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 18:6-9
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-12
Luke 12:32-48

Faith helps us overcome many of the anxieties of daily life.

As a society, we are experiencing an epidemic of stress. Keeping up with the demands of life has worn us out. Many of us are getting much less sleep than we need . This heightened stress takes a toll on our bodies making our blood pressure soar. We overeat and use alcohol to compensate for the pressure we feel. As we close in on ourselves, we become more isolated until we find ourselves trapped in a prison of fear.

How different our life is when we put God at the center of it! Jesus promised those who follow him that his yoke would be easy and his burden light ( Mt 11:30 ). Those who live according to his teaching are no longer burdened by having to live up to the world’s unrealistic expectations. We no longer measure ourselves against what others have but against the word of a merciful God who knows and loves us. We who follow Jesus live in the freedom of faith.

Today’s second reading from the letter to the Hebrews focuses on what faith means in the life of the believer. Faith is more than believing that God exists. As Saint James tells us, even the devil believes in God ( James 2:19 ). Rather the faith that transforms and saves us is the trust that God’s promises to us will be fulfilled. It means believing God and His word even when our instincts tell us something different or the people around us are making different choices. It means believing God’s word so deeply and so earnestly that we pattern every aspect of our lives according to it. We give food to the hungry because Jesus tells us we must. And we bite our tongue rather than spread gossip because it is what Jesus expects of us. We make these choices not because they are easy nor because people will appreciate us for it. Very often, the opposite is true. Rather we act with love and mercy because we hold onto God’s promise that He will reward our good deeds. We make these choices out of faith.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus gives us an important example as to how we are to exercise our faith. As believers, we have an active expectation that Jesus will come again. This is the real important difference between those who believe and those who do not. Those who live without faith act as if this world is all there is. Their focus is on accumulating possessions and experiencing as much pleasure as possible. Sacrifice, giving to others, and patience mean nothing to them because they are living only for today. However, they live in fear because all these material things they cling to so dearly can easily be taken away from them.

Those of us who enjoy the gift of faith have an altogether different outlook. We know that this world and its pleasures are passing away. Our hope is set not on what this world can give us but on the eternal life promised to us by our Savior. We still need to work, to support our families and to prepare for the future, but we do so in trust knowing that God will provide for us. And if hardship or misfortune should come our way, we endure it with patience knowing that God is at our side and trusting that He will make all things work for our good. It is not an easy way to live, but it is a more fulfilling and happier life than this world can give. And it is ours if we stake our lives on God’s promise.

Douglas Sousa

PRAYER

Eternal, Holy God,
I come to you burdened
With worries, fears, doubts, and troubles.
Calm and quiet me with peace of mind.
Empty me of the anxiety that disturbs me,
Of the concerns that weigh heavy on my heart.
Loosen my grip on the disappointments
And grievances I hold on to so tightly.
Release me from the pain of past hurts,
Of present anger and tension,
Of future fears.
Sometimes it’s too much for me, Lord –
Too many demands and problems –
Too much sadness, suffering, and stress.
Renew me spiritually and emotionally.
Give me new strength, hope, and confidence.
Prepare me to meet the constant struggles of
Daily life with a deeper faith and trust in you.
Let your love set me free…
For peace, for joy, for grace, for life, for others…
Forever. Amen

( Capuchin Franciscan Friars )

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When I Called, You Answered

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Some of us have that friend about whom we are constantly discovering new things. Maybe we’ve known this person for ten or even twenty years, and one day at lunch we’ll find out they’re a direct descendant of a dead president or they once met a major celebrity.

“You never asked,” they’ll say with a shrug.

As annoying as this can be, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? We never asked. There is something strangely sacred about the act of asking for something. It requires humility. It requires grace. It requires us to be awake, to be aware, to be vulnerable.

Too often we fall into a pattern of entitlement, even when it comes to information. We go through life thinking that a great cosmic conveyor belt of what we want is going to roll on past us, and we’ll barely even have to extend our arms. We read our Bible and we hear all these amazing promises from the Father who loves us, and we get sort of complacent. He’s got this, we think, and we shut our eyes to take a snooze on the road trip of life, confident that someone else is going to look out for stop signs and wrong turns.

It’s true: God’s got this. He is going to take care of us. But He wants us to be in relationship with Him. He wants us to be an active, receptive participant in our own salvation. See his patience with Abraham’s entreaties on behalf of the righteous of Sodom: He wants to answer, not simply to tell.

He wants us to stay awake for the drive.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Five Tips for a Better Catholic School Website

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

What’s the secret to creating the perfect website for a Catholic school? There are a lot of factors that can make or break a website, and so much depends on the mission and culture of each individual school. Elements like content presentation and mobile friendliness, however, are universally important. Read on to find out more about those crucial factors and to explore other ways to improve your school’s online presence.

Put Catholicism Front and Center

No matter how large or small your school, staff, campus, and budget are, the very best asset offered to every student who learns there is the Good News of the Gospel. Catholic education has a lot of great selling points, but none better than the one that simply doesn’t need to be sold at all: its Christ-centered mission. Catholicism sets your school apart — celebrate that with the content and voice of your website.

Optimize Accessibility

How easy and intuitive is your site to navigate? How many clicks does it take a visitor to find contact information, mission statement and “fast facts” like enrollment and class sizes? Does your site have a prominent search window? Even simple choices like font and color scheme can impact the usability of a website. What are the load times like for your pages, and how can you lessen them ? Make sure your design gets a refresh every few years to avoid getting stale and ensure that your written content is reviewed and updated with every school year. Finally, ensure that your website is set up to optimize its ranking in Google search.

Adaptability Is Key

These days, thanks to the 56% of web users who access sites on their mobile phone, it’s imperative that a website be mobile-friendly. Check to see if yours is using this link . To make sure users are able to easily and effectively access your site using mobile devices, you’ll want to make sure that the website has a design that responds well to different screen sizes, as well as an adaptive server.

Check Out Other Schools’ Websites

They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have, and the same principle applies here. Check out the sites of a school whose enrollment and mission you want to emulate. And just like a real estate agent runs comps for houses on the market, research the websites of schools that compare to yours in terms of budget, demographics, enrollment, and values. View them through the lens of a prospective parent: what compels you, piques your interest, and makes a positive impression?

Be Trendy

What’s the latest in design, content, and user experience for private school websites? Sites like CampusSuite and FinalSite offer some interesting examples of current trends like bold, creative color schemes and purposeful storytelling.

If you’re ready to tackle your website, but need a little help, see what LPi can do for you with WeConnect !

Be Ready for God to “Stop By”

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

In my experience, most people can be divided into two groups: those who are old enough to remember when you kept food on hand for company, and those who aren’t.

For those of you in the latter group, let me explain. Before text messaging and social media made us all unconditionally, mercilessly reachable, people would do this thing called “stopping by.” They would be passing by a friend’s house, maybe on the way home from work or shopping, and they would just … stop. With no warning. No notice whatsoever. “I was just in the neighborhood,” they would say. I remember my mother and I would do this on many a Saturday. It wasn’t an everyday occurrence, but it was common enough that you had to be ready.

“Crazy,” you might exclaim. “People just appeared on your doorstep? How did you cope with the uncertainty?” Well, most of us had moms who kept a little something on hand to eat or drink that was extra nice, just in case anyone stopped by. That way, we were always ready.

Today’s readings are about a lot of things: prayer, hope, redemptive suffering. They’re about what it means to be a Christian, and not just what it means to do Christian things.

Most of all, though, they’re about readiness. If God showed up at your door, would you be ready for Him? Would you be ready for what He gives you, or what He takes away? Would you be ready for Him to interrupt the plans you have for yourself? To disrupt the idea you carry in your mind of what a servant or a steward is supposed to be?

Read your Bible. Say your rosary. Go to Mass. Get to Confession. Talk to God — every day, not just when you think you need Him. That way, you are always ready.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Encountering Jesus

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, July 31, 2022

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
Luke 12:13-21

At dinner the other night, I recounted the experience of my visit to a poor parish community in Venezuela in 2006. On this one day, the hosts knew that the American visitors were coming, and they splurged on us with ice cold glass bottles of Coke to serve! I was so moved by this simple gesture, realizing quickly that they did not have the ability to enjoy Coke for themselves regularly!!! That day, those friends were Jesus to me, and they taught me a huge lesson.

On another occasion more recently, I was in Dallas to play music for a wedding. As I headed over to the church that morning, I stopped by a local grocery store to pick up a bottle of water and some fruit (honey crisp apples, to be specific) to hold me over until the reception. I hopped back in the car and there on the corner sitting underneath the stop sign at the end of the driveway was a homeless man. Immediately, a thousand thoughts started racing through my mind, which can be summarized as, “What do I do?” The drive out of the parking lot was one of the longest drives of my life. As I drove past the man in his early 30s, my eyes caught his, and the look of sadness and rejection pierced my soul and left an imprint as I rounded the corner. There was Jesus, and I had not the time to offer him a bottle of water or an apple on a hot June Saturday in Texas. That day, Jesus also taught me a lesson, one that I hope never to forget again.

In our cultural climate of materialism, the acquisition of possessions is paramount to success and admiration, while, at the same time, contentment and enjoyment decreases. Boredom seems to set in, and the pursuit of ‘more’ continues. Jesus’ countercultural perspective is usually met with doubt and skepticism because we initially sense the negative aspect — the required or imposed sacrifice of a worldly or secular thing — while forgetting that there is an accompanying positive aspect as well — what we receive in return, namely, a foretaste of eternity! In the spiritual world, our possessions can possess us, for the more we own, the more we must guard, protect and maintain, and this engagement renders our soul heavy in its desire to fly higher into heaven. St. John Climacus remarks that, “He who despises what is material is rid of quarrels and controversies; but the covetous man will fight till death for a needle.” Mother Mary Francis , with her customary elegant wit, comments, “Who has not seen the little pistols of irritability and the hand grenades of petulance with which a religious will defend his small citadel of supposed needs, conveniences, and arrangements?”

Today, Jesus says, “one’s life does not consist of possessions,” ( Lk 12:15 ). Even though I live in a monastery, I still struggle with this … perhaps, I’m not the only one. I want the joy and freedom of a saint like St. Francis of Assisi , but I am slow to embrace the voluntary poverty through which that joy and freedom grew and flourished. Jesus’ invitation towards a deeper voluntary poverty appropriate to our vocational state in life is embraced as if an embrace of Jesus’ own cross, an expression of our own willed sacrificial love in response for receiving the gift of salvation and grace. It is not a retribution for sin from the hand of an angry deity, nor an exercise of spiritual gymnastics, nor the negation of the necessities of life.

The process of detachment is painful because of how tightly we are possessed by those possessions (both material and immaterial), which we rationalized to acquire and, thus, are required to protect and maintain. Our heavily-guarded silos of possessions are indeed large and probably bulging at the seams, while there are those in our immediate spheres whose legitimate physical, spiritual, emotional, relational, or educational needs could be met IF those silos were more like a local garage sale. A simple story might help illustrate the point:

Whatever is not given is lost because, as we ourselves must one day die, all that we have clung to, to the very end, will die with us, but what we have given away will escape corruption for it has been sent ahead into eternity.

From another perspective, Jesus’ invitation might come to us in the form of a simple question, “Am I not enough for you?”

Br. John Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding, my entire will.
Whatever I have or hold, You have given me.
I restore it all to you and surrender it wholly
to be governed by your will.
Give me only Your love and your grace,
and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.

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LPi has been Giving Back Since Our Beginning

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For 50 years, LPi has been faithfully serving our Church customers. Today, we service just over 4,600 churches across the country. As part of that service our church partners get a free bulletin delivered to their parish each week, their bulletin published to the web on ParishesOnline.com , and, for the those who opt in, their bulletin delivered weekly to parishioner email inboxes. We send out about 3,000,000 bulletins and over 300,000 emails each week.

This service is entirely free to our Church customers. Yes, free! It’s paid for by the advertisers who sponsor an advertisement on the church bulletin. But, for most of our church customers, this service is better than free. When our ad sales team achieves the church’s threshold in advertising sales, we return a portion of those adverting dollars back to the church in the form of a royalty each year. Wow!

Since our inception in 1972, LPi has been giving back to the Church. This year we estimate, we’ll give back $4.5 million in royalties to the Church. Our finance team poured through our historical records and determined that over the past 50 years, we have given back at least $157 million dollars to Catholic churches across the country. Again, wow!

Yes, we do indeed help our customers change the world!

— Joe Luedtke, CEO

Reaching 50 years of service to our community is incredible… but even more incredible is the work done by the churches who serve their congregations day in and day out. We are honored to partner with them. Are you looking for a new integrated communications partner? We’d love to chat! Contact us.

Graphics that GRAB — Designers Talk Cover Art

Thu, 21 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

LPi’s Design Team produces Catholic art and content for a variety of parishes and preferences, providing graphics that correspond to Sunday messages and Liturgical seasons. One service that the team offers is art that can be used on bulletin covers. To appeal to a wide audience, the team provides six options for cover art each week, each with a different theme or style. Looking for new ideas for bulletin art but not sure where to start? Take a few tips from these designers!

Traditional

The Traditional series starts with the Sunday Gospel. From there, the team searches for classic art that directly represents the Gospel story — Mary and Martha, the Woman at the Well, the Feeding of the Five thousand, etc. Expect paintings from the masters of the High Renaissance — dramatically lit scenes, deep colors, striking compositions. The image will be layered with text from the Gospel message, pulling out a verse or two that captures the highlight of the story.

Contemporary

Maybe you’ve done the whole painting-from-the-Renaissance route and you’re looking for something fresh and updated. Faced with this dilemma, the design team’s solution was a text-forward option they have titled “Contemporary.” This minimalist cover features subtle colors and geometric shapes playing in the background: sun rays, dots, and unique color pairings. A single word from Sunday’s scripture holds a place of prominence, with the verse containing that word in smaller type below.

Vibrant

If “Traditional” is your classic oil painting and “Contemporary” is your clean and modern word-treatment, the design style that the designers call “Vibrant” is a middle-ground between the two, recently redesigned by Heidi. This art style looks for bold and bright art depictions of the Gospel story that are a little less recognizable, think a stained-glass image of St. Paul’s conversion vs. the iconic piece by Titian. The pieces are still designed with corresponding verses of the Bible displayed below.

Psalm

Every Mass features a short phrase, repeated verbally by the congregation, the Psalm response. The Psalms are meaningful songs, composed thousands of years ago, but relevant and striking as ever. These short phrases have been explored by the design team and made into art pieces for a visual accompaniment to the Sunday Liturgy.

This series is Evan’s favorite, a photography-forward design overlaid with text which makes the responsorial Psalm visually appealing. Conceptually, exploring the Psalms opens a whole new world of options.

Nature

God reveals Himself through truth, goodness, and beauty, and the designers created a nature series to lean into beauty with stunning seasonal photos of beautiful parts of creation. They pick a photo with a beautiful piece of nature and overlay with a verse from Sunday’s Gospel in a modern design with a bold color-choice.

Saint

Long-term LPi followers might be familiar with a piece made after beloved Catholic saints. In this series, photographs of modern life were overlaid with a quote from a beloved saint, all in a subtle monochrome color treatment. BUT WAIT! That series will experience an update in the coming year! Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, this series will still feature a quote from an inspiring Catholic hero.

(A sneak peak of this new series is hidden in the collage of covers at the top of this blog post!)

What Jesus Doesn’t Say

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

“If Jesus wanted us to (fill in the blank), he would have said so.”

We hear this argument applied to every controversial topic under the sun — and even some not-so-controversial topics, too. Whenever someone is trying to make a case for a decision they have already made, they call in Jesus’ scriptural silence on the matter as their expert, unimpeachable witness.

And sure, there’s much Jesus doesn’t talk about in the Gospels. But by this logic, we would have to assume that Jesus doesn’t care, for instance, if we drive well over the speed limit (he doesn’t discuss cars and highways in the Bible) or what we do online (he never mentions the Internet or websites at all!), when we know that certainly is just not the case.

Like the scholar of the Jewish law who challenges Jesus to define who exactly his “neighbor” is, we can argue semantics all we want. But if we rest in prayer and look deep into our hearts, we know what path we need to take, and it’s usually not the easy one.

I find that I do this plenty in ways that are far more subtle. I lament that the situation facing me is not sufficiently “black and white.” I become frustrated by the shades of moral grey and toss up my hands, claiming I don’t know what the right answer is, insisting that I can’t be blamed for the ramifications of whatever decision I make.

What I need to be doing in these situations is asking God for His guidance, even if it makes me nervous. I need to be like the scholar. He was brave enough to ask, even though I think he knew he wouldn’t particularly like the answer. Let’s strive for that same courage.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Abraham Drew Nearer

Fri, 15 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, July 24, 2022

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Genesis 18:20-32
Colossians 2:12-14
Luke 11:1-13

I’m from the Midwest. My parents and grandparents were all born, raised, and lived their lives in the Midwest. There is a pathological politeness that has worked its way into our genetic code and the thought of inconveniencing another person causes us actual physical discomfort, so we find it impossible to ask for help unless we preface the request with five minutes of apologies and explanation.

“I’m so sorry, no pressure, I would never ask unless it was an emergency, I hate to do this, you can absolutely say no,” et cetera and so forth, until our poor victim wants to collapse from sheer social discomfort. If you put us all in a room together and forced us to accept favors from each other, you would have utter chaos.

Which is why I deeply identify with the very Midwestern moment that Abraham has in today’s reading , where he finds himself concerned for the innocent residents of Sodom and Gomorrah but cannot bring himself to bother God about it. God assures him that He will spare the cities if He finds even fifty innocent people there. It isn’t enough, Midwestern Abraham is still worried, and he needs more assurance, but he can’t do it without falling all over himself apologizing.

God’s patience with him throughout the exchange is just so wholesome and parental. You get the sense that Abraham is twitching with anxiety, and the Lord knows this, but gently and matter-of-factly answers his questions, one after the other, all calmness and serenity.

The theme that leaps off the page from today’s readings is persistence in prayer. To the modern world, that’s a very strange — almost silly — concept. If God is omnipotent, why does He need to be asked to do anything? And isn’t that a paradox, anyway — trusting in God’s providence, but daring to ask again and again for what you need? What makes that different from nagging? Isn’t that just trying to micromanage the Almighty?

And then there’s the inescapable truth that so often, the very specific things we request will never materialize. We pray for peace and plenty, and in return we are treated to an endless barrage of headlines announcing violence, recession, and disunity.

What’s the use of praying, we might ask, when our hearts will continue to break?

I return to today’s readings, in particular to one phrase: Abraham drew nearer . The phrasing makes me think of a child having a meltdown, trying to keep it together, little fists clenched around his face to hide the tears, as his father stretches out his arms to bring him into a reassuring embrace that says, “See how I am here. See how I love you. See how I will take care of you.”

God desires relationship with us, and you cannot have relationship without conversation. One of the greatest communication tools my husband and I ever learned was the power of saying, “I need to express this thing that’s in my head, and I know you may not be able to do anything about it, but I have to talk about it and let you know, preferably while eating ice cream.” Persistent prayer is really just good communication. It’s letting someone know about your feelings and your needs and allowing them to be there for you. Even if you’re from the Midwest, and even if it causes you physical discomfort.

God’s faithfulness is what we need. The world is broken, it will always be broken, and us along with it. There is only one who can piece us back together again, and only if we ask. There will be those who tell you that thoughts and prayers are not enough when it comes to combating the great evils of the world. But I think we will find that any action without prayer is what is insufficient. Prayer changes things because it changes people. So, keep praying. Dare to seek, to knock, to ask. Dare to draw nearer.

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

From the rebellion against
childlike dependence on you,
deliver me, Jesus.

— Litany of Trust , written by Sr. Faustina Maria Pia, SV

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Parish Dispatch: Father Tom Lucas S.J., St. Ignatius Loyola Parish, Sacramento, CA

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

We are so honored to work with vibrant parishes across the United States, each one working to bring the Kingdom of God to their neighborhoods. In the Diocese of Sacramento, Father Tom Lucas serves at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento. Here he answers some questions about his special parish. (Answers have been edited for length).

Q. Describe your parish demographic in 140 characters or less.
A. Suburban, mixed ethnicity but mostly white, well established (1954), well educated, some pockets of poverty.

Q. What makes your community unique?
A. We get people from all over the Sacramento Metro Area and beyond who like the kind of ministry we do, solid preaching, care for our neighbors, positive progressive spirit. Lots of alumni from Jesuit schools around the country as well.

Q. Why do most people visit your city?
A. It’s the state capital, and a good place to raise families. Don’t come in the middle of the summer, it’s an oven. A dry oven, but still an oven.

Q. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?
A. They like the warmth and hospitality we try to share.

Q. Where (and what) do you recommend for your best local eats?
A. Don Javi’s Taco Truck, and Falad’s Falafel Truck, both in the parking lot of the thrift store next door to the church. They come to all our parish picnics too. The Waffle House two doors down is also a favorite.

Q. What is the last film you saw that you would recommend to your parishioners?
A. I’m not a big movie goer, but returning to Sacramento where I grew up, I often recommend Lady Bird , a heartfelt coming-of-age film inspired by the girls’ catholic high school (St. Francis) that my sister attended.

Q. What is your most used App?
A. iBreviary and YouTube

Q. What is your most used emoji?
A. I use the gifs found in Messages all the time to lighten things up. Amazing what you can find.

Q. What is an underrated book of the Bible and why?
A. Acts of the Apostles. It shows that the Church has always been in crisis and was/is always helped by the Holy Spirit.

Q. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?
A. Finding that the Spirit can work anywhere, in anyone, even through me.

Q. What’s the coolest thing about your parish?
A. 8 a.m. Mass during the school year (we have a large grammar school), little kids and old folks at mass together.

Q. Who in your community inspires you?
A. Some of our elders who have kept their faith despite great trials and losses, young parents who bring their kids to the sacraments.

Q. What evangelization risk have you taken in the past year that has born great fruit?
A. When I arrived in the midst of the pandemic (July 2020), I decided to revive our dormant St. Vincent de Paul Conference . I wasn’t sure it would work, but it has born huge fruit for our neighbors and for uniting our parish community.

I’d also add that we’ve just wrapped up a detailed parish survey/conversation process that has been very helpful for our ministry planning in the coming-out-of-COVID period. We now have a much clearer idea of what people want, need, and expect, and how they are ready to participate.

Q. What is your most innovative method of communication with your community ?
A. We have the usual range of bulletin, website, social media. The most important “method” is to be transparent about what’s going on and what our needs are, and how God is working through the mess of it all.

Q. What is the best piece of ministry advice you have received?
A. Listen, listen, listen. And as St. Ignatius taught, always try to give the other the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are acting out of good will.

Q. What is important to you in a great parish website?
A. Ease of navigation, visually engaging with good (not schlocky) art, and easy to ready fonts. Lots of seniors scolded us until we put larger, clearer fonts in all our publications, print and digital.

Q. How do you personally use social media to communicate with your faithful?
A. Not personally, but my weekly message goes out on the parish media.

Thank you, Father Tom, for sharing your parish with us!

If you have a vibrant parish and would like to be featured in an upcoming Parish Dispatch or know where we can find a great falafel truck in your city, email: dcenter@4lpi.com.

Distracted Visits with Jesus

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 12:37:00 GMT

For Sunday, July 17, 2022

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Genesis 18:1-10a
Colossians 1:24-28
Luke 10:38-42

Martha, busy serving and fretting, loses sight of just who this special guest is that has come to her home to dine. There is a subtle connection between this week’s Gospel story and the Eucharist. We can come to Mass so busy and distracted that we perfunctorily go through the motions of Mass, forgetting whom we are so privileged to receive. We all easily forget to be like Mary and choose the best part.

Jesus has come to visit the family in Bethany and share a meal. At Mass, we come to Jesus’ house to visit and, yes, share a meal. We, like Martha, may approach Jesus frenzied, anxious, and worried about many things — work, home, or family. Perhaps we are also aggravated at someone we think should be assisting us, lending a hand, or helping out somehow.

Jesus’ words to Martha that “there is need of only one thing” should refocus our attention, too, on what is truly important. Like Martha, our eyes should remember who is before us. Sitting at His feet fills us with all the blessings and graces necessary for whatever lies ahead. Whether we face days of strife, hardship, or smooth sailing, it is inconsequential if we’ve not made developing a relationship with Christ our number one priority.

In all things, Jesus’ presence can restore and maintain our peace, keeping us steadfast in the hope of what’s to come, not just overwhelmed by the task before us. Jesus is truly present before us in the Eucharist. This time in Mass is our opportunity to choose the better part. To leave our toiling behind and sit at the master’s feet. To learn from his teaching, absorb his every word, to worship him in thanksgiving, and receive him — body, blood, soul, and divinity. The place we come “to rest under the tree… [and] refresh yourselves; and afterward, you may go on your way” ( Gen 18:1-10 ). When we eat, we digest the food we’ve consumed, converting it into fuel for our bodies. However, when we consume Jesus in the Eucharist, he changes us, producing an in-dwelling of grace — fuel for our soul.

Jesus in the Eucharist is fully, truly present under the guise of bread and wine. In the flesh, no wonder Mary of Bethany preferred to sit by his side rather than scurry about and miss this incredible privilege to be in the master’s presence.

I remember a time in my life when I attended Mass with more of a Martha than a Mary mindset. I would grab a bulletin on my way into the church. During the Mass readings, I would daydream, running the week’s chores and tasks through my mind. During the homily, I would doodle my to-do list in the margins of the bulletin. My mind would wander again during the Consecration, unaware of the supernatural, glorious, awe-inspiring event happening upon the altar before me. The moment heaven and earth mystically collided — the humble substance of bread and wine became the even more humble substance of my Lord and Savior. The number one to-do on my list unfolded before me, yet I was distracted and longed to be someplace else. Then, driving home, I’d complain about never getting anything out of Mass.

Of course, I didn’t. Like Martha, I’d let the world cloud my vision and keep me from the one thing needed — the better part. Praise God, like Mary, it was not to be taken from me. Eventually, as I learned more about the Catholic faith and the beauty and magnificence of the Sacred Liturgy, I allowed myself to be present to all Jesus had for me in those moments. I left my agenda at the door and surrendered every moment of this visit to him.

In the words of St. Paul and the wisdom Mary possessed which Martha would soon learn, the better part exists in “the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past. But now it has been manifested to his holy ones, to whom God chose to make known the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; it is Christ in you, the hope for glory.” ( Col 1:26-28 ) Most significantly, in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Lord,
I am anxious and worried about many things.
Help me to remember there is need
of only one thing — You.
You who comes to me in the Mass,
Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
Provide me the grace, to choose
the better part and not allow it
to be taken from me.
Amen.

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When God Speaks Like a Polish Grandmother

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

A friend of mine had a Polish grandmother who was famous for giving her children some blunt advice every time they left the house: “Eyes straight ahead. Mind your own business.”

Every mother knows her children best, and this mother knew hers liked to argue and sometimes liked to show off. She knew that could lead to trouble. She could not anticipate every scenario they would encounter each time they departed from her. All she could do was distill what she knew about life, safety, and manners into a few simple words, and hand them over to her children like a set of car keys or a hastily scribbled map. In this way, a woman who rarely said “I love you” expressed her devotion. And long after she was dead and buried, her aging sons and daughters repeated these words to themselves, like a child wrapping himself in a warm blanket.

Jesus does much the same for us, in many portions of the Gospels. “ Ask the master to send out laborers for his harvest…Carry no money…Eat what is set before you…Know that the Kingdom of God is at hand…Rejoice because your names are written in Heaven .”

He knows us best — knows our strengths, but even more importantly, he knows our weaknesses. He doesn’t always have the space to address each of these explicitly in the pages of Scripture, but what he can do is distill the truth of effective evangelization into a few simple words, and hand them over to us as food for our journey of discipleship. In this way, a God who addresses the entire world and every soul who ever lived also speaks intimately to each one of us.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Tips for Printing in Color: CMYK vs. RGB

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 13:00:00 GMT

As you prepare your piece for the printer, here are some helpful things to keep in mind!

CMYK — Stands for “Cyan,” “Magenta,” “Yellow,” and “Black,” — the four ink plates often used in printing.

RGB — Stands for “Red,” “Green,” and “Blue” — primary colors used in digital communications like television or websites.

Notably: computer screens display in RGB and involve an internal light illuminating the screen for ease of reading. Printed projects will use CMYK, not RGB, and don’t have a light illuminating them from behind as a computer screen does, causing many to comment that printed pieces appear “darker” than their digital counterparts. Keep that in mind when setting up a print project — your printed piece may appear slightly darker than your digital piece. Adjust accordingly for best results.

When printing CMYK, each ink color is assigned a percentage on a 100-point scale. For example, for a pure red, the printer selects: 0% Cyan, 99% Magenta, 100% Yellow, and 0% Black.

Not sure of your percentages? Here are some tips for ways to achieve success in coloration!

CMYK BLACK
Black and 85% Black make great accent secondary colors to a bright feature color, and convey a strong, modern design.

Black is one of the CMYK colors, so the density of the hue will depend on the percentage of black ink used. A blend of all the CMYK colors can be used to result in a “rich” black, or more saturated color. Be careful when adding black to other colors — an attempt to use black to darken other colors can often make them muddy.

CMYK REDS
Red is best used for a traditional, strong look, it pairs well with oranges and golds for a warmer, energetic style. Red can communicate warmth and passion, but it also can be overwhelming if used too heavily. Reds are a finicky bunch when it comes to printing — sometimes appearing orange or rusty upon print. If you find that your red is too pink, your magenta level is too high. If you see too much orange, yellow is too high.

CMYK ORANGES AND BROWNS
Orange can be great way to show a cheerful, enthusiastic, youthful style when paired with bright light blues and teals. To achieve a bright orange, use two parts yellow, one part magenta. Orange can command attention without being overpowering.

Brown is a neutral and earthy look that conveys reliability and warmth. Brown brings a sense of wholesomeness to designs. Our recommendation is to use different shades of brown, think “tan,” or “russet,” or “caramel.” Brown is similar to orange — a blending 2 parts yellow, one part magenta is the starting point, but the amount of cyan added begins to direct the color in a brown direction.

CMYK YELLOWS AND GREENS
Yellow is often considered positive, optimistic, and energetic. Yellow is one of the CYMK inks
— use more magenta to make it more golden.

Green appears on the “cool” spectrum of color, and it is considered a calm and peaceful color. Green is often associated with growth, rebirth, nature, stability, endurance, and abundance. It is often related to wealth, as well. Mixing cyan and yellow results in green. For vibrant greens, mix cyan and yellow equally.

CMYK BLUES
Blue is a very popular color which conveys trust, loyalty, and peace. Use a “navy blue” for a more traditional look, while “ocean blue” introduces a more modern, peaceful energy.
While being highly popular, it is difficult to accurately produce. The best results are often achieved through using even and balanced mixtures (i.e. 100% Cyan, 50% Magenta, 0% Yellow, 0% Black).

CMYK PURPLES
Purple creates a sense of luxury, creativity, and inspiration. If you are looking to change up your design, purple is a great place to get started and it is an unexpected choice. Try a 3:2 ratio with your magenta and cyan inks.

CMYK PINKS
Pink is bold, playful, and intuitive. Use a lighter pink as an accent color to a navy blue and gray. For best results bring your magenta percentage high and your yellow, cyan, and black low. Excess yellow results in red hues while excess cyan leads to purples.

CMYK GOLDS & SILVERS
Metallics are neutral. They give a refined elegance that conveys confidence and prestige. Use these tones with a burgundy, berry red. A true metallic isn’t possible on a standard CMYK printer like the ones used at LPi — metallics require specialized equipment with either Pantone spot inks or foils.

CMYK BRIGHT COLORS
On the lookout for the most vibrant rendition of colors possible? Without the backlighting of a computer screen, a printed page will never produce hues as brilliantly as a digital display, but color mixes that will pop are usually deeply saturated with at least one of the CMYK colors at 100%.

Guided by the spirit

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

There will always be something behind us and before us. Time moves on and the world continues to rotate. Will we miss that which exists right before our eyes because they are shut while we are consumed by the past or worried about the future?

When we go about whatever work God has set for us this day, large or small, we cannot get it done if we are looking behind us. Being mindful means to live for the present. It sounds like the simplest thing in the world, but we forget it (I forget it at least once every day). We must be guided by the Spirit.

What I’m talking about here is a radical abandonment of ourselves to God — over, and over, and over again. We cannot put our hand to the plough, while our eyes are looking backward at what is left behind. We cannot turn back if we are to move forward.

When we take up the yoke of stewardship, we will never be able to bear it if we rely on our own strength. When we put our hands to the plough, we will never get the job done if we look backwards at our own track record for inspiration. There is no inspiration there. Let the dead bury their dead.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Who Is My Neighbor?

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, July 10, 2022

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Deuteronomy 30:10-14
Colossians 1:15-20
Luke 10:25-37

“Brother Sun, Sister Moon I seldom see you seldom hear your tune. Preoccupied with selfish misery. Brother Wind and Sister Air open my eyes to visions pure and fair. That I may see the glory around me. I am God’s creature, of Him I am part. I feel His love awakening my heart. Brother Sun and Sister Moon I now do see you, I can hear your tune. So much in love with all that I survey.” These lyrics by Donovan are part of the soundtrack for the 1972 movie, “Brother Sun, Sister Moon ” that is based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi . They beautifully and simply capture the spirituality of this great saint as they reflect the sentiments found in his Canticle of the Sun .

St. Francis reminds us that the essence and beauty of God emanate from within God’s creation and are not imposed upon it. All created things are mirrors of the Divine that reflect back to the viewer the life and love that is its source. The author of the Book of Deuteronomy provides a glimpse of this when he discusses the “command of the Lord.” “It is something very near to you,” the author says, “already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” The very essence of God, His command, is already within us, it exists there already. This is a profound reality to ponder, and the primary reason Jesus is so insistent that we keep love of God, neighbor, and self bound together as one. They cannot be separated because they are essentially and intentionally the same. Our neighbor reflects God back to us.

This weekend’s Gospel once again details Jesus’ commandment on love. This is not a new teaching by any stretch. However, it is given a new twist when love of neighbor is elevated to the same status as love of God. The parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that God is the master reverser of roles! Those hearing this story for the first time would have certainly been caught off guard when they heard that the Samaritan is the hero. Those whom we least expect are the ones who often do the will of God the most. Saint or sinner we all receive the same abundance of God’s mercy. God’s mercy, as with God’s love, is at the core of who we are. We cannot merit it, increase it, or escape it. It is simply there.

All of creation is on fire with God’s presence. St. Francis knew this well. It is for this reason that he shared such an intimate connection with all people and things, often addressing them using familiar terms. It was his firm knowledge and conviction of God’s love within that gave him the courage to persevere, a reason to hope, a cause for faith and an inexhaustible ability to love. Francis knew exactly who his neighbor was and responded without hesitation.

Deflecting our responsibility to actively respond to the needs of our neighbors by engaging in discussions about philosophies, theories, or political ideologies is not helpful. Talking about the problems our neighbors encounter does not relieve us of the responsibility to actively respond. Our neighbor is not just a particular social group or nation but the people immediately before us with immediate needs. For example, we can have a political philosophy about immigration, but it does nothing in response to the person seeking asylum who is scared, hurting, sick, and hungry or being held in unthinkable environments. Do we simply say there is no room, go away, or turn around and go home? An expectant family heard these very words loud and clear many years ago. These are complicated matters for sure. But just because they are large does not mean they cannot be addressed. Every person is unique and each of our neighbors has their own distinctive place in God’s world. Doing our best to respond to immediate needs and continuing dialogue about more permanent solutions are ways that we can help our neighbors who are most in need.

Our neighbor is not found in theories. As good as theories are for understanding and moving through our difficulties, they can also prevent us from dealing with the reality before us. They can even fool us into thinking that we are somehow off the hook of responding. Our neighbors live in Ukraine, Russia, Mexico, Somalia, Ethiopia, Texas, and are the people we meet each day. We have a vested interest in and concern for all of them. Many of our neighbors do not have a voice. They need ours.

Our neighbor’s face is different for each one of us depending upon our station in life. It can be our family members, coworkers, bosses, pastors, associates, people living on our street, those living in other lands, people on the road, and the folks in the supermarket with us, those who want to hurt us, our enemies, and those who think they can control us. They are all our neighbor. Who was the neighbor that you saw yesterday? Who did you meet today? What do they look like? What is going on in their lives? How do they make you feel? How did you respond to them?

The mistake many people make is that as important as loving our neighbor is to accomplishing God’s work, it cannot stop there. The task of discipleship is not just about bringing “love” to my neighbor in thought, word, and deed but in seeing the love that is at their source and falling in love with the author of that love, God. This relationship that we then develop with God becomes our anchor and benchmark. In this way, we have the litmus test we need for making sure that we are focused and on track with all of our relationships. This love can then be brought to all of our neighbors, even those who hurt us.

Love of neighbor becomes particularly challenging when our neighbors are the perpetrators of suffering, violence, and war. Jesus refers to all people, saint and sinner, as neighbor. We are asked to be a neighbor to all, without exception. How can we be a neighbor to people who hurt us or others and use violence against innocent people, especially children and the poor? It remains for each of us to honestly discern how best to compassionately and lovingly respond.

Loving our neighbor is not easy. It is messy, confusing, conflicting, sticky, and uncertain. There are no easy ways to respond. We need to be attentive and listen carefully to what people need. We need to work at building systems, economies, and social structures that promote equity and safeguard the well-being of all. This is no easy task and involves sacrifice. We bring ourselves dimly through life, relying solely on the light of Christ to enlighten our way. The psalmist is correct again! “Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.” When we need guidance, support, and direction the Lord and the community of the Church are always there. May we always seek new and more effective ways we can listen and respond to the needs of our neighbor! St. Francis of Assisi be our inspiration and our guide!

Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Most high, all powerful, all good, Lord!
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honor and all blessing.
To You, alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your name.

All praise be Yours, my Lord,
through those who grant pardon for love of You;
through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace.
By You, Most High, they will be crowned.

All praise be Yours, my Lord, through Sister Death,
from whose embrace no mortal can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing Your will!
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
and serve Him with great humility.

(from “ Canticle of Brother Sun ” attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)

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Does Anyone Read Printed Materials Anymore?

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

You may have heard the claim that print media has gone the way of the dinosaur. Clickbait article headlines love to spotlight statistics about diminishing returns for newspapers, shrinking publishing practices, and the average consumer’s dwindling attention span.

But before you plan for a paperless future at your parish, remember that’s only half the story.

Sure, digital content is surging to prominence in every medium, from newspapers and books to church bulletins. And while your parish is likely — and rightly — putting a high priority on effective digital communication, don’t make the mistake of forgetting about printed materials entirely.

Think of the apostles and the gift of the Holy Spirit that enabled them to communicate with different populations. In that same way, parishes must be able to communicate the same message across all platforms, digital and print alike.

When it comes to ministry, the question of print vs. digital isn’t an either/or dilemma — it’s a both/and solution. Here are four reasons that print remains an integral component of your parish communication plan, even while you prioritize digital outreach.

The bulletin is an institution.

LPi’s research shows that 97% of Catholic parish bulletins are taken home every week , while 85% of parishioners report hanging on to old issues. The Catholic parish bulletin is more than just a flyer or a handout — it’s an institution! It’s a relationship you can hold in your hands, pin to your bulletin board, dive into in the morning coffee line and even save for posterity. It is less easily ignored, skimmed, discarded or “clicked off of” than its digital counterpart.

Print reaches your demographics.

Your methods of communication have to be as varied as the backgrounds and circumstances of your parishioners. Forgetting about the potential of print communication can essentially mean forgetting about a large demographic of church-going adults. While millennials, Gen Z, and even Gen X are smartphone-savvy and accustomed to consuming digital publications, studies show that younger generations favor reading printed learning materials and trust print publications more than digital media. Their grandparents who grew up without digital landscapes, also appreciate the longevity and reliability of a print piece.

Print still has power.

Even though digital avenues of advertising are increasing in popularity, print hasn’t given up the hold it has on our collective consciousness. Research shows that print advertising is associated with stronger consumer retention and action, and when it comes to reading books, the preference for print is much stronger than the preference for digital.

Digital can only do so much.

We all came to understand a strange paradox during the era of livestreaming Mass at the pandemic’s onset: digital relationships can connect people who are separated by a thousand miles, but they are not able to truly bring them together . After all, there is a reason we must be present in-person to receive the sacraments. There is a reason that gathering in community for the sacrifice of the Mass is preferable to watching it on television. There is a certain sacredness to the physical that is reflected by print media in a way that digital media alone cannot replicate.

If you’re ready to save time and money with a combined solution for your print and digital communications, then it’s time to check out LPi’s ePub Design .

Sacred Vessels

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Have you ever paid attention to the purification of the sacred vessels after Holy Communion? If you haven’t, I highly recommend doing so this Sunday. See the care with which the priest handles the chalice and the paten, pouring water into them to cleanse any loose particles of the Body and Blood of Christ. Observe the loving reverence he uses in wiping them dry with a special purificator. It’s a ritual unto itself, and a powerful moment for reflection.

These vessels begin as earthly objects. They are made by human hands. There is nothing special about them — not until they go about the work for which they have been created. Until they contain the Body and Blood of Christ, they are only ordinary objects. But after they have carried within them the Eucharist, they are never the same. They will always be special and deserving of special care.

That’s why partaking of the Eucharist is, for us, an evangelical undertaking. It is both a transformation and a declaration. When we accept this tremendous gift, we are proclaiming what we believe, and we are accepting the grace to follow through on that commitment.

When we are receiving the Eucharist, it is not possible for us to be passive. We become the vessel. We carry Christ into the world with us.

But do we act like it? Do we treat ourselves — our bodies, our souls — with the same respect as the priest cleansing the chalice? Do we treat one another with the reverence we would reserve for a sacred object? When we look at another person with anger or irritation or envy, do we acknowledge the change that we have willingly undergone by receiving Christ’s Body and Blood into ourselves?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Called to Make the Kingdom a Reality

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, July 3, 2022

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isiah 66:10-14c
Galatians 6:14-18
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 or Lk 10:1-9

When we think about the great saints of our Catholic tradition, we realize that they very often come in pairs: Paul and Barnabas, Perpetua and Felicity, Benedict and Scholastica, Francis and Clare of Assisi, Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, to name only a few examples. Even within my own Salvatorian community, we often see our founder, Blessed Francis Jordan, paired with Blessed Mary of the Apostles (of the Salvatorian Sisters). To the list of martyrs and consecrated religious women and men, we can also add married couples like Isidore the Farmer and Maria or Louis and Zelie Martin (the parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux) — husbands and wives who proclaimed and lived their faith through the daily witness of their marriage vows and family commitments.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus sends out seventy-two of his disciples in pairs to “every town and place he intended to visit.” These disciples were to let the local communities know that Jesus and the Apostles were on their way. They were being asked to evangelize — to announce the “Good News” that Jesus was coming. (Remember that our word “evangelize” comes from the Greek word evangelion, which originally meant a joyful announcement — good news — that a king was coming to visit or that a military battle had been won.) And the message, the evangelion, that Jesus had instructed the disciples to proclaim was simple: “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” Here. Now.

The disciples’ journey and their announcement of the coming of the Kingdom — and of the King himself — was the action. But what was bubbling beneath the surface, within the hearts and souls of those early evangelizers? It was their faith in and relationship with Jesus and with one another.

When Jesus sent out those pairs of disciples as “laborers for his harvest,” he wanted them to work together, to share their faith, support and encourage one another when the journey was difficult, and to witness to the fact that to be a disciple of Jesus calls for collaboration and community. This is why we see so many saints — including those listed above — working collaboratively to fulfill their mission. This Gospel passage reminds us that living our faith with integrity means that we express what is going on in the depths of our hearts and souls in and through our words and actions. We can’t live out our faith or exercise our ministries within a vacuum.

In this passage, we also hear Jesus teaching an important lesson in relationships by urging the disciples to pay attention to the response of the people they were visiting. Yes, they were to share their message about the coming of the Kingdom, but he also wanted them to watch and listen —to be in relationship with the people they visited, to be sensitive to how the Good News was being received and to act accordingly. Keeping this in mind not only helps to be sure that the Gospel is being proclaimed effectively, but it also allows us to be sensitive to the “signs of the times” and the needs of the communities we are called to serve.

In the end, the mission of the disciples was to proclaim the faith they held within their hearts and invite others — all others — to join them in building up God’s Kingdom as faithful disciples. Faith and action came together in relationships — the communion and community of the Kingdom of God. The Gospel demands that we, as Christians — collaborating disciples proclaiming our interior faith through our public works of mercy and justice — make ourselves available for the task of making the Kingdom a reality within our families, parishes, communities, and country.

Bro. Silas Henderson, SDS

PRAYER

O God, who have sent the power of the Gospel
like leaven in the world,
grant that your faithful,
whom you have called to live amid the world and its affairs,
may be fervent with the Christian spirit
and, through the tasks they carry out in this present life
may constantly build up your Kingdom.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Adapted from the “Collect for the Ritual Mass: For the Laity” in The Roman Missal )

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Hiring a Photographer for Church Events

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 12:45:00 GMT

You’re planning a large event at your parish — sacraments, festivals, VBS, etc. — does photography enter your plan? Photographs can capture the energy and excitement of an event in both print and digital communications.

Why do photos matter? Like a family photo on the wall, a photo can tell someone, “You belong here.” How many times have you seen someone search for their face in a group photo or thumb through a yearbook trying to find their listing? Similarly, photos of your community can assure them that they’re an important part of the family. Photos also build excitement, encourage nostalgia, and celebrate a job well done!

Churches can use photos in many ways:

Think photography sounds like a good idea but not sure where to start? James Silvestri of Silvestri Photography was kind enough to offer his perspective on best practices when it comes to church photography.

Silvestri has been a professional photographer for over 10 years in the Archdiocese of Detroit where he specializes in weddings and special events, but he has ample experience in the church world as well: he often shoots for large-scale church events on the Archdiocesan level. Here are his tips for you and your community.

What should churches keep in mind when hiring a photographer?

“Being Catholic (or at least being familiar with the Catholic faith) is a huge help when photographing churches or Masses. This helps in knowing what “part” of a Mass is coming next, what parts are “important” to capture and what is/is not ok to do in a church or during a Mass. For example, I was photographing a wedding one time and found myself in need of a second shooter at the last minute. I found someone who was a great photographer, but not necessarily a wedding photographer. Needless to say, his photos didn’t come out great because he wasn’t familiar with weddings, wedding day timelines, or working with a bride and groom. The same thought process applies to working with churches. Being familiar with what you’re shooting is essential to quality photography.” -JS

What kinds of questions can help a church find out if you’re a good “fit”?

“This is a tough one. Obviously, a portfolio tells a lot about creative ability with photography, but like I said in the last question, that doesn’t necessarily make you a good church/Mass photographer. It would be helpful to ask a photographer what kind of approach they would take during a Mass and how they might get certain shots.” -JS

What is special about church photography for you?

“I was raised in a very religious family and have been active in the Catholic church my entire life. My faith means a lot to me. Something else that means a lot to me is my artistic background. I find so much joy in photography and being able to combine that joy with the love of my faith is such a beautiful thing to me.” -JS

Why is photography important in today’s age?

“We live in a visual world. Visual, creative advertising is at an all-time high. Beautiful imagery does wonders for connecting people to each other and to what is being photographed. Hearing about a church or an event happening at a church is one thing but seeing beautifully photographed images of the church or the event has the ability to create emotions. Strong photography can be such a powerful thing and has the ability to bring people closer to each other, to the Church, and ultimately, to God.” -JS

With these tips under your belt, you’re well on your way to capture the success of your events!

LPi is proud to help churches share their stories in print and digital formats. Check out how we make it easy with ePub Design !

Living the Gospel in a Secular World

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, June 26, 2022

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Luke 9:51-62

How do I fit the practice of my faith into the demands of everyday life?

Putting our faith into action is the challenge of every believer. We are pulled between making time for prayer and good works on the one hand and raising a family and holding down a job on the other. It is difficult to pray the rosary or study the Bible when supper needs to be prepared, the kids need a ride to soccer practice or when we have to work overtime on a project. It is difficult to keep our minds focused on the kingdom of God when so many other demands are made on our time and energy.

Nonetheless, Jesus calls us to love him no matter what the circumstances of our life may be. We are to give ourselves totally in his service whether we are a priest or parking lot attendant, nun, or nurse.

This Sunday’s readings give us some important clues on how to balance the practice of our faith with the demands of life in the 21st century.

In the second reading, Saint Paul reminds us to “serve one another through love.” Love is the calling of every Christian. It makes everything we do pleasing to God. By adding a little love, we can take whatever we’re doing and make it an opportunity to serve Jesus. When we offer our thoughts, words, and actions up to God in love, then the demands of job and family no longer get in the way of our life of faith, but actually help us to grow closer to God and others. They become opportunities for prayer as we draw on the power of his Spirit to enable us to love as he does.

The gospel reading gives us another clue. Jesus tells one of the men who wishes to follow him, “The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Jesus had no permanent place in this world. It is a reminder to us that we have no permanent home here either. Our final destination is heaven. We are not meant to get too comfortable here on earth. Whether we have been blessed with abundance or are struggling to get by, our homes and possessions are not ours to keep. Remembering that helps keep our work in perspective. We are called to something greater than the status and prestige that money promises.

Finally, we must be always ready to serve the needy around us. In today’s gospel, two of the people who approach Jesus have excuses for not following him. But Jesus did not have time to wait around for them. It was “now or never.” How many times have we used the demands of family life or of our job as an excuse not to practice charity? Jesus tells us very plainly that when we fail to feed the hungry or give drink to the thirsty, it is really him whom we are ignoring. Are our heads buried so deeply in the details of our everyday lives that we miss Jesus when he passes by? If we are to become holy in the 21st century we must not let our busy schedules be an excuse for not doing good.

We do not have to give up on the hope of becoming saints because we have jobs and families. By offering our work up to God in love, by not valuing the accumulation of wealth too highly and by not allowing our busy lives to be an excuse to overlook the needs of others, we can discover a sure path to holiness in our everyday lives.

Douglas Sousa, S.T.L.

PRAYER

Glorious Saint Joseph,
Model of all those devoted to labor,
Obtain for me the grace to work in a spirit of penance
For the expiation of my many sins,
To work conscientiously,
Putting the call of duty above my inclinations,
To work with gratitude and joy,
Considering it an honor to employ and develop,
By means of labor, the gifts received from God,
To work with order, peace, moderation, and patience,
Without ever recoiling before weariness or difficulties,
To work, above all, with purity of intention,
And with detachment from self,
Having always death before my eyes
And the account which I must render of time lost,
Of talents wasted, of good omitted
Of vain complacency in success,
So fatal to the work of God.
All for Jesus, all for Mary, all after your example,
O Patriarch Joseph.
Such shall be my watchword in life and in death.
Amen

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Up to the Job

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

When we don’t feel qualified, we don’t want to do the work. We get stuck in our own fear. That’s the birthplace of procrastination, self-doubt and bitterness. When we look inward at our own abilities, we can only see all the traits that aren’t there. The intelligence, the dexterity, the ambition — whatever it is we lack, we get stuck on it.

I’ve got good news and bad news. I’ll start with the bad news: none of us are qualified for the call of discipleship. We simply aren’t. We don’t have the love or grace or strength to get the job done.

Now I’ll give you the good news: God knows this, and He doesn’t care. Stewardship does not insist that we possess every good quality — no, as a way of life, stewardship recognizes that we lack so many qualities. But it shows us where to find the love and grace and strength we need. Stewardship does not demand that we know every answer; it merely reminds us who to ask when we don’t.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Importance of Communicating with Teens

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Even before the pandemic eliminated crucial opportunities for in-person interaction, Gen Z was being called a “ the loneliest generation .” The exact cause (or causes) of this increasing isolation of youth is up for debate, but what seems to be a universal truth these days is that young people everywhere value relationships more than ever.

But to have relationship, you must first have communication. And by communication, we don’t just mean reaching out — we mean actually reaching . Parishes need to reflect on how to share the Gospel message with teens in a way that will effectively resonate with them. It’s not enough simply to knock on the door of their heart: we must stand ready to cross the threshold, to be invited in.

The youth need to see that the Church is still here — and that the Church deeply values them. With teens, Gospel witness isn’t as much of a testimony as it is a conversation . A recent study shows that a whopping 83% of young people say they are more likely to take advice from someone who cares about them, and 65% of young people surveyed agreed with the statement: “A person’s expertise doesn’t matter if they don’t care about me.” That means that nothing we offer them from the pulpit, in Confirmation preparation, or youth group activities will carry any weight unless they trust that their parish leaders are approaching them from a place of respect, curiosity, and sincerity.

Teens these days are avid social media users who prefer texting over talking on the phone. They are accustomed to communicating an idea or thought succinctly — think of the brevity of a Tweet or the short length of a TikTok video. They are highly visual communicators who respond to images and video as much, if not more, than written words. They are passionate about their values but are acutely sensitive to issues of authenticity — if “cancel culture” has taught us anything, it’s that young people are becoming more and more practiced at sensing when communication efforts are not genuine . But despite their status as “digital natives” and an ability to connect meaningfully in a virtual way, today’s teens are still human beings who crave face-to-face interaction .

That’s good news for the Church, because however practiced our digital marketing or social media messaging becomes, that’s not even half the story when it comes to discipleship. Our communication efforts have to find the young people wherever they are, and then attract them to the sacraments. And sacraments can never be virtual. But consider this: teens already have a deep desire to be part of a community, and the only true fulfillment of that desire is to be found in the Body of Christ , which we experience when we gather in-person.

All of our efforts to connect with teens need to confirm that God Himself is the great communicator whose language is love and truth. If we keep that in mind, there is no one we cannot reach, and no message we cannot effectively convey.

The Sacrament of Abiding Prescence

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, June 19, 2022

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Genesis 14:18-20
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Luke 9:11b-17

Imagine this: you’ve been waiting a long time to attend a conference with a speaker whom you admire. You’ve paid the registration, made your travel plans, settled into your hotel, and now you’ve taken your seat among many others, ready to listen, learn, and be inspired. You are ready to take notes, and you even snap a quick selfie so you can post your attendance to your social accounts, hoping to get some likes and comments. After some dazzling videos and introductions, the presentation begins with some jaw-dropping demonstrations — miracles — for which there are no real explanations, just amazement. Then, a break. You take 15 minutes to walk around and get a fresh cup of coffee, add two French Vanilla creamers and stir, just the way you like it. And you re-take your seat, coffee in hand, eagerly anticipating the next session. A meal is served — a simple one at that. Then, the conference day is over. And you head home.

If you are like me, you’d be thinking that this conference was a waste of time! The time and money invested wasn’t worth the show and the food. There wasn’t even a swag bag to take home or a merch table there to buy resources! I suspect that many of us have a similar mindset when we approach the Eucharist.

The late-Archbishop Harry Flynn would begin the celebration of Mass by inviting us to become aware of “our need” for God’s forgiveness and mercy. My need . What needs do I bring with me to Mass? Certainly, there are family concerns, country and global concerns, community concerns, job concerns, health concerns, financial concerns, etc. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t think that these were the needs he was talking about. The needs I have deal more with my ‘soul-sickness’ than anything else. These (aka, sin) involve those private, interior battles of doubt, lust, insecurity, abandonment, anger, worry, boredom, bitterness, powerlessness, gluttony, greed, judgement, and condemnation, apathy … all sorts of symptoms that keep us incurvatus in se — curved inwards towards ourselves — as St. Augustine would say. Rather than go to Jesus with our needs, we think that we have to fix ourselves with all the modern self-help approaches available to us … or sometimes, we deny there’s a need altogether through fear or ignorance! But these human remedies lack the genuine power to heal a soul-sickness, which only Jesus’ presence can. Only a brief review of the Gospels reminds us what happens every time Jesus appears on the scene: people are healed, sicknesses are cured, and evidence of Jesus’ Kingdom is believed.

So, our needs — whatever they may be, no matter how grievous or many there are — become the offering that we bring each time we come to Mass. The verbs in the Gospel text then show us what Jesus does with our meager offerings (symbolized by the loaves). Jesus “takes” the loaves — the curse of sin away from us through his cross, he “blesses” them — with divine adoption into the family of God through faith and baptism, he “breaks” them — through instruction and experience and prayer that our ways aren’t his ways, and then “gives” them to the disciples for distribution — so we can share with others how our lives have been changed by Jesus.

The Eucharist — his body, blood, soul, and divinity — then, is the sacrament of Jesus’ abiding presence (μένῃ, menō) within us. He is with us in our need. We are aware of this mystery only in faith, with the spiritual eyes of a pure heart. We are not left abandoned or orphaned to figure out this messy life according to our own whims and fascinations. He gently tethers himself to us in the Eucharist, so our sorrows are his, our tribulations and trials are his, our joys are his. Our life becomes his life because his life courses within our souls. So, the Eucharist is not an event we attend or a commodity we consume, but the mystery of a Person we encounter that brings peace into the senseless and broken world in which we find ourselves today.

Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

God, give us the grace to embrace
The mysteries we don’t understand,
The cruciform openness to live a tender surrender,
Into your ways wiser and kinder than ours,
And the deep shalom-peace of simply being
With you here,
Right here,
With us.

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Do You Speak Stewardship?

Fri, 10 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

If you are married, I’m guessing that you know the best way to break bad news to your spouse, whether you realize it or not. Maybe it’s simply that you know not to talk about the budget after your wife’s football team has lost. Maybe you know your husband will take the news that your sister is coming to stay a little easier if you tell him over his favorite dinner. We do the same thing with our children, our friends, our coworkers — we have all learned the language of the people we love.

The truth is the same in every language, but it’s important for us to convey that truth graciously. That’s what Pentecost teaches us. The gift of being able to speak in tongues afforded the Apostles a practical skill to spread the Gospel message, but it also served as a powerful symbol of the importance of effective communication. Evangelization can only happen when you’re speaking in words a person is able, ready, and willing to hear.

Let’s ask ourselves: what is the language we need to speak to share the truth with the person who is standing in front of us? Is it the language of quality time? The language of concern? The language of laughter and friendship? The language of authenticity, of plain talk and frankness?

The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak in tongues, and it seems miraculous when we read about it in the Gospels — but only consider that we all have this same ability, in a certain way. The Holy Spirit can and will show us how to speak the truth, if we only ask.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Quick Tips for Better Bulletin Covers

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

While we’ve all heard it’s important to “not judge a book by the cover,” there is something to be said about the first impression of well-made cover art.

Kristen Rokenbrodt, a graphic designer at LPi for over 5 years, knows a thing or two about bulletin covers. She is on the team that refreshes entire bulletin layouts for churches across the United States. And, with that layout redesign comes the cover redo.

Kristen graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a degree in Graphic Design, has designed thousands of art pieces for LPi, and was kind enough to sit down and provide some pointers for churches like yours about what (and what not!) to keep when designing a bulletin cover.

Initial Overview

When first given a bulletin that is ready for a refresh, Kristen reviews what is already in place on the cover. There are some things that can, and should stay, and others that belong elsewhere. Where does Kristen start? These are her tips:

Eliminate

How do you know what belongs on the cover and what belongs later in the bulletin? Kristen offers this recommendation: “The main emphasis of the cover should be church name and date. Those are the primary two that shouldn’t be removed from the cover. Everything else is fair game.”

Eliminate
Kristen believes that it’s important for the church bulletin to positively represent the parish. To accomplish this, she recommends using beautiful graphics that capture the attention of parishioners and visitors.

“A good way for a church bulletin to have a welcoming feeling,” says Kristen, “is to choose a piece of cover art that is inviting and then use the same series throughout the rest of the Sundays of the year, so you have your ‘look.’”

Kristen has designed many of the cover series available through WeCreate , a service that provides beautiful art to Catholic churches across the United States.

Add
As she revamps a parish bulletin, the process isn’t only one of elimination!

“I will add a really nice masthead,” says Kristen, “Creating something with their logo and then adding something special in the background, like the unique architecture of the church. Once the masthead is in place, I build out past that.

“For information, I like to keep it simplified: church name, date, address, phone, website, priest name.”

Does that information seem obvious? Kristen shares the reason why it matters via a story of a friend who attended a new church, but the priest’s name wasn’t listed or announced because “everyone knew his name.” While all the normal churchgoers may have known his name, this newcomer had no way of following up. As such, Kristen is careful to include these items on the first page.

Prioritizing information

Every parish only has one front-page to the bulletin. What are Kristen’s go-to questions for what stays and what goes?

First, Kristen determines what size of art will be placed on the cover. If there is a full-cover piece of graphic art, then only a little text will be displayed, and that space needs to be used wisely.

Next, Kristen distributes her content onto the cover and the following pages depending on the space on each page. Her priorities are:

With these priorities in mind, it’s only a matter of time before the bulletin cover looks new and improved!

Take a look at your church bulletin and ask yourself:

With these questions and Kristen’s recommendations, your parish can provide excellent bulletins to your weekly congregation and all your visitors.

Looking for more information? Kristen and her team are happy to help you build something beautiful! In fact, all LPi customers are eligible for a FREE bulletin refresh.

I print with LPi and would love to learn how I can refresh my bulletin — Just contact your customer service agent to get started!

I don’t print with LPi but would love to learn more .

Slipping Through Mysteries

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, June 12, 2022

The Most Holy Trinity

Proverbs 8:22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

“But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.” – John 16:13

There is something immensely intimidating about mysteries of faith. Broaching a subject like the Holy Trinity without falling into heresy is as easy as walking across a just-mopped floor. We always think we can do it, don’t we? But those wet floors will get you faster than quicksand. I learned that years ago as a waitress on the closing shift, rushing from my empty tables to the kitchen and back as I ticked items off my to-do list, trying to stay ahead of my tasks so we could lock the doors by 9 p.m. Invariably, my to-do list collided with the dishwasher’s, whose job it was to mop before closing time. Each night I would find myself coming back from the carpeted dining area with an arm full of dishes only to find the tile floor glossy and wet, stretching out between me and the wait station like a demilitarized zone.

Rather than accepting defeat and waiting for five minutes until the floor had dried enough to be safely crossed, I often chose instead to tempt fate, timidly venturing a step on the slick tile, feeling certain that if I moved only by fractions of motion, I could keep my legs beneath me.

And that, dear reader, is how I broke my tailbone.

It’s the same each time I find myself writing or talking about the Holy Trinity. Three persons, truly distinct and consubstantial. When I think of it, I feel exactly as I did all those years ago, dithering on the precipice of the wet floor. Can I make it? I wonder. Can I capture in words the truth of this doctrine without erring? Can I cross the steppe without slipping?

When I do take a step onto that proverbial wet floor, I cling to the balustrades of scripture and tradition, relying on the words of others whose scholarship is so much greater than my own. There’s nothing wrong with that, because you can’t go wrong drawing from the wisdom of saints and theologians. But for a long time, it meant that I avoided reflecting too deeply within myself on the mystery of the Trinity, particularly that of the Third Person.

The Holy Spirit is the slipperiest of them all, isn’t He? For years, I didn’t quite know what to make of Him, and so I ignored Him. It was much easier for me to dwell on God the Father and God the Son, I can easily picture them in my mind as physical persons . The Holy Spirit, at every turn, defies such delineation, and He eluded my imagination. A dove, a flame — these are worthy artistic representations, but are they enough ? I find myself staring at depictions of the Holy Spirit in art and feeling incomplete, as if I am being shown only a small part of a larger photograph or reading a paragraph with whole sentences redacted.

The Holy Spirit proceeds. He is poured out. He is brought forth. He is declared. He takes possession. How do I visualize that? How do I relate to it?

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now,” Christ told his disciples in the Gospel of John. And in the same way, there was a time I could not bear the fullness of the Spirit of Truth. I was not strong enough for it, and perhaps I still am not. Are any of us? The truth can be terrifying.

But God, in His mercy, has given to us the sacraments, and in them He communicates through word and matter but also through something else — something I can’t describe and never could, but which I know intimately as truth. There was a profound sensation of familiarity — of warmth, of homecoming, of safety — that bloomed deep within me as the bishop sealed my forehead with his chrism-dipped thumb at my Confirmation all those years ago. I was shocked because I had done absolutely nothing special to encourage this feeling. There was so much I didn’t know. There was so much I couldn’t accept. There was so much I feared and resented. All I had done was show up and kneel.

But I would feel this way again at my wedding, and many times in the confessional. If I had any memory of my infant baptism, I think I would recall it from that moment, too. It was very much like the experience of slipping on a wet floor, and feeling your legs fly out from beneath you — only to land in a strong, steady embrace.

And thus, my knowledge of the Trinity, in its mysterious entirety, grows not through scholarship or meditation but through grace.

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

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God’s Game of Telephone

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

You’ve probably played the game of “pass it on” before, maybe years ago on the playground. It’s a simple concept: one person whispers something in another person’s ear, and it gets repeated person by person throughout the group, until finally the last one to hear the message has to say it out loud. Whatever ends up being said at the end of the game is usually a far cry from the original statement, and everyone has a good laugh.

As individuals, we don’t receive news in the same way. Our personalities, our histories, our weaknesses, and our strengths determine how we interact with information we encounter in the world, both good and bad. One person will interpret a compliment positively; someone else will take offense. One person reacts to news of a job promotion with joy, another is disappointed that now they will have less time with their family. The same news can mean completely different things to different people.

But what God gives us is the truth in love, and the truth in love is the same in every place and in every time, for every person of every race. When Christ prayed to the Father that “the love with which you loved me may be in them,” he was asking that the magnificent gift that had been imparted to him would also be imparted to us.

Our job is to play a game of pass it on with this gift of love. How do we keep it from becoming warped? Through remaining committed to the word of God, to the sacraments, and to one another.

In this game, we don’t change the message. The message changes us. And we have to give it away to keep it.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Power of Photographs

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Famed documentary photographer Robert Frank once said that the one thing every good photograph must contain is “the humanity of the moment.”

When we use photography in church communications, that’s exactly what we endeavor to do — but we actually want to go one step further. We want to capture the divinity of the moment. We want to see and show humanity reaching for, working amidst, and resting within the embrace of God.

We live in a highly visual world, where pictures are worth more than just a thousand words — they’re worth everything. Research shows that consumers are more than six times more likely to remember information if it is paired with an image , and click-through rates of email campaigns with images are more than 40% higher than those without.

Whether you’re already using visual imagery and photography to communicate your parish message, or you want to and simply don’t know where to start, here are some points to consider.

Focus!

Whether it’s the senior club’s Christmas lunch, a youth group pizza night or a surprise cake in the office for Father’s birthday, always be ready to snap a few photos. Don’t worry about making it look professional — what you want here is to convey the joy of discipleship that emerges in these spontaneous moments of parish life. On the occasion of a big event (think the annual parish picnic or the school auction), consider investing in a professional photographer, or find a volunteer who knows how to handle a DSLR. Attendees will be excited to see the photos on social media the next day, and those who couldn’t make it will be curious to see what they missed.

Sharing is caring.

No one lights a candle only to hide it under a bushel, so why would you take a photo only to leave it languishing, unseen, on the memory card? Social media posts with images are likely to get 2.3 times more engagement than those with no visuals. Sharing the moments you capture via social media can help convey the richness of your parish life and draw attention to ministries or initiatives that might otherwise be overlooked. Encourage parishioners to tag themselves in your photos to increase visibility and shareability.

Don’t forget the details.

Take a little time to educate yourself on rules, ethics, and considerations surrounding the use of copyrighted images and the sharing of photographs that depict real people. There are many guides online for creating a photo release form, and forms such as these can even be included in registration materials for large, planned events. You will also want to find out if your diocese has specific rules about obtaining permission before sharing images of children.

Famous Last Words

Fri, 27 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

A fun way to waste an hour or two on the internet is to Google “famous last words.” There are entire websites devoted to chronicling the last utterances of celebrities and historical figures. I think the fascination with parting words stems from the drama of a person’s final moment on earth. We want to ascribe some kind of power and significance to the last words they say, especially if they are our loved ones, because it gives us something to carry with us in our grief.

In Jesus’ case, every word he ever said had power and significance, but especially those he said before ascending into Heaven: “You will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth.”

And then he was gone.

If I were one of the Apostles, I think a small anxiety attack would have commenced at that point. As much as they knew and believed that Christ was still with them, it must have felt awfully lonely standing there staring at an empty sky, with the mother of all homework assignments having just been handed down.

Stewardship is intimidating by nature. The baptismal call is an honor and a gift. But it is also a little scary bearing witness to Christ.

When we doubt ourselves, let’s return to Christ’s last words and cling to the faith he had in his Father’s love for us. He says not “you will be witnesses” but “you are witnesses.” We already have what we need. God is within us, and we take Him wherever we go.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Send Out Your Spirit Through Us

Fri, 27 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, June 5, 2022

Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2:1-11
1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17
Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 14:15-16, 23b-26

“Lord, send out your spirit and renew the face of the earth,” like many of the faithful, I can’t read those words without finding myself doing so along with the familiar tune of the Responsorial Psalm. In addition to the song filling my ears, an image also formulates within the heart of my imagination. As I read these words, I can almost feel the mighty rushing wind and see the tongues of fire descending and then dispersing outward to all the earth — animating, maintaining, and inspiring all of creation with the Spirit of the God.

Holy Spirit, the one sent down from heaven on Pentecost after Jesus ascended, bestows seven gifts — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. In Confirmation, we have sealed with the Holy Spirit the completion of our Baptism. In addition, our cooperation with and our living in the Holy Spirit bears spiritual fruit in us. According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, there are twelve fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” ( Galatians 5:22-23 , CCC 1832 ). If there is an absence of these fruits (virtues) in our lives, we have been offered a wonderful gift from God to pray and invite the Holy Spirit to increase them within us. Cooperating with this grace, these gifts and fruits at work through the Spirit, we can go forth and bring the Good News to others, commissioned just like the Apostles, receiving the same Spirit which descended upon them at Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit does so much in our lives, today’s readings remind us of the many ways he acts in our lives. He confers the graces received in the seven Sacraments. Grace can be thought of as that freely given yet underserved gift from God that helps us be holy. God asks us to be holy because He is holy ( Matthew 5:48 ). This Sacramental grace transforms us, heals us, and grows us in faith. The Spirit prepares the faithful with a grace that draws them closer to Christ, reveals the Risen Lord to them, and recalls the Word of God — opening their hearts and minds to understand these teachings so they may be embraced, lived, and brought to others.

The Holy Spirit appears in many forms, as illuminated in the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Although considered unseen, the Holy Spirit once manifested in these symbols, can be perceived. One symbol is water, especially present at the sacrament of Baptism. The Spirit is also present in the living water, Christ, the source of eternal life. At the well, Jesus told the woman that whoever drank this water would never thirst again. The Spirit brings hope and a promise of eternal life.

Probably the most familiar symbol of the Holy Spirit is that of fire, which came as tongues above the Apostles’ heads during Pentecost. With this fire came great gifts of prophecy, healing, discernment, and tongues, among others. Fire can also be an agent of refinement, a transformation of the original to a new, more purified form — as with gold. This infusion of the Holy Spirit within us, purifying and shaping us, brings with it new life and understanding of the gifts God grants us. We are each given our own gifts so that we may play an essential yet unique role in his good and perfect plan for us.

The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, guides and directs us, empowers and motivates us, dwelling within, branded upon our souls as we experience our daily Pentecost. The life of a disciple requires continual prayerful discernment of how God calls each of us to use the gifts bestowed through the Spirit in serving the community of believers and the whole world. We have a share in the redemptive mission. God doesn’t need us in this mission, as He has already accomplished it through His Son, but in His great love for us empowers us to be sharers in His work upon this earth. He empowers, guides, and allows us to not only embrace a faith more deeply found through the Spirit for ourselves, but incredibly also gives us the opportunity to bring this Good News to others so they too can experience the indwelling of the Triune God.

Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Come Holy Spirit,
fill our hearts with your love,
breath within us new life.
Fill us, guide us, teach us,
empower us,
to work joyfully and faithfully
in bringing the Good News to all.

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Build Your Social Media Platform with Images

Thu, 26 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Social media is a crowded space, but using images is one of the best ways to grab parishioners’ attention. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, today it’s also worth a thousand views, likes, or comments. Posting regularly (3-5 times per week) helps boost your parish to the top of newsfeeds, allowing for even better engagement. Struggling with content? Here are some image-driven tips to keep your posts on top of the heap.

Build Your Parish Brand by Showcasing Parish Life

You want to help people know your parish, selecting art that speaks to your community’s faith and images of parish life will welcome people in. Highlight parishioners making a difference in the community with snapshots. Ask volunteer and youth ministry groups to send in pictures of their events for posting (or ask a savvy youth to post during the event!). Ask for prayer requests using stock images of praying hands or votives. You can also announce special Mass or Confession times with iconic graphics of a chalice and Host or a cross.

Engage and Lead Your Flock

Lead parents looking to baptize to the information they need with sacramental images of Chrism oil, water, the baptismal font, or beautiful images of Christ’s baptism. Use stock images of a computer mouse, laptop or vibrant ‘sign up’ clip art to grow your followers with a link to subscribe to the digital bulletin each week on ParishesOnline.com.

Have a new priest at the parish? Do a soft introduction to your parish community with a simple photo and welcoming words. Invite the parish for donuts after mass to meet the new pastor with mouthwatering images of the pastries.

Inspirational posts are also very popular. Choose compelling images and pair them with quotes from saints, well-known Catholic figures, or words of faithful inspiration. Showcase the gospel reflection of the week with beautiful images of nature’s splendor.

Spread The Good News and Increase Web Traffic

Social Media is great for broadcasting parish-sponsored events like festivals, donation drives, school initiatives, and raffles. Help make these post engaging with images from past events, or search WeCreate for relevant photography and clip art for any event or occasion. If you’re a bulletin customer, you already have access! Don’t forget to add a link to your website or a flyer with all the details. This helps increase traffic to your website, which could lead to new parishioners as they get to know you from your digital profile.

Get into the social media conversation and grow your reach with images for even the smallest posts.

Looking for more ways to utilize social media platforms? We’ve gotcha covered! Check out “ Social Media and Your Parish ” for more tips to engage your followers.

Management According to the Apostles

Fri, 20 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

If you’ve ever worked in any kind of organization, for-profit or not-for-profit, I’m sure you have attended a conference or two. Whatever our expectations going in, I usually find these conferences expose me to communication and problem-solving styles that are different from my own, nudging me into a little unexpected self-discovery. And it’s a great opportunity to meet new people and do something different.

Here’s my idea for a leadership conference: The Management Style of the Apostles. Think about it, the only thing the Apostles had more abundantly than holiness was problems. Lots and lots of problems … most of them of the human resources variety. It’s no small feat, starting Christ’s Church on earth. I wouldn’t want to be project manager of that endeavor.

The Acts of the Apostles is, in some ways, a big book full of problems and ways to solve them. It’s a blueprint for tackling interpersonal issues in the manner of a true steward, who encounters every problem starting from the same place: What would my Master want?

It’s a question we should be asking ourselves every time we, too, encounter a problem — especially problems relating to other people. What is the truth in this situation, and how would God have me communicate it? How could I handle this in a way that is worthy of the name of my Master?

In Acts, we see a lot of characteristics of everyday stewardship. We see the Apostles mindfully acknowledge the lack of peace that is posed by problems like false teachings, this Gospel’s problem du jour. They prayerfully confront the obstacles to salvation posed by these issues. Always, always, always, their main objective is to reveal the will of God, remaining committed to the truth while helping newcomers find avenues to salvation.

Maybe I’m just saying it because it’s my idea — but it sounds like a conference we could all use.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

A Crisis of Identity

Fri, 20 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, May 29, 2022

The Ascension of the Lord

It’s all out of control. Inflation, the economy, violence, oppression, greed, morality, and tensions are all escalating as people scurry about for a sense of stability and well-being. Power seems to win the game and self-aggrandizement appears to be the order of the day. Love gets watered down to tolerance and accepting whomever and whatever is presented. The axis around which meaning and truth are found is twisted. Human beings appear to be engaged in an identity crisis of vast proportion, not certain whether standard, acceptable, and appropriate protocols exist any longer. We are lost. When one nation feels entitled to the goods of another and feels justified using any means possible to obtain them, we are in trouble.

While this is happening most explicitly in Ukraine, there are other parts of the world where greed, exploitation, and violence are regular occurrences. Even in the United States, violent carjacking and general theft are becoming common place and a blatant disregard for human life seems more evident. We often act as if our journey of life is simply a random occurrence, that we are here on this planet for no known reason and accountable to no one. Norms and protocols, appearing to cater to personal preferences, become a matter of what protects each other’s rights and space. Benchmarks and standards for growing, maturing, perfecting, and refining human thought and behavior no longer exist.

The world needs the Good News of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis tells us, “The Ascension does not point to Jesus’ absence, but tells us that he is alive in our midst in a new way. He is now in the Lordship of God, present in every space and time, close to each one of us.” If God is present in every space and time, then he is actively involved in what is happening in our lives. He works through both the positive and negative experiences we encounter, bringing us to a renewed and more focused place. The Ascension allows us to see this truth about ourselves and it enlightens our hearts. Christ, who was most perfectly, vividly, and brilliantly transfigured before the very eyes of the disciples will be our destiny.

Faith brings resolution to humanity’s identity crisis. Faith corrects our misunderstandings of love. Faith seeks non-violent solutions to humanity’s many conflicts. Faith removes our self-focus and deepens our vision. Faith provides the benchmarks we need to properly grow and mature. Faith provides the centering axis we need to order our lives. And only faith can give us real hope. Perhaps the cause of humanity’s identity crisis is nothing other than an absence of faith. How can we believe that God takes a real interest in our lives if we do not believe in God in the first place?

The answers to all that plagues us are not easily found. However, before we can even think of repairing and constructing, we need to have solid plans and build a secure foundation. The Ascension reminds us of who God is, who we are and who we are meant to be. All we must do is believe in what God promises. In this way, we acquire our anchor for proper self-knowledge and a benchmark for judging actions.

When people are so angry, hurting, displaced, confused, and broken it is hard to convince them that there is a better way. The rise in addiction and mental health issues are indicative of social structures that are failing. When the inability of society to care for a child who is unwanted justifies the right to take that child in its mother’s womb something is incredibly wrong. It is only faith that can tell us, without doubt, who we are. Any decisions made without that secure and foundational reference point are subject to serious error. There is no doubt that our lives can become unsettled and empty. When we rely too much on the things of this world to please us, we can easily lose our excitement, enthusiasm, wonder, and joy. No worldly thing, no matter how great, can satisfy the longing of a human heart. Only God does that.

Imagine how different life would be if everyone approached each moment as a creative opportunity to see what God will do. When encountered with faith, even darkness has great potential to become light. The neighbor who gets under our skin, the demanding coworker we see every day, the person at the supermarket who is rude to us, the elderly person we met on our daily walk who seemed so disheveled, the perfect sunrise that greeted us in the morning, and the wonderful aroma and taste of our first cup of coffee can all be used by God to awaken us, humble us, and bring us to a heightened sense of His presence.

If people really understood the power of faith, they would have a better sense of who they are and where they are going. It would be harder to take something from someone that doesn’t belong to us, strike out in vengeful violence when we are hurt, allow greed to override the basic sanctity of human life, justify behaviors that are blatantly sinful and wrong, give in to the whims of desire and passion, and live life as if we are the only ones that matter. The world needs the Good News of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Do not be reluctant to preach and accept the truth! Christ is our destiny and our hope. It’s that simple. Alleluia!

Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Loving God,
often giving into temptation and weakness,
we forget that You alone are God.
Help us to avoid greed in all its forms,
seeking satisfaction from things
that are passing and being indifferent
to the cries of those who suffer pain.
May we allow the Gospel
to teach us that all human life is sacred,
that everyone has a right to a place
in Your world and that the desire for peace
resides in every vulnerable human heart.
We offer You, Most High and Glorious God,
the pain of our war-torn and hurting world
and entrust to Your care those who have lost their lives,
those who grieve for them and
those who have to leave their homes to be safe.
Inspire those with power to see that violence
is not the path to peace and to pursue resolutions
to conflicts that respect human dignity.
Loving God, hear all of our prayers
and those in hearts throughout the world
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

(Fr. Mark S. Suslenko)

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5 Ways to Engage Your Parishioners Via Email

Thu, 19 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

These days, having a strong virtual presence is crucial for a modern Catholic parish. A good website and up-to-date social media accounts will be a boon to your evangelization efforts, but when it comes to maintaining relationships with existing parishioners, the ability to engage via email cannot be overstated.

Here are five simple ways to ensure you are optimizing your email open rate and keeping parishioners informed and connected.

Analyze Your Data

Use what data you have available through your digital marketing platforms to identify weak spots in your engagement and strategize improvement. Start by taking a look at your open rate (the number of emails opened compared to those sent), click rate (percentage of email readers who clicked a link in the email), and bounce rate (emails delivered vs. emails sent). Measure these against industry standards for faith-based organizations at Constant Contact . Is your open rate low? You may need more compelling subject lines. High bounce rate? Your email lists may need updating. A low click rate might indicate you need to target your content more carefully.

Pro Tip: If your church doesn’t have a digital marketing platform yet, it might be time. Check out our blog Why Your Parish Needs an Email Marketing Platform for more information.

Never Underestimate a Strong Subject Line

We all know the feeling of “inbox overwhelm.” Help your emails stand out from the crowd by switching up the subject line every week. Instead of something generic like “St. Edward Catholic Community Newsletter, Feb. 19-26,” choose a short nickname for the weekly news email and customize the subject line to reflect the liturgical season or to tease information offered within. “The Weekly Word @ St. Ed’s: Fr. John Says Goodbye, Lenten Mission Info and More!” will pique interest and garner a higher open rate.

Craft a Good Hook Paragraph

Once you’ve got them to open the email, keep their attention by hooking them with a short but compelling paragraph that will make the reader want to scroll down. Consider well-placed images or graphics (a little goes a long way) to break up blocks of text.

Avoid Text Blocks

Speaking of text blocks — avoid these! Nothing will lose the interest of a busy parishioner like a daunting, run-on paragraph about the revamped online giving system. Keep it short and sweet (just the facts, ma’am) and highlight keywords .

Don’t Get Lost in Translation

It seems obvious, but make sure you are providing information that can be easily understood by all the language groups at your parish. If there is a growing Hmong community in the neighborhood, for instance, engage the assistance of a volunteer who speaks the language.

Pro Tip: Your staff is already busy, so why not combine the work you already do for your bulletin into a top-notch email message? It’s time to check out LPi’s ePub Design .

If your parish is just getting started with email marketing, check out our blog “ Top 10 Ways to Encourage Parishioners to Share Their Email Address ” for some ideas to help build your email lists. And if your program is more robust you might be ready for “ Tips for Targeted Email Messaging . ”

Living In Love

Fri, 13 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, May 22, 2022

6th Sunday of Easter

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Revelations 21:10-14, 22-23
John 14:23-29

Before becoming a brother in the Society of the Divine Savior (the Salvatorians) , I was a Benedictine monk for more than a decade. And, as a Benedictine, I was immersed in the very practical wisdom of St. Benedict and the Rule he wrote for his monks more than 1400 years ago. One of the defining characteristics of this great saint was his balanced understanding of the human person and of community dynamics. We see this at work in the third chapter of his Rule and his insistence that the abbot of the monastery call the community together whenever there was important business to discuss: “Let the Abbot call together the whole community and state the matter to be acted upon… The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.”

We see the same wisdom was at work in the first reading of this Sunday’s Mass . Recall how in the Acts of the Apostles , St. Luke presented that first generation of believers as living an almost idyllic existence, devoting themselves to the Apostles’ teachings, “and the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers… All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need” (2:42, 44-45).

But this way of life was short-lived. After a short time, the Church faced persecution and wrestled with questions of inclusivity and what should be expected of the growing number of non-Jewish believers. While this might seem like a small issue for us today, this all-important question threatened to tear the Church apart. Recognizing what was at stake, the community had to discern how to respond to the challenges they faced.

So, what did the leaders of the Church do? They came together as a community, prayed, and listened to one another. Together they discerned how the Holy Spirit was at work in the Church — just as Jesus had promised it would be.

In the end, rather than closing ranks and opting for exclusivity, the Church’s first leaders imagined a new way forward and enlisted others to help them in their mission: “The apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones they chose were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers” (Acts 15:22). Humbly recognizing both their own limitations and opportunities before them, the leaders looked beyond the enclosed circle of the Apostles to find new workers capable of responding to the present needs.

This willingness to “look beyond the boundaries” was held up as the ideal for the Church by Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio only days before he was pope in 2013. In a speech delivered during the “general congregations” preceding the conclave, he said: “Evangelizing pre-supposes a desire in the Church to come out of herself. The Church is called to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also in the existential peripheries: the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance, and indifference to religion, of intellectual currents, and of all misery.” Despite criticism from many fronts, Pope Francis has made this vision of a Church moving “beyond the boundaries” the guiding principle of his ministry and this has certainly been a dominant theme in his papacy. Nothing less is expected of us.

In the end, what’s at stake in all of this is the mission of the Church. Mutual discernment and collaboration in ministry — as we see it at work in the Early Church and in St. Benedict’s monks — calls for each one of to step up and own our faith, living out our unique vocation. Each one of us has a part to play. This is what we’re called to, and this is how we help the Church more perfectly reflect the beauty of that Heavenly Jerusalem ( cf. the second reading ), becoming more than we ever imagined she — that is, more than we — could be.

PRAYER

Grant, almighty God,
that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy,
and that what we relive in remembrance
we may always hold in what we do.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal : Collect for the Sixth Sunday of Easter)

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Loving as New Creations

Fri, 13 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

“There’s something different about you.”

Think about the times in your life when this has been said to you. Maybe it was after someone complimented you on a job well done, and you realized that you were walking through life with a little more confidence. Maybe it was after meeting someone special, as you carried the glow of that relationship wherever you went. Chances are, if someone has noticed something different about you, it’s because, inwardly, you’ve been changed by the loving or respectful actions of another person.

Love, you see, can make us into new creations. From the love of God flows the grace to tackle any challenge, including the biggest challenge of all: loving each other well. Christ knows what a big request this is. He was human, too. He came and lived among us. He knew intimately what it was to love people in the chaos of their own flaws. He knew what he was asking of us when he said, “As I have loved you, so you should also love one another.”

In essence, this is the call to stewardship: loving as Christ loves, amidst the messiness of everyday reality. Loving with accountability, challenging ourselves and our brothers and sisters to be faithful even when it is hard. Loving with an unflinching sense of hospitality that welcomes even those we do not agree with or understand. Loving with gratitude, giving thanks for the great variety of ways that Christ can make himself known to us through others.

It isn’t easy — we all know that. But if we ask God for the grace to remain steadfast in this greatest commandment, we will be given

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Tips for “Spring Cleaning” Your Email Segmenting

Thu, 12 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Spring has sprung, and chances are your parish building and grounds crew is starting to prune the dead branches and old leaves from your shrubbery and flower beds. But landscaping isn’t the only thing that might need some tending to after a sleepy winter season — how long has it been since your email lists were spruced up?

Email segmenting (the practice of targeting certain emails to specific subgroups) can boost the performance of your email campaigns and improve your open and click rates. But curating your email lists to optimize your reach can feel a bit like catching lightning in a bottle. Every parish community is different and will have its own “secret sauce” for success. But luckily, there are some best practices that can help anyone improve the efficacy of their email marketing.

Here are four questions to ask yourself when “spring cleaning” your email segments.

Are you getting what you need from your email service provider?

Some congregations will do just fine employing a basic email service provider (ESP) without all the bells and whistles. But it may be the case that your parish needs have evolved or changed. Are you utilizing an ESP that offers reporting features to help you analyze the performance of your campaigns? Do you have access to data and metrics that can provide insights into the behavior of your email recipients? Tweaking email segmenting successfully depends on being able to accurately predict how your subscribers will receive the information, and to do that, you need as much information as possible. Is it time to upgrade your parish to marketing software from a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that can provide you with more data and tools?

Are your cohorts flexible?

People change, and you want to ensure that your email segmenting can, too! If you already utilize email segmenting to some degree, it’s likely that you have established cohorts or subgroups of recipients defined by qualities like age, donation level, family size or ministry involvement. But are you updating those cohorts regularly to ensure that the profiles of the members are still accurate? Those newlyweds who signed up for the Young Adult Ministry mailing list five years ago, for example, might benefit from receiving marketing emails about the school open house … but the family whose youngest child graduated last year has probably long stopped opening those messages.

Are you utilizing click segmentation?

Anyone with an email list (like your parish, for example) can benefit from click segmentation, whereby subscribers click on answers to questions about what exactly they’re looking for or interested in when it comes to parish life. Here is a blog that describes the process well and can help get you started. Click segmentation will allow you to create well-curated lists of subscribers who have told you exactly what will make them click “open.”

Are you cutting the dead weight?

One of the quickest and easiest ways to spruce up your email segmenting lists is to trim what the pros call the “deadwood” (those who are never opening your emails) from your list. It may sound harsh, but having too many inactive subscribers can lead to deliverability issues for your other email campaigns. Consider sending a campaign to your entire inactive cohort to give them the option of continuing to receive emails. Those that opt out, or don’t open the email, will be cut, resulting in a leaner and more effective subscriber list.

A Love That Is Unconditional, Sacrificial, and Permanent

Fri, 06 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, May 15, 2022

5th Sunday of Easter

Acts 14:21-27
Revelations 21:1-5a
John 13:31-33a, 34-35

We are called to love as Jesus loved, even when it hurts.

One of the untold stories about our country’s armed forces is of the priests who serve the spiritual needs of those who defend us. One priest who served bravely and faithfully was
Fr. Emil Joseph Kapaun .

A few years after he was ordained, he decided to serve as an army chaplain and was eventually sent to minister to the troops fighting in Korea in 1950. During one especially fierce battle, he was given the opportunity to fall back to a safer location in the field. However, he refused, preferring to stay by the side of the wounded and dying. He was finally captured by the Chinese forces and was marched 87 miles to a prisoner of war camp in North Korea.

During his stay at the camp, he regularly risked punishment to visit the other prisoners offering them comfort, hearing their confessions, and celebrating Mass. Often he would go without food to share it with the sick. He died in the prisoner of war camp of starvation and pneumonia on May 23, 1951.

Those soldiers who knew Fr. Kapaun called him their hero. His humility and love helped them endure imprisonment, torture, and hours of interrogation. He was also remembered for the holiness of his life which radiated through all he did.

In today’s gospel , Jesus encourages us to love one another as he has loved us. He tells us in another place in Saint John’s gospel that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for another. Jesus showed this love by his willingness to be humiliated, scourged, and crucified for our sins. Fr. Emil Kapaun also gives us an example of such love in everything he did, especially in his willingness to sacrifice his comfort, his health, and eventually his life for his brother soldiers.

It is precisely this type of love that Christ is calling us to express in our everyday lives. We often think of love merely as a feeling of affection between spouses, family members or friends. It is an emotion or an attachment that is shared and reciprocated. If I love you, I expect you to love me back. We also know that this type of love does not always last. We lose touch with friends, or we get into conflicts with them that cause resentment. The minute one person stops loving the other, the relationship comes to an end.

However, this is not the type of love which Jesus is calling us to have. This is not the type of love that sets his disciples apart. Rather, the love of Jesus is not based on feelings, on whether the other person loves us back or on how convenient the relationship is. Instead, Jesus’ love is unconditional, sacrificial, and permanent.

The love of God is demanding. It requires much of us. The only way it is possible to live such a love is to realize that God has loved us first. When we experience the unconditional, sacrificial, and permanent love of our Heavenly Father, we will find the strength and inspiration to love in just the same way. It is the love that Jesus showed on the cross. It is the love that Fr. Emil Kapaun and countless other saints have shown in their ministries. And it is that love that we are called to show in everything we do.

PRAYER

O God, Trinity of love,
From the profound communion of your divine life,
Pour out upon us a torrent of fraternal love.
Grant us the love reflected in the actions of Jesus,
In his family of Nazareth,
And in the early Christian community.
Grant that we Christians may live the Gospel,
Discovering Christ in each human being,
Recognizing him crucified
In the sufferings of the abandoned
And forgotten of our world,
And risen in each brother or sister
Who makes a new start.
Come Holy Spirit,
Show us your beauty in all the peoples of the earth,
So that we may discover anew
That all are important and all are necessary,
Different faces of the one humanity
That God so loves. Amen.

Fratelli Tutti , Pope Francis

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Reluctant Sheep

Fri, 06 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Taking all this into account and considering how often we are referred to as sheep in Scripture, you’ve really got to wonder if God trying to tell us something about ourselves.

If you look at the phraseology associated with sheep, it’s no wonder that nobody wants to be one. Sheep are innocent. Sheep can’t protect themselves. They’re vulnerable and easily misled.

We want to see ourselves as the opposite of all that. We like to think we’re shrewd, with plenty of common sense. We want to believe that we don’t have to rely on anybody for anything. We would sooner identify with the wolf than with the sheep — at least the wolf can take care of himself.

We do this because we often resist the need to rest in the greatness of God. Like a child walking to school alone for the first time (forgetting his mom is following watchfully in the car), we want to think we can handle it all by ourselves.

The truth is that God is trying to tell us something by comparing us to sheep: You don’t have to do this on your own .

Every time I look at an obstacle and think that there is no way around it, I am forgetting that I have a shepherd who knows the location of the gate.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Three Takeaways from the Pope’s World Day of Communications Message

Thu, 05 May 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Listen.

Pope Francis tackles the theme of listening in his message for the 56th World Day of Social Communications, promulgated on Jan. 24, 2022, the memorial of St. Francis de Sales. It sounds so simple in theory, doesn’t it — listening? But, as with so many aspects of Christian life, the practice of effectively listening is anything but simple.

To truly communicate, the Holy Father tells us, we must “listen with the ear of the heart” (which also happens to be the title of his message). Here are three important takeaways from the document, which can be viewed in its entirety on the Vatican’s website .

In listening, we mimic God.

“Listening corresponds to the humble style of God,” writes Pope Francis, who points out it is through speaking that God brings us into existence and through listening that He honors us as “partners in dialogue.” This action of listening emphasizes both the dignity endowed on us by our Creator and the selflessness with which He loves us. Even though God’s Word is salvation, He does not talk over us. If the God of the Universe can treat us with such reverence, can we not do the same for one another?

“The Lord explicitly calls the human person to a covenant of love, so that they can fully become what they are: the image and likeness of God in His capacity to listen, to welcome, to give space to others,” writes the Holy Father. “Fundamentally, listening is a dimension of love.”

In listening, we mimic God.

Listening — really listening — requires self-mastery. It requires sacrifice. And it requires patience, writes Pope Francis. All of this leads to a fruitfulness of virtue and knowledge. If we really listen with patience, he writes, we allow ourselves “to be surprised by the truth, even if only a fragment of truth, in the person we are listening to.”

Without that, we are simply hearing, not listening. “Only amazement enables knowledge,” he concludes.

Not listening? Not passive.

“The refusal to listen often ends up turning into aggression towards the other, as happened to those listening to the deacon Stephen who, covering their ears, all turned on him at once,” writes Pope Francis. It’s a message that rings especially true in the midst of a world so sharply divided over so many issues. Because “the true seat of listening is the heart,” closing our ears to someone is often the same as closing our hearts to them, and that is always the first step toward violence. Even worse, it will lead to a deterioration in the relationship between the listener and God. “Whoever does not know how to listen to his brother or sister will soon no longer be able to listen to God either,” writes the Holy Father.

Gifts in Disguise

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Have you ever opened a gift and wondered what the giver was thinking?

I won’t call out any of my family or friends here, but suffice to say, I think we have all been the confused recipient of a sweater that wasn’t our size or a gift card to a store where we don’t shop. But we smiled all the same and said how much it meant to us, because we know that when it comes to gifts, it’s all about the gesture.

Suffering is a lot like that — the gift you never asked for, and don’t really want to receive. Sometimes we look at suffering and, like the apostles who see Jesus as a stranger on the shore, we don’t recognize it for what it can be. We don’t appreciate the catalyst suffering can be for change, for growth, for grace.

What was the gift that you received in disguise? Was it a relationship that confounded and frustrated you? Was it a job that tested your spirit? An obstacle that stopped you dead in your tracks? A rejection that threatened to break your spirit?

If I go back and look at the worst gifts I’ve ever gotten, chances are that I didn’t like them because I didn’t know what to do with them — they were more fitted for someone else’s interests, someone else’s life. It’s the same with suffering. We’re tempted to cast suffering aside when it comes our way because it doesn’t fit the person we are. Suffering is made to fit the person God knows we have the ability, with His grace, to become.

Hang onto that suffering. Unlike the misshapen sweater, it really will come in handy.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Learn to Hear with Your Heart

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, May 8, 2022

4th Sunday of Easter

Acts 13:14, 43-52
Revelations 7:9, 14b-17
John 10:27-30

When a friend describes a beautiful sunset, a picture is created in your mind. The words enable you to make meaning. When a parent reacts to a child’s artwork, meaning is created between child and parent, which can affect the child’s self-concept for a lifetime.

Likewise, when a lie is spoken, a false reality is constructed that, once discovered, can rupture relationships. For example, when Bill Clinton’s inner circle believed his lie that he hadn’t had sex with Monica Lewinsky, their minds accepted an “unreal reality.” Their eventual discovery of the truth and resulting feelings of betrayal were probably more dramatic than those who hadn’t believed Clinton in the first place. This power to affect one another is serious business. Our spoken words shape the reality of those with whom we interact.

Words. We use them all day long — through our speech and through our thoughts. They have the power to destroy and the power to create. They have the power to inspire and delude. They have the power to free and imprison. We hear empty words and encouraging ones, we use both of them as well. Words communicate meaning, and we form impressions and decide actions based upon the value of that meaning, either positive or negative.

Words are spoken by a voice. Some voices are shrill and high-pitched, while others are warm and soothing. The words spoken by that voice communicate meaning as well as emotion. We sense the emotion through the speed and intensity of the words used, not to mention non-verbal body language.

All this lead up is simply to ask one question: what does Jesus’ voice sound like to you?

There are many voices that call for our attention throughout the day. We find ourselves being pulled in hundreds of directions trying our best to give our full attention to those voices and addressing their needs. Jesus’ voice is that tiny, still voice that speaks in the silence of the heart, which is the organ to hear his voice, not the mind and not the ears. It does not demand our attention, but patiently waits for our attention to be given. His voice speaks nothing else but love, but our hearts drown out his voice because the other voices are clanging and clamoring, and our tendency is to go where the volume is loudest because it is certain, not where the volume to softest.

As one matures in the spiritual life, they discover the voices that call for our attention can be whittled down to three: the voice of the world, the voice of the Evil one, and the voice of God. It takes time to learn how to discern between these, but this skill is of utmost importance in order for us to navigate through the complexities of the modern world and of our daily lives. Having regular faith conversations with a men’s or women’s sharing group is certainly helpful, as is seeing a spiritual director regularly. But most importantly, this skill is learned in moments of personal prayer. For it is in these moments, when the heart finally seeks the Lord, He will speak. When you’ve listened, then act. Do what He tells you. Follow the example of Jesus who did the will of his Father.

Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Lord, I draw near to You today.
I am seeking Your face,
I want to hear Your voice.
I want to learn Your will for my life,
and to obey it wholeheartedly.
Help me to know Your voice,
and not to be deceived
by the voice of a stranger.
Help me to guard my heart
from the influences of this world
and the people around me.
Help me not to be deceived
by the devil and his lies,
but to view all my thoughts
and decisions through the lens
of Your righteousness.
As I seek to hear Your voice
for instruction, correction, and guidance,
help me to confirm Your voice
in times of praying with the Scriptures.
Help me to feel confident
in knowing that I hear Your voice.
Amen.

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An Ohio Parish’s Bulletin — Before-and-After!

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Who doesn’t love a good before-and-after? There are entire television shows built around the transformation of homes, bodies, relationships — something about the process of transformation captures our attention and sparks our interest.

LPi’s staff of graphic designers often tackle the task of refreshing a parish’s branding. The designers’ thorough process includes interviewing a parish, working through several drafts of potential designs, and providing a beautiful, updated piece to the community. The LPi portfolio for these rebrands includes pieces like letterhead, bulletins, logos, and more. One of the most recent pieces is this bulletin facelift by LPi designer David Kieckhefer, graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a designer for LPi for the past three years.

David and his team were sent this bulletin from Holy Trinity Catholic Parish in Avon, Ohio, and they went right to work. David was kind enough to answer some questions about the process and to reveal a some of his design recommendations for every parish.

Q. What were the most important elements of the parish that you wanted to highlight in the redesign?
A. Once we receive the questionnaire back from the parish regarding their priorities and preferences, I decide what’s important to this church and what’s important to my design choices. A few things that stuck out to me about Holy Trinity Parish were: (1) they wanted to stay close to the cover style they were already using (2) there is historic value at this parish and (3) design-wise, the logo is an outline.

I was able to give them a fresh masthead that kind of repurposed their existing logo, which was a tracing of their church building. I think the masthead works really well for the bulletin cover, bulletin covers are often a first impression piece. Sometimes we try to put too much on the cover, so this was about trying to find the balance between the information they wanted available while keeping the style clean and not too overwhelming.

Q. What are your favorite improvements to this piece?
A. I think one of my favorite parts was the masthead section. When we started, the parish had a lot of information on the front page, and they wanted to keep that information intact. So, I took the imagery of the church and condensed it into a modern, clean graphic that was able to incorporate the contact information bar.

In addition to that, we were able to provide Holy Trinity Parish with a style guide, which is a design outline tool that encourages sticking to 2-3 fonts and no more than 4 colors, all of these decided through parish consultation and designer-recommendations.

I believe we were able to obtain a clean, modern take while respecting the balance between traditional and modern elements. The traditional look was important to Holy Trinity, due to the historic nature of the parish.

Q. What made you proud to work with this parish?
A. I think that this design spotlights the integrity of the history and tradition of this particular location in a fresh, modern way. I feel like we didn’t need to sacrifice anything, and we found a great balance of image and text. This makes for a more engaging design.

Q. What tweaks can any parish do that could create a “facelift” to their bulletin almost instantly?
A. Honestly, if you are limited and can only change a handful of things, make yourself a style guide, and then stay consistent.

Select two to three fonts for your entire bulletin

Same with colors, select up to 4 colors, and then stick with those throughout your entire piece

Consistency is huge, and you’ll see a huge difference. Keep your design clean and easy-to-read for your parishioners and any visitors reading your bulletin.

Q. What are some design pitfalls that you sometimes see in bulletins?
A. The two biggest would be:
1. Text boxes with borders around every piece of text. It’s common, and I can see why it’s tempting because you want to separate the content. But with a clean layout, text boxes are not necessary. Use a colored text box to call out events or special things.

2. Reading straight across an 8.5×11 page is tough on the eyes. I think that a lot of bulletins use the two-column design that could be broken into a three-column which is more visually interesting and helps a reader navigate more easily through the page.

Q. Why do you think that good design matters in communication?
A. I think that good design gives people an important first impression of your parish and, as a communication tool, good design helps ensure that the reader receives the messaging. How do you want your parishioners to feel as they’re reading? Good design can help push that message.

LPi’s Graphic Design team is honored to work alongside parishes like Holy Trinity in bringing the Good News to local communities across the United States. Have some questions about what the redesign process could look like for your parish? Drop us a line, we’d love to chat!

The World Is Watching

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

If you’re a parent, you know this to be true: the world is watching. All it takes is one slip-up — one bad word, one selfish action, one uncharitable commentary, and that’s the thing your child seems to notice.

When he or she calls you on it, the only thing you can do is come clean. “Yep, I did that,” you have to say. “I’m a work in progress, but luckily, God never stops working.”

I think it’s fair to say that we don’t think enough about the wounds of Christ. It’s a little understandable, of course. Our human bodies flinch at the sight of such pain and mortification. It’s a lot to handle, the physical trauma of a crucifixion. It carries an R rating in a PG world.

But the wounds of Christ are the only thing that could make Thomas believe. Literally nothing else was so powerful, not even the testimony of his most trusted friends. Only by looking at and feeling the torn flesh — by beholding that messy reality — did this Apostle, this actual companion of Christ, come to believe in the Resurrection.

“Christ has no body now but yours,” goes the famous quote attributed to St. Teresa of Avila. What she’s saying is that we have become the means through which God chooses to accomplish His will in the world. Us, the broken. Us, the weary. Us, the imperfect. Yes, miraculous events and apparitions still occur from time to time, but by and large, if a person is going to come to believe in Jesus Christ in this day and age, it will be because of something we Christians do or say.

Christ has no wounds now but ours. Our brokenness, our weariness, our imperfection — our reality. It all belongs to him, and the world is watching.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

What We Bring to the Fire

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, May 1, 2022

3rd Sunday of Easter

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41
Rev 5:11-14
Jn 21:1-19 or 21:1-14

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore, full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. – John 21:10-11

One of the stories that has earned the place of legend in my family lore is “The Time Colleen Made the Johnnycakes.”

A Johnnycake, if you don’t know, is a thin cornmeal pancake apparently popular during colonial times, and it was the recipe I selected from my American Girl doll cookbook when I was so young I could barely read correctly, but nevertheless decided I was going to bake something on my own.

My mother was kind enough to let me, but in the chaos of a kitchen full of children fumbling with measuring spoons and seeing who could talk the loudest, she was too distracted to realize that I had mistaken the abbreviation “tsp” to mean “cup.” Thus, I had decided that the “¾ tsp salt” required by the recipe indicated that I was to put three to four cups of salt into the batter.

Those Johnnycakes were literally painful to eat. We spit them out into the sink and rinsed our mouths with cold water. When we finally realized exactly what my mistake had been, we all had a good laugh, and my mother had a big mess. I’ll tell you what, though: after that, I knew what the abbreviation “tsp” meant.

I think of the Johnnycakes every time my children ask to help me with a grown-up task. When a child offers his help, it’s so tempting to brush him off and tell him to go occupy himself with the work of a child and leave the work of an adult to someone who can do it properly.

But then I remember that, when he already had a fine meal cooking, Jesus invited his disciples to bring their fish to the fire.

God does not really need anything from us, does he? We do not have the ability to add to His glory, His power, His perfection or His joy. We can’t really help .

But he created us, as the Catechism says so beautifully, out of His “sheer goodness,” as a parent conceives a child, “to make him share in his own blessed life.” So here we are, with our dead, smelly fish. And any parent will know that accepting the offering of a child is a gift to the child more than it is a help to the parent. It gives him honor. It gives him purpose. It gives him pride. It gives him knowledge.

So, what does God do, time and time again? He doesn’t just allow us to drag our dead fish to his already blazing fire — he tells us to. He accepts our offering — our good works, our suffering, our praise, our love. He accepts everything we have to give, and then He sits with us, and He gives us a job to do. And for just a moment, he lets us in on the glorious mystery of the love of an omnipotent God — the happiness He allows us to give Him, happiness He did not need and can thrive without.

No, the work will never be done more quickly or proficiently with the help of the child. The dishwasher will need to be clandestinely reloaded after he runs off to play. The dust rag will be oversaturated with water, wreaking havoc on the furniture finish if you don’t intercept it and wring it out. Best-case scenario, the recipe will have a little too much flour in it, worst-case scenario, it’ll be totally inedible and you’ll find yourself out of salt.

But the point of letting the child help is no more to expedite the work than the point of life is having a clean house. A change occurs inside of him when he is allowed to participate in the family mission. Little seedling feelings of responsibility and fulfillment begin to take root.

For just a moment, we let him in on the glorious mystery of parenthood — all-consuming happiness that accompanies (or does it derive from?) never-ending work — perhaps the only such work since Eden to ever really bring fulfillment.

It is a gift to him, not to us.

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

May we never forget, Lord,
the honor you bestow on us
by allowing us to share in your mission.
May we have renewed strength
to bring our offering to the fire.

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Graphic Designers Share Their 7 Favorite Marian Designs for May

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

May is a month of beauty and the new life of spring! Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the whole world feels as if it is alive again! How fitting, then, that it is also a month set aside for the honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who bore Life Eternal to us all. Parishes across the United States take advantage of this Marian month by incorporating special events like the May Crowning or additional Marian prayers sprinkled throughout month.

Looking for beautiful Marian imagery to use in your bulletin, social media feed, or print materials? Look no further! WeCreate features images that are beautiful, reverent, and inspiring for your community.

Not sure where to start? The graphic designers at LPi have collected their favorite images for you here! DOWNLOAD ART
Read on for a little about each piece from the designers.

David K. suggests this colorful, scrapbook-like image of Our Lady of Guadalupe . It’s perfect for congregations that serve a Mexican community — but remember, Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas as well, not just Mexico! There’s space in every community for the message and image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, “Let not your heart be disturbed … Am I not here, who is your Mother?”

If you’re drawn to statues in art, Gabriella L. recommends these two images ( Hail Mary and Mary in the Sun) featuring statuary for their striking composition. She also points out their complimentary color palettes make for a pleasing, peaceful design. Mary’s open arms represent her love and care for all of humanity, drawing them near to her son.

This Marian-blue piece is one of Tim D.’s favorites because of the simple sans serif text work and the camera angle that adds a flair of the dramatic to an otherwise subdued statue. Ever wonder why Mary is often associate with blue? In Byzantine/Orthodox tradition, blue represents the color of the sky or of heaven; red represents the earth, the color of blood. Traditionally, Mary is often depicted with a blue dress covered in a red cloak, illustrating that she carried Jesus (divine) in her humanity. (Alternatively, Jesus is traditionally depicted wearing a red garment covered by a blue outer later, showing that he took on human nature.)

Speaking of traditional art, this piece is based off one of the most beloved icons in our history. The gentle embrace of mother and child has served as inspiration to faithful across the world for generations. Adding this image to your bulletin, website or social media may invoke a wave of nostalgia to someone who recognizes it from a different parish or a childhood memory.

Looking for something simpler and more modern? Kristen R. loves this word art piece . (Remember, the Feast of the Visitation is this summer! Bookmark it for later!) Mary’s gentle pose partnered with the soft colors instantly evokes a feeling of peace for the viewer.

Lastly, looking for a great square-image to place on social media? This image is a classic piece with a lightly distressed finish. Most parishes will find it relatable and approachable, just like Mary.

Remember: imagery speaks its own story. Choosing a graphic that fits the overall message you are trying to send enhances the experience for the end-user. Traditional, modern, dramatic, or peaceful — whatever imagery you need, WeCreate has just what you are looking for. Enjoy the beauty that this month offers … and pair it with lovely graphics that honor the Mother of Jesus!

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The Divine Mercy of Jesus

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, April 24, 2022

2nd Sunday of Easter — Sunday of Divine Mercy

Acts 5:12-16
Revelations 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
John 20:19-31

Sometimes, it may be hard to remember that we live in Jesus’ victory over sin and death, we are not waiting on it. And we, who have not seen and yet believe, are truly blessed (John 20:29), as Jesus so compassionately proclaims to Thomas in today’s Gospel .

Jesus showed his Apostles great mercy, even after they abandoned him in his greatest hour of need, running and hiding in fear — only St. John the Evangelist (along with some of the women) remained and stood at the foot of the cross. However, Jesus’ greeting as he stands among the Apostles is not a chastisement but instead, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19). Jesus demonstrates the limitless power of his mercy as he breathes the Spirit upon them, conferring the authority to forgive sins. In yet another way, fulfilling the words spoken as Jesus washed their feet, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).

St. Thomas, sometimes called “Doubting Thomas,” is the only Apostle missing during this incredible encounter with the Risen Christ. He struggles to believe, he requires signs and wonders, physical evidence to open his eyes to the Truth. Is that not still true today, a world so suspect of everyone and everything they struggle to believe? However, unlike Thomas, who proclaimed “My Lord and My God,” when Christ reveals himself, so many people find temporal explanations to keep them from embracing the Savior they so desperately need — who longs to be in communion with them. Although something entirely without explanation, save a heavenly one, will occur, and maybe they entertain the idea of God for a moment, then, like the seed in the Parable of the Sower ( Matthew 13 ), they foolishly allow any glimmer of hope to be blown away, devoured, scorched, or withered.

In Acts 5 , the Apostles “heal many.” And while the sick will always long for physical healing, it is the work of spiritual healing that is truly miraculous. No matter how many times the sick are made well, eventually, death will come. At that moment, it is Jesus’ mercy, as shown to the Apostles in the Upper Room, we all long to receive. Even the most fervent follower of Christ will fail, gratefully, God’s love never does!

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (699) , “Jesus heals the sick and blesses little children by laying hands on them. In his name, the Apostles will do the same.” Even more pointedly, today, that same power flows through our bishops and priests (and deacons), through the imposition of hands, as they continue the work of Jesus and his Apostles, “this visible sign, from the New Testament onward, is the imposition of hands” ( see LG 21 ).

We experience this spiritual healing most profoundly through the Sacrament of Confession (also referred to as the Sacrament of reconciliation, conversion, penance, and forgiveness). In Confession, the priest sits “In persona Christi,” a Latin phrase meaning “in the person of Christ.” Here, we encounter Christ in a real and personal way, to be cleansed of our iniquities and strengthened with the grace to go forth and sin no more. Although we will fall again, the grace that we receive in the sacraments empowers us to resist temptation and seek God over the things of this world, even if it’s just for a little while. Made right with God through this sacrament, we experience an outpouring of God’s mercy.

Sadly, 2000 years later, even the faithful seem to diminish the wonder and awe of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection. We fail to take advantage of the abundant graces that flowed from his side that dark afternoon on Calvary. Instead of emerging into the light of Easter, we continue to choose darkness — stuck on Good Friday because of sin. We can start living our heaven now because if we wait for it, we may miss the opportunity altogether.

Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Come Holy Spirit,
inspire my heart to seek the mercy
Jesus won for me during His Passion.
Help me to live in the light of Easter,
and to cast aside all darkness and doubt.
May I be counted among the blessed
who do not see, yet believe!

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Leave It in the Tomb

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Today, on the most important day of the liturgical year, the Apostle Paul is calling us out.

“I see you hiding in that tomb,” he says. “I see you baking with that old, stale yeast, thinking no one will notice.”

He says it a little more elegantly, I’ll grant you. But the message is this: If you want to be raised with Christ, you’d better be ready to step out of the shadows. Seek what is above — not what is on earth.

I can feel myself responding almost reflexively, “Great idea, Paul — but I’m pretty comfy here.” Because sometimes, it’s just easier to stay in the tomb. It’s easier to crouch in the shadows and look outward at everyone else, thinking of the changes they could make or the sins they could overcome.

Today we are called to embrace newness. New hearts, new lives, new futures, new chances. If there’s anything keeping you from that, you need to leave it in the tomb. It’s a little scary, sure — maybe Jesus thought so before he stepped into the light of that first Easter morning. But no loaf of bread worth eating was ever baked using stale yeast that wouldn’t rise. No new life worth having was ever lived through the broken sins of yesterday. No Easter morning ever dawned without the tomb sitting empty.

Step into the light. He is waiting for you.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Parish Dispatch: Father Mario Amore, St. Aloysius Parish, Detroit, MI

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

We are so honored to work with vibrant parishes across the United States, each one working to bring the Kingdom of God to their neighborhoods. In the Archdiocese of Detroit, Father Mario Amore serves at St. Aloysius Parish in downtown Detroit. Here he answers some questions about his special parish. (Answers have been edited for length).

Q. Describe your parish demographic in 140 characters or less .
A. We are a vibrant community in the heart of downtown Detroit. We love the Lord, serve the poor, and strive daily for the Kingdom.

Q. What makes your community unique?
A. Our tag line is “Everybody’s Church in Downtown Detroit” and we truly live up to it! We are home to one of the most active outreach centers in all of Detroit and our parish community boasts a large Catholic young adult presence.

Q. Why do most people visit your city?
A. Detroit is the epicenter of culture. We have world-class museums, an exquisite symphony orchestra, beloved sports teams, and we are a foodie’s paradise. The Motor City moves the world!

Q. What do people say when they visit your parish for the first time?
A. They are moved by the beauty of the building and the warmth of the community. As it says in our parish history, “It is safe to say that, in all the world, there is not another place of worship with an interior exactly like that of “Everybody’s Church” on Washington Boulevard. … St. Aloysius is, in reality, three churches in one, made possible by the invention of the semi-circular “well,” the most outstanding feature of the building.” You’ll have to come experience it for yourself!

Q. Where (and what) do you recommend for your best local eats?
A. Too many to list. Detroit favorites include Lafayette or American Coney Island for a coney dog, tacos in Mexicantown , anywhere in Greektown , Pierogi at Polish Village , and Buddy’s Pizza for the win!

Q. What is the last film you saw that you would recommend to your parishioners?
A. King Richard .

Q. What is your most used App?
A. IBreviary .

Q. What is your most used emoji?
A. Thumbs up.

Q. What is an underrated book of the Bible and why?
A. Joshua. I think he perfectly sums up the heart of the Gospel, “Choose today whom you will serve…” (24:15).

Q. What is an unexpected blessing of your priesthood?
A. Before discerning a vocation to the priesthood, I wanted to work in TV or Radio. When I was ordained, I thought I was putting those dreams behind me. Instead, the Lord has worked through me in many and varied ways to share the Gospel on both platforms and on the digital continent, as well. It shouldn’t have been unexpected, though, as the Lord never wastes our gifts!

Q. What’s the coolest thing about your parish?
A. The diversity of races and ages, and the interplay of them all. We are atypical — in location, in size, in demographics, and in our architecture.

Q. Who in your community inspires you?
A. The young adults. They are striving each day to live for the Lord with their heart set on Heaven. They inspire me to be a better pastor, a better Christian, and a better disciple.

Q. What evangelization risk have you taken in the past year that has born great fruit?
A. Making people feel welcome is the first step in evangelization. I guess it involves a risk of time and perhaps rejection, but we invite every new person who registers out to coffee to get to know them. We tell them about our wonderful community and the opportunities for them to get involved. It is well worth the investment, and we’ve never been rejected!

Q. What is your most innovative method of communication with your community?
A. These days, it’s word of mouth! It’s quite innovative for the digital age in which we live. We find that people hear about us through others who have found our parish to be a place of encounter with the Lord and a true community of believers. It’s the greatest compliment that we get.
I’m not sure how innovative it is, but at the end of the day, we also go with what works:

We have also worked hard to rebrand and develop a new website over the past few years ( staloysiusdetroit.com ) which makes it easy for outsiders to communicate with us, get more information about the parish, and volunteer with our outreach initiatives.

Q. What is the best piece of ministry advice you have received?
A. “Do what gives you life!”

Q. What is important to you in a great parish website?
A. The website is the digital front door of the parish. It should very quickly give the visitor a clear idea of who lives inside and what they are all about. One must be able to find Mass and confession times as well as locate the bulletin in a matter of seconds. There also must be a mobile version available as most people visit websites on smart devices. Finally, the website must include the ability for people to volunteer, register, and connect with the parish for help or sacramental requests.

Q. How do you personally use social media to communicate with your faithful?
A. I’m active on Facebook and Instagram sharing parish events and thoughts related to the practice of the faith. Additionally, I write and narrate the “Why?” series for Unleash the Gospel in the Archdiocese of Detroit that is shared across all social media platforms .

Thank you, Father Mario, for sharing your insights with us!

If you have a vibrant parish and would like to be featured in an upcoming Parish Dispatch, email: dcenter@4lpi.com.

The Mission Did Not Fail!

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 12:50:00 GMT

For Sunday, April 17, 2022

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Colossians 3:1-4 or I Corinthians 5:6b-8
John 20:1-9

You’ve had the vision in your mind for quite a while. You’ve found the perfect place to build a seasonal garden with a fountain. Excited to bring your vision to life, you painstakingly design the plans, secure all the materials, purchase a stunning fountain, and clear your schedule to complete it. As you begin preparing the land, you realize there is one thing you failed to consider: the magnitude and density of boulders, as solid as blocks of concrete, preventing you from doing anything! Unable to even insert the spade into the ground, you are left dumbfounded, angered, and disappointed, wondering whether you will ever realize your vision. Boulders can weigh things down, block things off, prevent movement, and stymy the achievement of dreams. They are also the perfect way to seal a tomb.

Many boulders weigh us down. They suffocate us, closing off the tombs of our lives from light, fresh air, change, and freedom. The boulders we carry are like heavy sacks piled on our backs, causing our heads to hang low, and impeding our journey. They can cripple us, lead us to depression, rob us of joy, and hold us captive. Such boulders have the potential to seal shut the doors of our lives. They come from many different places: dysfunctional home environments, business responsibilities, economic pressures, relationships, physical or mental illness, loss, disappointment, guilt, addictions, the effects of war, violence, and suffering to name a few. Some folks carry more burdens than others. They are hard to shoulder, and we often find ourselves powerless over them.

As we celebrate Easter, we see a world torn apart by war and its accompanying ugliness: bloodshed, violence, separation, loss, and grief. And we begin to wonder how somebody moves forward in times like these. Stripped of all they possess, what gives them hope? After being forced to witness the brutal killings of those they love, what keeps them going? And this is only one example of the world’s suffering. There are many others who are victims of other wars, famine, disease, exploitation, greed, power, and domination. What motivates them to start another day, knowing that the boulders are still closing them off from life?

Stuck with our burdens, we can believe that we failed. Powerless and tired, do we give up and admit defeat? It seemed like Jesus failed. His lifeless body was placed in a tomb and sealed up. His friends tried to understand what had happened. Wasn’t something spectacular supposed to occur to show everyone that he was telling the truth? After all, doesn’t God part the seas, have manna flow down from heaven, save people from floods and help people get to more productive and abundant lands? Good Friday seems so final and dark, just like we feel when left carrying something that weighs us down, there is no life, no freedom, and no love. Or so it seems.

The disciples invested in Jesus. They trusted. You can imagine the disappointment, despair, anger, frustration, and fear they must have felt. After all that transpired, there they sat glumly staring at a boulder. Waiting is difficult, especially when facing an apparent brick wall, uncertain of what comes next. It’s frightening and chilling. We feel the same way when we look at the boulders that seal up and weigh down our fragile, struggling lives. Where are you, God? Didn’t you promise that you would be here to help? Listen?

The disciples experienced many emotions, even painful anger, doubt, and fear. And then, “Life” found them! Miraculously, the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and life flowed out! Amid life’s unfolding, a Presence came to them and said, “It is I. Do not be afraid. Believe.” The author of faith, love, and hope revealed himself to them and touched their soul in a way that only Truth can touch. They changed. It happened just as Jesus said: He is risen! Alleluia! And, even more profoundly as they reflected on the heavy stone, discussed all that happened, shared their feelings, and tried to comprehend what they had seen and heard, Jesus joined them. When they stopped for a rest and broke bread, they knew it was him.

Pope Benedict XVI shares that “faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed.” There is a future. Ponder for a moment the most significant stone or boulder in your life. Do you believe you have a future despite what is before your eyes? When Life Eternal touched the disciples, they were transformed. No longer were their eyes cast down or gazing in the past; they saw the future. God always brings life.

Many of the metaphorical boulders and stones that hinder us are fixable. Others we can manage. Some require the help and support of those around us so that we can accept and carry them with grace. Allow Life Eternal, Christ, to touch your soul today. The attitudes we bring to our challenges, how we see God, the depth of our trust, and how deeply we can love are the things that matter. If we truly believe that God has all things in his care and that there is a future filled with life, love, and joy, then we can change and forge ahead. We can also be moved to accept the stones and boulders that cannot be changed and work around them.

The joy and beauty of the resurrection become real when we open our eyes to see the bigger picture that God has planned for all of us. Our destiny is to be one with Christ. It is our future. When we lose focus and become discouraged, apathetic, overwhelmed, defeated, and disgusted, we lose touch with those gifts we need the most: faith, hope, and love. These virtues supported the disciples during their darkest hours. They can get us through ours as well.

God does not abandon his people. He places within us the light and power of his love. When we listen, undistracted by other pleasures and desires, we hear that voice encouraging us to move forward. There is a future. Human beings inherently want to live and love. This is the presence of the Risen Christ, the Word made Flesh, the One without beginning or end, alive in the hearts of all of God’s children. There is a future, and it is a bright one indeed! Alleluia!

Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Almighty and merciful God,
Father of all,
Creator and Ruler of the Universe,
Lord of History,
whose designs are inscrutable,
whose glory is without blemish,
whose compassion
for the errors of men is inexhaustible,
in your will is our peace.

Help us to be masters of the weapons
that threaten to master us.
Help us to use our science
for peace and plenty,
not for war and destruction.

Show us how to use atomic power
to bless our children’s children,
not to blight them.

Grant us to seek peace where it is truly found!

In your will, O God, is our peace! Amen.

(Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours )

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A God Who Knows How It Feels

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Christ could have spoken anything from the cross, so why did he choose to recite Psalm 22? And why is it so important that we recite that same Psalm at today’s Mass?

“My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?”

We’ve never known the Jesus of the Gospels to doubt the will of God. We’ve never known him to be a defeatist or to give into feelings of despair. He’s the hero who walks on water, the Savior who is welcomed to Jerusalem with a pathway of palms. And he knows how this story ends; he knows full well that his Father has absolutely not abandoned him.

So why does he say this? Jesus doesn’t make offhanded comments, especially in his last hour. Today, when we repeat the words that he calls out in his darkest moment, we must remember that he wants us, very particularly, to consider them.

With his crucifixion, Jesus reminds us of his humanity. He is a man of flesh that can be torn and blood that can be shed. Somehow, in tandem with his divinity, he still possesses a heart that knows fear and pain and longing. And with this seemingly hopeless cry, he reminds us of that.

Let us never doubt that Jesus can relate to us in our brokenness. This is the week, friends. This is the week that reminds us that our God is a God who knows every pang, every trembling, and every uncertainty of human life. Our God knows what abandonment feels like. He knows what rejection feels like. He knows what it is to keep going when the strength and the will has disappeared.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

How to Talk About Vocations in Your Parish

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 20:40:00 GMT

Wondering how you can promote religious vocations in your parish? Here are some tips from all walks of life — a priest, a youth minister, a young dad, and a consecrated virgin.

Cultivate a culture of prayer in young people

Fr. Josh Johnson, Vocations Director for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, advocates strongly for prayer. “We don’t have a crisis of vocations,” he states bluntly, “we have a crisis of prayer — people don’t know how to pray.”

Fr. Johnson encourages the focus homilies, youth group nights, and other formative messages on understanding prayer and cultivating a relationship with Jesus Christ. Start there, he says, and vocations will follow. Fr. Johnson relates a story of St. John Paul II as a young man around 20 years old. The future pope was invited to a youth group where the group leader focused every single week on the interior life. Every. Single. Week. What was the result? Of the young people in attendance, 9 of the men became priests, 3 became bishops, and one became Pope — all because one young leader knew Jesus and invited a group of young men to know him intimately as well.

Fr. Johnson insists that “the fruit of prayer is vocations,” and offers these ideas for cultivating a culture of prayer in your parish.

Talk about vocations

Lauryn Coules, serving as a youth minister since 2008, believes that honesty about relationship with God is crucial when helping young people understand vocation. “I’m super open with my vocation, I don’t talk about it all the time, but I do answer questions [as they arise].” Coules addresses questions openly, whether about religious life or her personal experience dating and preparing for marriage. (She announced her engagement to her youth group on Vocations’ Sunday last year!)

Lauryn also stresses the importance of perspective in the process — that vocation is something you get to be, not something you have to be. “When you say, ‘yes,’ to God, amazing things happen,” Lauryn says to her youth, “[so] why would you say ‘no’?”

Make room for encounters

Matthew Shea, father of 3 small children in the Seattle area, also believes in the power of witness when introducing children to vocations. He stays in touch with friends who are vowed religious and invites them to his home, where his children can see religious life as a real possibility. “I have a couple [ordained] buds who I hang out with as buds,” he says, “occasionally [they] come over for movie nights … and they’re also priests.”

Allow space for God to speak

Michelle Piccolo, a consecrated virgin in the Archdiocese of Detroit, remembers her journey of discernment. First, she spoke to her parish priest who put her in touch with the vocations director and she learned and grew from there. The parish she attended as a young adult would promote local retreats that helped young people listen to the voice of God. Even though she didn’t hear much about religious or consecrated life as a child, she feels like God placed people in her path who helped her discover where God was calling her today.

Vocations Sunday is an opportunity for parishes to walk alongside young people who are trying to navigate their future. Tread gently, encourage prayer, answer questions, and cultivate relationships with God.

In the Shadow of the Cross

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, April 10, 2022

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 22:14—23:56

The blessing and procession with palm branches is easily the element of Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord that most stands out for worshippers. Gathering outside the body of the church (when this is possible), the celebrant reminds us that our works of charity and self-sacrifice during Lent have helped bring us to this moment and to the beginning of the week that we call “holy.” And then, we again hear the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and the acclaim of the crowds who accompanied him. The branches we raise are blessed and we, too, accompany Jesus into the holy city adding our own joyful “Hosannas” to those sung out on that first “Palm Sunday.”

In her poem “Procession,” Janet Schlichting, OP, reflects that a procession — movement from place to place — is “a journey, distilled.” But what is the journey that our Palm Sunday procession is recalling? In one sense it is the movement that we, as believers, have experienced in our lives during the Season of Lent, advancing in our own spiritual journey. Beyond this more personal dynamic, however, the movement of our procession is an embodiment of what Pope Francis has called the “two-fold mystery” of this liturgy: “Joyful acclamations at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, followed by his humiliation. Festive cries, followed by brutal torture … two characteristic moments of today’s celebration: the initial procession with palm branches and the solemn proclamation of the Passion” (Homily, April 14, 2019).

It would be easy to see the triumphal tone of the entrance into Jerusalem — when even the “very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40) — as a grand conclusion of Jesus’ mission. But, as we know, his mission, his journey did not end there. And it is here, in this “distilled journey” with Jesus, that he shows us the way we are to go: the way of humility. As the second reading wonderfully reminds us, Jesus was walking a path that leads from “the form of God” to “the form of a servant,” and, in obedience, journeying along a path that led “unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). This is why Pope Francis could also reflect that Jesus “knows that true triumph involves making room for God and that the only way to do that is by stripping oneself , by self-emptying .”

Palm Sunday and Holy Week remind us that if we are to truly journey with Jesus, then we must also be willing to give up our own agendas and preferences and give ourselves over to God. The liturgies of these days make real for us that Christianity is not a set of doctrinal statements or an ideology, but a way of life which calls us out of ourselves and confronts our ideas about how the world should be.

In his Spiritual Diary, Blessed Francis Jordan , founder of the Salvatorians, reflected, “The works of God prosper only in the shadow of the cross.” This is a beautiful and remarkable image because, while it acknowledges the reality of the cross, with its humiliation, abasement, and death, it also speaks of a light shining behind and beyond the cross, which is not our final destination. The cross and its shadow are there, yes, but looking toward the light beyond we already glimpse the joyful light of the Paschal Mystery which illumines every moment of Holy Week and all of life.

Bro. Silas Henderson, SDS

PRAYER

Almighty, ever-living God,
you have given the human race Jesus Christ our Savior
as a model of humility.
He fulfilled your will
by becoming man and giving his life on the cross.
Help us to bear witness to you
by following his example of suffering
and make us worthy to share his resurrection.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Prayer for “Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday)” in Christian Prayer: The Liturgy of the Hours )

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Make a Way

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:30:00 GMT

What’s your comfort zone: emotionally, professionally, personally? We all have one. But did you realize that you can have one spiritually? Think about what you like and what you don’t particularly enjoy when it comes to church, prayer, and liturgy. We all have “those songs” we crinkle our noses at, either because they’re too modern or too old-fashioned. We all have “those people” in our parish whose ideas we aren’t so sure about, whether that’s because they’re trying to change too much or because they seem always to be looking toward the past. Also, when was the last time you sat on the OTHER side of the church during Mass?

As much as we may not want to admit it, even (and especially) as people of God, we get deeply attached to our own personal comfort zones — and we tend to view those outside with distrust.

But what if God had a comfort zone? What if He viewed us, in our sin and our misery, as too “far away” from Himself to reach? Thankfully, our God is a God who “opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters.” Our God is a God who does “something new.”

The call to stewardship demands that we look outside of ourselves. Our thoughts, our opinions, our preferences — these things are not important to the steward. Even if there is a vast, dry desert of discord, or a seemingly endless wasteland of opposing views between us and our neighbor, God challenges us to “make a way” out of our comfort zone, that together we may announce His praise.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Evangelization: Why does Beauty matter?

Thu, 31 Mar 2022 09:30:00 GMT

“To the hard of hearing you shout.”

When Fr. Connor Danstrom received his assignment to the St. John Paul II Newman Center in 2018, the building was fine. No major roof renovations were needed. No structural damage was present. The chapel in the building, used for Mass and other liturgical functions, was a classic mid-century modern interpretation: some light tan brickwork, carpet everywhere, a soft Resurrected Jesus raising his arms above the congregation. It was an adequate space.

The chapel sits amidst the stark concrete buildings of the University of Illinois-Chicago, a few steps from the university classrooms and hallways. The Newman Center’s community is a diverse segment of young Catholics — undergraduate and graduate alike gathering to meet, worship, and grow.

This past year, Fr. Danstrom arranged for a renovation of the chapel. The new crucifix now is surrounded by rich inlaid woodwork, framed by gold-foiled stenciling. Painted details, various marbles, and tile floors replace what came before. What used to be described as “cozy” has taken on a different feeling — now it is a reverent space of worship.

What was Fr. Danstrom’s inspiration? Why did he see it necessary to renovate something that was acceptably functional?

Fr. Danstrom’s first response to the posed question was a quote from Catholic American author Flannery O’Connor, “to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures.”

“In these days,” Fr. Danstrom says, “when there are so many distractions, people need something attractive enough to make them put down their phones or turn off their music, so they can get out of themselves and encounter the Lord.”

The cardinal who celebrated the dedication Mass commented that everyone seemed movingly prayerful in their new space. The Newman Center staff has received positive verbal feedback and, more importantly, the vote of feet — more people are attending daily Mass and Sunday Mass in the renovated chapel than before.

Fr. Danstrom expounds that in every age, the church has surrounded the Eucharistic mystery with art and music — beautiful paintings! Soaring chapels! Exquisite compositions! He continues, “in a particular way, now it is so easy to mute the richness of the mystery and to forget what’s going on — treat church like a meeting room or a place to listen to a homily — but this is a place to encounter the triune God where he gives you his flesh to eat.”

Catholics have long referred to beauty as one of the transcendentals , along with goodness and truth, the ways that God reveals Himself to the world. Beautiful spaces, beautiful liturgy, beautiful music, all of these can lead to deeper prayer and relationship with God Himself, as distractions are lessened, and attentions are directed to something great and profound.

Evangelization Requires an Investment

Edmundo Reyes, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Detroit, believes that “beauty is a pathway to God,” and that beauty can be used to evangelize, to invite others to an encounter with God.

“As Catholics we used to build beautiful Cathedrals,” he says, “we would invest significant resources and time because we believe that it’s good to honor God, and that beauty leads to Him. When you enter a beautiful Cathedral, your spirits are lifted.”

In a similar way, he says, we should want to lift people’s spirits through beautiful websites, inviting graphics, inspiring social media feeds, and lovely communications. Art, in its many forms — from massive buildings to hand-held graphics — can all point to God. What is important for the parish, then, is to understand the many facets and to respond accordingly.

What can that look like? Reyes recalls a reflection from a college professor. The professor stated that, while he had lived in a house all his life, that doesn’t mean that he knows how to build one. In other words: while most people may daily interact with websites or apps … it doesn’t mean that they know how to build them.

As such, it is important to find talented individuals who can help you achieve your goals. In the words of Reyes, “Don’t just get someone to use a tool, get the best person to use the tool.”

What would this look like in your parish?

Tap into your community and use the resources within your own neighborhood network. God has given your parish a diverse set of gifts to bring beauty to the world in a myriad of ways.

Your parishioners’ gifts are vast — gardening, painting, masonry, graphic design, website, etc. Allowing them to bring glory to God through their gifts builds their faith as it builds the community. Not sure who to ask? See if anyone is advertising in your bulletin, it’s a good place to see who cares about your community, and who is located nearby. And it’s a great way to say thank you to your advertisers!

Father Danstrom ended the conversation with a reference to a line from Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables . In the story, a caring and generous Bishop lives simply to care for the sick and poor. His small garden has several rows of vegetables, but he also has one row of flowers. A woman comments on the arrangement, surprised that he dedicated a row to flowers instead of vegetables, since vegetables could be used for eating.

The Bishop replies, “ You are mistaken. The beautiful is as useful as the useful.” He added after a pause, “More so, perhaps .”

Beauty … more useful then the useful in focusing our attention, uplifting our souls, and pointing us to God. The pursuit of this transcendental requires care and investment, but, in our world of distractions, it captivates the heart for the promise of more. Your parish is a blessed location. Investing in the beauty of your church can serve to direct the hearts and minds of your community to God in an inviting and gentle way.

The Love that Casts Out Fear

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, April 3, 2022

5th Sunday of Lent

Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

In Jesus, we do not find condemnation but restoration and healing.

The fullness of the love and mercy which Jesus came to bring is on display in this Sunday’s gospel reading . A woman who had been caught in adultery is dragged before Jesus. The penalty for her sin is that she be stoned to death. We can only imagine the shame and fear she felt. However, while the crowd stands in judgment over her, Jesus takes another posture. He stoops down. He brings himself down to her level. He refuses to stand in judgment of her. It was not to condemn sinners that Jesus came, but to bring them the Father’s love and mercy. And so, he scatters the crowd with his famous words, “Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.”

It is interesting that the gospel begins by telling us that Jesus had just spent the night praying on the Mount of Olives. If the name sounds familiar, it is because it is the same place where Jesus will experience his agony in the garden. As Jesus sees the woman dragged to him, he probably cannot help but think that soon this same crowd would be dragging him to judgment before Pontius Pilate. He probably cannot help but think that soon he will be made to stand beaten and humiliated before this same crowd as they shout out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Jesus knows all too well how bloodthirsty a crowd can be. He refuses to condemn the adulterous woman, no matter how grave her sin. Instead, he offers to die in her place by accepting the tortures of the cross. She can walk away free because he has taken upon himself the punishment for her sin.

We can very often feel shame and guilt like the adulterous woman. However, the crowd that condemns us is not always other people who have dragged us out and pointed fingers at us. Rather, the crowd is most often voices within us that criticize and accuse us. They are messages we have internalized over the years from parents, teachers, and our peers. Those voices tell us that we are not good enough, that we can never be truly holy because of the sins of our past. They tell us that we do not deserve to be forgiven and do not deserve to be loved. They tell us that we are so broken that not even God can fix us. Those voices try to isolate us from God and convince us that we can never have the joy, peace, and freedom He promises to those who love Him.

When the voices of the crowd and the stones of their condemnation are bearing down on us, we need to fly to Jesus. He alone can dispel all those negative messages and replace them with the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness. When we have sinned, it is not the time for us to avoid Jesus but to run to him and beg for his mercy. We can count on him to take our shame away and give us his peace, to take away our guilt and replace it with his joy, and to take away our despair and give us the hope that can only be found in him. We need not fear because he has taken on himself the punishment which we deserve. The one who gave his life to save us will spare nothing in order to restore our friendship with him. We can count on him to treat us with kindness and mercy no matter how shameful our sins may be.

Douglas Sousa

PRAYER

Loving Father,
You promise mercy and love
To all those who turn trustingly to You.
When we are tempted to pick up stones
Remind us of how much You have forgiven us.
When we hear the condemnation of the crowd,
Give us confidence that You are near.
When we feel the pressure of the world’s expectations,
Fill us with the desire to please You alone.
Use us to show Your mercy to all those
Who are burdened with shame and guilt.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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The Face on God’s Brochure

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 09:30:00 GMT

When a church is raising funds for a new building or a diocese is launching a stewardship appeal, there is usually someone — or several someone’s — who serves as the face of the campaign. Maybe it’s a married couple, or a family, or a group of folks who have been particularly active in the community and can speak to the worthiness of whatever endeavor is being undertaken.

Oftentimes, for better or worse, we fill that role for God. We are the face on the front of His promotional brochure. If we call ourselves Christians, that means that people will meet Christ through us. That’s what being an Everyday Steward is — a steward, everyday; someone who conducts his Master’s business when the Master is not seen.

It can be intimidating because we have so much baggage and no capabilities of our own. But then we remember that we are offered reconciliation through Christ — that “the old things have passed away, (and) new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We remember that we are the prodigal sons, and the fattened calf has been slaughtered on our behalf.

But it’s a role that requires commitment. The story of the prodigal son is only compelling and only means something because the son, presumably, embraced his reconciliation to his father. He didn’t go on to abandon him again.

So let us think to ourselves each day, “Whoever I encounter will meet Christ’s ambassador. I was dead and have come to life again. How can I speak to the worthiness of that reconciliation? How can I make others desire it?”

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Simple Ways Any Parish Can Upgrade Their Bulletin Design

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 14:10:00 GMT

Looking for simple tweaks that can make a big difference in your bulletin design and layout? Evan Vogel, Graphic Design Supervisor for LPi, was kind enough to chat about some ways that most parishes can easily improve the graphic design in their bulletin.

Evan has been practicing graphic design since high school, and professionally serving as a designer since graduating with his BFA. He has designed and rebranded bulletins for hundreds of parishes across the United States. Here is what he recommends adjusting for a more professionally designed layouts to parish bulletins.

First of all, why is good design and layout important for bulletins?

Evan reminds us that, “Outside of Mass, bulletins are the #1 communication tool for most churches.” Think of it: parishioners and visitors alike reach for the bulletin as they exit your church.

With that kind of importance, a good bulletin should look professional and help your parish communicate with the entire community what is important to your church.

What should a well-designed bulletin communicate?

Evan recommends thinking of your bulletin like a newsletter. It’s not just a folded paper that tells who is on staff and gives your official mailing address, it should also communicate that there’s activity and life in the parish. The bulletin should engage and inform your parishioners about what faith looks like in your community.

What simple design tweaks can almost instantly freshen up a bulletin?

Stoking the Lenten Fire

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 09:30:00 GMT

I get that. Maybe you’re fatigued — I am, too. Maybe you’re doing well in your resolutions and devotions but you’re in danger of coasting. Or maybe, like many of us this year or in past years, you don’t feel that you have even really begun your Lenten journey.

Either way, chances are that the fire that was in your belly on Ash Wednesday is burning a bit low. All fires eventually do, once they consume whatever fuels them. So here we would do well to remember what fuels our Lenten fire.

Sometimes we make resolutions that have the appearance of being spiritual, but also have an earthly motive. We give up chocolate hoping to lose weight. We stop gossiping so our friends may like us more. There is nothing wrong with these sacrifices — just with their motivations.

As Moses removes his sandals to approach the burning bush, he sees that the fire burns brightly, strongly — but does not consume. It is propelled by something inexhaustible, something which is not of this world.

Is your Lenten fire fueled by God? Are you daily surrendering yourself to the same voice that boomed from the bush in Genesis — the voice that commanded the Israelites to do what seemed like the impossible?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Mercy, Compassion, Generosity, and Patience

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 09:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, March 27, 2022

4th Sunday of Lent

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

The story of the Prodigal Son is familiar to all of us. We’ve heard it time and again. But sometimes we forget to look at the situation out of which this famous story comes. The beginning of today’s passage sets the scene. There were two groups of people around Jesus: the first group were the tax collectors and sinners, the second were the Pharisees and the scribes. It’s most interesting to me to note which verb is used by the text to describe the action of these two groups: the verb used to describe the action of the first group is “were drawing near,” the verb used to describe the action of the second is “began to complain.” We can surmise that one group was interested in what Jesus was saying, the other group wasn’t.

Pope Francis gives a striking insight when he comments about the religious professionals of Jesus’ day. “Belief in God and worship of God are not enough to ensure that we are actually living in a way pleasing to God … paradoxically, those who claim to be unbelievers can sometimes put God’s will into practice better than believers.”

But I’m curious about the pronoun used in verse 3 — who is the “them” that this parable is addressed? The first group? Or the second? I think Jesus was talking to both groups at the same time.

Perhaps both groups can be represented by the two sons in our story, the younger one and the older one. The younger one would eventually recognize his sinfulness and “draw near” to his father in that tender moment of return. The older one’s tone of voice has an edge of complaint in it if you examine it closely.

If we are honest with ourselves, we have the heart of both sons within our own. We cycle between repentance and arrogance (or stiff indifference at best) in the spiritual life. But more poignant than that is the steadfastness of the father’s character in his dealing with both the sons. It is the father’s person that is the striking character in the story. What mercy and compassion are lavished on the wayward son! What patience and generosity given to the older son! And so God the Father is with us!

Why does the Church give us this familiar passage to reflect upon during this season of Lent? Perhaps, it is given to us to remind us that both sons in our story have sinned, both experience the magnanimous character of the father, and I imagine that both are changed by it as they both are welcomed into the father’s house for the celebration. I can only imagine what the conversation was between these sons in the days following the party. They gave witness to each other of how they found themselves at the celebration.

We are all prodigals who have left the Father’s house in reality (like the younger son) or in our hearts and mind (like the older son). We all have stories of being proverbially lost and running in the wrong direction. But it helps us to be reminded that others are on the narrow path of faith as well. When we hear testimonies of how people overcame personal struggles, we are encouraged. If others can find God’s mercy in their troubles, then so can we.

The stories I’ve heard from people over the years are all unique … some are dramatic, others are poetic, and others are ‘normal.’ I am encouraged and edified by all the stories I’ve heard because it shows me that Christian faith has become real for these people. It also shows me how faith in Jesus transcends all human labels of people, limitations of personal character, and rationalizations of ideology. So, what’s your personal story of faith? How have you “drawn near” to Jesus, or how has he drawn near to you? Who needs to be encouraged by your testimony of what Jesus did in your life?

Br. John Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Heavenly and almighty God,
I come before you, humble and sorrowful,
aware of my sin, and ready to repent and change.
Lord, forgive me for I have sinned against you.
Wash away my sin, purify me,
and help me to turn from these patterns of sin.
Lead me to walk in your way,
leaving behind my old life and starting a new life in You.
Lord, you who are loving and just, show compassion upon me,
shower me with your mercy.
All this, I pray through your Son, Jesus Christ,
who came to save us from our sin.
Amen.

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5 Ways to Welcome Visitors This Easter

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 09:30:00 GMT

Easter Sunday is a profound and sacred day on our Church calendar, and that spark of glory is sometimes partnered with guests visiting your church who aren’t regular church goers. Some folks may be members of your congregation who you see from time-to-time, others might be out-of-town family members or newcomers to the neighborhood.

In 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o’clock on Sunday,” a reference to churches traditionally being spaces of segregation instead of unity. Most communities don’t purposely exclude, but, in the words of Indian-American Rakhi McCormick, a convert to Catholicism from the Hindi faith of her family — inclusion won’t “just happen,” it needs to be something carefully considered, especially since the experience of many Catholics reflects Eurocentric expression, representation, and devotion.

How can your parish prepare for Easter Sunday and visitors who may feel out-of-place in your community?

Dr. Ansel Augustine, Director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, offered these 5 tips for making your parish a welcoming space that lives out Christ’s command to “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)

Educate Ushers/ Ministers of Hospitality/ Parish Staff/ Ministry Leads on how to spot and welcome new people and families to Parish Events and Masses

Create (or update!) Welcome Materials to give to visitors with parish information

Collect their information…and follow up!

Invite them to be added to the parish email list and invite them to join a ministry in the church

Update the parish website so all the information is accurate and relevant

While our faith and the joy of the Resurrection have been celebrated for centuries, Dr. Ansel Augustine reminds us all that this is a new time in the Church, “As the pandemic lifts, there may be more ‘new folks’ coming to our parishes in the hopes that our faith could help them make sense of this ‘new normal,’ let us be aware of this reality, by teaching and preaching to our congregations, that all are welcome in God’s house, and to make sure that we engage with the new faces in a way that they feel welcomed and included in parish life.”

The Resurrection and Spiritual Hangriness

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 10:30:00 GMT

I want to talk about being hangry. I’ll give you a quick description of hangriness, though I warn you, it doesn’t come from the Oxford English Dictionary. Hangriness is when you’re so hungry you get angry. You turn into a real piece of work. You can’t get anything done and you’re probably not a joy to be around, at least until you grab a snack. Everybody gets this way sometimes.

We can be this way in our souls, too. It’s so easy to get distracted by the hungers of this world: greed, pride, anxiety. We can become ruled by the needs of our bodies and the desires of our mind and, in doing so, neglect the needs and the desires of our souls.

Everyday stewardship calls us to a constant reflection on the truth that we are not made for this world, as Christ clearly shows us in his Transfiguration. He reveals himself in his heavenly glory, just before he is going to be deprived of all earthly needs and wants — even his very life. He shows us that this is what we were meant for. This is what we are striving for.

Lent exists to remind us that we are not made for this world. When you become spiritually hangry — or as Scripture more eloquently puts it this week, when your mind is “occupied with earthly things” — turn your thoughts to the Transfiguration. I promise you, it’s even better than grabbing an energy bar.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Confession and the Fig Tree

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, March 20, 2022

3rd Sunday of Lent

Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Luke 13:1-9

Most of the sins I confess when I approach God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation are sins I committed on the way to approaching Him in the Eucharist.

Listen, I’m not proud of this, and I’m not making excuses. But it’s really hard getting a family of five out of their beds and into a church pew on a Sunday morning. Everyone has to be wearing clothes (usually clothes they don’t particularly enjoy). The long hair of little girls needs to be brushed and arranged (cue screaming). The little ones have to be fed and clutching whatever stuffed animal they have decided is The Chosen One this week, the magical talisman they assure me will help them be quiet and not dissolve into a shrieking meltdown just as Father elevates the Host (and — spoiler alert! — they usually have the shrieking meltdown anyway).

I say this in jest, partially — of course my sins are far more numerous in quantity, and often more serious in kind, than the orders I bark and the rebukes I hand down from the passenger seat of our van on a Sunday morning. But it’s only partially in jest, because here’s the cold, hard truth: I am consistently at my worst in that seat, in that moment, stressed out and tired and resentful. I’m laser-focused on the failures of the people I love and preoccupied with the weight of the burden I carry.

I’ve said some pretty terrible things to my husband in those moments, and I’ve snapped so hard at my kids that I’ve wondered if God even wants me to come to church that day. So, I take it all to Confession and I lay it out, and God embraces me and tells me we’ll try again next time.

But in recent months I’ve been plagued by an aversion to Confession — a restless self-consciousness that kept me away for longer than it should have. A voice was whispering: Why go in that little room and kneel down and say all the same things, over and over and over again, when you know you’re not strong enough to stop doing the very things you keep confessing? When you know you’re headed right back to the front seat of the van?

I shared this with the priest the last time I went to Confession. I literally told him: “I feel so lame coming in here and saying the same things over and over again. I mean the Act of Contrition when I say it, but then I go back out there and do it all again. I hate it.” What I left unsaid, but what I know he understood, was my real question: If this sacrament is working, why do I keep needing it?

God bless him for not rolling his eyes (maybe he did — I was behind the screen, after all). But he patiently explained to me that the sacrament is working exactly as it was designed, again and again and again. Because it brings me, kneeling, before the mercy of God — again and again and again. It is reminding me that I am not better than these temptations. I am not better than these failures. I am not better than these weaknesses.

I am the fruitless fig tree, slated for the ax. I exhaust the soil of the orchard. But still there is a Gardener who has not given up, who looks at me and says: “Wait — I’m not done with that one yet.”

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

My God, I firmly resolve
with the help of Thy grace
to sin no more
and to avoid the near occasion of sin.

— From the Act of Contrition

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Sharing Easter Joy: Tips for reaching out to your neighborhood on Easter weekend

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 10:30:00 GMT

There was never a greater act of evangelization than the first Easter Sunday, when the empty tomb sent a clear message to the whole world: God is alive. Your parish wants to send that same message, always and everywhere — and Easter is the perfect time. However secular or commercialized the holiday has become, its religious roots are undeniable and ubiquitous. Seize the moment and look for ways to engage with the wider community during a time when your church enjoys a period of high visibility, simply by virtue of being a Christian organization on the biggest holiday weekend of the spring season.

Process!

Processions offer a compelling public witness to our faith, and these traditions are included in the rites of Holy Week and Easter liturgies (Palm Sunday, the Easter Vigil, etc.). Make the most of this opportunity and plan your processions in a way that makes them as conspicuous and eye-catching as possible. Incorporate as much music and beauty as you can and encourage as many parishioners to turn out as possible. Be sure to alert community newspapers of this photo op, too (see more on that below!).

Plan a service opportunity

There is no better time to mimic Christ’s example of service than Holy Week and Easter. Focus on hyperlocal opportunities that will create interaction with individuals and organizations in close physical proximity to your parish. Get creative and think outside of the box: have the youth group bake cookies for local law enforcement or send out flyers to residents in the surrounding blocks asking if anyone needs help with yardwork or chores. Call local senior centers and inquire if anyone needs transportation to Holy Thursday Liturgy. Explain the parish’s desire to share Easter joy and honor the self-giving love of our Savior … and let your acts of service do the rest of the talking.

Invite the community to Mass

Put up simple signage advertising Holy Week and Easter services and provide yard signs for parishioners to do likewise. Consider an eye-catching tagline like “Easter: Not Just About a Bunny!” Signs on the church property can use language that specifically welcomes newcomers or those who have been away from Mass — let it be known that all are welcome. Challenge each parishioner to lovingly (and without pressure) personally invite one person in their life to church this holiday.

Pitch a story idea to your local paper

Every parish is full of stories — what stories does yours have to share? Maybe it’s the 42nd consecutive year that Clem has played the organ at the Easter Vigil, or the fifth year that all three of the Smith kids have served at the Triduum services. Local newspapers love to hear timely human-interest pitches like these, and it’s a great opportunity for evangelization.

Be ready for the new parishioners your efforts bring into your church this Easter, check out our blog From Visitor to Parishioner: Online Registration for Easter .

It Is Good We Are Here

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, March 13, 2022

2nd Sunday of Lent

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Philippians 3:17—4:1 or Philippians 3:20—4:1
Luke 9:28b-36

Jesus guided Peter, James, and John up the mountain to pray. There Jesus was transfigured before them — showing his glorified self with his face changing in appearance and his clothes becoming dazzling white — a foreshadowing his heavenly appearance. What a glorious moment for all to behold, and for us two thousand years later to witness as we read the detailed description offered through the Scriptures. The Lord’s “face shone like the sun,” ( Matthew 17:2 ), and “His garments became white as light” (Matthew 17:2); “dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them” ( Mark 9:3 ).

As if the sight of their transfigured friend and master were not enough, suddenly standing alongside Jesus were Moses and Elijah. These men represented the law and the prophets —Moses, one of the greatest of the lawgivers, alongside Elijah, one of the greatest of the prophets. Both figures from salvation history shared encounters with God on a holy mountain and experienced an exodus. Both represented significant moments in salvation history and prefigured Jesus’ mission.

How could the three apostles not doubt what their eyes observed? The mystical works of our unfathomable God are often unexplainable and even inconceivable, yet that does not make them any less magnificently true! We may not be witnesses to Jesus transfigured upon the mountain, but that does not mean we do not glimpse his glory as we gaze upon him in the Eucharist. How often have we looked upon the consecrated Host, which we know through faith to be the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and doubted? We behold an ordinary wafer of bread, our senses fight to accept what we cannot see, and we ask whether Jesus is truly present before us.

Peter, James, and John, followers, disciples, and friends of God incarnate, were now privileged to stand in the presence of the living God in all his heavenly glory. As they stood bewildered, God’s voice broke through a cloud overshadowing them, with the words, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Jesus had asked them to hold everything they had witnessed in their hearts until the appropriate time to share. Because the Apostles and countless disciples witnessed, believed, and shared, we too can now hold fast to our hope in the joyful faith that the One we behold in the Eucharist is indeed Jesus — actually present and not a symbol.

This transfiguring moment is more than history, something special only for those who participated, but holds meaning for every Christian who continues to hear the Good News. It shows the glory of God revealed in the Son, Jesus, and furthermore provides a peek into what awaits all who persevere in faith — accepting the law and the prophecies. In believing Jesus is the beloved Son of God, in whom God is well pleased and opening our ears and hearts to listen to him.

During our Lenten journey, we, too, are shown the glory of God and given an outpouring of grace. As we participate in Mass or visit Jesus in the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit will help us see Who appears before us if we quiet our hearts and listen. These sweet glimpses shed light and offer anchors of hope even when the world around us seems dark and confused. Regardless of our circumstances or whatever we lack in understanding our faith — God is always with us, especially when in the presence of the Eucharist. Although Peter may have been slightly off in his assessment of the situation that day, he did get one thing right, “Master, it is good that we are here.” Master, it is very good, you are here!

Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Jesus, mystically present in the Eucharist,
transform my heart to hope and trust
what I cannot see yet, will one day truly be.
Jesus, with whom God is well pleased,
I beg the grace always to believe, listen,
and serve you.

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Filling the Basket This Lent

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Lent calls us into deeper everyday stewardship because it beautifully creates opportunities to be mindful of the call of Christ in even the most mundane moments of our day.

Many of us will participate in the time-honored tradition of doing penance, or “giving something up” for Lent. When we do this, we are mimicking the Israelites who filled their baskets with the first fruits of their harvest, “and having set them before the Lord, your God, (bowing) down in his presence” (Deuteronomy 26:10).

What are we going to bring before the Lord this Lent? What are our first fruits?

If you’re struggling with ideas for how to “fill your basket,” it can help to come at the problem from the opposite side. Take a look at the six characteristics of Everyday Stewardship and think about the moments in your day when you fail to fulfill the virtues to which they call you.

What is keeping you from being mindful of the call of Christ throughout your day? I promise you, if you listen, you’ll hear it more than once.

What is keeping you from being prayerful? When you have set your first fruits before the Lord, what keeps you from bowing down in His presence to finish the offering?

What keeps you from being grateful — especially of the small things that so often go unnoticed?

What keeps you from being gracious, from leaving people smiling as they walk away?

What keeps you from being committed and accountable? Where do your excuses come from and what makes you indulge them?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Fresh Ideas for Your Spring FUNdraiser

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Time to put the fun back in fundraising. Many parishes and church organizations require additional monies to properly serve their community but worry about how people may respond to them reaching out for assistance beyond the weekly collections. However, instituting a more playful approach can yield positive gains.

Here are seven (plus) innovative, delightful, easy, with great profit-potential, ways to raise funds for your parish or organization:

Community Mosaic or Quilt

Families pay to participate in the community project for this fundraiser. Parishes can charge a specific fee; however, some may find they collect more donations if they leave the amount at the discretion of those participating. Decide what medium you’d like the project to be created from; possible choices include ceramic tiles for a group mosaic or cotton or muslin fabric for a quilt. The participation kit will include either a blank tile or a piece of fabric, instructions on expectations for finished contributions, what supplies are needed to complete the project, and the deadline for the tiles or quilt squares to be returned. Tiles can be part of a more significant collective theme or entirely at the participant’s discretion. When complete, host an event for the big reveal of the assembled mosaic or quilt.

Online (or in-person) Class

Hire a professional or realize a higher profit margin by tapping into qualified volunteers to teach classes on any number of subjects — cooking, art, photography, knitting, web design, the possibilities are endless!

Art Show and Auction

Speaking of talented parishioners, what about hosting an art or photography gallery. Pieces can be sold or auctioned, with proceeds or a percentage of the profits, going to your fundraising efforts.

Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt can be done online (through pictures) or offline (in person). Create a list of items (or mix it up with riddles) needed to complete the hunt. Funds are raised through entry fees; for added fun (and funds), hunters can make an additional donation to receive special clues.

Fundraising with Food

Everyone loves a celebration, especially when there is food involved. Consider hosting a fancy gala, backyard BBQ, ice cream social, or a bake or cook-off. Have a kitchen at your disposal? What about a pop-up restaurant? Select a typically busy night for families when there might be a demand for having a delicious, home-cooked, yet reasonably priced meal ready to pick up and take home would be advantageous. Or leave the cooking up to someone else! Organize a Food Truck Event with a percentage of sales going to your nonprofit. Perhaps include music, a movie, or games! In addition to helping meet financial goals, these events create incredible opportunities for building community!

Games

Bingo isn’t the only game churches can play! Organize a board game tournament — chess, checkers, monopoly, even a ‘bring your own game” option. Create your own version of “family feud” with either families from your parish or build community by assembling teams of “church families” from different organizations around the parish or randomly build ‘families’ from attendees — what a demonstration of how we are all part of God’s family.

Tournaments

Tournament possibilities include wiffleball, volleyball, soccer, corn hole, ping pong, basketball, just to name a few. Much of the required equipment to play these games are available for rent. Offer separate rounds for adults and children, especially in contact-type sports, to keep everyone safe, and it spreads out the fun.

For most of the ideas listed above, money is raised through sponsorships — either of the event itself or of a particular participant. In addition, monies can be collected through entrance fees. To increase your bottom line, when appropriate, consider providing an opportunity to purchase food as well as cash or gift basket raffles. Whatever you choose, and you don’t need to limit yourself to one, remember to keep fun at the forefront of all your plans.

Growing Pains

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, March 6, 2022

1st Sunday of Lent

Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Romans 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13

We forget that to be human means to accept our growing pains. We are incomplete, works in progress. Our lives are never entirely integral, whole, and perfectly constructed creations but a diverse collection of broken pieces. If not welcomed with love, our necessary incompleteness can propel us to consistently, and sometimes compulsively, seek control and satisfaction.

Who am I? Who made me? What is my purpose? These are pivotal and fundamental questions that must be asked and adequately answered. Life’s illusions and empty pleasures can distract us from discovering their real answers. When faced with important choices we are tempted to leave the truth of who we are and who God is aside. Achieving self-sufficiency, power, and prestige can appear to be the perfect fix to the loneliness, angst, and emptiness we experience. Any lie can pretend to be true. But this lie can only keep up its pretense for a short time. At some point, it will be seen as the shallow, self-destructive falsehood. Sometimes it’s easier to replace our true God with the one we carry in our back pocket, the god we created ourselves.

We like control and satisfaction. One of the most significant sources of anxiety is the absence of control. We’re afraid that we are going to fall apart. We instinctively know that we are a conglomeration of broken pieces rather than a complete whole, but we’re scared to admit it. We don’t want to appear vulnerable. This gives attractions and lures their power. Forgetting who God is increases the temptation to believe the lie. In the end, it is not the foundation of our homes that will support us but the foundation of our souls. Therein lies the mystery and beauty of what it means to be human. Our peace, tranquility, purpose, and identity are not tied to the world but to our Creator. Nothing outside can satisfy and provide better than what comes from within.

We forget some of the fundamentals that can keep us from making wrong choices and falling victim to evil in disguise. Who am I? A child of God. Who made me? God made me. What is my purpose? To know and serve my Creator. While these may appear to be simplistic, they are not. For if we can keep these questions and their answers firmly rooted in our minds, hearts, and souls they can be game changers for how we approach the things of this world and life’s challenges. We can easily forget who is in charge and to whom we belong. This is the highest and worst of the illusions. Once we give ourselves or others more importance than is rightfully theirs, we quickly stumble down the path of sin. Sin is ultimately an absence of desire for God manifested in various intensities. Once other things become more desirable in fulfilling our well-being, purpose, and happiness, we are in trouble.

Temptation does not need to be our enemy. It can become a means to salvation! St. Basil remarks, “As the pilot of a vessel is tried in the storm, as the wrestler is tried in the ring, the soldier in the battle and the hero in adversity, so is the Christian tried in temptation.” Here is the reason for Lent: to make temptation our friend. There is no doubt that we sin, even though we often prefer to forget or deny that fact. We are sinners. Given that fact, every temptation becomes an opportunity to choose either for grace or sin. The more we can choose virtue over vice, good over evil, truth over lies, and others over ourselves, the stronger we will become. Properly confronting and dealing with temptation builds Christian character. Ironically, when we build strong Christian character, we gain control and satisfaction. They come from within.

Ryan Stevenson performs a great song entitled “ Eye of the Storm .” Life will always present us with challenges, lures, and promises to tempt us, causing us to succumb to weakness. But when we put God first and give God proper thanks and worship, we are given a strong anchor and no longer need to be afraid. “In the eye of the storm, you remain in control. And in the middle of the war, you guard my soul. You alone are the anchor when my sails are torn. Your love surrounds me in the eye of the storm.” What we ultimately need more of is love. What we need less of are the cheap imitations that look like it. Love, who is God, fortifies us and keeps us from falling. We come to know and believe that we are guided and led, kept and sustained by a God who is incredibly in love with all he has made. We need to own this truth, and it must be born in our souls.

God is not going to intrude on our space. We have to make the room. Our lives can keep us extremely preoccupied, distracted, confused, tired, conflicted, and task driven. Our existence becomes tied to devices. We interact more with things than with people. We lose touch with the flesh and bones of humanity and risk seeing people more as objects than unique artistic creations. We are becoming widgets who are required to produce and function. There is less time for creativity, imagination, deep thinking, reflection, and focusing our attention on truth. We may even be forgetting how to do these things. This is why we so desperately need Lent. When was the last time you were creative? When did you allow your imagination to soar? When did you last take time to ponder life’s more profound questions, to throw yourself into God’s presence, or consider whether you are really making the right choices?

We can be so easily swayed and convinced that we are walking down the right path and grazing in the right pasture. For all of our supposed brilliance and intelligence, we are easily fooled. We lunge for the attractive and believe that we are entitled to whatever we want. We pretend that emptiness and imperfection do not exist. All that we are and all that we have, especially our poverty, we place before the Lord. “And, having set them before the Lord, your God, you shall bow down in his presence.”
Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Eternal God, the refuge and help of all your children,
we praise you for all you have given us,
for all you have done for us,
for all that you are to us.
In our weakness, you are strength,
in our darkness, you are light,
in our sorrow, you are comfort and peace.
We cannot number your blessings,
we cannot declare your love:
For all your blessings we bless you.
May we live as in your presence,
and love the things that you love,
and serve you in our daily lives;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

( St. Boniface )

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Planted in the House of the Lord

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Grocery delivery apps are all the rage these days, and I can’t deny the convenience of tapping your finger a few times and seeing your week’s shopping dropped on the doorstep. But there is one aspect of this trend that seems to make a lot of shoppers nervous — fruits and vegetables.

A lot of us have strong opinions on our fresh produce and aren’t ready to delegate this highly subjective selection process to a total stranger. My father was a produce manager and I remember as a child learning about the complexities of choosing correctly. Getting a bad bag of under ripe tomatoes after shopping on an app could easily sour one on the whole idea.

Forrest Gump said life is like a box of chocolates. I say, we’re all like grab-bags of produce dumped on someone’s doorstep — but if we’re Christians who live our faith publicly, we’re stamped with the name of God. If your thumb is green enough, you know that you can tell a lot about a gardener from the produce he grows. We who are planted in the house of the Lord — what do we reveal about our Gardener?

What do our actions show of His teachings? What do our words reflect of His voice? What does our strength reveal of the soil from which we sprang and the life-giving waters that nourished us?

When we open ourselves up to those we encounter, let’s make a special effort to show the care we have had — lest our peers come away from the experience thinking God doesn’t know how to garden, when in reality, it’s us who don’t always know how to grow.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Supporting Your Team: Protecting Against Burnout

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

The adage, 20% of the people are often the people doing 80% of the work, only partially applies to parish staff. These dedicated men and women are the segment of the 20% willingly offering beyond 100% of themselves! And, it goes without saying, the last few years have only taken everything to a whole new level. You’ve probably noticed signs of stress and fatigue as your staff continues to navigate ever-evolving information and protocols, all while maintaining their regular tasks and responsibilities. While there is no doubt their dedication to their roles comes from a deep love of the faith and the people they serve, they still need to be cared for and supported.

Here are a few ideas to help safeguard your staff from burnout:

Infuse Fun

Brainstorm with your staff fun activities that require no (or minimal) planning, come with no (or low) cost, can include everyone, are easy to implement, and will, most importantly, lift everyone’s spirits! Need some ideas? Take a page from the Catholic schools’ ever-popular theme days, which can be removed or hidden, should you have an unexpected meeting, such as crazy hat day or mix match sock day. Place the ideas in a jar, and once a month (or week), pick one out.

Show Appreciation

Simple gestures of gratitude go a long way — whether a verbal acclamation, a token of appreciation such as a small gift, a card, or a hand-written note. As a Catholic organization, you have the unique opportunity to bless your staff, literally; if you are a priest, take a moment to offer a blessing over your team at the beginning of each workweek or invite your pastor to offer a workplace blessing.

As a token of appreciation, consider periodically surprising each staff member with a special sacramental, a Mass for their intention, or a promise of prayer. While these tangible gifts of thanks may be spread throughout the year, we should offer words of affirmation, gratitude, and encouragement far more frequently. Never assume your staff knows how much you appreciate their hard work; it is always better to over-communicate, especially when it comes to kudos and kindness.

Prayer Benefits

Jesus, early in his public ministry, demonstrates the importance of taking time, regardless of how busy we are, to recharge and remain focused on the mission through prayer. “And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35) St. Francis de Sales once said, “Every one of us needs half an hour of prayer a day, except when we are busy — then we need an hour.”

Creating opportunities for prayer, especially during exceptionally hectic seasons of parish work, not only demonstrates the parish practices what it preaches but provides time for the staff to reenergize. Consider establishing a monthly (or weekly) Adoration holy hour, staff-only Mass, or group recitation of the Rosary for parish and staff’s intentions.

Build Community

Even when surrounded by people, we can feel isolated, which can drain the enthusiasm and motivation from anyone. After two years of many staff working remotely or staggering times in the office, finding ways to bring people together has become vital. Consider arranging to share a meal at the parish or a local restaurant with your team. Doing weekly check-ins, in person or via video chat, is essential, especially for the staff continuing to work from home. Gatherings do not need to be lengthy, a few minutes to catch up on where everyone is at is hugely beneficial. These check-ins can also be preventive measures against any issues escalating and further attributing to work-place depletion.

Facilitate Staff Self-Care

Workplace stress affects us mentally, spiritually, as well as taking a toll on our bodies. A great antidote to this is including physical activity throughout our day. Try to encourage movement throughout the day, maybe institute a friendly step-count challenge, or, if possible, organize a weekly staff stroll, preferably outside.

In addition, assure everyone takes their allotted time off, especially those members of your team required to be on-site for weekend activities. Implement a “no call on days off” policy, either calling into the office or someone at work calling the off-duty staff for non-emergency situations. God instituted a day of rest for our good, so whether you can take it on Sunday, or your role requires you to move it to Monday, foster this good habit which, along with the many other ideas shared here, will help you support your staff to ward off burnout.

Give Us This Joyful Season

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, February 27, 2022

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sirach 27:4-7
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
Luke 6:39-45

It seems that, in many ways, we would be hard-pressed to have better readings for the Sunday before Lent begins. These teachings of Jesus—on judging others and the fruitfulness of our lives—help round out the sixth chapter of Luke and what we now know as Jesus’ “sermon on the plain.” Here, we find Jesus inviting us to reflect on the movements taking place within our minds and hearts, particularly with regard to how we relate to other people.

The Season of Lent is a time for Christians to “get back to basics,” focusing on the quality of our discipleship. This means that Lent isn’t an end in itself. Rather, Lent—which comes from an Old English word meaning “springtime” — is ultimately oriented toward our celebrations of the Resurrection at Easter and our renewal of our Baptism Promises on Easter Sunday. We are reminded of this by the words of the Mass, as we recall that God “gives us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed… as we recall the great events that gave us new life in Christ” (Preface of Lent I).

As we know, the traditional bona opera (“good works”) of Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These actions focus our attention on what is most important in our relationships with God and others, while enabling us to set aside some of the “stuff” that consumes our time and energy, or which distract us from what is truly important. To that end, this Sunday’s First Reading and Gospel can help reflect on the movements of our heart that should guide these acts of penance and charity, especially as we think about what might be obscuring our spiritual vision and preventing us from recognizing the sometimes-hard truths about where we might be in our journey of faith and commitment to follow Jesus on the path of conversion.

With this in mind, we can also look to our Second Reading, taken from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians as a reminder that the grace of conversion called for by the Season of Lent comes to us only through the victory of Christ and it is by this grace that we know “that in the Lord [our] labor is not in vain” ( 1 Corinthians 15:58 ). As Pope Francis reflected in his 2019 Message for Lent : “Let us not allow this season of grace to pass in vain! Let us ask God to help us set out on a path of true conversion. Let us leave behind our selfishness and self-absorption, and turn to Jesus’ Pasch. Let us stand beside our brothers and sisters in need, sharing our spiritual and material goods with them. In this way, by concretely welcoming Christ’s victory over sin and death into our lives, we will also radiate its transforming power to all creation.”

In essence, these readings are inviting us to look at our lives and on the realities of the world around us with clear eyes (see Luke 6:41-42 ) and to reflect on the fruit of our lives. Are there areas in our lives that need to be more carefully nurtured and tended? Are their “branches” that need to be pruned, so that other areas of our lives — including our prayer and ministry — can be more fruitful? How can we more effectively respond to the needs of those around us, sharing our time, talent, and material goods to help others to bear greater fruit in their own lives?
Br. Silas Henderson

PRAYER

Grant us, O Lord, we pray,
that the course of our world
may be directed by your peaceful rule
and that your Church may rejoice,
untroubled in her devotion.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal )

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Thanking God for Missing Spears

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Imagine how Saul must have felt when he awoke from his sleep and saw his spear missing from its resting place. Now imagine how he felt when he realized that the person who had it was the same person seeking his life — and there he sat, safe and sound. Now there’s a day you don’t forget your morning prayers.

I think if we look, we can all find a “missing spear moment” in our lives, when it hits us right in the gut that God has kept us safe from an impending disaster. This can be physical disaster, sure — but more commonly, I think it is spiritual disaster. Often the salvation comes through the gift of a person, or people, through whom God reveals His mercy.

When I was in high school, I had a circle of friends who were really into their faith. We were all in youth ministry together, and the bond we shared taught me a lesson that changed me as a person: we become those with whom we associate. I can look back now, all these years later, and see that these people are evidence of God’s hand in my life.

Take a look at your life. In whose love has God shown you comfort? By whose hand has God brought you closer to Him, or kept you away from harm? Through whose friendship has God shaped you into the person you are?

Let’s strive to remember to thank God for these people — and to thank them, too.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Tips for Targeted Email Messaging

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

In 1976, Queen Elizabeth II was the first head of state to send an email.

That was 46 years ago.

In that time, most businesses in the developed world have followed suit. As of 2021, the number of email users worldwide was 4.03 billion . In the United States, 90% of citizens aged 15-64 use email, and 84% of citizens 65+.

These numbers come with heavy implications for churches. In many ways, email is an important communication method often overlooked via several common excuses, for example: “Our congregation is too old/ young/ modern/ outdated,” ignores the fact that 90% Americans are using email as a primary form of digital activity . In fact, when workers in the United States are asked if they check personal emails during work hours — 92% confess that they do.

Most of your community has email addresses, and they check their email. But what can you do to get them to open parish communications? Try targeted email messaging.

What is targeted email messaging?

To understand targeted email messaging, it’s helpful to look at a sample scenario. Picture this:

There are two women in your congregation. You have the email address for one, Sarah, because she just moved to town and signed up for marriage prep with her fiancé. The second woman is Kathy, she has 4 kids and is the favorite field trip mom at your school.

You have three messages to email this week:
1. A message that forms for the children’s field trip need to be turned in
2. An invitation for a Young Adult Mass on Wednesday
3. An informational message about a Women’s Retreat next month.

If Sarah (our young new member) gets too many emails about school matters, she may stop opening your emails. And, if Kathy (our rockstar mom) gets too many emails about Young Adult events, she may stop opening your emails.

That’s where targeted email messaging enters.

Why does it work?

Targeted email messaging allows you to place each person into categories that they will find relevant and meaningful. Common categories or “audiences” or “segments” could center around ministries, ages, or other demographics. For instance, all members of the Youth Group could be placed in a category, or all members of your Knights of Columbus chapter, or all lectors. Of course, there are times when it’s necessary to email every member of your congregation for example, a power outage or a cancellation. But resisting the urge to email every member with every detail means that your messages will be regarded with more value in the long run.

How? Because then your members know that you’re speaking more directly to them. So, they trust you more, they respond more, they engage more.

How can you get started?

If you’re inspired to get started with targeted messaging but need some help in the email list department, check out Top 10 Ways to Encourage Parishioners to Share Their Email Address .

Planted Near Water

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

We all know that there are times when life can feel, as Jeremiah writes, empty and wasted. There are moments when we think we resemble a barren bush, thirsting in the desert sun.

That’s why it is imperative for us to know the location of our water source. I promise you, it’s closer than you think. God never planted a seed in barren ground.

For me, it’s the Mass. Going to Mass is where I find total peace and renewal. I don’t have any great theological explanation for this — Mass is simply where I can truly rest in God for a time, where nothing and no one in the world can touch me. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s in the toughest times that I need Mass the most — that my roots stretch harder for that water.

Woe to the rich, says Jesus — woe to the popular, to the content, to the happy. It’s not because He hates to see us smile. It’s because He knows our humanity. He knows our limitations. He knows that when things are going really well, we often stop looking for God.

What replenishes you as a disciple, as a steward, as a Christian? If it feels far away or hard to reach, why is that? How can you bring it closer?

We are all trees planted near water, to yield our fruit in due season. Let’s pray for the strength to know where our water source is, and to seek it both in good times and in bad.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Courage to Forgive

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, February 20, 2022

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Luke 6:27-38

It does not take courage to exact revenge; rather, it takes courage to forgive and seek true justice.

In today’s gospel , Jesus compels us to fight evil through the power of good. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Our society tends to view evil as strong and goodness as weak. Hollywood films depict the strong woman or man as the one who refuses to forgive and who violently seeks revenge on all who harmed them. However, nothing could be further from the truth. It is easy to hold a grudge. Even children are capable of doing that. On the contrary, it is difficult to forgive. It is hard to love those who want to harm us. Despite what Hollywood tells us, it does not take courage to seek vengeance on someone. Rather, it takes courage to forgive. Only a strong person has the power to forgive, to turn the other cheek, and to choose love over hate.

Forgiveness and love are powerful forces for change in society. Sometimes change can happen through violence. People will sometimes behave differently because they are afraid. However, that type of change is short-lived. Eventually people become resentful of having to live in fear and find ways of striking back. In the end, violence only leads to more violence. The history of the world is rife with many examples of just how futile violence can be.

In contrast, love can bring healing, justice, and peace to our world. Just ask the countless Christian witnesses who have chosen the path of love — Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Saint Pope John Paul II, and Dorothy Day. When we choose to forgive, it unleashes the hope of reconciliation. Our enemies come to understand that we are not a threat to them. We begin to see each other not as competitors but as brothers and sisters. By God’s grace, history is full of examples of how forgiveness can change society for the better.

Many of us carry bitterness in our hearts toward someone who has hurt us. We may even dream of the day when we can get revenge on them. It is natural for us to want those who have hurt us to feel for themselves the pain they have inflicted on us. But revenge never gives us satisfaction. It only strengthens the hate and resentment within us. Our inability to forgive only gives those who hurt us more power over us. When we choose to forgive, we set ourselves free from the power of those who have hurt us. For that reason, forgiveness is really the ultimate revenge.

It is up to us, the baptized followers of Jesus, to change the world through the power of forgiveness and love. Jesus himself gives us his example of merciful love that turns an act of unspeakable violence — the cross — into the moment of the world’s salvation. That is what we celebrate today — a merciful God who saves us through love. That is the commitment we made at our baptism — to follow Jesus’ example until the whole world knows the merciful love of God. To make that happen, we are even willing to love our enemies.

Douglas Sousa

PRAYER

Heavenly Father,
You are kind and merciful.
Make us kind and merciful.
You pardon our iniquities
Give us the courage to forgive those who hurt us.
You heal all our ills.
May we strive to heal others.
You redeem us from destruction.
May we work to redeem this world
Which faces the destructive forces of violence.
May we be compassionate
As You, Lord, are compassionate,
So that the world may see another way
To resolve conflict and division —
The way of love,
The way of the cross.
Amen

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Engaging Volunteers: Is It a Generation Thing?

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

As much as we may not want to admit it, sometimes age is more than just a number. Generational differences shape our worldview, and we bring those characteristics with us to church. They can manifest in how we worship, how we serve and how we interact with the people and entities around us.

So, when building and activating an effective parish volunteer base, it’s important to take note of the different experiences and priorities inherent in each generational experience. A lifelong parishioner who still remembers the pre-Vatican II days will not have the same gifts and aspirations as a college student who loves devotional podcasts. Both volunteers bring their own charism to the job, equally important to your parish — but the act of engaging them in the work could look very different.

Baby Boomers (Born approximately 1946 to 1964)

It may be the case that this generation represents your parish’s “church elders,” but the chances are they don’t see themselves that way. For decades, the Baby Boomers represented the newness and youth of the “post-conciliar” liturgical and social movements, and that designation is a source of pride for many. Baby Boomers came of age during a time when lay involvement in parish administration was still controversial, and they want their contributions to matter. Boomers are either at or approaching retirement age , so they may find themselves with more free time to fill. They also represent a wealth of professional knowledge and expertise that can be useful to your parish. Boomers are also more financially well-off than their counterparts of previous generations so may be more open to financial stewardship than younger parishioners.

Gen X (Born approximately 1965 to 1980)

Gen X is often called “the forgotten generation,” sandwiched between the larger and more notorious Boomers and Millennials — but you definitely don’t want to forget about the Gen Xers at your parish. These folks are technologically literate , more likely to be college-educated than their parents, and are ascending to the peak of their professional careers. They are more likely than millennials to be religious and more likely to make room in their life for daily prayer, though the vast majority do not report being involved in any kind of regular religious study or education group. Chances are the Gen Xers in your parish are resourceful and well-connected, used to getting the job done without much supervision (they were the ones to give rise to the famous term “latchkey kid,” after all), and able to give more freely of their time and treasure than millennials.

Millennials (Born approximately 1980 to 1995)

Within Catholic circles, millennials often have the reputation of being more “traditionally minded” — but if that is true, it’s because millennials’ experience of the modern church and the world at large is often vastly different than their parents’ was. Millennials came of age in the wake of 9/11, as the economy crumbled, and the church was splashed across headlines in scandal after scandal. Churchgoing millennials are the exception to the rule , so they are unique among their friends or fellow Catholic school graduates in remaining observant. They are currently the biggest part of the American workforce so their time is often limited to the weekends and after work; at the same time, the majority of millennials learn less and carry more debt than previous generations, so they may see giving of their time as more feasible than giving monetarily.

Generation Z (Born approximately 1997-2012)

Despite being “digital natives” who likely don’t remember the days before the world was connected via social media, Gen Z-ers have a unique appreciation for the importance of meaningful human interaction. And while this generation may account for low church attendance rates, that doesn’t mean religion has no place in their lives. This group views the world through the lens of relationships. “If you ask any young person what they enjoy…their answer will be time spent with their peers, time doing things ‘that matter,’” said a priest involved in youth ministry. Research reports a low confidence in traditional institutions (including organized religions) but a high degree of confidence in those people and groups who make them feel heard . “One thing I heard for sure from Gen Z volunteers was: give us more responsibility,” said one parish leader. “Consult us. Don’t just tell us what you need. Let us be a part of the process.”

Volunteers are at the heart of our parishes, knowing a little about how the people of your church might approach volunteering will help you harness their power and build a more vibrant community. Check out New Ways to Recruit Parish Volunteers for some more valuable tips.

Living in Paradox

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, February 13, 2022

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 17:5-8
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26

There’s a lyric from a song recently released by one of my favorite worship bands: “I found my life when I laid it down / Upward falling spirit soaring / I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground.” ( Hillsong UNITED, 2015 ). I was struck deeply by those lines in the chorus, but it wouldn’t be for a few years that I would really start to understand how deep those simple lyrics can be for any serious Christian.

Here in our monastery, we talk about how the Christian life is paradoxical, it is a different way of being human (cf. St. Maximos the Confessor ). It tends to run contrary to rational thinking … not as a means of discarding it, but by transcending its inherent limitations so that God’s Will could be made manifest here on earth. The notion of paradox is difficult for us to understand because we live in a cultural climate where risk is measured by a profitable return, where pragmatism champions discipline, where image and perception define success. Today’s Gospel teaching is another one of those “showstoppers” precisely because it runs contrary to what we prefer.

You might be thinking to yourself, “How is the Kingdom ‘mine’ in poverty? We don’t live in abject poverty as in some third world country.” “How am I ‘blessed’ when my reputation is smeared all over social media?” I, too, scratch my head when I read things like this. But then I remember that Jesus not only taught these things, he also lived them out! His happiness was precisely in that he was totally free of human compulsions towards unrestricted pleasures, a celebrity reputation, financial prosperity and security, or even undisciplined emotional habits. He invites us to live his freedom, and perhaps in some small way, we also want that for ourselves. Yet maybe, we are too afraid to make the break from “our ways” to “his way.” It seems like such an impossibility to follow Jesus, while we have a desire for his life, there’s that ‘something’ that holds us back.

Jesus “came down” (v 17) … and he invites us to do the same. What pedestals of self-exaltation do we need to come down from? Jesus “raises his eyes towards his disciples” (v 20) … meaning, he’s looking at us too. Are his eyes stern in judgement towards us for sins unknown or unrepented? Or are his eyes tender in compassion, knowing how frail and weak our character is? Hopefully, there’s a little of both … more of the latter, but enough of the former.

“I had stacked some rocks out at this little place in the woods, a place I had gone to pray, desperate for God to do something, to show up, or to have some sort of breakthrough. As I was praying, I remember smelling cedar so strong it distracted me from my prayer.
I looked around to see this little cedar tree that had been snapped in half from my stepping in there. That was where the smell was coming from. It was a tangible sign of grace. I wrote down on a little notepad “the fragrance of the broken.” (Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect , Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008, p. 439.)

Paradox … we touch the heavens when we fall on our knees, we are rich when we are poor, the fragrance is released only when it is broken. Jesus invites us to experience his freedom on his terms. Let’s pray for greater courage to respond with greater surrender.

Br. John-Marmion Villa

PRAYER

Loving Father,
I surrender to you today with all my heart and soul.
Please come into my heart in a deeper way.
I say, “Yes” to you today.
I open all the secret places of my heart to you
and say, “Come on in.”

Jesus, you are the Lord of my whole life.
I believe in you and receive you as my Lord and Savior.
I hold nothing back.

Holy Spirit,
bring me to a deeper conversion
to the person of Jesus Christ.
I surrender all to you:
my time, my treasures, my talents,
my health, my family, my resources,
my work, relationships, time management,
successes and failures.
I release it and let it go.

I surrender my understanding of
how things ‘ought’ to be, my choices and my will.
I surrender to you the promises I have kept
and the promises I have failed to keep.
I surrender my weaknesses and strengths to you.
I surrender my emotions, my fears,
my insecurities, my sexuality.
I especially surrender ______ *

Lord, I surrender my whole life to you,
the past, the present, and the future.
In sickness and in health, in life and in death,
I belong to you.

(Remain with the Lord in a spirit of silence
through your thoughts, a heart song, or simply
staying in His presence and listening for His voice.)

*Here mention other areas of surrender as the Holy Spirit reveals them to you.

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Questions You Should Be Asking About Your Website and Blog

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Has it been a while since your parish really discerned its online presence?

Is your website, blog and/or social media account outdated or languishing in disuse?

Do your parishioners struggle to connect with the parish via its digital platforms?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes — or even a hesitant “Maybe?” — it might be time to reexamine how your parish presents itself online. It’s crucial for any organization to be able to connect virtually with its community, and this has never been truer for churches. Not only is society shifting to a decidedly web-based model of consuming information, but since the COVID-19 pandemic many of the pews remain empty. Increasingly, parishes have to rely on web-based communications to reach their parishioners.

How can you make sure your parish isn’t being left in the digital dust? Here are some questions to ask yourself if you think it might be time for an online refresh.

How many unique visits does your website see in a day, a week or a month?
How has that number changed over time, and how does it compare to the number of people registered to your parish?

How do your parishioners access information they want, and how do they connect with the outside world?
If your typical parishioner was going to see a movie, how would they find out the showtimes? Would they pull out their smartphone and open an app, would they consult the newspaper, or would they call the theater? If they were going to get in touch with a friend, how would they do that? Would they send a text or a Facebook message? An email? Would they call them?

What does the demographic make-up of your parish look like?
Think about statistics like median age and income. How many of your parishioners have access to the internet at home? How many utilize mobile devices like smartphones? How many have a Facebook account?

Who is your website for?
Is it primarily to connect your parishioners with information and resources, or is it also to introduce newcomers and visitors to your mission statement and programming? Are you hoping to grow parish membership by revamping your online presence?

If your parish has a blog or social media account, identify four or five simple goals that can help to “brand” these platforms and to dictate the messaging shared through them. Are they meant to be a hub of information? A snapshot of parish life, a place where the story of the parish is told? A tool of evangelization? A mechanism for the dissemination of news?

How are you managing your social media?
Are you utilizing an app like Hootsuite , Sprout or Buffer to help make the most of your time and your posts?

What are the needs, expectations and wants of your parishioners?
Consider using a service like SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics to gauge the kind of digital engagement your members would benefit from. Ask questions about their online habits, their information consumption, and their social networking.

What would a stranger’s impression of your parish be if they viewed your webpage, blog and/or social media accounts?
What do you want it to be? Are you projecting an image that is vibrant, engaged, and innovative? They say dress for the job you want — have the online presence of the parish you want to be!

If you’re inspired to take on some online renovations and want to dive deeper, check out W ebsite Navigation for the Best User Experience for some tips on improving the navigation on your website, and 6 Ways to Build a Healthy Church Blog for easy ways to boost your blog.

The gift of the Mission

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Early on in my work in parish ministry, I had to deal with a tough human resources situation, letting some staff members go and stepping into a role that demanded more of my time and energy.

In moments like this, stewardship can feel burdensome. Things take a turn we didn’t expect, perhaps in spite of our best efforts. Maybe more is asked of us than we want or feel prepared to give.

But that’s when we need to remember that stewardship isn’t a job that we apply for. It’s a gift bestowed directly from God, the Creator of all, and that can be scary all on its own, if we are preoccupied with our own unworthiness. What we might want to do is fall on our knees like Simon Peter and announce, “Depart from me, Lord — I am sinful.”

But what if we stop looking in the mirror and look instead to God?

All those years ago, when I was faced with that ministerial challenge, I asked my wife to join me. What started as a tough situation turned into a decade of shared ministry with her — an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. It was a burden that became a gift.

We must remember that God knows what He is about. In His mercy, He gives us what we need as everyday stewards. When God calls out, “Whom shall we send?” we — in all our sinfulness — are allowed to cry out “Send me, Lord!” And He sends us out and behold — our nets tear with the bounty we harvest in His name.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Plant Your Works in the Word

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

One of the things about Scripture is that even the smallest word and shortest phrase can be critical to the overall message. When you take a quiet moment to rest with the Word, you find how quickly the most mundane sentence can reach out and grab you, pulling you into a deeper contemplation of some truth you hadn’t even considered until then.

But we often fail to act as the Israelites in the Book of Nehemiah, standing before the Water Gate “listening attentively.” Whether it’s at Mass during the Liturgy of the Word or at home poring over the Bible, time after time we find ourselves less mindful than we could be. Our ears accept the sounds of the words and our eyes glance over the shape of the letters.

But are we mindful — truly?

The best answer is hopefully at least sometimes. There are always tasks to be completed, problems weighing on our minds that we can’t quite give over to God. We lose ourselves in these things instead of in Scripture. We “clock in” with Bible reading instead of “diving in.”

We can never forget that the words of the Lord are spirit and life. They are the soil that quickens the seed of all stewardship. There is no mindfulness, no prayer, no graciousness, no gratitude or accountability or sense of commitment unless there is the Word.

So let us pray today for mindfulness, that our every action will be grounded in the law of God — giving it true spirit and life.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Lowering the Nets

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, February 6, 2022

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or 1 Cor 15:3-8, 11
Luke 5:1-11

“Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing.” Luke 5:5

“Does anyone really read those articles you write?”

I have a vivid memory of someone asking me this in the early years of my career as a freelance writer. I can’t remember who it was or what precipitated the question. All I remember is that it stung — for a very brief moment, until I laughed.

I laughed because it was a comically rude thing to say, and I very much enjoy moments of unexpected comical rudeness.

I laughed because of the absurdity of the situation: me, freshly graduated and completely broke, trying my hardest, giving my all, putting myself out there, only to have my ego toppled by the proverbial flick of a finger.

Mostly I laughed because I hadn’t realized, until this moment, something beautiful: I … don’t care? It was a complete rush. I felt like I could exhale for the first time in months. I don’t care.

I don’t mean to be disingenuous — make no mistake, I earn a living by writing and I do care about being able to feed my kids. And I will always feel joyful satisfaction with the completion of a job that I feel I’ve done to the best of my ability.

But the existential fretting over the idea of my own “success” is what I have learned to live without. No, I don’t care if anyone reads what I write. In fact, I don’t care if you read the rest of this reflection. I’m writing it either way.

So why do anything? Why put any words on paper if I don’t really care who reads them?

Because I’m not the one who fills the boat. I’m just the one who lowers the nets.

Today’s Gospel passage gets me thinking about the elements that truly determine the success of an endeavor. Have you done a thing successfully because you have finished it? Because it has made you money? Because people are talking about it? Does real success demand one or all of these criteria be fulfilled?

Mozart never finished his Requiem , and Chaucer left a few of The Canterbury Tales unpenned. You can raise children well without making any money from it (in fact, the successful parents I know are a good deal poorer because of their kids). So, is it notoriety that spells success? Hardly, a CIA mission probably isn’t going to get any tongues wagging unless it all goes wrong.

“Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing.”

Peter felt he had failed. You can hear it in his voice.

But consider this: the Gospel passage simply doesn’t work without his wasted hours. If he had not spent a whole night pulling empty nets onto his boat, doubting himself, growing ever more tired and ever more discouraged, the whole impact of the next day’s catch would have been lost.

Praise God for Peter’s unsuccessful night. Praise God for his empty nets. Praise God that he had enough trust in something other than his own ability to try one more time.

I have done all this writing only to say this: I can’t tell you how success is defined. I can only tell you that I think the question doesn’t need to be asked. Not by us, at least, and not now. That’s a question for the last day, when all of our actions and undertakings, and the morass of intentions which teem beneath them, will be laid bare by the only One who knows everything.

“Did you succeed?” He will ask me.

It is my prayer that I will be able to answer honestly: “I don’t know. But I did as You asked.”

Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman

PRAYER

Grant me, oh Lord my God, the grace not to faint
either in prosperity or adversity,
that I not be unduly lifted up by the one,
nor unduly cast down by the other.

— excerpt from “A prayer to obtain the grace of a devout life,” The Raccolta

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4 Ways to make the most of the Winter Lull

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

The holidays are done, Lent hasn’t started yet, and there’s a bit of “pause” in these few weeks of Ordinary Time. In many places, the post-holiday blues lead to a slump in productivity and creativity, but that doesn’t need to be the case!

While the winter season may seem bleak or more slow-paced than other seasons, this lull is also an opportunity of growth for you and your community. Your intentionality in the next few weeks can lead to a stronger parish in the future. So, lean in a little. Use the time to regroup, refocus, and move boldly!

Time to plan.

New year/ new you, as they say. With the bustle of Advent and Christmas behind us, the few weeks before Lent can be used to analyze and adapt. Gather your team and ask for honest feedback on what’s working and what’s not in your parish.

Time to rest.

As ministers, it’s easy to overcommit and overwork — after all, we’re doing the Lord’s work! But time for rest and recreation is not only essential, it’s also Biblical.

Can you find time this season to rest and reconnect with God? With fewer commitments, there may be more wiggle-room for a day or two away from the desk. Take some calendar space (maybe some of that comp time from the holidays) and set it aside for prayer.

Time to re-connect.

Pope Benedict XVI reflects on community in his Spe Salvi saying, “…we should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse.”

Time to work.

We all have “back-burner” projects and goals that get pushed further and further as more urgent tasks find their way to the foreground. Some questions to ask in this season:

This season is sacred in its own right; using it intentionally will help you build a stronger tomorrow.

It Takes All Kinds

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

“If every flower wanted to be a rose,” wrote St. Therese of Lisieux, “spring would lose its loveliness.”

Who is God asking you to be today? There is an obvious answer that springs to mind right out of the gate. God wants me to be a good person (a good father, a good husband) today; today, God wants me to be a saint.

But this answer fails to get to the heart of the question. We are all striving today to serve the same Spirit, but we are given different gifts to do so. The one who has the gift of knowledge may fail if today he decides he wants to be a healer. The one who has the gift of “varieties of tongues” might falter in the expression of wisdom.

Think about the wedding at Cana and the players in the scene: the servers, the guests, the bride and groom. They all have a unique role to play, and though it is to the servers that Mary gives the instruction, “Do whatever he tells you,” her words apply to all.

Today, are we called to be the servers — do we wait on God’s instruction and carry it out, no matter how foolish or impossible it may seem to our human ears? Are we asked to be the disciples, to bear witness to a miracle and to give our testimony? Are we called to imitate the Blessed Mother herself and give encouragement to follow God’s word?

Let us examine our gifts and listen in the silence of our hearts to the direction of the Spirit. Then and only then, let us do whatever He tells us.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Proclaiming God’s Wondrous Deeds

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, January 30, 2022

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13 or 1 Cor 13:4-13
Luke 4:21-30

Sometimes it is a struggle to see how each of the Mass readings correspond. Other times the threads between them interweave like a masterfully woven tapestry. Today’s readings, at least to me, represent the latter. Strands of being created for a plan and a purpose, prophecies shared and rejected, good people treated as evil, and connected to all of it, a God that loves without reserve — upholding, strengthening His beloved.

Through our baptism, we share the beauty of being intimately known and loved by God. Like Jesus and Jeremiah, we are not only known but also called to be harbingers of the Good News — regardless of the difficulties faced in doing so. Formed in love, the grace of God animates us. His divine indwelling continually elevates our faith. We find the courage to witness to others through grace and never by our strength. When we accept the unfathomable gift of God’s perfect love, not only does it cast out every fear, but it remains impossible to keep it to ourselves. If we fail to desire or find opportunities to share the Good News of Christ with others, we have entirely missed the point of what it means to be loved by Love itself.

The Church recently celebrated the Sunday of the Word of God , instituted by Pope Francis on September 30, 2019, established to emphasize the importance and value of Sacred Scripture for the Christian life. The connection between the Word of God and the Liturgy exemplifies the importance of incorporating time daily with the Scriptures. Through the Word of God, we encounter Christ. These encounters prepare us to be disciples.

The faithful can deepen their faith and spend time in the Scriptures with Lectio Divina (which translates to divine reading). Read, reflect, pray, and meditate on the following passages found throughout today’s readings. What threads knit together a more vibrant picture of how your baptismal call to share the faith appears?

We are formed, dedicated, and appointed, all prepared to be prophets. Jeremiah worried about what he would say, the Lord assured all the necessary words would be supplied.

Dependent, strengthened, and taught by God in preparation to proclaim His marvelous deeds. The Psalmist utters words we can all pray back to God.

God bestows many gifts, all different, all tied to grace and faith, worth nothing if not bound to love. St. Paul warns us of being clanging gongs if we forget to ground all our actions in love.

Jesus, Son of God, the fulfillment of the prophecy, taught with authority and amazement, yet they rejected his message. In love, he continued, even though he knew a prophet is rarely accepted in his land. Jesus demonstrates the truth of evangelization, the ‘why’ for soldiering on despite obstacles and rejection — people will hear, believe, repent, and be redeemed.

Where are you called to share the message? How will you overcome any rejection you may encounter in your family, neighborhood, or community? What can you glean from Jesus’ teaching to proclaim the wondrous deeds of our God? How can you be strengthened by God’s love so that you might reflect that love to others?

Allison Gingras

PRAYER

Lord, may my fears never outweigh
my desire and courage to share
your marvelous love with others.
May I never grow weary or discouraged
as I continue to witness the Good News,
regardless of the obstacles I might face.

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I Hope I Am Like Him

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

“Who is this Christ? Is he like you?”

Perhaps you’ve heard this story, often attributed to the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta. A sick man asked her this question, as he marveled at her tireless service to himself and others in the name of someone named Jesus Christ.

“He is nothing like me,” the saint is said to have answered. “But I hope I am like him.”

Though the authenticity of this exchange cannot be verified, its message rings perfectly true: all the value of our stewardship lies in its relativity to the one in whose name we perform it.

Consider the figure of John the Baptist — a magnificent, towering character even purely from a literary or historical perspective. A martyr who fed on wild locusts and boldly spoke truth to power — a man so great some mistook him for the Messiah.

But why is he great? Because he prepared the way. All his accomplishments and escapades mean nothing if they are taken out of the context of salvation history. He only makes sense relative to Christ — and this is exactly as he wanted it. “One worthier than I is coming,” he insists. And because of that humility and that total embrace of God’s will, he is given one of the greatest honors in the New Testament — he baptizes the Son of God.

Let’s examine our lives in the light of their relativity to Christ. How do we prepare the way? When Christ comes to us, what do we do? How do we leave ourselves open to be actors in God’s plan?

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

The Spin Cycle

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, January 23, 2022

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10
1 Corinthians 12:12-30 Or 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27
Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Jesus came into this world to show us God’s kind, beautiful, suffering face. God, who cares deeply about the poor, the captives, the blind, and oppressed is truly a servant-God. God, majestic in His transcendence is also tender in His immanence. God is the God of the journey who never leaves His people. God simply waits. Generation after generation has wandered and fumbled to find their way. As we continue to stumble over the “gods” we create and often prefer, God simply reminds us that He is here.

What was the reaction when Jesus stood in front of those assembled in the synagogue when he said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing?” Some may have thought he was presumptuous, arrogant, or even insane. Others who listened more with their hearts than their heads may have thought differently. They could have experienced the genuine, perfect, and unconditional love that resonated in his flesh and knew, without a doubt, that they were in the presence of someone wonderful and remarkable.

Jesus is the ultimate and perfect testament to God’s love. His actions and words give witness to this truth. St. Augustine tells us what this love looks like, “It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.” Love finds its pinnacle in Jesus’ complete and humble offering of himself on the cross. This is where Love’s sacrifice and transformation meet. This wedding of death and life reveals the mystery of God’s unconditional love and mercy. These are the signs for which human beings are constantly looking. Only God, through the gift of eternal life, can give life meaning.

God always finds us. He does not want us to stay lost. He sends messengers, servants, prophets, teachers, signs, promptings, and witnesses to get our attention so that His message can be delivered. Yet repeatedly, pride and arrogance convince us that we can do anything and everything without Him. Perhaps by setting pride and arrogance aside, we might recognize something deeper about ourselves and see just how lost we really are. We will see what binds us and our sinfulness. God wants to release us from all of that baggage! Not only that, but God wants to release us from what centuries of human baggage has caused: world organizational systems and accepted standards of operating that continue to keep people poor, oppressed, captive, and blind to truth. We need to be freed not only from what we are doing to ourselves but from what we are doing to others!

We do not have to look far to see the devastation. Anger, frustration, starvation, and violence are widespread in our nation and worldwide. Places once known to be safe are now places of anxiety and fear. Division, corruption, and exploitation exist within all institutions. People are confused over who they are and what true happiness means. Wars are waged, and more violence continues to be threatened. God’s creation is hurting. It’s looking more like what we created than what God has entrusted to our care. Human life as a sacred gift from God has become an increasingly unpopular truth. Corruption and exploitation exist at the highest levels and “sins of the flesh” run rampant. We fail to accurately calculate the devastating cost to humans across the world and throughout all generations.

Are we ready to let go of the control? Of the need to be right? Of the need to be ruggedly independent? We cannot live without God’s Mercy, His unconditional, eternal, and ever-present love. We do not always get it right; the world does not get it right. The world is like a washing machine stuck on the spin cycle, relentlessly rotating, never quite getting where it needs to be. It forgets what it is supposed to do. It doesn’t work. It is broken.

God, as Emmanuel, came into the brokenness of our world to help us fix it. The followers of Jesus, baptized in Christ and made in God’s image and likeness, have yet to learn that to be a servant, one must share. Here’s a true story: A woman visiting friends went to the local parish for early Sunday Mass. She proceeded to sit in a pew and in short order received a tap on her shoulder. “Excuse me, you are in my seat. Can you please move?” She got up and went to another pew. Beginning to pray and prepare for Mass, she receives another tap on the shoulder with the same request. “Excuse me, you are in my seat. Can you please move?” What is this, she thought to herself? She got up and moved again. Feeling a bit perturbed at this point, she was astonished when the exact same scenario happened a third time!

What happened to the woman in this story is a microcosm of exactly what is wrong with our world. These “people of God” who asked this woman to move believed they were doing nothing wrong. This stranger encroached on space believed to be rightfully theirs. After all, they are the regular, faithful contributors to this parish and are, thus, entitled to reserved seating, right?

Wrong. Entitlement has become one of our most significant problems and sins. We have become entitled to entitlement! In God’s kingdom, nobody is entitled to a seat, yet all are seated. Isn’t that wonderful? Maybe that is what the first hearers of Jesus’ proclamation in the synagogue understood: that everyone has a place. No one is without a seat and what we do in the small matters of our lives affects how the big ones play out. While we may not have directly exacerbated the plight of someone suffering in another part of the world, we can easily be responsible for making someone in our community feel unwelcome, unappreciated, and unloved. All actions and attitudes are connected to the whole, resulting in a ripple effect on life beyond our comprehension. Until we understand the meaning of love and grasp our reluctance at times to receive it, we will remain tethered and aimlessly spinning. We stay broken and lost. Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner!

Fr. Mark Suslenko

PRAYER

Dear Jesus,
help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your Spirit and Life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through us and be so in us that every soul
we come in contact with may feel your presence in our souls.
Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus!

Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,
So to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be ours.
It will be you, shining on through us.

Let us thus praise you in the way you love best, by shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching, not by words but by example,
By the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do,
The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear for you.

Amen.

( Bl. Cardinal John Henry Newman )

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Apps That Our Catholic Schools Love!

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

Looking for a vehicle to keep your communication open and clear with school families? With the options of email, social media, website, and newsletter, there are a ton of tools you can utilize to keep your school families connected — but do you need them all? If your parish school has limited time and staff, you need a way to send out one communication that will hit everyone. That’s where an app can help.

If your school has yet to invest in an app to stay in touch and keep teachers and parents connected, you’re missing out. Here are some of our favorites you need to check out.

Class Dojo

Class Dojo connects teachers, students, and families through communication features that extend the classroom. Teachers can upload photos and videos for parents to check-out, instant message parents on the fly, as well as share lessons, create assignments, and schedule events.

Schoology

If you’re looking for a way to connect and manage not only a school, but entire school districts, Schoology can help. Teachers can manage classrooms, create and submit assignments, and conduct assessments. Students can participate in interactive discussions and collaborate with their peers. Schoology has every tool a classroom needs and comes integrated with more than 200+ tools such as Google Drive, National Geographic Kids, and Vimeo.

Bloomz

Bloomz boasts itself as being an all school/home communication platform, with many features of its competitors but without the hassle of having to download the multiple apps. It’s social media-like interface makes it easy to share updates to an entire school, or to a specific guardian. It also has the ability to brand the app according to your specific school, which leads to greater recognizability.

SeeSaw

One of the most popular classroom apps out there, SeeSaw is powerful, intuitive, and has a number of multimodal tools that allow students to show what they’ve learned using the method that works for them (such as writing, video, audio, etc.). Students and families can easily communicate with teachers, and teachers can assign classroom work that is easy to turn-in.

ClassTag

A free parent-teacher communication platform with everything you need to reach, engage, and support parents, ClassTag connects teachers and families with one easy-to-use app for all their communication needs. Deliverable as email, SMS or printable flyers, parents can get the information they need, the way they want to receive it.

We Have Seen His Glory

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

For Sunday, January 16, 2022

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Isaiah 62:1-5
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
John 2:1-11

If you’re anything like me, it seems like it has been months since we celebrated Christmas. The busy and rich holy days gave way to New Year’s resolutions, as we returned to work, school, and ministry. Even the memories of our recent celebrations of Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord are quickly fading. And yet, on this Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, the gospel story of the wedding at Cana forms the third part of a sort of Epiphany trilogy and carries the themes of these two Christmastide feasts into the green days of Ordinary Time: manifestation and transformation.

These three Epiphany events — the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus by John, and the miracle at Cana — are, as Pope Francis has described them, “the three signs that the liturgy brings in these days in order to speak to us about the manifestation of God: God makes himself known.” As we know, the story of the Magi coming from the East reminds us that the child born in Bethlehem was born for all peoples, and the baptism of Jesus is the revelation that he is the Father’s “beloved Son.” So, then, what do we learn from the miracle at Cana? What truth is revealed in this Sunday’s gospel?

To answer this question, we have to pull back the lens, as it were, to take in a broader view of salvation history.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read of how God continually called straying women and men back into right-relationship with Himself. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with signs and stories that reveal God’s covenant-love — His relationship — with His Chosen People: the rainbow after the great flood ( Genesis 9:1-17 ), Abraham’s star-filled sky ( Gn 15 ), the giving of the Law to Moses ( Exodus 15 and 24 ), and the promises made to King David and his descendants ( 1 Samuel 7:12-13 ). Each of these stories remind us that while the People of Israel violated this relationship time and again, God’s love and mercy remained constant. Even the first reading of this Sunday’s Mass reminds us of God’s abiding and merciful love: “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you (Isaiah 62:5).”

But those signs and symbols of the Old Testament were only representations of God’s love. On that first Christmas night everything changed. In Jesus — who is the Word-Made-Flesh — God “made his dwelling among us and we have seen his glory” (John 1:14) and the miracle at Cana was the first time that Jesus manifested — remember, this is an Epiphany — his own transforming power and his glory. This is why Adrian Nocent, OSB, could write these beautiful words in his celebrated commentary on the liturgical year: “We were once water, now we are wine, and are judged worthy of the wedding feast … We are being invited, then, to meditate on this renewal of our selves, of our institutions, and of everything around us, but we must bear in mind that the renewal will come in its fullness only at the wedding feast of the last day.”

Cana marked a beginning and in the transformation of the water into wine we discover that Jesus wasn’t simply another prophet or holy man. He was God’s “Beloved” and he holds the power to transform — to recreate and renew — the elements of earth and, more importantly, the hearts, minds, and souls of his followers.

In the coming weeks of Ordinary Time, we will hear the stories of how this transforming and saving work, begun in Cana, changed the lives of Jesus’ disciples, as we’re invited to reflect on how that transforming power continues to shape us today.

Br. Silas Henderson, SDS

PRAYER

(In honor of Our Lady of Cana)*
All-holy Father,
in your divine wisdom and love
you chose that the Blessed Virgin Mary
should play her part
in the mysteries of our salvation;
grant that by heeding the words of Christ’s Mother
we may do what he commands
in the Gospel he has given.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary , volume 1)

*For centuries, Christians in certain countries have honored the Blessed Virgin Mary on January 6, under the title “Our Lady of Cana.” The most recent collection of Masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin includes a special votive Mass for this Christmas season honoring Our Lady under this title. In the commentary for the Mass, we are invited to reflect on how the Mother of Jesus was chosen to play her part in the mysteries of our salvation and how she fulfills her role as mother of the whole human family as she begs her son to help us in our own needs.

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The Light of the Moon

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 10:30:00 GMT

If you own a television that has been turned on at any point in the last month or so, chances are you’ve caught at least a scene or two of the 1946 classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

If you’re not familiar with the movie, it follows the life of George Bailey from childhood through adulthood. A dreamer by nature, George has big plans for himself that involve world exploration and adventure — but family and community obligations keep him tethered to the same spot on the map, leading an altogether ordinary life.

One of the most memorable scenes from that movie is of George dancing with his sweetheart Mary while they sing “Buffalo Gals — Won’t you come out tonight/And dance by the light of the moon?”

That lyric always catches my ear. Of course, the moon doesn’t have any light of its own. All the moon has is the ability to reflect the light that shines upon it.

The same holds for us, doesn’t it? Our stewardship is purely a reflection of the grace granted to us by another. “Upon you the LORD shines,” writes Isaiah, “and over you appears his glory.” Every good action we will ever take begins in the mind of God. The fact that we have the honor of carrying it out on His behalf is a beautiful gift. It is God that makes our ordinary lives extraordinary.

In the end of the movie, George Bailey realizes that he had a far greater life because, instead of being the hero of his own story, he allowed himself to reflect goodness onto others.

Remember — the magi didn’t chart their own course. They merely followed the star.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS

Livestream: Keep it, or Can it?

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 10:30:00 GMT

Since the start of COVID-19, words like “zooming,” “streaming,” and “virtual options” have slowly been integrated into our vocabulary. But today, as our churches open their doors (safely!) to the community, many options to tune-in virtually are slowly declining — but should they?

Livestreams could still be valuable connection and engagement tools within your church. From regular Sunday Mass to Eucharistic adoration and all-parish events, here are some valuable points to keeping livestream going at your church.

People Are Venturing Out … Somewhat

We are now at a point where we know more about COVID-19 than we ever did before. Vaccinations are readily available, masks and hand sanitizers are the norm, and it’s relatively easy to keep your distance during Sunday Mass. So, we can safely stop recording, right? Not so fast.

There are still a number of reasons why many of our parishioners are hesitant to venture out to Mass just yet. From immunocompromised, to those who work with young children or elderly adults, there are many reasons why they don’t feel as safe as others may. And that’s the benefit of having a livestream option for your parish — it’s there for those who need it!

It Lengthens the Shelf-Life

How many times have our parishes spent hours preparing for a faith event or presentation, just to have it all end? When you livestream it, you also have the option to hit the record button and make it available “on demand” for those unable to make it in person, or in some cases, want to watch it again.

Consider offering and recording a series of simple talks, such as a 20-minute reflection with the pastor followed by a recitation of the rosary, or a nine-day novena to Blessed Mary. You may find that you’ll have more attendance by offering an online option, especially for families with young children, and you can also have it available for those to watch on their own time.

It Shows People What their Missing

A big argument for ending the livestreaming of Mass is that many feel it keeps people from coming back to Mass in person. However, it’s the job of the parish to convey just how important it is to receive the Eucharist — as a church, are you letting your parishioners know what they’re missing?

Don’t forgo those who truly can’t come to Mass, in an effort to reach those who can. If your diocese had a dispensation in effect during the pandemic, make sure that your parishioners know that the obligation to attend Mass is in effect. We shouldn’t think of it as “having” to go to Mass, but rather that we “get” to go to Mass!

Need a refresher course on the art of livestreaming? Check out “ How to Create a Better Livestreaming Mass Experience ” for great points to consider.

5 Postcard Ideas to Inspire Your Faith Community

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 10:30:00 GMT

If you’re only sending out year-end statement letters, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to reach out and engage your parishioners. Sending a communication to your members is a great way to connect with them on an entirely new level and invite them more fully into relationship with your church — and with God.

As we navigate a world that constantly asks us for things — money, time, attention — your parish can send out a communication that gives. Here are five postcard ideas you can use to inspire your faith community.

New Pastor

A typical church sees a new priest every four years. Help your members get to know the new man who will be leading your flock with an introductory message from him. You can include a photo, a short biography (such as where he’s coming from, his hobbies, and what he hopes to bring to your faith community), and a reminder of Mass and Confession times.

Example:
Welcome to St. Bernadette Parish, Fr. Michael!

Biography: how long he’s been a priest, where he’s served before, his favorite hobbies, and what he’s most excited to experience at the parish.

Holy Week Schedule

Whether it be Holy Week or a list of family Advent activities, give your parishioners something to stick on their fridge to be reminded of upcoming events. Lent activities could be Ash Wednesday service, Stations of the Cross, opportunities for Confession, Lenten missions, Eucharistic adoration, and penance services. If you’re planning for Advent, welcome them to Mass each Sunday for the lighting of the Advent wreath, and to attend a Christmas concert with the choir.

Example:
Join the faith community of St. Bernadette Parish as we celebrate Holy Week!

Holy Thursday/Mass of the Lord’s Supper | 7 p.m.

Good Friday Service| 12 p.m.

Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil | 8 p.m.

Easter | 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m.

Invitation to Sunday Mass

Sometimes, all it takes is a reminder that the Church is here, and our Lord is waiting for us with an open heart. Nudge your members to more consistent Mass attendance by sending them weekday and weekend Mass times, Confession opportunities, Eucharistic adoration, and holy day reminders. Remember to also add on the link to your online giving platform, so parishioners can sign up to be recurring givers.

Example:
Jesus has given us the Eucharist so that we can know that he is always with us — he is present, body, blood, soul, and divinity! Come to Mass and experience Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist with us.

Saturday | 5 p.m.

Sunday | 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 p.m.

Prayer Request

We all need a little extra spiritual support — these days more than ever! Remind your members that your parish is a community of support by taking their prayer requests. From illness in the family, job loss, or the death of a loved one, the power of prayer will be obvious for those who share. Invite them to write their prayer requests in your book of intentions or send them in via email. Some parishes and dioceses even designate a specific day of the week and ask their members to share via Facebook.

Example:
We’d like to remind you that our Church community is here for you. What is it that you’d like us to pray for? We would be honored to pray for your intentions.

Reminder to Give

It isn’t that people don’t want to give — rather, sometimes life just gets in the way. We leave the house in a hurry and forget the envelope and a check, or you don’t have any cash to place in the collection basket. Eliminate all roadblocks that forgetful parishioners experience by reminding them that your parish accepts recurring online giving. With a few clicks, they can set up their account and ensure that their gifts make it to your parish no matter where they find themselves each Sunday.

Example:

Our online giving site makes it easy to set up a recurring weekly or monthly donation to our parish and to give to various parish-wide collections throughout the year. Please prayerfully consider sharing your gifts with us by joining us online and making a recurring gift. God bless!

QR Code Best Practices

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 10:30:00 GMT

If you haven’t realized it yet, the QR code is making a major comeback. Due in part to the pandemic, as well as a dip in the need for paper products, parishes and community organizations alike are utilizing the QR code to ensure a contactless experience by easily directing people to the website or app that is taking the place of a booklet or worship aid.

Here are some basic tips on how to create one, and some unique ways parishes are using them to help guide parishioners during Mass.

Q-R-What?

Short for “quick response,” the QR code has been around for more than 30 years but hasn’t been used as commonly since the 2010s. Found mainly as fun additions to a website link, the data stored in a QR code can include website URLs, phone numbers, videos, or up to 4,000 characters of text, according to Kaspersky . For a while, the only way you could use them was through a QR code reader on your smartphone, but today it’s as easy as quickly scanning the image using your phone’s camera, where a message will pop up that prompts you to visit the link or view the message attached to it.

It’s easy (and free!) for parishes to create their own codes. QRCodeMonkey , QR Stuff , or QR Code Generator , are some websites you can easily access and create for your own purposes. Other generators allow you to customize the look and feel of the code for an additional cost.

And this brings us to the next chapter of this innovative tool — what can you use a QR code for?

Not Just for the Back of the Booklet

When it first became popular, people often used QR codes like a URL if they wanted to direct people to learn more about an event, initiative, or their website for awareness. These days, however, we’re expected to be a lot more intentional with the tool, such as:

In Place of a Booklet | During the pandemic, many parishes moved to an all-digital option for their worship aids. Using a QR code on a sign when they enter, or placing it the back of the pews, they encouraged people to scan the code to read, sing, and pray along.

Easy Way to Register | Instead of directing them to a form to fill out in the back of church, a simple QR code that leads to a digital form for new members is a great way to capture visitor information.

To Invite | In addition to your parish URL, include a QR code that will lead people to your website and all that your faith community is about. This way, instead of trying to type out the URL on their mobile browser, all they need to do is scan the code to be sent right over.

To Donate | With our increasingly digital world, the ability to give — and give quickly — is paramount. In addition to inviting them to place their contributions in the passing basket, you can also give them the option to scan the code to give online.

Looking for more ways to be both intentional and innovated with parish technology? Check out “ Ideas to Share Your Parish Bulletin Digitally .”

The Best Devotional Apps You NEED on Your Phone

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 10:30:00 GMT

It’s no secret that spiritual reflections and prayer meditation guides have been around for eons and aren’t going anywhere. But, for those searching for a more structured prayer guide and the accountability that comes with it, devotional apps are the way to go.

We’ve done a test drive of some of the latest (and greatest!) devotional apps on the market today. Check out why these made the cut and consider downloading one or two to jumpstart your spiritual life this advent season.

Hallow

Hallow offers audio-guided meditation sessions to help grow in faith and find peace in God with more than 500 different sessions on contemplative prayer, meditation, Catholic Bible readings, music, and more.

Truth & Life

Do you feel compelled to read the Bible, but find it difficult to get through some of the heavy reading? The Truth & Life app will help you stay focused on every chapter with music, sound effects, and more than 70 actors contributing their voice talents, including Kristen Bell, Sean Astin, Michael York, Blair Underwood, Malcolm McDowell, Julia Ormond and more.

Reimagining the Examen

Reimagining the Examen is an app designed to lead you through a series of Examens (a prayer from St. Ignatius that focuses on God’s presence in the real world), encouraging you to sit in prayer with God each day and invite him more fully into your life. Simply select an examen you wish to contemplate on, such as fears, relationships, times of transition, etc., and select the background music of your choosing.

Laudate

Laudate is a well-known Catholic app that offers daily readings, the Liturgy of the Hours, reconciliation guide, interactive Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, links to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, countless prayers, and so much more. One of the longest-running Catholic apps out there today, it’s a great resource for those looking to dive deeper into the faith.

Bread 4 Today

Bread 4 Today is as a meditation app which people can use to come closer to God and effect positive change in their lives and their community. The prayer archive allows users to search by category so that they can reflect on prayers that match their frame of mind.

Amen

The Amen app is a Christian approach to mindfulness. A digital way to connect with Jesus Christ while navigating a busy lifestyle, it’s an excellent fusion of mindfulness and prayer that encourages individuals to invite Christ into every facet of their lives.

The God Minute

The God Minute is an intimate group of priests, nuns, and lay people who start their day in prayer. Soft music, sacred scripture and a thoughtful reflection are weaved into a 10-minute guided reflection. Access and pray along with them on your own time and when it’s convenient for you.

Have you discovered an app that didn’t make the list? Let us know what you love about it in the comments!

Ways to Welcome your Community Back to (In-person) Mass

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 10:30:00 GMT

It’s been nearly two years since dioceses throughout the United States suspended the public celebration of Masses. Even though our churches are back to celebrating Mass in public, there are still some parishioners who are hesitant to come back for a variety of reasons. Church leaders need to reach out, quell fears, and remind them what they’re missing: the Eucharist.

From sanitation stations in the church to personal invitations from staff leaders, here are some ways you can encourage your parishioners to come back to Mass.

Reassure Them That It’s Safe

We know more about COVID-19 transmissions, proper cleaning of church spaces, and hygiene best practices. Additionally, the use of masks and hand sanitizer are still very much a part of our lives. If that’s a barrier to coming back to Mass for some people, it’s essential that you communicate the safety precautions you still have in place.

While face masks may not be required any more, and roped off pews have since stopped, there are people who may still feel uncomfortable with coming back in full force. Make available a section of social distance seats, face masks in case anyone forgot theirs, and hand sanitizer stations.

Do They Know that (Most) Regular Practices are Back

When Mass was finally open to the public, there were so many restrictions in place that it was very scary for many. No contact, roped off pews, the application of hand sanitizer multiple times, crying rooms and bathrooms closed. Now, things are (relatively) back to normal. And if you haven’t communicated that to members who may have yet to be back, it’s definitely the time to start.

Send a communication to all members describing what they can expect. Yes, there are still some restrictions in place, but for the most part, the Catholic comeback is in full swing. The Sign of Peace, handing out bulletins by hand, the offertory, and more.

Remind Them What They’re Missing

It’s easy to get content with staying at home and relying on livestreamed Masses, but people need to understand that tuning in to Mass is just it — watching it. When we’re present in church, we’re in the presence of Jesus Christ, and all the graces that come from that. It’s a big deal! It shouldn’t be missed unless there are essential reasons why.

Remind parishioners of the reasons why coming to Mass is so essential to our lives — mind, body and soul. The graces we receive from the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and spending time with our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration are plentiful. To miss out on them is tragic.

Extent to Them a Personal Invitation

Sometimes, all it takes is an email in your inbox, a text message in the middle of the day, or a voice on the other end of the phone to remind us that we’re not only missed but wanted. That we’re an essential part of the faith community, and that the church is open and accessible.

Gather together a small group of dedicated volunteers and ask if they’d be willing to give some parishioners a call to invite them back to Mass. Use it as an opportunity to remind them of the safety measures still in place, the practices that are now back (such as the Sign of Peace), and most importantly, to remind them that they are greatly missed. You may be surprised at how big an impact this small invitation can be.

Curious how other dioceses are calling back the faithful? Check out “ Opening the Doors Wide”: How the Archdiocese of Detroit Is Helping Parishes Reopen & Reengage , and check out some resources they’ve created for parishes.

Writing Not Your Thing? Apps to Help with Grammar, Clarity and More

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 10:30:00 GMT

When it comes to crafting content and policing grammar, even the most accomplished writers need a helping hand now and then. Here are five websites and apps that will aid in the quality, readability, and grammar of your parish’s written communications.

Pro-Writing Aid: This service checks not only the grammar, spelling and style of your written work but can also provide feedback on things like sentence variety, style guide compliance and much more (it can even tell you if you’re using words that end in “-ing” too much!). Both free and premium versions are offered, featuring different levels of service.

Grammarly: Grammarly uses AI to check for spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement and more. A free option is available but purchasing the business plan will unlock features that include tone adjustments, clarity-focused sentence rewrites, and other useful tools designed specifically for teams.

Ginger: Spelling mistakes, overly wordy sentences, and cliched phrases are no match for the Ginger software, which offers context-based corrections and tips for improved communication. Some services, like the grammar checker, are free of charge, but accessing the tools that boost creativity and style of writing require the purchase of a premium plan.

Hemingway Editor : This handy, free app operates like a virtual communications assistant to ensure that your writing is clear, bold, and readable. Copy and paste a block of text into its assessing tool and Hemingway Editor will tell you what academic grade of writing it is while highlighting issues like weakening phrases and passive voice.

Scribens: Scribens is a free, one-stop shop for analyzing grammar, style, and readability. Paste your text into their grammar check tool and it will identify writing issues like redundancies and run-on sentences. There are even widgets to help you make your text more positive or pejorative, depending on the tone you want to convey. A premium option is available for purchase (prices are listed in English pounds, as it is a British-based service).

Once you’ve got the writing wrapped up, it’s time to engage your community. A blog on your website is a great way to communicate with parishioners wherever they are!

Polished writing is only one part of the toolbox you need for your parish communications, check out Does Your Church Need a Communication Crew? for tips on creating a team that can do it all.

Five Letters That Will Invite School Families to Sunday Mass

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Here are five ready-to-use template letters to send to parish families that will invite them into deeper communion with Christ through regular attendance at Sunday Mass.

Walking the walk of faith

Dear (NAME),

“Who do you say that I am?”

Although this question was posed by Christ over two thousand years ago, it echoes through the centuries and is heard in every time and place. We hear it today, and every day, at (SCHOOL NAME).

Of course, we want to answer as Simon Peter did: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God!” And we hope that we do that here in our parish, not just in our spoken words and our promotional material, but in our actions every day. We seek to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

In our classrooms, we teach that it is necessary for the health of our souls to give time to God in worship each Sunday . This action of worship is our best way to answer the call of Christ. I invite you and your family to examine your own commitment to this crucial practice. Are we “walking the walk” of faith, instead of just talking the talk, for our children and for our communities?

Let us answer him together in a resounding and united voice: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God!”

In Christ,
(PASTOR)

A blessed inconvenience

I know it is never easy for a busy family to make time for Sunday Mass. After the grind of the work and school week comes the whirlwind of the weekend, usually packed with non-stop homework and extracurricular obligations. Finding an hour on Saturday evening or Sunday to attend Mass can often feel like an inconvenience.

But if it is an inconvenience, friends, then it is a blessed one. Children, in particular, respond to action over preaching (believe me — I know!). That’s why at (SCHOOL NAME), we sacrifice some of our classroom time each week to make sure that we gather together as a school community to worship.

I encourage you to ensure that you are taking that same time from your own busy family schedule to attend Mass, whether it is at the Saturday vigil or Mass on Sunday itself. I know it is a lot to ask, friends — and so does God. That’s why He would never ask unless it was deeply important.

Decades from now, will it not be the case that our children remember the things we did because they were important, not because they were easy?

In Christ,
(PASTOR)

Sunday isn’t just any day

Dear (NAME),

Gathering in worship and community at Mass is the best and most important part of our week here at (SCHOOL NAME). We make it a priority to see that each student regularly attends Mass with his or her classmates and teachers, taking a break from the normal routine to set aside some time to be with God.

But as important as our weekday Masses are, they are no replacement for Sunday Mass. On Sundays, it is not just a privilege for us to attend Mass, it is a duty . Sundays are when we commemorate Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His victory over death, and take time from our busy normal lives to find “rest” in worship, sacrifice and prayer.

Can I count on you to make sure our schoolchildren are receiving the benefit of regular attendance at Sunday Mass? Here at (SCHOOL NAME), we seek to nourish the minds and bodies of our students — but their souls are our first concern, and we can’t do it without your help! As their parents, you are their primary educators in the Christian life. Let’s work together to ensure they understand the beauty and grace of a Sunday morning spent in worship.

In Christ,
(PASTOR)

No virtual sacraments

Dear (NAME),

Like so many other faith communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, our parish and school family has benefited greatly from the availability of “virtual Mass.” Thanks to technology, during times of mandated social distancing, illness or quarantine, we have still been able to gather as one in spirit, huddled around our computer screens or televisions to hear the good news of the Gospel.

But as wonderful as these virtual Masses are in times of crisis, we must remember that they are meant to be a temporary solution for extraordinary times. Sadly, pastors of all religions throughout the country report that their in-person attendance rates have not recovered since the virus’ outbreak last year.

In the same way that a “virtual hug” or a Facetime conversation cannot possibly replicate the real interaction, there is no such thing as a virtual sacrament. To benefit truly and fully from the sacrifice of the Mass, we should be present in person, if at all possible.

Thankfully, in contrast to the pandemic’s beginning, we know more about the necessary safety precautions that can allow our congregation to once again gather in person. We have been able to safely resume our in-person classroom instruction, just as we are able to safely celebrate weekly Sunday Mass.

Won’t you and your family consider joining us?

In Christ,
(PASTOR)

Jesus is waiting for you!

Dear (NAME),

Just imagine, for a moment, the commotion that would take place in our little school community if we were to suddenly receive a visit from a king. Think of the extra effort we would put into our appearances on that day. Think of the excitement that would permeate our whole parish and school campus. I am sure many of you would even take time off of work to be present for such an occasion.

Well, we do receive a visit from a King — every single day. Whenever I consecrate the wine and the bread, Jesus Christ himself becomes truly present in the small white Host and the ordinary-looking wine, and the King of Kings dwells here at (PARISH NAME) just as surely as he dwells in Heaven.

This belief is the cornerstone of our Catholic faith, and we do our best to teach it in the classrooms at (SCHOOL NAME) and to model it in our weekly attendance at school Mass. But we need the help of parents like you to model it at home. Are you and your family making the effort to welcome the King at weekly Sunday Mass?

In Christ,
(PASTOR)

The Power of a Fresh Start

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 09:30:00 GMT

The pandemic and the “new normal” it brings has been a trial for all of us. From work to worship and everything in between, very few aspects of our world have remained the same post-COVID.

In our personal, professional, and spiritual lives, many of us find ourselves experiencing a sense of beginning anew. Like Hagar and Ishmael, we are at a crossroads: behind us lies the familiar, while an uncertain future stretches before us. At their lowest moment, when that uncertain future seemed to be materializing into certain doom, Hagar and Ishmael heard the voice of God beckoning them to renewed hope and prosperity.

In the anxiety and turmoil of the present day, our Catholic parishes have a unique opportunity to be that voice for our parishioners. The pandemic has happened to all of us, and despite the divisions forming in its wake, this can be a unifying moment. Whatever our personal stance on masking and vaccination, we are all experiencing some level of confusion, uncertainty, and bewilderment. Our hearts are restless, and as St. Augustine reminds us, there is only one place we can find the rest we seek.

Let’s use this moment to create a connection with our parishioners, letting them know that their parish family is walking alongside them, ready to help them hear the voice of God as, together, we face whatever the future holds.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as your parish crafts any ministries or initiatives in this post-pandemic world.

Personal connections are more important than ever

Probably the only thing everyone can agree on these days is that COVID-19 reminded us of how closely we are all connected — and how those personal connections have the ability to impact not just our physical health, but our mental and spiritual health, too. Whatever your parish does, keep in mind that your community members are hungering for a sense of belonging. They want to feel seen, known, appreciated, and loved on an individual, personal level.

Assess your community’s need

Just as there are similarities in how we have all been impacted by COVID, there are also dramatic differences among our experiences which are unique to our social, economic, and geographic realities.

Every parish is different, and every parish has been affected by the pandemic in its own way. Take a look at just what that means for your community. Are your parishioners largely working-class? If so, have their industries been one of the ones most affected by shutdowns and social distancing, or were most of them able to keep their jobs? Was your g eographic area hit particularly hard by the virus? What is the vaccination rate in your community? What is the average age of your parishioners — are they mostly younger families, or are they older people who may be much more affected by isolation and hesitant to go out in public again? What was it that they lost during this pandemic on the largest scale — health, normalcy, faith? How can you help them move forward?

Let people know you respect them

There will be no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to things like masking, social distancing, and safety protocols. Know and accept that people on both sides of these debates will be disappointed in how your parish handles them. Recognize that your real objective is to ensure that you are honoring people’s fear, whatever it is, and not dismissing it — that you are making them feel valued and respected as a whole person.

God is above all of this

These words of St. Teresa of Avila are important to remember at all times in parish ministry, but never more than during a pandemic: “Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, all things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience gains all; nothing is lacking to those who have God. God alone is sufficient.”

It is so easy to, like the disciples in the midst of the sea storm , pay attention to the waves and not the Savior who has the ability to calm them. It is the job of those working in the Church to remind their communities — and themselves — that this is but one difficult moment among many in the history of salvation, and that our loving God has reigned supreme throughout them all.

New Ways to Engage Families in Your Parish

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 09:30:00 GMT

There’s the old saying — if you can’t hear crying, your church is dying. Not only do young families bring a vibrancy to parish life, but they represent the future of the faith. Is your parish looking for ways to energize existing member families and attract new ones? Here are some ideas that can jump-start your engagement with this important demographic.

Family-friendly Mass

Technically, every Mass is family-friendly, right? But if you’ve been the parent of a young, squirmy child, you know that feeling of self-consciousness when Junior starts to interrupt Father’s homily — especially if the rest of the congregation is child-free. Designating one liturgy per weekend that is explicitly welcoming to families can go a long way to boosting Mass attendance in this demographic, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly word spreads and new faces appear!

Nursing space

We’re all familiar with the parish “cry room,” and having a space like that sends a message of welcome and inclusivity to young families. But noisy cry rooms are not ideal places to feed a baby, and recently many parishes have begun to set aside a quiet area for breastfeeding mothers to nurse their infants. Is there an underutilized corner of your usher’s room or narthex? Consider putting up a screen to afford privacy and place a comfortable chair there with a basket of wipes and diapers. Some parishes even incorporate imagery of the Madonna and Child or Our Lady of La Leche.

Eucharistic Adoration for kids

Bringing children before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration is an important way to teach the centrality of the Eucharist to our Catholic faith — but that doesn’t mean it’s easy! Just as family-friendly liturgies can make parents feel more at ease with their wiggly littles in tow, a special hour of Eucharistic adoration for families and children is a great way to incorporate parents and kids in the devotional life of your parish, while also evangelizing to non-parishioners. Offer a special Benediction or worship music, set out a well-stocked library of child-friendly books about the Eucharist and make it clear that Jesus is happy to see even the smallest and loudest among us.

Creating an environment of welcome

One way that many parishes send a message of inclusivity to young families is by providing coloring materials, children’s bulletins, and “Mass bags” with activities to keep little hands occupied during the liturgy or during Eucharistic adoration. It’s a way of acknowledging the struggle their parents face while making them feel supported. Many websites, including Catholic Icing and The Catholic Kid offer free printables (coloring sheets, word searches, and more) that can be downloaded and distributed easily. LPi’s WeCreate , free to bulletin customers, offers Growing with the Gospel for grades K-1 and 2-3.

Face time with Father

If he isn’t already doing so, encourage your pastor to find ways of reaching out and making a personal connection with the young families of the parish. This can be through engagement during the homily (asking kids questions or inviting them into the sanctuary), socializing after Mass or attendance at family-oriented events. Creating opportunities for parents and their children to interact with the pastor will create long-lasting bonds between these families and their Catholic faith — and your parish.

Top 10 Ways to Encourage Parishioners to Share their Email Address

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Communicating with members of your parish is becoming increasingly important these days, and for good reason. Mass and Confession reminders, upcoming events, fundraising, religious classes, young adult activities, continuing faith formation opportunities … the list goes on. While the weekly bulletin is a no-brainer to use as the main vehicle, we need to start thinking in addition to it — and that’s where email comes in.

If you don’t keep track of parishioner emails, your contact list is incomplete. Not only does email provide the parish an almost instantaneous way to connect, but it also allows you to stay in touch without the added cost of letterhead, envelopes, postage, and staff hours that come with traditional mailings. It’s worth the time, effort, and management of collecting and utilizing.

Here are 10 ways to encourage members to share their emails for your digital communications.

1. Have a Communication Sunday

Using bulletin, homily, and an announcement before or after Mass, plan on explaining to your parishioners the reasoning why you need their email addresses. It’s not to sell anything or overflow their in-boxes. Rather, let them know that you need it in order to share important parish news and updates, keep in communication with the pastor, and to effectively keep the cost of physical communications like letters and forms down.

2. Offer an Incentive

Yes, people should be willing to give their contact information freely, but sometimes it takes a little bit to sweeten the deal. Consider offering an extra raffle ticket with every email collected, or to be entered into a drawing for a pair of movie tickets, dinner with the pastor, the front row at the Christmas concert, even a 6-pack of beer!

3. Require Email Submission for Registrations

Whether it’s a link on the website or a form on a clipboard at the back of church, make sure that you are collecting (and storing!) any emails that are given to you. Not only is this good practice in case an event gets canceled, and you need to communicate that quickly, but you can also use it down the road in a multitude of ways.

4. Have a Permanent Request in the Bulletin

Devote a small section of the bulletin to communication. Ask for name, address, email, and phone number, and make sure parishioners know why you’re asking for it (see point #1 above for all the reasons).

5. Keep Connection Cards in the Pews

A small, postcard-sized communication, connection cards have spaces for name, address, phone number and email address. Encourage members and visitors to fill it out to stay in contact with the parish. Add a box that can be checked if they want to be members, or if they are members but have a change of address. Ask them to fill it out while there or take it home to complete and bring back the next Sunday.

6. Add a Subscription Button to your Website

You don’t need to gather a ton of information from parishioners or visitors to effectively get their email address. A small call-out on your parish website that asks for their name and email address to stay in touch may be all that you need to make that digital connection.

7. Run Social Media Ads for Email Sign-ups

Devote a few weeks to growing your email database by asking people using your social media channels. Whether that be a few posts on your Facebook page, or some paid advertising using Instagram, creating a cohesive marketing campaign is a great way to achieve your goal.

8. Make it Mandatory

If your church is accepting members on the regular, make sure that there is a box for people to enter their email. This way you catch them in the beginning and can keep them engaged with digital communication ASAP.

9. Let Them Know What to Expect

No one wants a clogged in-box, which is often a reason why many are so hesitant to give their emails. Make sure that they know that they won’t be emailed all the time, and the benefits to signing up — such as reflections from the pastor, upcoming event invitations, updates to Mass, and links to online giving opportunities.

10. Keep the Requests Physical

Hang up posters and flyers around the church building asking for emails. Use a QR code or URL to encourage people to visit your website to sign up for a weekly newsletter, or to receive updates about your faith community.

You’ve got the emails — do you have a plan to utilize them? Check out “ Why Your Parish Needs an Email Marketing Platform ” for easy ways to send communication to your members.

How Facebook Stories Can Work for Your Parish

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 09:30:00 GMT

It’s no secret that social media organic reach is on a downward spiral. As a parish, you may have noticed that the number of users who engage with your posts is disproportionally lower than the people who actually like your page — and you’re not alone. According to a 2020 study compiled by We Are Social , the average reach of an organic post on a Facebook page remains stagnate at 5.20%, meaning only one in roughly every 19 of your followers will see your page’s non-promoted (free) content.

As Facebook and its metrics move more towards “pay for play” advertising methods, parishes without a marketing budget need to find other ways to engage and inspire followers. A great tool that you may not be using is Facebook Stories.

Creativity at its Best

Facebook Stories are short user-generated photo or video collections that can be uploaded to a personal page. Around since 2017 (one year after Instagram Stories launched), it has started rising in popularity the last couple of years. Each story posted can be viewed up to two times and disappears after a full 24 hours. It also offers a wide variety of creative options, such as music, filters, stickers, emojis and text.

Facebook pages as large as Pepsi Co. and as small as your friendly mom and pop restaurant have been using Stories for a while now in their social media strategy. To get the attention of your followers when they are already bombarded with thousands of messages every day, Stories are a great way to stand out from the crowd. About 500 million people now use Facebook Stories every day, meaning it has the potential to help you reach a much bigger audience than through traditional posting.

How to Use it for Your Parish

There are a number of ways that your parish can use the Stories feature. The goal is to use this as short “bursts” of digital content that will hopefully catch the attention of your followers. This happens in two ways — placement because it appears at the top of your newsfeed, and then through Facebook’s ever-changing algorithm .

Here are some easy ways you can repurpose your social media content for Facebook Stories:

To Bring Attention to a Traditional Post | Say you created a post for an upcoming parish event. On the day of, remind your followers of the fun that’s to come by highlighting your post in a Story. Add music, some copy like “Tonight!” and a sticker or two. That post will then move to the top of Facebook feeds everywhere, making the chance of others seeing it that much more likely.

To Share an “IRL” Moment | Video that is shared in a Story needs to be less than 20 seconds, which is often perfect for those “in real life” parish moments. Think a small greeting from your pastor before Mass, reminding parishioners to come to church, or a line-up of the homemade desserts that are sure to sell out at Saturday’s spaghetti dinner (bonus if you use the “ boomerang ” feature for that one!).

To Encourage a Follower “Follow-Up” | Why just post this Sunday’s Gospel reading, when you can highlight it in a Story and encourage followers to read it before Mass? And when a custom link is added, viewers will be able to select “See more” to open the page within the Facebook browser, so it goes straight to the source without much effort.

To Allow Your “Personality” to Shine Through | Your parish, whether you realize it or not, has a voice. It’s how people perceive your community, and sometimes, it’s hard to highlight that “voice” with a traditional post. Using Stories allows you to add humor, quirkiness, creativity, boldness and more to whatever you’re trying to get across.

Looking for more ways to get the most out of Facebook? Check out “ Facebook and Your Parish ” for additional ideas.

Tips to Keeping Your Church Office Organized

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 09:30:00 GMT

With so much to do and so little time to devote, keeping your parish office organized and up to date can be a struggle. But with a few simple tips, and some easy-to-use office platforms, you can transform any chaotic office into a streamlined operation.

Everyday Office Platforms You Need

In addition to the Microsoft Office Suite of programs (Excel, Word, and Publisher), you can find a lot of other great ways to keep organized with some easy-to-use programs.

Video Conferencing: As we’re still dealing with COVID-19, and being careful in how we interact with one another, the ability to connect virtually has been indispensable. From free but limited Zoom logins to paid Go2Meeting accounts, there are so many ways you can take advantage of connecting from anywhere with anyone.

Instant Messaging: When we’re so used to popping into an office or tapping a coworker on the shoulder for a quick answer, having to rely on phone calls or emails means we’re often stuck waiting for an answer. Thankfully, instant messaging platforms like Slack and the chat feature in Microsoft Teams allows you to get those quick answers in the same amount of time (or sooner!) without jamming your inbox.

Cloud File Sharing: If you have office members that are always on the go (like pastoral associates or business mangers who meet with people on the daily) it’s essential that documents be readily available when and where you need them. Keep things safe, secure and accessible with DropBox or Google Drive .

Password Management: With the prevalence of phishing scams and email hackers, it’s essential that you protect sensitive information at all costs. A password management platform like Dashlane or LastPass will allow you to have access to all your logins and passwords, without the threat of someone hacking into your files and using it against you.

Tips to Staying Organized

Prioritize What’s Most Important: Divide your day into must-do/should-do activities. Responding to emails and answering phone calls are definite “yes” tasks, while updating parish contacts and cleaning out the supply room can probably be scheduled on a weekly or monthly basis.

Take Advantage of Notifications and Alarms : With the digital calendars and task managers, it’s easier than ever to plan your work week. Just make sure to keep to the schedule. If you find yourself running out of time for one task, and another one not taking as much time as needed, feel free to adjust!

Close Your Email: If you tend to get distracted easily, consider turning off your email notifications. Instead, choose certain times during the day to respond to emails. Just because you can receive a message instantaneously, doesn’t mean you also need to respond in kind.

A Clear Desk Helps Clear Your Mind: Spend the last 15 minutes of your day cleaning off your desk. Whether that means clearing off your desk of all the post-it notes, emptying your inbox of new emails, or crossing off the last task on your written list, you’ll get a better sense of what’s still needed for the next day, week or month.

Your parish staff works hard — do they know how much you appreciate them? Check out “ Tips to Honor Your Administrative Staf f” for ideas on how to keep them around .

Does Your Church Need a Communication Crew?

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 09:30:00 GMT

There has never been a more vital time to communicate the good news of your parish than there is today. From community outreach, Catholic school news, prayerful opportunities, and fellowship with parishioners, so much is happening in your parish … are you letting people know?

The weekly bulletin, while still the central vehicle in parish communication, is only one facet of efforts out there. And the parish secretary, while also a key figure in the innerworkings of your parish, is also just one person with many hats. Your parish needs more, in order to do more.

If your parish has yet to create a marketing or communication team, now is the time to get one going — here’s why.

People Prefer Multiple Methods

Email, text, website, push notifications, social media posts, print, digital … the list of ways people can and prefer to communicate grows bigger by the day. And when most parishes can’t afford a full-time staff member or have access to a volunteer willing to donate the hours of time required to accurately fulfill the role, they become severely limited in what they can do. And that is where the beauty of a working communication team comes in.

If you have yet to connect with parishioners or community members, now is the time. Ask around the parish for people who are skilled in communication and/or marketing. Perhaps they own a small graphic design business or worked in the communication field before becoming a stay-at-home parent. Whatever they may have done in the past or currently do now, their skills are invaluable in what they could contribute.

Some ideas to consider:

PRO-TIP: It doesn’t need to be a big commitment! A monthly or every other month meeting and a working Google document is enough to get the ball rolling on ways to communicate effectively within your parish. Just keep each other in the loop, make sure Father approves all ideas and initiatives, and of course, have fun!

Volunteers With Different Skill Sets

Rarely do volunteers come with an all-in-one skill set. You may find someone who can create beautiful marketing material but has a horrible time with grammar (and vice/versa!). That’s OK! As long as you can correctly fill the needed roles and work together to get work accomplished, you can make a huge difference in the way people perceive your parish — inside and out!

Ideally, you’ll want to staff your team with people who have skills in graphic design, writing and editing, social media, photography/videography, website and SEO, and marketing. But depending on who you have in your parish, or inner community, take what you can get and ask for recommendations later for other people who should join.

Do More, With More

With social media and emerging technology growing all the time, people except more these days — especially when it comes to their faith community. At the very least, your church should have a web presence, weekly bulletin, and a social media platform like Facebook. But imagine what you could do to increase and enhance the spirituality of your parishioners if you could add on more avenues to live their faith!

Think weekly email newsletters bursting with Gospel reflections and upcoming events, text messages reminding people about the capital campaign goal and how they can easily donate, a series of images from the faith community that is shared on social media, and even short videos or podcasts about the importance of the Mass or Confession. The more you can add in these additional (yet necessary) vehicles, the better your members can live their faith.

PRO-TIP: As a group, sit down and come up with a list of essentials — website, bulletin, social media, etc. — and then start a second list of what you’d love to see added. You may discover that you can do more than you thought!

Ready to build your communication crew? Check out “ New Ways to Recruit Parish Volunteers ” for some helpful tips on getting people interested.

Tips to Using Your Parish App Well

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 09:30:00 GMT

There are so many things you can do with a parish app. From push notifications and group messaging, to links to daily readings and your weekly bulletin, a wealth of information is at the ready for your parishioners. However, just because you can do it all, doesn’t mean you necessarily should.

The Makings of a Good App & a Not-So-Good One

You know a good app when you see one. It’s one that is beautifully designed, and goes hand-in-hand with your website. It’s easy to navigate and useful, with necessary information like Mass times and parish contacts. You open it up multiple times during the week to look up information. At the same time, most of us can also spot a bad app when we come across one. Perhaps the design is too busy, the color scheme is different than your website, or it doesn’t include the parish logo. There are too many icons on the screen, and push notifications are coming across multiple times a day for things that really don’t pertain to most of your members. And worst of all, the app crashes all too often.

The average smartphone owner spends 2 hours and 15 minutes a day using apps — the equivalent of one month a year. The average person has 60-90 apps installed on their phone at any given time. What does all this mean for your parish? That you’ve got competition. In order to create an app that is worthy of staying on your parishioner’s home screen, you need to understand what your members consider valuable.

Choose Your Links Sparingly

We’re one app out of 90 that a person may scroll through on any given day. One message out of literally hundreds that will be sent, depending on who you are and what you consider valuable. With this information in mind, we need to be strategic with what we choose to make available for those we’re trying to reach.

When asked, most parish administrators give the same reasons why most people visit your website: church location, Mass and Confession times, and access to online giving. Everything else, while nice to include, can easily be found elsewhere with a simple Google search. That is why keeping everything on your app “hyper-local” is key to making sure it’s one of the only places they can access it.

If your pastor writes a weekly reflection, definitely add it to the app, but if it’s consistently published the same time each week, you can skip the push notification if you see that people are reading it without being prompted. Or you can choose to send a push notification once per week but combine notices to keep the promoting low, such as:

It’s Friday! Check out Fr. Bill’s latest Gospel reflection, our weekly bulletin, and sign up for online giving. See you at Mass!

Keep in mind that push notifications are there for a reason! Be sparing on how you use them, but definitely use them for instances where people need to be informed at the last minute:

Due to last night’s winter storm, the 11 a.m. Mass has been postponed to 12 p.m. Stay safe!

Fr. Dan’s homily reminded us that sharing just one percent more of what we have can make a huge difference. Our food pantry can use a restock — visit our Amazon Wish List and order some much needed non-perishables!

Parishioner Engagement at the Ready

A parish app is a great way you can pass on information to your parishioners for an instant engagement boost. And with WeConnect , just a few clicks allow you to publish to your website and instantly have it added to your app at the same time. When your office staff is already stretched thin, you need to learn to conserve energy and automate how you communicate.

If you are an LPi bulletin customer, you already have access to thousands of Catholic prayers, reflections, trivia, and more with WeCreate . Don’t recreate the wheel by scouring the internet for low-res images and copyright content you’re hoping you won’t get caught using. Our Catholic art and media platform allows you access to thousands of digital assets you can use for your parish app — free!

Need more reasons to get a parish app? Check out “ Why You Need to Share Parish News Through Print & Digital Avenues ” for even more reasons why you need to focus on a digital platform, too.

Why You Need to Stop Featuring a Building on Your Homepage

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 09:30:00 GMT

When parishes began to see the value of having a website, for some reason someone decided that having an image of the physical building on the homepage was best practice. While it may have been that at the time (30 plus years ago!) today it is no longer the case.

If we want to attract people to our faith community, we need show them who makes up our congregation. Is it full of growing families, professional millennials, or active seniors looking to make a difference in society? Are people joyful and full of energy, or are things more contemplative and prayerful?

Whatever your parish is made of, it’s time to show people “who” you’re made of — here’s how.

Use a Photographer for Best Results

When you use your website to feature the best of your community, you need to make sure that the photos you use are of high quality. High resolution images are a must if you want to ensure that they’ll come out clear, crisp, and ready for screens of all sizes. One of the best ways to make sure is to hire a photographer.

From professional photographers to volunteers, there are lots of options out there. Try connecting with a local college to see if a third- or fourth-year photography student is looking for experience and some cash. You could also inquire at your parish whether there is a parishioner who is professional or amateur and would be willing to help. Just remember that no matter what avenue you decide on, photography is one instance where you typically get what you pay for.

Ask for examples of their work, and inquire about their experience, especially when it comes to taking photos during Mass. Do they know where they can shoot, and where they need to refrain? Will they be requiring a flash, or can they rely on manual settings so as not to disturb the congregation?

Have a Shot List

There are so many ways you can photograph your congregation, you’ll want to include a shot list to ensure that all your needs are met, such as:

Find “Moments of Movement”

Choose a weekend Mass and advertise ahead of time that someone will be there to take photos of your growing congregation. If people do not wish to be photographed, encourage them to attend a different Mass, and assure them that you will get permission from first from the subjects in all the photos you’ll be using.

Finally, it’s time to capture your thriving congregation. Look for the beautiful moments, such as a parent teaching their child the Sign of the Cross, families giving each other the Sign of Peace, the pastor holding up the consecrated host for all to see and worship. Be sure to capture as parishioners leave Mass better than they arrived — joyful, encouraged, and ready to spread the message of Christ.

Feature the Best of the Best

You took the time to get a photographer and have ended up some amazing photos of your faith community. Now is the time to splash it on your homepage for the world to see!

When choosing the “hero image” for your homepage, you’ll want to find one that truly captures what your parish is all about. What people looking for a home parish should expect to see, hear, and feel when they walk through your doors.

Some great examples would be the congregation after Mass as they exit the doors, a crowd shot during Mass of the priest consecrating the Eucharist, and even a close-up of a family engaging with one another. Again, anything that shows people what to expect is most helpful.

Now that you’ve got photos for your website, it’s time to find additional ways to use them! Does your parish have an Instagram account? Check out “ Instagram & Your Parish ” for some inspiring ways to share your vibrant community with others.

Owner of C&M Publications Passes Away

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 14:46:00 GMT

Chris McAdams, the co-founder of C&M Publications, a 31-year full-service printing company located in Riverside, California, passed away August 3, 2021 at the age of 66. Chris and his wife, Magda, ran the business together, along with involvement with son, Brian, and daughter, Becky.

LPi acquired C&M Publications late last year when Chris and Magda made the decision to retire so they could spend more time with friends and family.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of Chris’ passing. He and his wife Magda are amazing people who worked tirelessly in their business to help parishes flourish,” said Joe Luedtke, LPi CEO. “LPi keeps the McAdams family in our thoughts and prayers.”

New Ideas for your Capital Campaign

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Gone are the days where our parishes were fully funded because it was expected of parishioners to offer that financial support. Today, there are so many other worthy causes out there that people need to be strategic with their giving when it comes to choosing what to support. It’s time to give them a reason to give.

COVID-19 has changed our world in many ways, with how we give being one of them. From rounding up everyday purchases to asking parishioners to match a major gift dollar for dollar, here are some tangible ideas you can bring back to the planning committee for your next capital campaign.

The Importance of Planning & Asking

There are three phases you typically go through in a successful capital campaign: the planning phase, the quiet phase, and the public phase. During the quiet phase, you should aim to raise 50-70% of your fundraising goal through major gifts. Think supportive businesses with connections to your parish, long-term parishioners and other people with ties to your faith community that have the financial means to give bigger.

While talking about money can be uncomfortable for many, it is necessary to keep your church financially viable. That is why, in addition to pledge cards and donation envelopes, it’s important that you ask people for these major gifts. A phone call from the pastor or an announcement from the pulpit is sometimes all that’s needed to move the needle in the right direction.

Once you get the major asking out of the way, you need to concentrate on soliciting smaller gifts from your larger pool of supporters. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how comfortable you are with technology, the days of simply passing the basket down the pews is over. Our culture and how we give has changed, and our churches need to follow suite — here are some ideas to consider.

Ask for “Spare Change”

It can be hard to get people to commit to hundreds of dollars for a good cause, but when you split it into manageable chunks, people may not even notice it leaving their bank account! RoundUp is a great way to get people to commit to supporting your parish without feeling any financial pain.

The way it works is simple: the user finds your parish, signs up and connects their debt card to the app. They spend as normal, but their purchases are rounded up to the nearest dollar and the “spare change” is then donated to the church. It’s an effortless way for members to support their parish without having to really think about it.

The Button that Changes EVERYTHING

If your parish optimizes online giving but doesn’t have a way to allow recurring donations, now is the time to add it. Not only does it allow people to give whether they’re in the pews or not, but it also helps your parish project what financial support you can expect 3-, 6-, even 9-months down the road.

If you do have a recurring giving function but you find that parishioners are rarely using it, make sure that they know it’s there. From a simple call-out from the pulpit to an email with a direct link to sign up, it can make a huge difference.

Encourage Matched Giving

Remember a few paragraphs back, we mentioned connecting with major donors for most of your funding? Consider using one of those major funders for a gift matching competition.

Say one of your biggest contributors will match donations up to a total of $10,000 given by other members within the next two weeks. Then use that momentum to light a spark and get people excited to give. Send emails, text messages, make phone calls and more. For this type of fundraiser, it’s more about the amount of people who donate, as opposed to the amount they choose to give. For a parish with 500 families, all it takes is $20 per household to meet the goal — totally doable if everyone is on board.

Ask Companies for Contributions

A lot of businesses today offer to match their employees gift giving. Ask your parishioners if their places of work have such a program, and then make it easy for them by offering to print out their financial support record which they can submit for a matching donation. From $250 to $2,500, it’s free money that can easily be obtained by employees — if they only ask for it!

Pro-Tip: Charity Navigator has a list of major corporations that have an employee match program. While this is in no way an exhaustive list, it’ll give you a better idea of just how common these types of programs are, and how often employees forget about them!

As a parish, you know what you need to make your faith community grow. Read on for ways to get the word out by checking out “ What a Communication Specialist Can Do for Your Parish .”

You Don’t Need a Professional Camera to Take Great Photos

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Whether we utilize it or not, we all have access to an easy way to capture the happenings at our parish. The smartphone has reimagined what we can share with our community. If you have yet to start taking photos of the best moments of your church, now is the time to start.

Check out a few things you should keep in mind when using a smartphone, and some fundamental tips for taking images that are worthy of being shared!

1. Start with the Easy

Let’s start the process with some small items to check over. Make sure that your smartphone’s camera lens is clean by wiping it down with a soft, dry cloth. You should also go ahead and make sure your screen is also clean and free of any smudges.

Does your phone have enough space to hold the images you’re planning on taking? If you’re not sure, make sure to check your current storage. If you find yourself being pressed for space, you can start to free up space by removing unused apps, deleting old text messages, and clearing off website data.

PRO-TIP: If you have yet to discover Google Photos , prepare to be amazed! This simple app allows you to keep your precious memories in the Cloud, while having 24/7 access through your phone.

2. Dive into Some Technical

Once you have the space and your lens is clean, you’ll want to start thinking like a photographer. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds! Some things to keep in mind when focusing on your subjects:

Rule of Thirds | Instead of placing your subject in the center, split the scene into thirds . Then, position your subject within these gridlines or wherever they intersect for a much more dynamic image.

Avoid Negative Space | Too much white space can leave your photos uninspiring. Make sure to get close and personal in order to keep things interesting! You can also crop a wide shot in post-production if you aren’t able to get close.

Keep Things Whole | Avoid cutting off any limbs or cropping the head of your main subjects.

3. Get Creative with What You’ve Got

In addition to the usual shots of crowds, groups, posed, and smiling, you should also be on the lookout for some different ways to feature your community . Gone are the days where people want cheesy grins of happy parishioners. We need to see people, authentic and in the middle of action!

How about behind the scenes of Father preparing for Mass, or your faith formation breakfast event just minutes before the doors open? A large crowd shot of the congregation in the middle of Mass, but from the back of church. Even some close-up shots of liturgical items, hands clasped together in prayer, or the line of parishioners waiting for confession are great ways you can showcase the life of your parish.

PRO-TIP: As with anything you do, you’ll need to get permission to feature any parishioners you photograph, especially children. If your parish doesn’t have an official photo release form, check with your diocese.

4. Share it with Your Community!

You’re taking great photos that show your parish as it really is — alive, thriving, vibrant! Don’t keep them to yourself. Now is the time to choose the best ones and share them with your community.

With permission to use images of your parishioners, start sharing them on your social media, website, email, and bulletin. If you find that some color correction or cropping is needed, there are plenty of free photo editor programs out there, such as Adobe Spark , Canva , and BeFunky .

Looking for more ways to showcase your faith community? Check out our blog, “ Does Your Website Accurately Portray Your Parish? ”

Copyright Violations are a Big Deal — Here’s Why

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Imagine that you’re on the hunt for an image to accompany the upcoming festival announcement, or you found a great prayer resource that you want to share with others on your church website. You notice the copyright watermark in the corner or see the bit of text in the bottom of the PDF stating that nothing is to be copied or shared without permission. But it’s just the perfect thing that you need, and you have such a small audience — “just this once,” you think. And then it happens: you get caught.

From large corporations like Disney or Amazon, to local creators selling content on Etsy shops, copying, sharing or utilizing without image or content permission can be a big deal. Depending on how it’s used, you could end up with a cease and desist letter or be sued in a court of law. Here is the lowdown on copyright violations, and why (and how!) you should avoid them.

Not as Ambiguous as You Think

The definition of copyright is “the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.” In simpler terms, copyright is the right to copy. This means that the original creators of products and anyone they give permission to are the only ones with the exclusive right to reproduce the work.

As a parish, there are many ways that you may find yourself in violation of a copyright without even realizing it, such as:

What Can Happen

It can be a misconception that anything found on the Internet can be used freely. This is not true. The U.S. Copyright Office has a range of definitions and facts for people to understand what a copyright is, and how to avoid infringing on someone else’s work. According to Purdue University, copyright infringement penalties can range from actual dollar amount damages to paying attorney cost and fees, to even jail (in extreme cases).

How to Avoid Them

It’s easier than you think to avoid getting caught with a copyright violation. Check out some of these websites for resources that are available for the taking (and sharing!).

WeCreate: If you’re an LPi bulletin customer, you already have access to Catholic images and content for anything you may need. With WeCreate , you’ll find the latest in stock photography, Church clip art, Catholic prayers, weekly Gospel reflections, and more. So, if you’re searching for an inspirational quote for this week’s social media content, or a nice Gospel reflection that you can share on your website, look no further!

Wikimedia Commons: You may be familiar with Wikipedia , a free content, online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteer contributors, but have you heard of Wikimedia Commons ? A collection of 75,451,290 (and counting!) freely usable media files to which anyone can utilize.

Search for Free Images

You can find a ton of free images to use for whatever you need — just head on over to Unsplash , MorgueFile , and Pexels . Royalty-free and available for all uses (even commercial), you’re bound to find what you’re searching for with just a few keystrokes.

Pay for Images

If you’re looking for a perfect image for a flyer to about your upcoming festival, avoid the search on Google and go right to image websites that offer attractive, high resolution images for a price. They can range in cost from as little as $5 to up to $45, but it’s cheaper than the alternative. Try Adobe Stock and Shutterstock and Lightstock for some great images that you can purchase for whatever you need.

Looking for more ways to keep your parish safe? Check out “ The Importance of Password Management ” and “ 5 Reasons Why Staff Shouldn’t Share the Same Email Address .”

Instagram & Your Parish (Social Media Summer Series)

Thu, 12 Aug 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Popular with bloggers, influencers, and riddled with hashtags from #God and #Faith to #Wanderlust and #CampLife, today Instagram is not just for scrolling through designer pictures. Known Catholic Church figures such as Fr. Mike Schmitz and Bishop Robert Barron are easily found on people’s personal streams and, with a little bit of intentionality, your church’s content can be just as sought-after.

Here are some easy and engaging ways to make Instagram work for your parish.

First, Some Stats

PRO-TIP: While you can’t put links directly in your posts, you can sign up for a “mini-menu” of important links that you can put in your bio. And there are several platforms to choose from! Check out Lnk.Bio , Linkr.bio , and Linktree to compare features and sign up for the best one for your church.

Sample Instagram Schedule

There are lots of ways you can utilize Instagram for your own parish that are engaging and inspiring. Instead of looking at a weekly schedule, check out a list of ideas your parish can choose from!

Events — Past and Upcoming!

Did you have a recent festival or parish-sponsored event? What about a compelling flyer with all the information on where and when? Upload some images of the day to Instagram (bonus if they are interesting to look at and high-resolution.) and watch the likes come in!

Inspiring Images

Images of Catholic saints, inspiring words from well-known Catholic figures, pretty landscapes with a few hashtags, all of these inspire people to click and follow for more. Some accounts to check out are Dynamic Catholic , Word on Fire and Pope Francis .

Parish Life

It’s all about helping people to know your parish. Include parishioner highlights with personal testimonies, a “volunteer of the week,” or ministry snapshots to highlight all that your parish does, both within and outside the walls!

PRO-TIP: Running a parish is hard, and when you throw in curating social media content for your parish, it’s just another hurdle. With WeCreate, you’ll find the latest in stock photography, church clip art, Catholic prayers, weekly Gospel reflections, and more. And if you’re a bulletin customer, you already have access !

Looking for more ways to utilize social media platforms? Check out “ Twitter & Your Parish ” and “ Facebook and Your Parish ” for additional ways to engage your followers no matter what platform they follow you on.

How to Share the Good Works of Your Parish with Parishioners & Beyond!

Thu, 05 Aug 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Your parish collected 600 boxes of diapers for the local pregnancy help center during the month of May, sold 256 roses on Valentine’s Day, and with the help of the local Boy Scouts, managed to clean up the entire garden in one afternoon, just in time for summer vegetables to start growing. No doubt, amazing things are happening within your walls — does your faith community know about it?

From bulletin blurbs to email blasts, social media posts to pulpit announcements, read on for tips on sharing the news of your parish with members that make up your faith community and beyond.

1. Stick to the Basics

When you think of disseminating parish information, the first thing that comes to mind is the parish bulletin. A mixture of formation, parish news, upcoming events, and local businesses, it is a “must have” for many parishioners. So even though it’s been around for years, it’s still a solid way to share what’s going on in your faith community with others — just make sure it’s a publication that people actually want to read.

The parish bulletin is so much more than what your grandparents used to read. Now parishes can print in color and utilize beautiful art that inspires, reflections that encourage, and business advertisements that promote. If you’re an LPi bulletin customer , you have everything you need at your fingertips to create an engaging publication — art, Catholic content, and advertising support.

2. Shout it (digitally) from the Rooftops

If you have the print communication down, it’s time to look at all the ways you can get it (digitally) in the hands of those who’d benefit from reading it … and these days, it’s more than just handing it out at the end of Mass.
Email, website, push notifications via parish app, social media, and text messages are all vehicles that parishes have access to these days. Choose a few other channels to share parish news and make a schedule of when to share.

3. Cultivate Parish “Ambassadors”

They say that word of mouth is the best advertising, and that couldn’t be truer! How many of us have tried a new restaurant, movie, hair product or yes, church, because a friend, coworker or family member recommended it? It’s time to focus on your best customers, capturing their words and encouraging them to share them with others!

You can also request members to share their thoughts digitally. If your parish has already claimed its Google Business page (if not, here’s how to do it! ) you can easily solicit reviews and testimonies from parishioners. A simple request from the pulpit or bulletin announcement may be all that is needed to capture them.

4. Illustrate with Images

Words are not the only way to share your thriving faith community with the world — think photos, too! Be sure to capture events, donation responses, and parish life with a digital camera or even your smartphone! Not only can you use them in the bulletin, but also website, social media, and email!

While you don’t need to be a professional photographer or have thousands of dollars-worth of equipment in order to produce engaging shots, you do want to be intentional when it comes to how you take them. The internet has lots of free tutorials you can utilize, so whether you have a fancy DSLR camera or a three-year-old smartphone , understanding the basics of photography will help you capture some of your parish’s best moments.

Let’s keep the conversation flowing! Check out “ Why You Need to Share Parish News Through Print & Digital Avenues ,” and “ Creative Ways Parishes Communicate Today .”

Applying Marketing Strategies to Your Online Giving

Thu, 29 Jul 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Don’t just rely on the online giving button on your website to keep funding consistent. Find ways to keep recurring giving on the forefront of your members’ minds with strategy.

The term “recurring giving” is not meant to be a passive phrase. In fact, keeping your members giving on a consistent basis is one of the toughest jobs you’ll have as a parish. It’s not just adding an online giving button to your website or putting a message in your bulletin once a month — you need to be intentional when it comes to reminding your parishioners about the importance of supporting your church.

From consistent messaging to technology that makes giving as automatic as possible, read on for ways to utilize well-known marketing strategies when it comes to your online giving.

Utilize the Storybrand Framework

Have you heard of the Storybrand Framework? Storybrand, created by author Donald Miller, is designed to improve a business’ marketing strategy by clarifying its message using a specific formula — mainly, turning it into a story using a seven-part framework. Here is the framework being applied to your audience — parishioners!

From these short touchpoints, you can create custom messages for your email, social media, website, bulletin, and pulpit announcements that will cohesively encourage your members to support your parish through recurring online giving. Like Joe Catholic, they, too, can be the hero!

Pro-tip: Rather than focusing on your parish and all the good things you are able to accomplish — feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless — your messaging should be framed as “this is what we can do because of you!”

The Rule of Seven

Now that you have a messaging theme, it’s time to start considering how you want to keep this in the forefront for your members. Are you familiar with the “Rule of 7”? It’s a marketing principle that states that prospects need to come across an offer at least seven times before they really notice it and begin to take action. In “church speak,” this means that your parishioners need to hear about the importance of giving numerous times, not just see it on a flyer in the main gathering space.

Make it a priority to preach about financially supporting your faith community at least once per month, and send out email and postal communications on a semi-regular basis (think once every three months), reminding them that their donation makes a huge difference when it comes to maintaining the strength of your church.

Pro-tip: Finding time to encourage parishioners to give can be a huge endeavor. If your staff is already stretched thin, know that LPi is here to help with the WeShare Engagement Campaign, FREE for WeShare customers. Sign up today!

Choose Your “Mode of Transportation”

Once you have your overall theme/message and are aware of the importance of repeating your message multiple times (seven, to be exact!), you should next decide how best to get your message out — and these days, there are a lot of vehicles to choose from!

You also need to keep in mind the “trap” of passive marketing. Simply put, it’s spreading the same message, but in a way that eventually gets ignored by your audience. An example of this is, again, the unassuming flyer in the back of church, or the same little ad in the church bulletin. Definitely have these, but be sure to switch up the design, the copy, or remind people through the pulpit that they can find information about giving in the bulletin, in back of church, etc.

There is so much that goes into effective parish marketing, but don’t worry — LPi is here to help! Check out “ Are Your Church Communications Working? ” and “ How to Move From 1950s Giving to 21st Century Giving .”

What a Communication Specialist Can Do for Your Parish

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 09:30:00 GMT

In a perfect world, each parish team would have a specific person designated to all kinds of essential tasks. A financial manager to keep track of invoices, funds and investments; a secretary to welcome visitors, schedule appointments, keep track of files, and answer phones and emails; and a janitor to keep the office clean and yard cared for. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, but we still have tasks that need to be taken care of — especially that of communication.

Communicating the good news of your parish and finding ways to get the word out is one of the most important things you can do to grow your parish. If you haven’t considered the benefits of a designated Communication Specialist for your church, now is the time. From sourcing content for the weekly bulletins to maintaining social media, updating the latest Mass times on your parish website to regular communication to parishioners, you need someone to actively tell the story of your faith community.

The Core of the Job

If you’re like many (many!) parishes, the idea of hiring someone solely for communication might be laughable. Particularly when you have one parish administrator running three parishes, or a business manager in charge of multiple ministries. But in order to truly grow your congregation, engage your members, and keep financial stewardship consistent, it’s all about reaching out. And a person designated solely to communication can do just that.

Yes, the role of a communication specialist will include the bulletin, but it should also consist of strategic planning and leadership, ensuring that the church vision and culture is being communicated in every aspect of your ministry. That the design, content, and overall message of your website matches that of your social media, email messages, and marketing materials like brochures, flyers, and connection cards.

Find the Best Person for the Job

Remember that all things are impossible until they aren’t! Start off by asking for volunteers from your parish to take over, grow, or begin from scratch a communication plan, but keep in mind that it should be someone with some type of experience. Do you have a member of your congregation who works in the communication field? Reach out and ask if they could devote a few hours to help create a marketing/communication plan, help train a volunteer on social media best practices, or help with curating content for the weekly email.

While having someone for the job is great, be sure that it’s someone who knows about communication best practices, and has the time and skillset needed for the job. Just because they volunteered for the job, doesn’t always mean they are suited for it. It’s OK to be particular when it comes to this kind of job!

How to Know When it’s Working

Let’s say you managed to find someone to volunteer for the job. Or you had money in the budget to hire someone on a part-time or (Lord willing!) full-time basis. How do you know if you are getting the results needed? It’s pretty simple — you just need to open your eyes to what’s in front of you.

Are your upcoming events being marketed to the outside community via print, digital, and social media vehicles? Do you get a good crowd when they happen? Does your audience demographic vary, or is it the same faces every time? Is your social media presence consistent and the content satisfying, and do you get engagement such as likes and shares from what you post? Are your pews filling up every Sunday and your lines for confession as long as ever? If so, you’re on the right track.

Ready to find someone for the job? Check out “ New Ways to Recruit Parish Volunteers ” for some great tips on reaching out from within.

Facebook & Your Parish (Social Media Summer Series)

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 09:30:00 GMT

What once was an online platform strictly for college students to chat after hours, is now a booming billion-dollar business that encompasses Fortune 500 businesses advertising their goods, to grandparents sharing photos of their grandchildren. As of early 2021, there are approximately 2.85 billion monthly active users on Facebook, and that number is growing by the day. If your parish has yet to join this extremely popular online community, it’s time to hop on the bandwagon.

From sharing news of your thriving faith community, photos from your latest festival, and Father’s latest Gospel reflection, there are numerous ways you can utilize Facebook for Christ.

First, Some Stats

Parishes & Dioceses to Follow on Facebook

Looking for a little inspiration? From the use of live video to everyday inspirations, check out these parishes and dioceses that take social media engagement to the next level.

Prince of Peace Catholic Community – Houston, Texas
A mixture of livestreaming Mass and inspirational quotes, reflections, parish updates and high-quality photos to tie everything together, this parish gets great engagement with followers.

Archdiocese of Detroit
From events throughout the archdiocese, Mass livestreamed by the bishops at the cathedral, Gospel reflections and more, the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Facebook page is a great example of one religious organization promoting the good works of parishes far and wide.

St. Anthony the Hermit Parish – Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
The faith community of St. Anthony the Hermit Parish posts on a regular basis inspirational quotes, upcoming events about the parish, and images from Mass and processions. It gives an authentic glimpse of life at the parish and invites you to come and experience it yourself.

St. Patrick – St. Anthony Church – Hartford, Connecticut
Livestreamed Masses, Gospel reflections from the pastor, live “off-the-cuff” announcements, and invitations to sign up for the weekly newsletter, the St. Patrick-St. Anthony communities have a lot going on.

Sample Parish Facebook Schedule

There is so much happening within your faith community — it’s time to let everyone know about it! From livestreaming Mass to Gospel reflections, inspirational quotes, and upcoming events, Facebook is one of the most perfect platforms around to get the message out. Check out this sample content schedule, and feel free to edit/add for your own faith community!

Monday
Our parish is proud to offer an easy, hassle-free way of supporting our community — online giving! Become a recurring donor today and support our parish no matter where you find yourself! Sign up today.

Tuesday
“Faith is to believe what you do not see. The reward of faith is to see what you believe.” St. Augustine of Hippo

Wednesday
This week, Fr. Patrick shares with us his thoughts on how the upcoming Gospel can be applied to our everyday lives. Read, react, share with a friend!

Thursday
Face-to-face and anonymous confessions are available this afternoon (and every Thursday!) at 4 p.m. If that time doesn’t work for you, feel free to contact us to make an appointment. Has it been awhile? Don’t stress, we’re here for you!

Friday
Every Friday, we come together to pray collectively for the members of our parish most in need of support. Have a prayer request? Add it here! Come Holy Spirit, Come!

Saturday
Mass of Anticipation begins at 4:30 p.m. — we can’t wait to see you! Be sure to grab a bulletin on the way out or download it through our website to read on the go!

Sunday
Join us for Mass at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 1 p.m. Afterwards, stick around for donuts, coffee, and fellowship with friends! What a beautiful day to receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist!

Looking for more ways to utilize social media platforms? We’ve gotcha covered! Check out Twitter & Your Parish for ways to engage your followers.

How to Maximize Your Google Search Results

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 09:30:00 GMT

When you think of Google, your parish listing might not be the first to come to mind. However, getting your church to show up when someone searches for a parish nearby is one of the most beneficial ways you can grow your faith community.

Keywords, meta descriptions, backlinks, rankings … there are so many things you can do to get higher up on the Google search page. If you’re frustrated on where your parish ranks, check out some things you can do to maximize your Google search results.

Have You Claimed Your Page on Google?

If you have yet to do so, the first thing you’ll want to do is claim your listing on Google . Officially called “Google My Business” page, this is a way for you to officially lay claim to and customize your search results.

If you search for a specific business or organization, you’ll notice on the right-hand side what Google calls a “knowledge panel.” If you don’t claim your listing, this will be created automatically by Google. Claiming your page will allow you to be in control of what’s there, such as adding an official description, address and contact information, photos, links to social media channels and more.

While it can be a process, it is very doable. You’ll need a Gmail account, and then just follow the steps for verification through automated phone call, or postal mail. Once you’ve claimed your listing, you can help speed things along by requesting that Google index your website (basically scan your website and stick it in search results faster). If you’re interested in moving forward, check out this deep dive from Google on exactly how to do it.

Best Practices for SEO

Like the foundation of your home, your website needs a strong footing in order to be taken seriously by Google. That is why it’s extremely important that you work on your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Each page that makes up your website needs its own title and summary (called the meta description), as well as any keywords that you think people would use to find a parish like yours.

Now, descriptions are no longer counted in the algorithm that Google uses to rank your pages, but they are critical for how Google uses them in the display of your search results. The meta description (summery) should be less than 160 characters, so you’ll want to make sure that all your important information fits inside that number.

Here is an example of one parish that has created custom, targeted SEO. Remember, each page should have a different description.

Keywords: Church, Milwaukee, East Side, Catholic, Sacraments, Mass (for even better results, make sure the same words are found within the copy on the same page).

Meta Description 1: Website (under 160 including spaces): St. Peter Parish is a vibrant Catholic community nestled in the heart of Milwaukee. A place of worship, we serve spiritual and physical needs of our community.

Meta Description 2: About Us page (under 160 including spaces): Whether you’ve been a parishioner with us for years, or are visiting our church for the first time, we hope that you feel welcome and at home.

Title Tags:
Home | St. Peter Parish
Sacraments | St. Peter Parish
Online Giving | St. Peter Parish

Google Reviews — Not JUST for Restaurants

Finally, you may not be aware, but Google is one of the best places to search for reviews of various businesses, organizations, and yes, churches! One way to look at this is to utilize it for member and staff testimonies. Does your parish have an amazing choir? Young adult ministry? Is your pastor inspiring and passionate in his homilies? Have you experienced an encounter with Christ thanks to this parish? Whatever you choose to highlight, Google is a great way to get the word out!

The more positive reviews, the higher you rank in search results. No matter what is posted, be sure to respond within three days. Not only is this best practice, but it also shows people who find your listing on Google that your parish is alive and thriving.

Want to learn more about SEO for your website? Check out “ The Importance of SEO For Parishes ” for some more insight.

4 Ways to Avoid the Summer Generosity Dip

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Now that we’ve entered the relaxing days of summer, it’s natural that some parishes begin to prepare for that dip in member engagement and, naturally following, generosity. School is over, vacations have been planned, and barbeques are in full swing. As Church, it’s our responsibility to remind our parishioners that just because their schedules are changing, doesn’t mean our ministries and the funds needed to keep them going, are, too.

Here are four easy ways your parish can avoid the “summer generosity dip.”

1. Encourage Recurring Online Giving

Help your parishioners relax this summer by reminding them about the ease of giving online. These days, families begin to worry about summer camp, swimsuits, sunblock, and snacks for those long car rides. Help take parish donations off their plates by making online giving easy and safe — an option that allows them to contribute whether they’re in the pews or not.

There are numerous reasons why parishioners might not be at their usual Mass these next couple of months. Maybe they chose to attend a parish with a Mass time that better meets their schedule, or perhaps they end up going to a parish that is in their vacation area. Whatever the reason, ensure that your members have zero reason to not give by encouraging them to sign up for online giving before they leave.

2. Keep Them in Touch with Parish Life

No matter where they go, or how often they attend Mass at your specific parish, make sure you keep them up to date on the latest happenings. If your faith community has a Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account, make sure everyone with a social media account is connected and following along.

LPi bulletin customers have a listing on Parishes Online that includes easy sign up for bulletin notifications. Simply add member emails to the list (or encourage them to add themselves!), and they’ll be all set to receive a link to the latest bulletin as soon as it goes to print.

3. Give Them Reasons & Opportunities to Join In

Oftentimes, parishioners don’t know what is needed in and for your church, until you make it known. That’s why summer is the perfect time to take inventory of what can be improved on at the parish level and to actively seek people out to help with the process — whether that be time, talent or treasure. No matter what the project, researching ways to be more efficient at stuffing the weekly bulletin, contacting companies for donations for the upcoming parish auction, or weeding the garden outside, don’t be afraid to ask for assistance.

Place a help wanted ad in the next bulletin, announce that a sign-up sheet will be in the back of church for the upcoming meal program, or talk about the many needs of the church during an upcoming homily. Put together some activities that can be done as a group, such as painting or cleaning, and invite members to stop by for an hour or two to lend a hand.

4. Encourage Them to Stay

Keeping the faith at the forefront of your parishioners’ minds can be challenging, especially once summer rolls around. And with many still taking COVID precautions, there is no better time than now for a “staycation.” Simple fundraising opportunities are one way you can increase parish engagement and consistent giving.

Consider an outdoor movie night, where half the proceeds go to parish debt reduction. Or how about a “pay what you may” picnic to support next year’s faith formation? Also, with school being out, a lot of parents need childcare during the summer, and a way that parishes can help is by offering a week or two of Vacation Bible School. Not only does it allow formation for our youngest members, but also gives parents some much needed help with childcare. And teens going through the confirmation process can also get their volunteer hours taken care of by volunteering their time.

Twitter & Your Parish (Social Media Summer Series)

Thu, 24 Jun 2021 09:30:00 GMT

This summer, we take a mini dive into the complicated world of social media, and how these popular platforms help parishes reach Catholics far and wide to spread the message of Jesus Christ.

What once was an unfamiliar word to the general population is now a verb used in our everyday conversations: tweeting. Twitter is among the top 3 social networking apps in the United States and boasts more than 350 million active users. From soccer moms to CEOs, Fortune 500s to local businesses, Pepsi to Pope Francis, millions worldwide have found a way to get their message across — 280 characters or less at a time.

You may not think that your parish would have a place on this trendy platform but think again. When it comes to social media, it isn’t about transforming who you are as a parish, but rather reworking how you communicate specifically for the platform. As Church, we’re tasked with meeting people where they are, in order to help them form an authentic relationship with Christ. For many of our communities, that includes reaching out to those on Twitter, too.

First, Some Stats

How to Find Content to Grow Your Account

You may not think of it, but your weekly bulletin is the perfect place to find content for your social media channels. From weekly readings to upcoming events, Gospel reflections from the pastor’s desk to requested items for the food pantry, a lot of information can be found in this staple communication vehicle.

You can find other things to tweet as well by following some well-known figures. Pope Francis, for example, posts quotes on the regular, and is followed by more than 18.8 million people worldwide. Help his message travel further by retweeting him once or twice a week.

Sample Parish Twitter Schedule

Your parish has good, solid content you can use to engage and grow your followers. You just need to revise what you have. Check out this sample content schedule, and feel free to edit/add for your own faith community!

Monday
You may notice the readings for this week have a common theme: Do not be afraid! Prepare for the week by looking at the readings and spending some time in #prayer. #JPII #Faith #Detroit

Tuesday
One of our parish family members is looking for help in shoveling their driveway while dealing with health issues. Can you help? Contact Dan at the parish office (555) 555-5555. Thanks for being generous with your time!

Wednesday
This week we celebrate St. Maria Faustina, a Polish Catholic nun & mystic. She was chosen by Jesus to proclaim his powerful message of Divine Mercy. Learn about her life & how she continues to help us here on earth today. St. Faustina, pray for us! tinyurl.com/2ekkdcev

Thursday
Fr. Peter will be available for #Confession today from 3 to 5 p.m. If it’s been awhile, stop by and experience the healing power of this incredible sacrament!

Friday
Today, let’s pray for all the names that have been added to our book of prayers this week. May God give us strength, guidance and preservice to continue in His name. Amen!

Saturday
Our weekend bulletin has arrived! Our spotlight business of the week is Dan’s Auto Repair. Bring a copy of the bulletin to his garage for $10 off a standard oil change! #Church #Sunday #Coupons

Sunday
Looking for a sign? This is it! Worship with us TODAY at Mass at 9, 11, and noon. Following each Mass, enjoy our outside #coffee social. Check in with your neighbors, grab a sweet treat, and have fun! #Milwaukee #MKE

Looking for more ways to engage your parishioners digitally? Check out our Catholic Tech Talk blog for tips and tricks to websites, social media, video, audio and more!

20 Homepage Callouts for your Church Website

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Often referred to as the “front porch” of your parish, your website is one of the first ways that people will come to know about your faith community. And if you can only make one first impression, never has it been truer than when it comes to what you use to greet people who happen upon your website.

First, a little insight. As of January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide — 59.5% of the global population. That means that there is a LOT of content out there that people are encountering. And with our attention spans getting smaller and smaller as digital communication grows, churches especially need to shorten their messages and get to the point of what their mission is, right from the start.

Get to the Point of Your Message

When people hop onto your website, there are three things they are usually seeking — for your contact information, to find out your Mass/Confession times, and to give online. Knowing this, be sure that these are easy to find. Some places we’ve seen contact information and Mass times placed is in the footer and right on the homepage. For online giving, this call to action should be placed as a static button on each page, usually in the right-hand side of the header.

Other information, such as ministry descriptions, sacramental information, annual reports, pastor reflections, and online formation programs, can be placed within the navigation and not necessarily the top-tier menu. The less clutter website visitors come across, the better your bounce rate will be.

Keep in mind that if someone is searching for a broader topic about the Catholic Church, they probably won’t find it through a search engine. And you know what? That’s OK! The less clutter you have on your website, the easier it will be for people to find the information that pertains to your church. They won’t need to sift through citations and blog posts and news from the Vatican in order to find out how far in advance they need to register for marriage or sign up for infant baptismal preparation.

Website Callouts to Try

If you’re looking for an engaging and effective way to welcome website visitors, consider these quick messages for your homepage.

Our Door is Open, Our Table is Set — There is a Place for You Here!
Welcome Home!
A Community of Generosity, a Family Rooted in Faith
We’ve Saved a Seat for You Here at (CHURCH NAME)
You Belong Here
There is a Place and a Purpose for You
Worship with Us
Encounter Jesus Like Never Before
Searching for Something More?
Fall in Love with Christ at (CHURCH NAME)
God is Good … All the Time!
Join Our Family in Christ!
A Loving Community Rooted in Christ
Hello There. Welcome to (CHURCH NAME)!
A Vibrant Faith Community Waits for You
Experience the Love of God Like Never Before
Life with Christ is a Wonderful Adventure
Become One in Christ at (CHURCH NAME)
Answering the Longing of our Hearts
Together, Let’s Grow as Disciples

Looking for more ways to create an engaging website? Check out “Does your Website Accurately Portray your Parish? ” for more tips.

“Opening the Doors Wide”: How the Archdiocese of Detroit is Helping Parishes Reopen & Reengage

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Just as so many parishes had to reinvent how they ministered to parishioners amid a world-wide pandemic, they are now working hard to come up with a way to bring them back to the fold now that it’s safe to venture out. But rather than leave churches to figure out for themselves how to fill the pews, the Archdiocese of Detroit is spearheading a campaign designed to accompany parishes on the complicated process of reopening and reengaging members.

“I think that there’s been a recognition that it’s going to take effort and clear communication to help people feel safe at Mass and to help bring them back with a focus on the importance of the Eucharist,” said Emily Mentock, Associate Director of Strategy for the Archdiocese of Detroit. “This is why we launched our ‘Come Home to Hope’ campaign. It’s a sort of dual message of the importance of the Eucharist and the hope that comes with that. As we emerge from the pandemic — some of the darkest days many of us have experienced in our lifetime so far — and come back into full community with the Church, no doubt it’ll take some time to reach people where they are.”

Ideas & Strategies to Engage

“There is a recognition that it’s going to take effort to bring people back into full community with their home parish. Some of the ways that they’ve done that and how we’ve supported our churches in doing that, is by publishing a welcome back playbook for parishes that give them different strategies for both parish leaders and volunteers. It’s a great resource meant to help parishes greet people who are coming back and remind them of the safety guidelines still in place, or to be proactive and do outreach,” she continued. “We have scripts for calling parishioners to let them know about the particular dispensations, inviting them back to Mass, and asking if they have any questions, to alleviate any of those concerns about safety.”

The Archdiocese has also created ready-to-use templates for parishes to utilize, so all they need to do is supply an address and the rest is taken care of.

“We’ve also published sample welcome back letters that parishes can send to parishioners, and in partnership with LPi, we’ve created postcards that parishes can customize with messages to welcome people back and mail to their parishioners, to let them know what the safety guidelines are and what particular dispensations would remain in place for those who may still be concerned.”

Pandemic Only “Amplified” Ongoing Problems

Edmundo Reyes, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Detroit, has also heard some concerns echoed throughout the Archdiocese about parishioners not coming back to Mass in-person for a variety of reasons. However, he is a firm believer that despite the ongoing impact of 2020, the Church’s mission remains the same.

“What we’ve heard throughout the Archdiocese is that the parishes that had vibrant communities before the pandemic are doing fine bringing people back. Aside from some capacity restrictions, some rows roped off and masks being required, they managed to keep parishioners engaged and growing in their relationship with Christ,” he explained, “But the parishes that weren’t necessarily thriving are the ones that are struggling a bit more so. Regardless of a pandemic, it is an ongoing problem that the Church has — creating and growing vibrant communities.”

Reyes believes that, like a lot of the societal issues we experienced in 2020 — childcare restrictions, job loss, work/life balances — parish attendance decline wasn’t something that was caused by the pandemic, but rather amplified the ongoing problem.

“The year that the pandemic hit, it accelerated the decline of some parishes, but it wasn’t necessarily the fault of the pandemic,” he said. “What we’ve seen here in the Archdiocese is that the parishes that were thriving before the pandemic, continue to thrive. But the parishes that were in decline beforehand, continue to decline today. In a sense, the pandemic has made things clearer to us what we as Church leaders must continue to work on.”

“Things Are Getting Safer”

Mentock, a faithful member of St. Aloysius, Detroit, has not only seen the number of attendees at Mass come back to pre-pandemic attendance, but in fact grow as things slowly go back to normal.

“At my parish, we have seen an increase in the number of people coming back, as the dispensations have been lifted,” she said. “We’re a very small congregation, so it was easy to maintain social distancing in a church that could seat almost 2,000 people with three levels of seating. But as the general dispensation has been lifted, we have seen people come back more and more.

“Even this past weekend with some of the Mass guidelines changing, I think people are starting to have an awareness that we’re starting to get to a better place, in that I think there were close to twice as many people as there had been 6-to 8 weeks ago,” Mentock said. “Of course, as the guidelines are changing, people are realizing that they’re not changing without reason. They’re changing because things are getting safer.”

“It’s really encouraging to see the number of people in the pews go up these past few weeks,” she added. “I’m excited to see my parish — and others like it — continue to open their doors wide to welcome everyone back.”

Interested in seeing the Archdiocese of Detroit’s “Come Home to Hope” campaign? Visit www.aod.org/comehometohope to see resources for the lay faithful, and www.egwdetroit.org/come-home-to-hope to see resources for parish leaders.

Why You Need to Share Parish News Through Print & Digital Avenues

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 09:30:00 GMT

While definitely not going anywhere, the parish bulletin is no longer the only way to share news of your parish while also offering a teaching tool for members. Your website, social media channels, email blasts, and SMS messages are now fair game in the parish communication strategy.

To reach people, we need to meet them where they’re at. Some are all about messaging on the go, scrolling on their phones as they wait for doctor appointments or during a lunch break, while others prefer to pick up the Sunday bulletin and read it religiously (pun intended) each week. But while the ways to communicate with parishioners are plentiful, your staff time, unfortunately, is not. Luckily, there are ways you can utilize the content you have to reach its maximum potential in order to get it to the people who need to hear it.

Reuse/Recycle Valuable Content …

When it comes to choosing ways to communicate with members, remember that there is no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to content. An easy way to begin this process is to start with the Sunday bulletin, and then segment/edit what you have and decide on digital ways to share it.

If your parish has a weekly digital newsletter, it’s easy to copy and paste with minimal editing involved. If you need more content and imagery to go along with it, look no further than WeCreate , LPi’s art and content platform. Available free for parishes with a bulletin contract or for a yearly subscription cost for those who don’t, WeCreate gives you 24/7 access to stock images, clip art, Sunday content, Gospel reflections, children’s Gospel activities, and more that will allow you to form and engage your faith community.

A bulletin and a digital newsletter are similar in design and content. But what about other means of communication expected these days, such as social media? Well, there’s a bit more to it, actually.

… But Remember Your Audience

It might seem like sharing parish news across multiple channels would be easy, but if you truly want to reach people, you need to keep in mind that not all social media channels are equal. From Twitter’s character count of 280 max, to Instagram’s focus on quality images and multiple hashtags, users are on certain channels because they prefer the way the content is shared.

While you COULD add a whole Gospel reflection to an Instagram post, more likely people will scroll on by because Instagram is more of a visual platform. Or you could post nothing but a single image on Facebook, but without a caption, explanation or a link, followers might be confused on what to do with it. Make sure that with whatever channel you share your content on, you are mindful of the format and how best to get seen.

If you’re looking for an easy explanation about the differences between social media channels, the Pixel has a great infographic to check out. The main takeaway? Don’t overthink how your church can accommodate each social media channel by reinventing your content. Rather, consider ways that you can capture the attention of followers by using pieces and parts of your main content and segmenting it.

Making it Personal

One goal for sharing your news is to help parishioners become familiar with who you are as a church. You’re not just a place to come to each week in obligation, but a community made in Christ — you need to nurture your relationship with parishioners.

In addition to, or in replacement of a digital newsletter, considering sending out a weekly email from the pastor, associate pastor, director of formation or other church leader. Not only do you help parishioners put a face to a name, but it helps make your parish news more personal when it comes from a persona instead of an entity. It doesn’t have to be 2,500 words of straight reflections or multiple invitations to upcoming events. Sometimes, all you need is a quick weekly check-in to remind them what your church is all about.

Quality images with a short sentence and a link to read your newsletter is a great way to share on Instagram. For Facebook, consider links to individual newsletter articles over a period of a few days, with a call to action to sign up for upcoming communication.

Dive deeper into the topic of social media and your church by checking out “4 Social Media Trends to Watch In 2021 ” and “ Is A Social Media Management Platform Right for Your Parish? ”

4 Steps to a Great Parish eNewsletter

Thu, 27 May 2021 09:30:00 GMT

In addition to the weekly bulletin, many parishes today are taking it one step further and communicating with members through a digital newsletter. Not only does it allow parishes to relay information that couldn’t fit in the bulletin, but it also allows for last-minute news, sudden announcements, additional events, and more to get in the hands of your members even after the bulletin has been printed for the week.

From items to always include to image best practices, here are four things to know that will make your parish newsletter worthy of reading!

1. Design That Encourages Parishioners to Read

Before you start laying out what goes where, make sure that you are working with an attractive newsletter template that clearly lays out everything you want to convey. A great way to do that is to “map” out what goes where and keep it consistent with each publication date.

Imagine that your parish is looking to share at least four articles in each newsletter, in addition to upcoming events, contact information, and a place that encourages parishioners to get in touch. Things that never change — such as the contact information and your “Get in Touch” call-out — can be easily copied over from the template, while the articles and event information will be copied and pasted into a block of copy. No need to shift where usual information goes, just keep it where parishioners can expect to find it and plan your articles and events around them.

2. Keep Content and Images Engaging and Informative

Keep content clean and concise by sticking to a general word count and running it through an editing stage to catch any misspellings, incorrect use of grammar or information that isn’t correct. It’s usually better to have a separate set of eyes look it over, as the writer may overlook mistakes just because he or she has seen it too many times.

It’s natural to check in with Google when searching for specific images, but be careful that you don’t choose images with low resolution (which will become pixilated when stretched out to full length), or images that are copyrighted and not approved for use.

If you have yet to try it, WeCreate , our art and content platform, is specifically designed with churches in mind. Here you’ll find the latest in stock photography, church clip art, Catholic prayers, weekly Gospel reflections, and more to make your bulletin, digital newsletter, social media squares, and more engaging and relevant. And if you have a bulletin contract, access is FREE!

3. The Ultimate Goal? Reach People for Christ!

Spending time creating quality content is a waste if people aren’t reading it. Ensure that your hard work doesn’t go to waste by keeping a comprehensive list of email contacts. From actual parish members to those just looking for more information about your faith community, this is an easy and oftentimes free way to share all the ways your church is helping bring others to Christ.

If you have yet to do so, make sure that your parish is actively gathering all parishioner contact information, including email addresses. Not only does that help you save on postage for regular communication (such as end-of-year financial statements or requests for volunteers), but it also give the parish some important data that the post office CAN’T deliver, such as who opened your email, which links were clicked, and how many actually read your content.

4. Clear Call to Action

So, you have emails, content, images, and a way to put it all together and deliver it to contacts … so what? Unless you present people with a clear call to action, it’s like throwing a dart at a moving target. You need to come up with an actionable step (or steps!) that your readers can easily follow.

What is the intended goal of your newsletter? To get members informed about your parish? Encourage them to share their time, talent, and treasure? To ask friends and family to come check out your church? As a staff, come together and make a list of end goals for your parish newsletter, and then make sure you are being clear with them. Easy to spot buttons, copy with clear and concise actions, and engaging images are all helpful when it comes to calls to action. Don’t hint at what you want them to do, be bold and tell them!

Does your parish have an eNewsletter? What are some content items you always include? Let us know in the comments!

Easy Ways to Turn Long-term Visitors into Faithful Parishioners

Thu, 20 May 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Do you see familiar faces in your pews that don’t match to a name on the parish membership roster? You’re not alone. In recent years, not only are younger generations becoming less religious, but those who are religious are becoming less “rooted” in one particular community (we’ve all heard of the rising of Roamin’ Catholics, those who visit a different church every Sunday). A Gallup Poll released in early 2021 reveals that, for the first time ever, less than half of Americans report belonging to one particular worship community — a downward trend that has been steeper for Catholics than for other faiths.

But our parish communities require that sense of rootedness, and the financial support, that comes with a devoted membership. And if you’re seeing the same visitors return again and again, it’s likely that membership may be on their mind. If you’re wondering how to turn some of those familiar faces into members of your parish family, here are tips for easy ways to start.

Provide Brief Education on the Importance of Parish Membership

It’s just better to be a parish member than a parish visitor. Use the bulletin or back of the worship aid to emphasize the importance of membership. Members are more easily able to access sacramental privileges because they have an existing relationship with the parish and with a priest, and there are often financial benefits like school tuition reduction associated with membership. But on a deeper level, there is a profound meaning attached to the idea of belonging to a parish family — a concept that has faded from culture in recent decades. Membership is a powerful statement that says: This is our community. This is where we worship. This is who we are.

Make it Simple

Many of these visitors may have “parish registration” on their to-do list but never seem to get around to calling the office. Make it easy for people by offering registration on your parish website, and publicize that this is an option. Host a monthly signup after Mass, when people are already at church, or have a table out at each event your parish holds. Equip ushers with cards for people to fill in their personal information, so a staff member or volunteer can call them and complete registration later. Drive home the point that this is a quick and almost effortless process that will afford them great spiritual and practical benefits for years to come.

Make it Interesting

Get everyone excited about the prospect of increasing membership. To capture people’s attention, make it a contest (“Let’s get everyone signed up to be members by Father’s birthday! By the parish’s patronal feast day! By Easter!”) or a raffle (“Register and your name is entered to win!”).

Roll Out the Welcome Wagon

Joining a new community can be intimidating, especially if the new member is unmarried and childless. Does your parish have a welcoming committee tasked with reaching out to new parishioners to help them become part of parish life? Even a simple phone call or email of welcome from a fellow parishioner could make all the difference. If the new parishioners are comfortable, include a short introduction in the bulletin to help people get to know them. Make it known that your parish embraces its new members, and new members will be more eager to join.

Keep Reminding Them

Never doubt the power of brief announcements before or after Mass, perhaps delivered by representatives of different councils, clubs or groups within the parish. Help visitors to understand the vibrancy of parish life that awaits them if they join. Print testimonies in the bulletin from parishioners speaking to what parish membership has brought to their lives both spiritually and socially.

Engaging your parishioners is an ongoing job, but we can help! Check out “ 3 Ideas to Build Your Church Community Post-Covid ” for some helpful ideas moving past the pandemic.

Is a Social Media Management Platform Right for your Parish?

Thu, 13 May 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Research is showing that social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter boast 3.7 billion users worldwide, an increase of 5% from 2020. Clearly, social media is a vastly effective tool when it comes to reaching the public, whether you’re a commercial business peddling a product or a Catholic parish looking to spread the Good News. These days, the internet really is the public square.

“Social media is fundamentally changing how people communicate,” writes the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on its website . “Our Church can not ignore it; in fact, it is our responsibility as Catholics to bring the Church’s teachings into what Pope Benedict XVI called the ‘digital continent.’”

But how each individual parish community embarks on that “digital continent” will look different. When deciding what kind of social media presence your parish wants to curate, there are important points to keep in mind that have to do with demographics, accountability, ease of use, and more.

Who do You Want to Reach?

An important factor to consider is the average age of your parishioners — or the average age of people you want to reach. A Pew Research Center survey from 2021 indicates that 72% of Americans use some form of social media. It’s a number that does tend to drop with age, however — about 45% of adults age 65 and older report doing so.

Usage of social media by platform can also depend heavily on age, gender, ethnicity, and income. Older adults are more likely to use Facebook and less likely to use Instagram and YouTube; the younger crowd shows up for Facebook as well, but loves Instagram and Snapchat, Twitter and WhatsApp, too. WhatsApp, in particular, has shown itself to be especially popular with the Hispanic community over the past few years of Pew Center studies.

Managing Your Online Presence

If your parish is going to establish a social media account, it’s advisable that only a few people have posting privileges so that your online presence is clean and consistent. Many parishes who decided to take their evangelization efforts online feel that the use of a management tool like Hootsuite or Buffer is essential. Not only does it save staff time in posting, but additional resources are often included and posts can be easily scheduled ahead for certain times.

If you’re looking for engaging and fresh content for your social media presence, be sure to check out all that is available on WeCreate , our Art & Media platform. Evangelize your community with the latest in stock photography, church clip art, Catholic prayers, weekly Gospel reflections, and more (psst, it’s also a FREE add-on to your bulletin subscription!).

What Social Media Management Platform is Right for You?

Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most popular social media management tools:

Hootsuite
More than 18 million customers choose Hootsuite to manage their social media accounts, gaining access to a social analytics dashboard that shows top-performing content and offers personalized insight. Hootsuite also allows customers the opportunity to connect their social networks across apps, and offers courses taught by professionals.

Sprout
Sprout aims to get you “from overwhelmed to empowered” by streamlining your engagement with your social media channels. Sprout can publish content, evaluate the performance of your posts, help you respond to messages quickly and much more.

Buffer
Buffer allows customers an easy way to reach their audience through scheduled posting across networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest while providing analysis on engagement and resources for improving.

Looking for new ways to engage and inspire your parishioners using social media? Check out our blog, “ 4 Social Media Trends to Watch In 2021 .”

New Ways to Recruit Parish Volunteers

Thu, 06 May 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Have you ever considered the untapped volunteer potential sitting in your church pews every Sunday? Every parish needs the usual roster of ushers, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, music ministers and sacristans. But those aren’t volunteer positions that fit every person’s skill set or state in life; not to mention that a modern parish — with a website, Facebook page, e-communication and online giving platforms — has administrative and practical needs that far exceed Sunday morning.

Instead of only sending out the call for the usual suspects, it’s time to focus on expanding our view of volunteerism and recruit parishioners to help in evangelizing in other crucial ways, both inside and outside our walls. Here are just a few scenarios you may not have considered

Think Outside the Box

Gather some stakeholders from within your parish — both paid staff, lay leadership and volunteers — and have a brainstorming session to assess the voids in stewardship that could be filled by well-equipped volunteers. Chances are, there are more opportunities than you realize: never before has so much been asked of parish staff members, who are often working to juggle virtual and in-person programming while budgets shrink and job responsibilities grow. Ask staffers to give you a “wish list” — identifying parts of their job with which they could use an extra hand. Use it as a jumping-off point for drawing up a master list of unmet needs that the parish has.

Update Databases — and Perceptions!

Many Catholics have an outdated understanding of what types of volunteers a parish needs. They simply might not envision themselves as volunteers or think that their gifts would be of use to the community — unless you broaden their perception, that is. Help your parishioners to better understand the needs of your parish, and spur them to reflect on what they might have to offer.

Some ways to get people thinking about how their own skills can benefit their parish family:

Don’t Compromise Standards

Just because you’re broadening your horizons when it comes to what kind of expertise volunteers can provide, you don’t have to lower your standards when it comes to accepting volunteers. Remember to look for individuals who exhibit high standards of responsibility and a desire to help the parish thrive.

Now that you have a way to find volunteers, read up on ways to properly train them by checking out the blog, “Why Your Parish Needs A Volunteer Onboarding Process.”

Website Navigation for the Best User Experience

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 09:30:00 GMT

If your parish is like most out there, no doubt you have a lot to share with the world. From Mass and confession times, listing of ministries, ways to volunteer, descriptions of sacraments, and requirements for infant baptism and matrimony, there is a lot to unpack. But just because you need it on your website, doesn’t mean it’s worthy of a “front and center” position in your navigation menu.

When everything you have is deemed “essential” to each staff member and the ministries they run, you need to come up with a way to make it easy for those who might not think that way to find what they need on your website. Read on for five ways to effectively set up your website navigation.

1. Focus on the “Big 3”

Generally speaking, there are three main reasons why someone will visit your parish website: for your contact information, to find out your Mass/confession times, and to give online . Knowing this, be sure that these are easily accessible on your website — in particular, your homepage. Some places we’ve seen contact information and Mass times placed is in the footer and right on the homepage. For online giving, this call to action should be placed as a static button on each page, usually in the right-hand side of the header.

Other information, such as ministry descriptions, sacramental information, annual reports, blogs, and online formation, can be placed within the navigation and not necessarily the top-tier menu.

2. Use Your Navigation to Tell Your Story

Instead of using very direct, specific titles, churches are beginning to use “softer” words in order to give people a better feeling of what to expect from their parish. Instead of, for example, “Mass Times, Contacts, Online Giving” for the header, we’re starting to see “Worship, Connect, Give” as drop-down menu titles.

Under that first tier, this is where you can find Mass/confession times and sacramental preparation ( Worship ), contact information, bulletins, upcoming events, and clergy and staff directory ( Connect ), and online giving and volunteer opportunities ( Give ).

3. Remember that Less Is More

You may be tempted to include everything you could possibly have on your website, so as to make everyone happy. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to your local diocese, you may want to start pulling information from these reputable sites to make sure you “cover all your bases.” But just because you can, doesn’t always mean that you should.

4. Keep Navigation Tiers to Less Than 3 Deep

OK! So now you have your chosen menu headers and are starting to set up your navigation. Like a tree with various branches, you might find that one category naturally “falls” under another. But again, just because you can add it to the drop-down, doesn’t mean it needs to be there.

Keep your drop-down navigation to, again, just the basics, in order to keep your website as clean as possible. This will help to keep clutter to a minimum and allow for a sleeker look. You can keep this information on your website by adding them as links to specific pages that they fall under (for example, add a link to the parish wedding readings on the matrimony page).

5. Remember to Avoid Insider “Language”

Finally, keep in mind that your audience doesn’t necessarily speak the same Church “speak” that you as a staff do, so use terms and words that the average person in the pew will understand. Avoid formal titles that are typically only heard in staff meetings or a seminary class, as well as any parish-specific acronyms that wouldn’t make sense to the average Joe.

So, instead of using words such as Catechesis, RCIA, or Acolyte as some of your headers, go ahead and “rename” them to something that others would more easily understand, such as Church Teaching, Becoming Catholic, or Altar Servers.

Now that you know how to set up your navigation, it’s time to plan out your perfect website. Check out “ Creating A Welcoming Parish Website ” for some great aspects to consider, and connect with us to create your next website at www.4lpi.com/solutions/catholic-church-websites

How to Start an Online Giving Email Program for Your Parish

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Whether you have been actively encouraging financial stewardship for years in your parish, or it’s a passive annual task, encouraging your parishioners to become regular donors is essential to the health and wellbeing of your church. An easy way to get started on creating a giving program for your parish is to automate it with an email program to increase your online giving presence.

From audience considerations, targeted messaging, and email platforms that might work for you, check out some easy-to-implement ways to work an essential email campaign into your list of tasks.

Consider Your Audience

Are you aware that you have two sets of audiences to consider when starting an online giving email program? Donors and non-donors. So, you’ll want to keep these two “personas” in mind when creating content for them. An example to consider:

Regular Donor Rachel: Gives regularly to your church at least a few times a month using a parish envelope or online. You have all her donor information kept on file, meaning that you can provide her with an end-of-year giving statement for tax time.

Non-Donor Nick: A consistent Mass attendee who either doesn’t give at all or gives sometimes during the offertory with cash when he has some. You don’t have a way to track his giving pattern because of his sporadic generosity. Although he’s attended your parish for years, he has yet to become an official member.

Now that you know who your audience is, you’ll want to curate your messaging towards them in a way that will compel them to give.

Solidify Your Call to Action

Obviously, the end goal for your giving campaign should be that parishioners become consistent givers to your parish using your online giving platform. However, with two different audiences, this end goal will need to change slightly for each group. While it may appear unnecessary, you definitely don’t want to exclude regular donors from your campaign!

It’s no secret that members need to be reminded multiple times about the importance of continuing their contributions, also tell them how their giving makes a difference in the parish. In addition to an update of what your parish is doing (both inside the building and outside in the community), you’ll also want to include a call to action for them to look at their current giving, and whether that should be adjusted. Can they afford to give 10% more? Or sign up for recurring online giving to automate the process? It’s well-known that for the most part, our members are not hesitant to give — they just need to be reminded as to how and why.

Put it into Action

You have your audience and you have your messaging. The only thing left to do (right now!) is to put it all into action. Check out two types of messaging that can be used for email, or as a bulletin or pulpit announcement if an email address is not available. If your parish has yet to implement a broadcast email platform, check out our blog “ Why Your Parish Needs an Email Marketing Platform .”

Email to Non-Donor Nick

Dear Nick,
Thank you so much for attending Mass at St. Andrew Parish. Your presence each weekend is an incredible testimony to the strong faith of our community and how much we can accomplish in the name of Jesus Christ.

We’d love to have you join our faith community as a member. When you become an official parishioner, it not only allows us to mutually turn to each other for support and guidance — it also makes the process so much easier when the time comes for infant baptism, religious education, weddings or funerals.

Simply visit our website to sign up in less than five minutes or connect with an usher after Mass for a printed form. You will also have the opportunity to sign up for online giving, which gives you the ability to give to our parish whether you’re in the pews or not. It’s fast, easy, and convenient, and makes a world of difference to all that we are able to accomplish in the community we serve. Thank you for considering!

In His Name,

Fr. Daniel

Regular Donor Rachel

Dear Rachel,

I would like to take a minute to personally thank you for your consistent commitment to our parish. Your presence here is a testimony to the strong faith of our community and how much we can accomplish in the name of Jesus Christ. We are strong because of you!

This year, we have made the decision to make giving automatic by offering our parishioners a recurring online giving option. This not only helps us project what to expect for our budget for the year — it also allows you to give whether you are in the pews or not. Please consider making your next donation (and beyond!) through our online giving platform. Click here to sign up in minutes!

In Christ,

Fr. Daniel

No matter where you are with your giving initiatives, there are always ways to keep the momentum going. When you devote creativity, resources, and time to stabilizing your financial bottom line, so many people receive the fruits of your labor.

Finding ways for parishioners to give is a huge yet important task. If your staff is already stretched thin, know that LPi is here to help with the WeShare Engagement Campaign, FREE for WeShare customers. Sign up today!

Technology Tools to Collaborate Effectively with Parish Staff

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Miscommunication and last-minute determinations made without all decision-makers present are nothing new when it comes to parish life. No matter the size of your staff, sometimes it just happens that “the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.” However, technology these days is helping close the gap when it comes to silos in the workplace. Here are some ideas to consider as you strive to put an end to miscommunication in the office.

When Outsiders Aren’t Really Outsiders

Silo mentality is becoming more prominent these days, especially with so many of us working from home. Simply put, it’s an isolated mindset in which people or groups of teams within a workplace see others as “outsiders.” And naturally, outsiders don’t need to be privy to certain information. However, working in the church means that for it to truly work, you need to collaborate.

For most parishes, we see silo mentality most often when it comes to the bulletin. Father will ask why an event or collection wasn’t added to the bulletin. Most often, it’s because someone failed to let the bulletin editor know about it. This becomes a missed opportunity to let the congregation know just how the church is contributing to the community.

Technological Tools to Bring Teams Together

One way to get people involved with what one another is doing is to take advantage of some group messaging platforms that allow for everyone to be involved, without sending an email each time.

Trello
More than a way to showcase your work, Trello is a way that helps groups find ways to work together. Start your account using a Trello board, lists, and cards, and then customize and expand with more features as your teamwork grows. Manage projects, organize tasks, and build team spirit — all in one place.

Slack
Unlike email, conversations in Slack are easy to follow. You can make group channels to share information, or direct message one another. According to the website, there are more than conversations — you can make calls, share files, and even connect with other apps.

Microsoft Teams
This platform allows employees to interact and collaborate easily. Stay organized by keeping notes, documents, and your calendar together, and instantly go from group chat to video call with the touch of a button. People from all walks of life use it to better organize themselves, whether that be for work, school, or family. Easily find, share, and edit files in real time using familiar apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in Microsoft Teams.

Doing Less to Produce More

Many people may see meetings as necessary, while others make the joke that it could have just been an email. But somehow, there must be middle ground … right? Very true. According to the Amazing Parish , however, having quick, “standing” team meetings is a great way to share essential information by eliminating the “chit-chat” that often comes along with it.

Amazing Parish co-founder Pat Lencioni has a great presentation of what a great team meeting looks like, and how to adapt it to make it work for your staff using some simple tips. NOTE: To view this module, you’ll need to register for a FREE account with Amazing Parish.

Module 12: Meetings

A Step-by-Step Checklist
Finally, it’s also helpful to implement a formal process to ensure that all useful information is shared with the people who could benefit from knowing it. Come up with a checklist for your staff, and make sure all steps are consistently taken.

• Is it an upcoming event?
• Will parishioner or community data be collected that could be useful for other ministries?
• Do you have any photos or videos that would be good to share with parishioners?
• Is this an upcoming sale or opportunity that someone on staff could benefit from?

Collaborating with your staff is a trial-and-error process, so don’t give up if something doesn’t go right. Keep trying to find new ways and efficient processes to keep everyone in the loop. There’s always a solution!

The Best Catholic Podcasts You’re Not Listening To

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Catholic podcasts are cropping up everywhere these days, with topics that range from the broad to the niche, and with focuses that can appeal to all the faithful, no matter their life stage. Here are ten Catholic podcasts worth a listen.

For Everyone

Poco a Poco: Produced by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, this enlightening podcast incorporates the friars’ experience with the poor, their prayer life, and their Franciscan worldview into a reflection on this week’s Gospel message.

The Bible in a Year: We all struggle to find the time for Scripture reading and reflection. Fr. Mike Schmitz makes it easy with bite-size Scripture readings and mini-homilies that will span the entire Bible over a period of 365 days (start whenever you like!). Most episodes clock in at about 18 to 20 minutes, fitting into even the busiest schedule.

American Catholic History: Do you know the story of the Catholic saviors of Thanksgiving? Or the Catholic origins of Mardi Gras? Have you ever heard of the anti-Catholic “Pope Night” celebrations in the early British colonies? Fascinating and obscure corners of Catholic American history are plumbed through the expertise of Tom and Noelle Crowe.

How They Love Mary: “To Jesus through Mary,” goes the old saying. Fr. Edward Looney explores spiritual issues through a Mariological lens, hosting a variety of guests who address topics like the Rosary, “Marian tweets and trends,” family prayer, pilgrimages, Marian apparitions, and more.

For Men

Pints with Aquinas: Matt Fradd’s podcast is based on one simple question: If you could ask St. Thomas Aquinas any question over a pint of beer, what would it be? Fradd, an author and professor, tackles some of the biggest spiritual questions and topics of the modern Catholic Church in a straightforward style.

The Catholic Man Show: With episode names like “Four Roses Single Barrel” and “Glenfiddich 14-Year Exclusive,” you might understandably think this is a podcast about top-shelf liquor — but that’s just because hosts Adam and David put the “spirits” in “spiritual” as they tackle everything from prayer, masculinity, and fatherhood to pro-life issues and the Apostolic Succession.

For Kids and Families

Catholic Sprouts: This daily podcast for Catholic kids “strives to plant seeds of Catholic faith” in your little one’s heart. Catholic mom Nancy Bandzuch started this podcast because she was searching for similar audio-based programming for her own children that would explore the mysteries of God’s love, the revelations of Scripture and the journey of living as a Domestic Church. Episodes are a suitable length for children (six to eight minutes) about eight years and older.

Saint Stories for Kids: Produced by Shining Light Dolls, this weekly podcast introduces kids to the heroes of Catholic history in short, engaging episodes. From St. Brigid to St. Paul to St. Jude, St. Hyacinth, St. Rita of Cascia and many more, the tales of how God worked in the lives of these holy men and women will captivate youngsters ages six and up.

For Women

The Gathering Place: Cohosts Jenna and Beth examine the challenge of embracing a call to holiness through the perspective of Catholic femininity in this podcast produced by Blessed is She. Episode topics have included the Holy Spirit, redemptive suffering, everyday prayer and the beauty of silence.

The Catholic Mama: Christine Mooney Flynn’s journey to Catholicism includes pit stops in New Age spirituality and atheism, making her appreciation for the truth of the Gospel all the more vibrant. In her podcast, she takes on subjects of interest to moms and married women, including marital sexuality, the Domestic Church, grappling with spiritual doubt, keeping your kids engaged in Mass and much more.

Pastors: How to Tell Your Story Through the Homily

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 09:30:00 GMT

Congregations appreciate being invited into their pastor’s personal experiences, but sharing your conversion story, background, and life experiences can be an intimidating task. Here are five tips for sharing your story through the homily.

Hook Them with The First Line

If you want to capture the attention of your parishioners, begin your homily with, “What you’re about to hear is a true story.” It teases the imagination and invites curiosity. Here are a few other reliable openers that are sure to make an impression, depending on the story you want to tell and the Gospel message to which you will relate it:

Find the Stories you Don’t Know are There

Priests want to talk about God in their homilies, and often don’t see themselves as captivating or unique. That’s admirable — nobody wants a pastor who can’t stop talking about himself. But God has revealed Himself to you in millions of moments throughout your life, and those moments can all make for a story, even if they don’t strike you as particularly funny or interesting. Get brainstorming by asking yourself some simple questions. Even if the answers to these questions don’t form the thesis of your homily, considering them honestly may lead you to a story you didn’t know was there.

Speak from a Place of Authenticity

Salesmen share a story because they’re trying to force a connection. But you’re not trying to make a sale, you’re trying to make an impression. The best way to do that is by starting with authenticity. This can best be done by always remembering who the hero of the story is. Spoiler alert — it’s never you. The hero is God, even if you are the protagonist. Only share stories that illuminate God’s work in your life.

Don’t be Afraid of Vulnerability

People often put their pastor on a pedestal that goes beyond seeing him as holy — they unconsciously see him as better or stronger than themselves. Share the moments that show your humanness — your lack of confidence, your shyness, your doubt, or your fear. Remember that the reason corny jokes are unbearable is because their punchlines are low-hanging fruit — the zingers anyone can deliver. The same goes for sharing a story. It will be dull if you share your story the way anyone could: in a superficial manner. So, share your story only as you can: go deeper.

But Don’t Confuse Vulnerability with Using the Ambo as Therapy

It’s okay to cherry-pick details. Inviting parishioners into your humanness does not need to mean discussing your spiritual faults and struggles with sin. Of course you have flaws, and of course you want them to know that you are struggling on the path to heaven in the same way they are. But don’t place on them a feeling of needing to shepherd you — that’s what your spiritual director is for. We all fall prey to ongoing sins, but don’t give specific examples or mention, for instance, a Church teaching you may struggle with. This puts the problem on them and instead of humanizing you as a pastor it creates conflict within themselves that they have to reconcile.

How Your Parish Can Help Families Instill the Importance of Giving

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 09:30:00 GMT

The time is now for children to learn the importance of stewardship because they are hearing plenty of counterproductive messages. The average child watches 40,000 ads on television alone per year, according to widely cited data from the APA, a figure that doesn’t even include ads on mobile devices or online. All of those ads are prompting them to think about the material goods they want — clothes, video games, snacks. It’s training them to focus inward on their own desires. As Catholics, we need to help guide their focus outwards.

Here are some ways you can help families at your parish teach children to look outside of themselves, helping to cultivate a generation of stewards for tomorrow.

Focus on Education

Find ways to introduce the word “stewardship” and its meaning to the kids of your parish. This could take the form of special family-oriented programming, it could be implemented in Sunday school teaching or your parish priest could address it at an all-school Mass. Why do we give back some of what God has blessed us with? Bible stories that could be shared include Jacob at Bethel ( Genesis 28:20 ), Jeremiah’s call to active citizenship ( Jeremiah 29:5-7 ) and the Parable of the Talents ( Matthew 25:14-30 ).

Launch a Family-Centered Campaign

Have kids collect toiletries for the local homeless shelter and set up a time that families from your parish could stop by and deliver them personally, meeting some of the people their donations will help. Have a baby shower for a local crisis pregnancy center and encourage kids to include handwritten notes of encouragement and support for the moms in their gifts. Or consider something that benefits your parish — does the cry room need a coat of paint or the donation of a few new children’s books? Find ways for families to become actively involved in stewardship, so that kids can see with their own eyes what faith looks like in action.

Pass the Basket!

Encourage parents to let their kids place their offering in the collection basket themselves. Especially for little kids, this simple action is an exciting and engaging ritual that they will remember as they grow up. Better yet, can your parish set up a special “Children’s Fund”? Hold a contest to design fun, eye-catching envelopes that children can take home with them and fill during the week.

Include “Giving Testimonials” in your Parish Bulletin

This could be a very brief paragraph submitted by parish kids describing some act of stewardship they undertook that week — shoveling the neighbor’s sidewalk, giving their sibling the last cupcake or skipping a chocolate bar to donate the money to church instead. Consider keeping these testimonials anonymous to further instill a sense of altruism in the kids.

Promote a Culture of Stewardship at Home

Give parents useful, concrete ideas for conversation starters or activities that can help them explore stewardship at home as a family. Here are some quick and simple ideas:

5 Reasons Your Parishioners Aren’t Giving on a Regular Basis

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 09:30:00 GMT

It’s a perennial problem for all Catholic parishes: financial stewardship. Rare is the faith community whose leaders are always completely confident in the consistency and level of its members’ financial gifts. According to Nonprofits Source, 37% of regular church attendees don’t give any money at all to their church, and tithers only make up about 10 to 25% of a normal church congregation.

While this is a common statistic, it doesn’t need to be an ongoing problem within your faith community. Here are some common reasons why even faithful churchgoers aren’t giving to their parish on a regular basis.

They forgot to Bring their Cash, Check or Envelope

How many of us have realized, just as we see the basket being passed at collection, that we left our checkbook or offertory envelope on the kitchen counter? Chances are that means we will also forget to mail it in at some point that week. Financial giving can often be “one more thing” on the to-do list of busy parents and professionals, so it’s important for parishes to make it as easy as possible for parishioners to get their money to the church. This means prioritizing and highlighting alternative giving options by using programs like WeShare , which can set up recurring or one-time donations using a variety of devices.

Programs like these also appeal to more technology-literate generations who rarely carry cash or utilize checkbooks, and the ease of use makes it more likely for donors to set up a recurring gift that they don’t have to think about.

They Aren’t Members … Yet

In 2009, The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University found that about 37% of American Catholic parishes regularly serve a significant population of Catholics who are not registered at their parish. A later, related study found that this number is more likely to include younger people born after 1981 and Asian or Pacific Islander Catholics and Hispanic or Latino Catholics (due to cultural norms in their country of origin). Those who are not members are less likely to financially support the parish.

They Don’t Feel a Connection to the Community

This problem could stem from a number of sources. Are your parishioners aware of what your parish has to offer them, whatever state in life they find themselves in? Are they feeling welcomed, included and invited? Do they understand the importance of parish membership and the sense of belonging to a faith community they can call their own? Do they understand exactly where the money goes? Is there adequate education (from the pulpit, in the bulletin, on social media) about the good your parish is able to do in the community because of the generous financial support of its parishioners?

They Don’t Know Why They Should

It’s simply a fact of modern life that religious affiliation has declined, and with it the sense of stewardship over a local parish church. According to Nonprofits Source , giving overall is at about 2.5% of a family’s annual income these days, compared to roughly 3.3% during the Great Depression. Additionally, the Church has suffered from damaging publicity in recent years due to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Many parishioners do not differentiate between “the Church hierarchy” that they read about in the news and the men and women — ministers, teachers, and administrative staff — who rely on their local parish for their salaries.

They Don’t Feel Their Donation Would Make a Difference

This can be especially common in parishes in geographic areas that have earned the reputation for having wealthy residents. Is your pastor and parish leadership doing a good job of emphasizing the parable of the widow and her two coins ? It doesn’t matter what the socioeconomic reality of a parish population is — if the parking lot on Sunday morning is filled with expensive cars and the tickets to the annual dinner auction are beyond a family’s normal monthly entertainment budget, they may be embarrassed about the amount they are able to give on a regular basis.

Need some help getting your parishioners to give? Check out the WeShare Engagement Campaign — FREE for all customers. Find out more and sign-up today to double your donations.

How to Invite your Parishioners (Safely) Back to Mass

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 10:30:00 GMT

We’re all ready for Mass and our parish communities to feel a little more “normal” again — but what normal looks like, and when it will arrive, is going to vary from diocese to diocese, and maybe even from parish to parish. Whether your parish has begun holding public Mass again or is still in the planning stages of its return, the reality for many churches is that turnout is lower than expected. Here are some things to consider that may help your parishioners feel welcomed, safe, and encouraged in their return to public Mass.

Organize a Welcome Back Campaign

A Welcome Back Campaign can serve as an umbrella initiative to ensure that all communications, protocols, and engagement efforts have a uniform feel and a united message that fits with the mission statement of your parish. This campaign could be entrusted to an existing committee at your parish, or it could be overseen by a group of volunteers that represent a wide variety of stakeholders — like members from the liturgical, administrative and custodial staff, the parish governing bodies, and any healthcare professionals your parish includes.

In addition to addressing the logistics of a return to Mass, the Welcome Back Campaign can serve as the public face of the parish’s reopening. This pandemic has increased feelings of isolation and alienation within our communities, and it will be the Welcome Back Campaign’s job to reach out (in a socially distanced manner, of course) to a parish body that has fallen out of the habit of engaging with one another. An important component of the campaign will be putting the all-important human touch on the communications effort with parishioners, by sending postcards, email, and text messages that lay out the necessary information and direct them to where they can find answers to any questions or concerns they have.

Communicate Protocols Clearly

Fear of the unknown is a big obstacle for many who struggle to feel safe in gathering publicly for Mass once again. Many may fear not only infection but will feel overwhelmed at the uncertainty of a post-COVID Mass experience. Tackle that issue head-on by clearly outlining what Mass attendees can expect when they return. Set up a page on your parish website that lays out the protocols for masking, distancing, and disinfecting that you will use to keep the faithful safe. Consider including a Frequently Asked Question section that addresses issues people may be curious about — Will the congregation be dismissed as a whole or pew-by-pew? How will Communion be handled? Should I use a designated entrance or exit? Is the parish cry room still open? What about the bathrooms?

Utilize Your Pastor

We call them “Father” for a reason: recognize and harness the power of your pastor as the shepherd of his local flock. His leadership of the parish as a whole is important, but especially in these times of prolonged isolation and loneliness, it’s important that his parishioners feel he is interested personally in their well-being.

Many pastors who are able have made it a point to call individual parishioners during periods of lockdown and quarantine, especially the elderly and the homebound, to ensure they are being looked after both physically and spiritually. Consider how your pastor can issue a similar “personal invitation” back to Mass. This will look vastly different in every parish — for smaller communities, perhaps a personal email or phone call for at least the elderly and homebound parishioners would be possible. For larger communities or clustered parishes, consider other avenues — a video of Father inviting parishioners back to Mass or addressing frequently asked questions that can be posted to Facebook, or a mass email that comes from his personal account.

4 Reasons Why First Time Guests Are Not Joining Your Church

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 10:30:00 GMT

As a church leader, you’re bound to notice when there are some new faces in the pews on Sunday. From college students who attend your Sunday afternoon Mass, to families with young children who stay near the back in case their toddler acts up, you get all sorts of people coming through the doors. However, the more important question you need to ask yourself is: are they coming back?

Today, people are more willing than ever to attend churches further away if their spiritual needs have a better chance of being met. If you find yourself with a revolving door parish, here are four things to consider that help first-time visitors not only stick around but participate in the life of your church.

1.The Issue: Your Church Isn’t as Great as You Think

There’s an old saying that goes, “You can’t promote your church as the best, if the bathrooms are consistently dirty.” Put simply, you can spend hours promoting your parish using multiple communication vehicles, compelling images, social media posts, and content on your website. But if your parish isn’t living up to the hype, it’s not going to help you. Ensure your parish is truly meeting the needs of you members by auditing your church and adjusting if necessary.

The Fix: Take a Look Around
If you find that your visitors are not coming back, you need to ask yourself why. Is the choir as good as it can be? Is the secretary friendly and helpful for those seeking information? Is the homily engaging, and does it leave parishioners looking for more? If not, you need to work on it.

Amazing Parish has a great book about just this topic. Written by Patrick Lencioni, “The Better Pastor” is the story of a priest who is challenged to think differently about his job as pastor. Instead of seeing issues with things going on in his parish and not doing anything to make them better, he is challenged by a parishioner to be proactive and “change the way they work and serve the people God has put in their lives.” While fictional, the story sheds light on issues that so many pastors struggle with — be sure to check it out!

2. The Issue: Your Staff is Welcoming — Your Parishioners, Not So Much

Your ushers are trained to welcome people with a greeting and a smile to match, and your administrative assistant is bright, cheery, and helpful when the phone starts to ring. But when newcomers come through your door, some long-time parishioners are …. not so welcoming. They like what they like, discourage change, and often lay claim to specific pews.

The Fix: Teach Them the Art of Parish Hospitality
Members are part of the welcoming committee, too! Remind them of the importance of a welcoming smile and an encouraging word by sharing tips with them via the bulletin and the pulpit each week. Offer tips for all age ranges and make it fun!

It can be as simple as asking them to say hello to someone new each week, or more elaborate such as listing some tips in the bulletin on ways your parish is working on becoming more welcoming.

3. The Issue: Your Most Engaging Members Are Also the Quietest

Your parish has a wonderful congregation that is kind, caring, and energic, but like any group, it can be intimidating for new people to find a way in. You need a Sunday Welcoming Committee to make it official!

The Fix: Recruit Ambassadors to Champion Your Church
If you often see new people come through the door, ask some of your key parishioners to make it a point to welcome and invite them into conversation before or after Mass. Whether it be a simple wave in the pew to a quick conversation in the parking lot, a call-out can do wonders for those seeking a new faith community.

Put a call out into your faith community that a new, totally non-committal ministry is starting up. The only thing they need to do is put on a bright smile, keep their eyes open for new faces, and say hello to anyone looking for a companion on their faith journey.

4. The Issue: They Don’t Get an Invitation to Return

Maybe they had a great time at Mass. They felt fed spiritually, welcomed by your members and are fully aware that your church wants them to come back. But … life gets in the way. By the time next Sunday rolls around, they’ve forgotten that special feeling. It’s time to make sure they truly know that you want them back.

The Fix: Make it a Priority to Invite them Back
It’s Hospitality 101: one final way to ensure that your visitors come back next Sunday is to go ahead and invite them. From a few kind words such as “See you at Mass!” to a schedule of events and Mass/Confession times that you hand off to them on their way out the door, sometimes all it takes is a proper offer.

Need some tips on increasing parish engagement in 2021? Check out 3 Ideas to Build Your Church Community Post-COVID .

4 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2021

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 10:30:00 GMT

The saying “too much social media” has never been truer today. From Mass to meetings, school classes to weddings, we managed to Zoom , livestream, and Facebook Live everything we possibly could. It’s no wonder that as we delve into 2021, most of us are experiencing some form of social media burnout.

For many, scrolling through Pinterest and posting to Facebook no longer has the same magic (for lack of a better word) than it did in the past. In fact, if you were to look at your phone’s screen time feature, it probably shows a lot of online activity, especially when compared to what was considered a normal amount of time a year ago. So, where does that leave parishes that have been using social media to communicate? At a crossroads.

From how often to post to the type of content people are searching for, here are four social media trends parishes should watch for in 2021.

1. Focus on Quality, Not Quantity

Last year, digital communication creation and consumption went up exponentially due to COVID-19. From complete lockdowns for weeks at a time, to seeing one another by way of a birthday drive-thru or a socially distanced visit in the park, we began to rely on social media and other digital means to connect with one another and stay informed. And while we still rely on these means even today, it’s beginning to slow down in 2021.

Churches with social media platforms should consider the type of content they post, rather than the amount they publish. Right now, our society is being saturated with digital messages. If you’ve been posting often, but not seeing much engagement, it might be time to rethink your strategy. Quality content that is easy to digest and comes with a clear call to action, will do better for your church than a funny meme shared twice a day.

2. Come to Terms with Focusing on the RIGHT platform

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, TikTok … there are hundreds of platforms you can access if you want to reach everyone in your wheelhouse. However, it’s time to accept the fact that not only do we not have the bandwidth to keep multiple platforms up and running, but that it’s probably not even worth it.

If you find that most of your followers come from Twitter, but not so much from Facebook, it’s OK to focus on Twitter. Cultivate where your soil is rich, instead of trying to grow your audience on “rocky ground.” Remember, the goal is to reach people for Christ, and if you get the most results from one platform over another, then it’s best to focus your resources.

3. Highlight Action, Not Just Initiative

If your church is a hub of constant events, gatherings, classes, digital devotions, and spiritual services broadcasted via Zoom, you need to not just tell others about it — you should show them, too! Does your parish offer socially distanced confessions, a drive-thru food pantry pick-up for the community, or have a fantastic Bible study for older adults? Make sure that everyone knows by sharing through more than just your weekly bulletin.

A social media post with this type of authentic content is the perfect way to get the word out on what God is doing through your parish. So whether you have images of parishioners working together in ministry, a grand total of much needed donations for your monthly mitten drive, or a handwritten note from a grateful recipient, be sure that you’re sharing it with others so they can join in, too.

4. Face it, TikTok is in

By now, you have probably heard about TikTok , a short-form video sharing app with a feed that features an endless stream of mini videos made by users. From stay-at-home parents trying to desperately homeschool their kids, to teens dancing to the latest hits, professional therapists validating the stress of daily life, even grandparents taking their turn, it’s obvious that their base is only getting bigger. But is it right for your parish?

Oftentimes, people share to platforms like Instagram and Facebook the best they have in their life. Pictures look professional and flawless, posts are “humble brags” and full of list of things they’re grateful for. But today, people are getting tired of perfect. They want messy, they want authentic, they want someone to laugh AND cry with, because their life isn’t perfect. And that’s the whole premise of TikTok. It’s full of millions of users who don’t have it together, who just want to laugh and share what they know with one another. So maybe it’s the new pastor sharing the way he makes his coffee, or a small snippet of the choir practicing for Sunday morning, there are plenty of ways you can share the life of your parish to the community.

Looking for content ideas for your church? Check out “4 Tips to Keeping Your Social Media Followers Engaged.”