To see material for the First Sunday in Advent please click here.

Material for the Second Sunday in Advent can be seen here.

Third Sunday of Advent material here.

A new book written by Dr Tony Hanna, director of the Pastoral Plan in the Archdiocese of Armagh has just been published by Veritas.

Mary went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet, saying, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who followed her, Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart, “Where have you put him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept; and the Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” But there were some who remarked, “He opened the eyes of the blind man, could he not have prevented this man’s death?” Still sighing, Jesus reached the tomb; it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” Martha said to him “Lord by now he will smell; this is the fourth day.” Jesus replied “Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said: “Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I knew indeed that you always hear me. But I speak for the sake of all these who stand round me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me.”

Last summer I met Thomas Massero SJ who teaches moral theology  in Boston College.  His students said that, at the time, he was impatiently waiting for the publication of Pope Benedict's encyclical Caritas in Veritate so that he could share its insights at summer school.

Fr Massero writes regularly for America magazine.  In a recent edition he shared his new year's resolution.  They struck me as very doable, if not for the whole year, then at least for Lent.  It is an activity a family could creatively do together.  He writes:

My pledge is a dual resolution. In the course of these 12 months, I promise to do a better job remembering two categories of people who tend to fall off my radar screen far too often for comfort.

"Hon, will you do Peter tonight?" Chris asked as she looked over at me, while on her way to the laundry room with dirty clothes. "Peter, give mummy a kiss."

It was not really a question. This I understood. Peter, our youngest of six, was just five and "doing Peter," meant getting his room cleaned up and him off to bed. Usually I looked forward to this time, but tonight everything felt too burdensome. It wasn't from any one thing in particular; just the cumulative effect of being a family. As I headed for Peter's room, I wished for my own bed.

What can a parend do to foster their child voction to the priesthood or religious life? Ten ideas are offered here by the Armagh Diocesan Vocations Commission. They also offer the ideas for priests, school teachers and parishioners, so there is something here for everyone.

Families are a central part of the ecosystem supporting the survival of humankind. Most would say that they are a basic cell or an organ that serves the sustaining of human life. The family plays important roles from the beginning to the end of life and at many stages along the way. No one questions this as a general principle. John Paul II says that through the family passes the future of both church and society.