Website Wednesday: Pray.nd.edu

This is how it looks

Continuing our series of looking at websites on Wednesday, we turn our gaze to a website focused on praying through the daily mass readings: Pray.nd.edu.  Run by the University of Notre Dame, my alma mater, "Pray" includes different content every day, centered around the Gospel for that particular day.  Each day, you find the text for the Gospel, a brief reflection written by someone connected to the University, and a prayer.

One of the strengths of this website is the sheer number of contributors.  Tapping into the vast resource of Notre Dame students, alums, and friends, Pray has featured past Notre Dame football stars, current students, priests and religious, and of course alumni.  Hearing from many different individuals keeps the site fresh.  There are "as many ways [to God] as there are people," as Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) once said.  The different perspectives allow us to see God with new eyes.

Let's take a look at a few of the other parts of the site.

Seasonal Sections
During Advent and Lent, "Pray" features videos for each week of the season.  Each video includes a well thought out, well delivered ~5 minute reflection on a particular aspect that shines forth in that week's mass readings.  I particularly enjoyed the one for the 2nd week of Advent:


Free Online Prayer Cards
Ever hit a patch where you don't know how you want to pray, don't feel like you have time to pray, and need to pray something short and meaningful?  So do I.  The prayer card section on the Pray website is an incredible resource for people in that spot.  Each prayer card is a PDF that can be printed out, cut, and folded up to fit in your wallet.  Here's an example of one of the prayers, a prayer for healing (PDF):

Prayer for Healing

Dear Jesus, we turn to you in this 

time of illness. Ease our worry 

and sorrow with your gentle love. 

Gift us with the strength to accept 

this burden. Lord, we place our 

worries in your hands. We place 

our sick under your care and ask 

that you restore your loved one 

to health again. Above all, grant 

us the grace to acknowledge your 

will and know that whatever you 

do, you do for the love of us.

Adapted from Missionary 

Oblates of Mary Immaculate 

Faith Videos for You

Looking at the world through a faith perspective requires some support and some challenge.  Tender, Strong, and True is a video series that tries to do just that.  With a wide range of relevant topics (starting and maintaining prayer, living faith at work, not being stressed), this video series is a real gem for anyone looking for help and guidance.

A great resource for Catholics on the go (they'll send you daily emails) or Catholics not on the go (watching videos), Pray.nd.edu can help you grow closer to God day by day.

If you have a website you recommend, leave a comment or send Isaac an email:

Active Waiting

A little more from our friend Henri Nouwen:

Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for. We wait during Advent for the birth of Jesus. We wait after Easter for the coming of the Spirit, and after the ascension of Jesus we wait for his coming again in glory. We are always waiting, but it is a waiting in the conviction that we have already seen God's footsteps.

Waiting for God is an active, alert - yes, joyful - waiting. As we wait we remember him for whom we are waiting, and as we remember him we create a community ready to welcome him when he comes.

image credit: CmdrFire

Something Hardly Noticeable: Advent Reflection from Henri Nouwen

To prepare us for, or to continue reflecting on, the second Sunday of Advent, below is a reflection on the working of God by Henri Nouwen.  You can sign up to receive daily reflection similar to this at HenriNouwen.org

Something Hardly Noticeable

"A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him . . ." (Isa.11:1-2)

These words from last night's liturgy have stayed with me during the day. Our salvation comes from something small, tender, and vulnerable, something hardly noticeable. God, who is the Creator of the Universe, comes to us in smallness, weakness, and hiddenness.

I find this a hopeful message. Somehow, I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving power; but over and over again I am reminded that spectacles, power plays, and big events are the ways of the world. Our temptation is to be distracted by them and made blind to the "shoot that shall sprout from the stump."

When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence - the smile of a baby, the carefree play of children, the words of encouragement and gestures of love offered by friends - I will always remain tempted to despair.

The small child of Bethlehem, the unknown young man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher, the naked man on the cross, he asks for my full attention. The work of our salvation takes place in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream, and overwhelm us with its claims and promises. But the promise is hidden in the shoot that sprouts from the stump, a shoot that hardly anyone notices.

Image Credit: Peter Renshaw


iGracias! - A Latin American Journal (December 2, 1981) © Henri J.M. Nouwen. Published by HarperCollins.

Five Family Advent Ideas

Yesterday we learned about Advent in two minutes.  So how do we practice preparation in our family?  Here are five ways your family can prepare for Christmas this Advent.

Decorate

My wife and I started a tradition last year of decorating our house on the third Sunday of Advent.  Why the third Sunday?  Because it's Gaudete Sunday!  It's a Sunday of Joy and we mark that time as a Church by using rose (pink) colored vestments at mass and light the rose (pink) colored candle.  Decorate with various greens, religious icons or drawings or pictures, lights, a creche (see below) and of course all the usual Christmas decorations.

Use an Advent Calendar

There are many Advent calendars to choose from online.  Here's one for a family (PDF) and one for children (PDF).  For you parents, here's one you can do online, which I do every year.  It includes a short quote or video clip and an action to do each day. On the First Sunday of Advent, it featured an excellent video clip from Lord of the Rings -- so you know it must be good.

Or, make your own calendar.  On the days from today to Christmas, write a different action you or your family can do in preparation for the coming of Christ. For example, write a Christmas card to a relatives, clean the house for guests, or make Christmas presents instead of buying them.

Make a Creche
At the manger scene, you can gather each night for prayer. Tell your kids to place one piece of straw in the cradle for good deeds they or their family did that day. The more good deeds, the softer the cradle becomes for Jesus. My family has a tradition of placing baby Jesus in the cradle when we come back from Christmas Mass on Christmas Eve.  Use that or create your own tradition.

Use an Advent Wreath
Light candles corresponding to the candles lit at Mass on Sundays and pray around the wreath every day.  Need your wreath blessed?  Try this family Advent wreath blessing from Loyola Press or this blessing from our own US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Donate
Gather some clothes, toys, and other items to donate to a local charity. Try donating a favorite toy or favorite article of clothing. It may be difficult, but giving up our favorite items can foster a deeper love for others and remind us that others deserve the best we have to offer.

How does your family prepare for Advent?  What's your favorite family tradition?  What do you hope your children pass on to their children?  Share your ideas, leave a comment.

Advent in 2 Minutes

Advent has been overshadowed this year by our new Roman Missal.  Want to know what this season is all about?  Watch this short video.



More to come on Advent in the next few days, including ways to celebrate in your home.

What ways do you celebrate Advent?  Or do you struggle with how to introduce Advent in your home?