ADVENT APPS

Praise God! Wrentham and Plainville have survived another ‘Black Friday’ when the Wrentham Outlet Mall made our towns again the epicenter of the opening of the mad rush of the Christmas shopping season. Thanks to the proactive planning of our police departments it was easier to move around the towns this year, but the back-up at Exit 15 on 495 continued as a Thanksgiving Weekend Tradition! It always seems ironic that we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, born in poverty, with the greatest exercise in consumerism of the whole year!

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Season of Advent which offers four weeks of spiritual preparation for Christmas.  As it is such a busy time of year, Advent is easily forgotten in the flurry of preparations for Christmas. Maybe an unlikely collaborator, the internet, can help us to celebrate the spirit of the Advent Season. There are a number of superb Advent Apps that invite us into Advent prayer and reflection that prepares the way for Christ to be born once again in our hearts at Christmas.

These Advent Apps are readily available from the App Store for downloading onto our smart phone or other devices. They can provide us with ten or fifteen minutes of focused reflection each day during Advent. 

Sacred Space Daily Prayer – Online prayer inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius Loyola, the Irish Jesuits have created an app that will ‘jump start’ you into reflection and meditation with striking visuals and an invitation into a deeper encounter with Scripture.

Pray As You Go – A daily prayer session, designed for listening on portable devices, to help you pray whenever you find time, but particularly while traveling to and from work and within the commitments of the day. Based also on the Ignatian Spirituality originating with Saint Ignatius Loyola, the app helps you to use the imagination as a springboard to reflection.

BEST Advent EVER – From Matthew Kelley of Dynamic Catholic, a daily invitation to reflection during Advent. 

RC Spirituality – A guide to prayer from Father John Bartunek, LC that comes to you automatically each day you subscribe to this valuable spiritual resource as a daily reflection via e-mail. 

Magnificat and Word Among Us also offer reflection guides for Advent that can be downloaded or purchased.

Finally, if you are concerned about how to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation prior to Christmas, there is T he Confession App that guides you through an examination of conscience geared to your age and state in life.  I am praying for all of you the blessing of an Appy Advent!