Digital Resources

This is a link to Liturgy Brisbane’s regular liturgy newsletter LitEd (Liturgy Education) and the Archive contains lots of information related to liturgy. Subscription is free.

Liturgy Lines are short 500-word essays on liturgical topics written by Elizabeth Harrington, during her time as Education Officer at Liturgy Brisbane. There is a search function so you can locate information easily.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge from Brisbane, unpacks the elements of the Catholic Mass in this video series. Each section of the Mass is covered in this 16-part series, each clip is under 5 minutes in duration and the whole series is 51 minutes long.

This link from Catholic Australia provides background material on the Mass and the Liturgical Year as well as a Glossary.

Together at One Altar is a resource for students (F-12) in Australia to support their formation in the Eucharist and assist their full, active and conscious participation in its celebration.

This site contains the Order of the Mass, including the rubrics which are written in red.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) is the detailed document governing the celebration of Mass. The General Instruction is arranged in nine chapters, preceded by an introduction.

This site, from the Liturgical Institute at the University by the Lake, Lake County, Illinois, contains 31 episodes (each is between 2-5 minutes long) on the Mass as well as Study Guides for each episode.

The Religious Education portal of Brisbane Catholic Education covers a variety of topics and, though linked to their curriculum, is a wealth of great ideas.

Click on the side tab Religious Life of the School P-12 to find information on:

• Religious Identity and Culture
• Evangelisation and Faith Formation
• Social Action & Justice
• Prayer & Worship

Andrew Chinn (the creator of Butterfly Music), an Australian educator turned composer and performer, has created The Butterfly Music Show which also features Drew Lane, Jane Mitchell and Tim Hart. This show, targeted at primary students, is full of music, art, prayer and fun.

The Holy See (Vatican) site is available in six languages and is a great source for many Church documents including the documents of the Second Vatican Council, latest Vatican news, and the activities of Pope Francis.

The Catholic Australia website contains information about Church Documents including Vatican II Documents and Papal Documents.

This link contains a presentation on Wrestling with the Faith in Times of Scandal; Why Belonging to the Church still Matters by Richard Gaillardetz. This presentation was given at the National Pastoral Leaders & Planners Conference in Melbourne on Sept 4-7 2017, and is just under an hour in duration.

This link contains a presentation on Pope Francis and the Church of Tomorrow by Richard Gaillardetz. This presentation was given at the National Pastoral Leaders & Planners Conference in Melbourne on Sept 4-7 2017, and is just over an hour in duration.

St Paul is the central figure in a fascinating new podcast by Archbishop Mark Coleridge. The Birth of the Church: why the loser won is a seven-part Podcast series exploring the earliest days of Catholicism.

The Catholic Australia website contains information about the Church in Australia and has the following headings: Catholics in Australia, Religious Orders and Prominent Australian Catholics.

The Australian Catholic Historical Society has made available a suite of resources on special topics in the history of the Catholic community in Australia. There is also a Timeline of Australian Catholic history.

Busted Halo is a media resource that helps people understand the Catholic faith, put it into practice in their everyday lives, and share it with others. They have created videos of 10 minutes or less, entitled Sacraments 101, to provide an introduction or refresher course on these important, tangible Catholic experiences of God.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is one of the sacraments of Christian initiation. In this video, Father Jack Green helps answer some questions about the Sacrament of Confirmation.

The Sacrament Of Reconciliation (also known as Penance) and how Catholics celebrate it is explored with Fr. Jack Green.

The Sacrament of Baptism marks the beginning of our Christian faith journey. This video explores the nature and meaning of Baptism.

This link focuses on exploring Catholic Social Teaching and its principles. There is a tab on the right-hand side which links to an Educational Toolkit with resources suitable for Lower Primary through to Secondary students.

This online resource explores poverty and the effects of poverty on issues such as population, pollution and how we live. The website offers TED talks, interactive demonstrations and an online quiz. This resource is a rich basis of learning and can be adapted for senior primary or all levels of secondary school.

This resource contains a virtual street, numbered according to monthly income. It highlights the differences in the daily lives of people across the world based on their monthly income. The students can do virtual tours of the homes of people around the world. This can also be done in relation to a single country or with a global view.

The Social Spirituality project uses social media to encourage socially engaged spirituality. The Social Spirituality project has information on the principles, themes and sources of Catholic Social Teaching as well as links to relevant documents. There are also a variety of articles under the tabs of ‘Reflect’, ‘Pray’ and ‘Learn’.

This resource from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is entitled Catholic Social Teaching Scripture Guide and it explores Catholic Social Teaching and its principles as well as offering Scripture suggestions for each principle.

In his Daily Meditations, Franciscan friar Fr Richard Rohr helps us learn the dance of action and contemplation. Scroll down on this Center for Action and Contemplation website to read the most recent post. Archived reflections can be found on the right-hand side.

Pray As You Go is a daily prayer session, designed to go with you wherever you go, to help you pray whenever you find time. A new prayer session is produced every day of the working week and one session for the weekend.

This site, from the De La Salle Brothers in Great Britain, provides a short prayer for each day of the year. Just click on a date and see what you find.

Pray.com.au is a free daily prayer service, providing reflections on the day’s Gospel readings as well as other articles exploring people’s experiences of God. The Resources tab also contains a variety of themed prayer experiences.

This website, a ministry of the Irish Jesuits, began in 1999 and offers daily online prayer opportunities. It focuses on the daily Scripture reading and guides you through a brief reflection.

Monasteries of the Heart is a web-based movement, sharing Benedictine spirituality with contemporary seekers. Membership is free.

This website contains weekly reflections from world renowned Catholic spiritual writer Fr Ron Rolheiser. There is also a Column Archives tab which contains 38 years of reflections.

3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.

This website contains the daily prayer of the Church such as Morning Prayer (Lauds) and Night Prayer (Compline).

The Upper Room® is a global ministry dedicated to supporting the spiritual life of Christians seeking to know and experience God more fully. It aims to help believers of all ages and denominations move to a deeper level of faith and service. This link takes you directly to the Resources tab which contains a variety of prayer experiences which you may find useful.

Busted Halo’s new 2-minute video on the Rosary explains the history and tradition of the Rosary, how to pray, what it means to meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary, and more!

This clip entitled A Grateful Day with Brother David Steindl-Rast is a 5-minute reflection on the gift of each day.

Lectio divina is an ancient Catholic prayer method for reading and praying with the Bible. This PDF from Brisbane Catholic Education provides information on this prayer, a possible way to use Lectio Divina with students and possible Scripture texts to try.

Lectio divina - Bishop David Walker models the Guigo II method of Lectio Divina. This clip can be used as a guide for individuals or groups.

This PDF contains information about the practice of Visio Divina as well as some suggested images which can be used.

Lent: Busted Halo explains the significance of prayer, fasting, and giving, and how Catholics can make the most of this time of repentance and renewal during the season of Lent.

Holy Week: Busted Halo explains the significance of the final week Catholics spend preparing for Easter.

Advent: Busted Halo explains the significance of Advent in the Catholic Church and why the experience of waiting, hope, and preparation is still so important in the lives of Catholics today.

Advent: This link contains lots of information about Advent; its origins, pastoral notes, contemporary Advent, liturgy and Christmas.

Christmas: Christmas is Christ (2.39 duration)

Christmas: Retooning the Nativity (5.50 min. duration)

Christmas: One Baby’s Impact on the World (1.32 min. duration)

Christmas: A Social Network Christmas (3.59 min. duration)

Christmas: The Adventures of Mary and Joseph blend the traditional with the contemporary to tell the story of the birth of Jesus The videos, from Paperless Christmas, incorporate the texts from both the Gospel according to Matthew and the Gospel according to Luke.

Christmas: On this website, you will find a selection of creative activities to use with the nine episodes of the Adventures of Mary and Joseph (link in row above).

This site contains definitions and explanations of terms, roles, places and people found in the Bible, primarily the Gospels.

This website is a wealth of knowledge, incorporating Scripture information, movies and art works as well as a variety of resources to support Scripture texts. There is a calendar of each years’ readings.

The Sunday Connection from Loyola Press, a Jesuit Ministry, provides useful background and activities to better understand the upcoming Sunday's Scripture readings, helping you to connect the Scripture to daily life in a meaningful way.

This website contains daily Scripture reflections (including video) from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

This is a new series in response to Covid-19 published by Evangelisation Brisbane.

This website, Teaching the Gospels, is a resource created to support the Religious Education Curriculum from the Archdiocese of Brisbane. It explores the Contexts of the Gospels as well as providing some windows into the worlds of the Gospels.

Old Testament: The Catholic Australia website contains a section on The Old Testament which provides information on, The Old Testament, The Pentateuch, Genesis, Reading the Pentateuch: Exodus, Reading the Pentateuch: Leviticus, reading the Pentateuch: Numbers and Reading the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy.

Luke and Acts: The Catholic Australia website contains a section on reading Luke and Acts which provides background material on these works.

Boston College offers online commentaries about the Birth of Jesus. It contains information on the account according to Matthew. Special attention is paid to the structure of the Matthean narrative, the prominence of Joseph, and the journey of the magi.

Boston College offers online commentaries about the Birth of Jesus. It contains information on the account according to Luke. Special attention is paid to the parallels drawn between Jesus and John the Baptist, the prominence of Mary, and the distinctive canticles woven into the Lucan narrative.

Electronic New Testament Educational Resources (E.N.T.E.R) is a collection of materials appropriate for beginning and advanced students, teachers, pastors, and others interested in the study of the Bible.

This website, produced by the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC), aims to assist teachers of Religious Education to engage personally with Sacred Scripture.

The Stafford Catholic Parish in Queensland, hosts a series of videos on Scripture, presented by Mary Coloe on the Gospel of John.

This site from the Aboriginal Australia Art & Culture Centre in Alice Springs has a very comprehensive explanation of the Dreamtime with clear diagrams showing inter-relationships. It includes artworks and music and there is a section on Religion and Culture which is found under the tab Our Culture.

This website contains a variety of Liturgy resources prepared each year for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday as well as resources for Reconciliation Week and Spirituality resources. There is also a section on Understanding Culture and Faith-the melding of Traditional belief systems and Catholic faith.

On this website you will also find A Framework for Formation for Mission in Catholic Education, published in 2017. This framework is offered as a resource for the evaluation of current practice and strategic enhancement of formation for mission of leaders and staff in Australian Catholic schools and systems.

Madonna is a magazine of spiritual reading for lay people. It aims to enhance the spiritual development of its readers.

This website from Creighton University contains a variety of resources including, Reflections on the Daily Readings, Stations of the Cross, Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer, Praying Ordinary Time and Understanding the Mass.

In April 2015, Professor Amy-Jill Levine (Vanderbilt University) delivered the Sherman Lectures at the Centre for Jewish Studies, the University of Manchester. These lectures are found on this website. Her lectures address both the historical Jesus and his Jewish context and also contemporary Jewish-Christian relations.

This site contains the work of Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz who focuses mainly on religious pieces (such as Homeless Jesus) but has also many public pieces installed worldwide.

Box of Questions, an English site, provides the opportunity to reflect on the Christian faith through the use of brief (under 3 minute) ‘voxpop’ videos. Young adults share their views on nine themes.

This site, Art and the Bible, offers pictures of hundreds of famous paintings linked to their corresponding Bible passage - the passage the artist may have read. Please note: it is the old King James version of the Bible.

Discovering Sacred Texts provides access to the richness and diversity of the texts from some of the world’s greatest faiths. Discover more about the sacred texts from Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and the Baha’i Faith, Jainism and Zoroastrianism.

Parramatta Diocese has launched a new online platform called The Well, a "Netflix for Catholics” which provides on-demand inspiration for families, children, young people and faith communities.

This series of short videos is produced by America Media which is a Jesuit ministry. The format is a way to impart some deep theological information and ideas in a clear and succinct way.