Looking for one good idea for this week's homily?

Ideas are what the Connections newsletter is all about.

Each monthly issue of Connections contains stories, quotes, anecdotes and reflections that relate to the themes of each Sunday's readings (in both the Roman and common lectionaries). Connections is designed as a tool for the homilist/preacher to help him/her make the Connections between the lives of the worshiping community and the Gospel.

Connections is NOT a “canned” fully written sermon service nor a commentary on the Sunday Scriptures;Connections is a newsletter of ideas, approaches and reflections designed to help you develop a homily that is yours, using words and images that you make your own.

Plug in.

Material for each issue of Connections comes from the evening news and the every day, from the stage and screen, from the music world and the marketplace — all designed to help you connect the world of Monday though Saturday with the Gospel proclaimed on Sunday.

Connections is written and edited by Jay Cormier, D.Min., preacher, writer, communications consultant, teacher and workshop leader. He is the author of The Deacon's Ministry of the Word (published by Liturgical Press) and the series Table Talk: Beginning the Conversation on the Sunday Gospel (published by New City Press). Jay's other books include Heaven Is Like . . . — A Gospel Model for Writing, Preparing, and Delivering the Sunday Homily (published by Sheed & Ward), and Lord, Hear Our Prayer: The Prayer of the Faithful for Sundays, Holy Days, and Ritual Masses (The Liturgical Press). Jay is a writer and editor of the Liturgical Press' popular Advent series Waiting in Joyful Hope and the Lenten series Not By Bread Alone. He is regular contributor to the monthly prayer journal Give Us This Day and has written for America, Worship, and U.S. Catholic. Jay is adjunct professor of Homiletics at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass., and lecturer in Humanities and Communications at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. Jay facilitates workshops and seminars around the country in homiletics, liturgy and communications. He serves as deacon at Saint Jude Parish in Londonderry, N.H., where he and his wife, Ann, make their home.

Priests, deacons and ministers, as well as RCIA directors and religious educators, across the country and around the world have found Connections to be an effective tool in their preaching ministry.

This Sunday, CONNECT with your community.

Connections is available in TWO formats: a “paper” edition, sent via U.S. mail, and an electronic edition, sent via e-mail. Annual subscriptions are $69 for the paper edition ($74 US for Canadian and overseas subscriptions) and $62 for the e-mail edition.

Take a look at Connections — click on the Stories link to see a sampling of material from recent issues. See if Connections proves to be a useful tool to you as you develop and deliver your homily over the next few Sundays . . .

OR click on Order Newsletter to enter your subscription or order a copy of the current issue.

Thank you for making Connections with us!