These planning suggestions are organized by the month in which the task should be started, generally 6-8 weeks before the actual program or activity takes place.

October | November

October

1. Visit the USCCB Publications website to order the following resources on the Rosary for your parish resource library: Unity in Diversity Scriptural Rosary; Unity in Diversity Scriptural Rosary / Spanish; Scriptural Rosary for Justice & Peace: Revised Edition; Rosario bíblico por la justicia y la paz; Rosary for the Church in Need; A Rosary for Peace: Revised Edition.
2. Invite religious education classes and families to pray the rosary together at least one time each week during the month of October.
3. Utilize the parish bulletin to invite grandparents to give the gift of a rosary to each of their grandchildren and pray the rosary with them on a regular basis.
4. Invite parish organizations/groups/religious education classes to give the gift of rosaries to the Catholic elderly in retirement centers and nursing homes.
5. Review the resources found in your parish resource library and publish them in the parish bulletin.
6. Visit the USCCB Justice, Peace and Human Development website to learn more about the issues of healthcare reform, economic life, and other domestic and international issues.

November

1. As a parish staff, discuss ways to help your faith community continue to discern God’s call to holiness in our life and focus on three key ways to do this during the coming months.
2. In commemoration of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), invite parish families to share stories with their children and grandchildren about family members who answered God’s call to holiness.
3. Visit the Catholic Campaign for Human Development National Collection website to learn more about how your parish and diocese can promote the CCHD national collection in November.
4. Purchase copies of Pope Benedict XVI Spiritual Thought Series and publish quotes from the books in parish bulletins, newsletters and communications.
5. Provide copies of Connecting Young Adults to Catholic Parishes: Best Practices in Catholic Young Adult Ministry and Sons and Daughters of the Light (revised edition): A Pastoral Plan for Young Adult Ministry for those involved in young adult ministry in your parish.
6. Invite religious education teachers and Catholic schoolteachers to ask students to name individuals in your parish and school who are models of holiness. Invite students to send cards and notes to these people In celebration and thanksgiving of the example they are to others.
7. Invite the children of the parish to give examples of what it means to live a holy life and post these examples in the parish bulletin and newsletter.
8. Encourage families in your parish to utilize USCCB’s Office for Film and Broadcasting’s Family Video and Movie Review site to help pick appropriate films to see as a family.
9. Publish the Thanksgiving Day Prayer and Thanksgiving Table Blessing from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers.
10. Encourage each family to have an Advent wreath in their home and utilize the Blessing of the Advent Wreath prayer, found in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers.