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WASHINGTON (December 1, 2006)—The daily Mass readings are now downloadable from the U.S. Bishops' Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC) Web site.
The program begins December 3, the First Sunday of Advent. It was prepared in association with the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine using audio recordings of the readings from the New American Bible. Information on downloading the audio can be found on the popular "Daily Readings" section of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Web site at www.usccb.org or www.usccb.org/nab.
"The Internet is now a part of our lives and a medium which can help provide for spiritual enrichment," says Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications. "This service complements the text versions of the readings already popular on the USCCB Web site and responds to the many requests for 'podcasts' of the readings."
The Communications Committee approved a $30,000 CCC grant for the readings "podcast" project at a meeting last June.
"Listening to each day's readings will be much like hearing them proclaimed in a parish setting," says Patricia Ryan Garcia, CCC coordinator of the project. "Several readers, including bishops, clergy, and laity from different ethnic backgrounds, have lent their voices to the project so listeners will hear at least three different voices on any given day."
On Sundays and solemn feasts, such as Christmas (December 25) and All Saints Day (November 1), musical presentations of the Responsorial Psalms will be included in the USCCB 'podcasts,' through the generosity of music publishers GIA Publications, Inc., of Chicago, Ill., Oregon Catholic Press of Portland, Ore., and World Library Publications of Franklin Park, Ill.
The audio recordings are accessible free of charge through several popular Internet audio content aggregators including Apple's itunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/music/ ), Feedburner (http://feeds.feedburner.com/usccb/zHqs) and Podcast Alley (http://www.podcastalley.com/index.php).
USCCB offices for Publishing, Liturgy and Management Information Systems collaborated with CCC on the project.
The Catholic Communication Campaign is an activity of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that develops media programming, public service announcements, and other resources to promote Gospel values. Donations from Catholic parishioners make possible the work of the CCC. For more information, visit our website at: www.usccb.org/ccc.