‘Meet Me in the Silence’ is the theme for the 2018 Advent Calendar, a joint project of Xt3 and Sydney Catholic Youth.

In the middle of the rush that often comes with the season, the 2018 Advent Calendar App can help you and your students take a few moments out of the day to prepare spiritually for Christmas – wherever you are.

The Advent Calendar, geared towards youth but useful to all, is a website and a downloadable App that contains a variety of videos, podcasts, and written reflections, providing a means to encounter the true spirit of Christmas in their everyday lives. It is a useful resource for teachers and students to journey through Advent, with new activities that can be used in your respective classrooms each day.

For the past 3 years, the Advent App makers have teamed up with The Christmas Story Art Exhibition and Competition, an initiative of the Catholic education offices in Wollongong and Sydney, featuring a new artwork from one of the finalists on each day of the Advent Calendar. The artworks, painted by students from schools in Sydney and surrounding areas, decorate the Advent Calendar with colourful imagery related to the Nativity.

The Advent App features original content produced in collaboration with Sydney locals, including youth, Catholic artists, priests, religious, bishops and Sydney’s Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP. Gospel reflections by youth ministers, Saint Facts and animated meditations are just some of the new video content featured in this year’s Calendar.

With a new feature every day, the 2018 Advent Calendar helps you slow down amidst the busyness of Christmas and meet the long-expected Jesus in the silence.

The App is free and available on your iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Search for “Xt3 Advent” in the Google Play store or the App store, or visit www.sydneycatholic.org/xt3advent.

We invite you to prepare peacefully for the coming of Jesus this season with the 2018 Advent Calendar.

Xt3 and the 2018 Advent Calendar is a project of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. For more information, contact xt3@sydneycatholic.org or call (02) 9390 5308.