Where to Find Content

Coming up with ideas for parish content can sometimes be the hardest part. What do we share this week? What will interest people? And where do we find it?

One of the best places to start is the liturgical calendar. Every month is filled with feast days, solemnities, saints and liturgical seasons that give us opportunities to share something about our faith. Once you've decided what you want to focus on, the next question is what to share about it.

The good news is that you don't have to create everything yourself. There is an enormous amount of Catholic content already out there—from beautiful artwork and Scripture to movies, articles and quotes. You just need to know where to look.

Here are a few of my favourite places to start.

Artworks

There are so many beautiful paintings by the masters, and many of them are in the public domain. That means the copyright has expired and the artwork itself can be used without permission. Paintings of Jesus, Mary, the saints and scenes from Scripture can make wonderful parish content, especially when paired with a short reflection, Scripture verse or question.

Google Images is an easy way to find possibilities, but don't assume that every image you find there is free to use. Once you've found a painting you like, look for a public-domain version from a reliable source. Wikimedia Commons and museum collections are often good places to start.

Movies

I love recommending movies about saints. A movie gives people another way to learn about someone's life—and you don't have to do much to turn that recommendation into parish content. Write a short introduction to the saint, tell people why you're recommending the movie and let them know where they can find it.

Quotes

Quotes, especially by saints, can be incredibly powerful. And they make great content because sometimes the words really do speak for themselves.

Search for quotes connected to an upcoming saint, feast or theme and see what catches your attention. I usually go for something relatively short, but longer can work too. Once you've found a good quote, you can pair it with a photo or artwork, create a graphic in Canva or simply share the words as part of a caption.

Scripture

Sometimes the content you need is already sitting right in front of you. Take one or two lines from the day's Scripture, whether from the readings, Psalm or Gospel, and turn them into a post. You can share the words on their own or add them to a photograph or artwork. Or go to Canva, find a simple quote template and voilà—you have yourself a post.

The daily readings are readily available online from the bishops' conference in your country.

Catholic Websites

You don't always have to create the content yourself. Sometimes the best thing you can do is share something good that someone else has already created.

Aleteia is one of the places I regularly look. If a particular feast day or saint is coming up, chances are good that they have an article, story or interesting bit of Catholic history connected to it.

There are plenty of other reliable Catholic websites too. Find a few that you trust and check them regularly. When you find an article that would interest your parishioners, share the link on your Facebook page and add a sentence or two explaining why you think it's worth reading.