Living with Christ

Living with Christ provides a wide variety of resources that help to nourish your daily spiritual life, putting the richness of the Christian spiritual tradition at your fingertips. Use these for your personal growth, for your reflection and prayer, and for sharing your faith with others in your family, household, or community.

What do you really want for Christmas?

Prayer in the morning

Gospel canticles • The gospel canticles (or “songs”) come from Luke’s gospel. In honor of the mystery of the Incarnation (to which all three refer), it is customary to make the sign of the cross as the canticle begins and to stand while it is sung.

Prayer in the evening

A prayer for each day

The voice of Advent

Good news, great joy! • The Most Reverend Earl K. Fernandes was ordained the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of Columbus on May 31, 2022. He holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy in Rome, is a member of numerous USCCB committees, and serves on the Episcopal Advisory Boards of several organizations.

Four lessons from the first Christmas • Sr. Melanie Svoboda, a Sister of Notre Dame of Chardon, Ohio, writes and gives talks and retreats nationally. Her books include Hanging onto Hope: Reflections and Prayers for Finding “Good” in an Imperfect World (Twenty-Third Publications). Visit her blog, “Sunflower Seeds: Celebrating Everyday Spirituality,” at www.melanniesvobodasnd.org. Below are her thoughts on the lessons that we can learn as we reflect on the Nativity story.

The great do-over

OUR EUCHARISTIC LITURGY

First Week of Advent

Second Week of Advent • Isaiah asserted centuries before the birth of Jesus that we should prepare the way of the Lord. John the Baptist repeats this message in the opening verses of Mark’s Gospel, apparently with great success, as we are told that people from across Judea and Jerusalem come to be baptized by him in the River Jordan.

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Third Week of Advent • The term “main character syndrome” (MCS) is often used in contemporary culture to describe the human tendency to make our lives all about ourselves. Those inflicted with MCS regard other people as support cast who exist in a world that revolves around personal self-interest. John the Baptist did the opposite. He shows us that the antidote for Main Character Syndrome is a life of service that points others toward Christ.

Fourth Week of Advent • Today’s gospel tells us that the angel departs from Mary. This doesn’t mean abandonment. Quite the contrary, it allows the Annunciation’s message to be realized. The angel departs in preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The word of mouth needs to be replaced by the Word Made Flesh. Mary stops seeing the image of the divine presence to receive it and live it in the depths of her being.

The Nativity of the Lord • Even after 61 years as a priest, I still get choked up every time I proclaim the gospel for Midnight Mass. It tells a story so beautiful, so world-changing, so humanly touching as to evoke our deepest emotions.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph • The feast of the Holy Family is nominally about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. But today’s readings place them in the center of an older and broader relationship: that of God to his people. In today’s gospel, we are reminded of God’s covenant by the elders, the keepers of our traditions.

The Holy Innocents

Octave of the Nativity of the Lord • [ St. Thomas Becket, bishop & martyr (1118-1170) ] Born in London, he was made lord chancellor and later archbishop of Canterbury by King Henry II. After disagreeing with the king on the independence of the Church, he went into exile in France. After his return, in a fit of rage, the...