Choosing Christ

An Introduction…

The Christian is a person who is in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ and lives a life patterned after the One who was crucified and is risen for us.

Thus to be a Catholic Christian is primarily a lifestyle rooted in prayer that expresses our beliefs .  These three traits of a Christian’s life are bound together as one. Every Christian then becomes responsible for the spiritual health of the whole community of believers by the qualities of how we each live our life and by regular communal and personal prayer.

As with all the aspects of life that excite us -- from our hobbies and interests to our vacation trips -- we want to talk about them and share them with others.  So too with our relationship in Jesus Christ; as our relationship with Jesus grows, there is the desire to share and pass on this way of life to others, particularly our children. 

Children and youth primarily learn from the example of others.  Since parents continue to be the most influential people in their children’s life, the spiritual life within the home needs to be supported.  Thus parents need the backing of grandparents, other family members and the parish community.  Christian parents, though primary, stand with other Christians to pass on by their example the lifestyle   of a follower and friend of Jesus Christ.

In this life-long faith-forming process the emphasis is on daily and bite-size ; a lifestyle supported by knowledge of the Catholic tradition and by a simple daily prayer grounded in the Sunday Eucharist.  This process of being formed as a Christian seeks to highlight what you as a family are already living and to emphasis how it is connected to what Jesus taught.  Bite Size Catholic Living becomes an integral part of your family’s daily life because to follow Jesus is to live life to the fullest.

Our Vision Statement

Catholic daily living -- with all of its imperfections and struggles, its mercies and joys, its beauty and its loving nurturing -- is where we first encounter Christ and his love for us.  It is within family that we experience a Christian lifestyle.  By the joining of the family home and the home of the Church, we and our children learn by example and experience what it means to follow Jesus Christ crucified. 

 Bite Size Catholic Living   is intended to build on the foundation of the family experience as the core of a Christian life growing in the midst of the larger Catholic community.  It seeks to accompany and support parents in their own faith and holiness so as to feel confident in passing on the Catholic Christian faith and lifestyle to their children through everyday experiences.  The "domestic Church" then becomes the building blocks for the Universal Church of Jesus Christ.

A letter to the parish and three homilies to help you explore and understand this vision of being formed in Christ:

A Parish Letter    CLICK  HERE

Homily 1    CLICK HERE

Homily 2    CLICK HERE

Homily 3    CLICK HERE

The On-Going Actions of a Christian Lifestyle

Each Bite Size is to be encountered as part of our ongoing life in Jesus.  They should not be seen as chapters to be accomplished and finished, but rather continuous part of our Christian lives throughout the days, weeks, and years of our lives and that of our families.

Bite Size I:   Feed the Hungry   CLICK HERE

Bite Size II:   Clothe the Naked   CLICK HERE

Bite Size III:  Welcoming the Stranger / Being Hospitable   CLICK HERE 

Bite Size IV:   An Epiphany House Blessing    CLICK HERE

Bite Size V:   Reading God's Word: A Bible Introduction    CLICK HERE

Bite Size VI:   Saying "I'm Sorry" from the heart / The Sacrament of Reconciliation    CLICK HERE

Bite Size VII:   Saying "Thank You" from the heart / Thanksgiving / The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist    CLICK HERE

Bite Size VIII:   The Communion of Saints - Praying for and burying our Dead   CLICK HERE

Bite Size IX:   Advent Patience and Waiting    CLICK HERE

Bite Size 10:   Celebrating the Lord's Day    CLICK HERE

Bite Size 11:   Fasting - Making Space for God    CLICK HERE

Bite Size 12:   Mary, the First Disciple of Jesus    CLICK HERE

Bite Size 13:   On the Care of Our Common Home: Creation CLICK HERE