Bishops’ Website Offers Online Resources for Advent and Christmas

WASHINGTON—TheU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues the tradition ofproviding online resources for the Adventand Christmasseasons with daily suggestions for prayer, reflection and action beginning onthe first Sunday of Advent, December 1. The content is presented in a clickablecalend

WASHINGTON—TheU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues the tradition ofproviding online resources for the Adventand Christmasseasons with daily suggestions for prayer, reflection and action beginning onthe first Sunday of Advent, December 1. The content is presented in a clickablecalendar format, with each date opening a page of suggestions and links.

Thecalendars feature audioretreats in English and Spanish for the four Sundays of Advent and thethree Sundays of the Christmas season. The retreats were produced by FranciscanMedia and made possible by the bishops' Catholic Communication Campaign. Thehalf-hour audio retreats feature music, a Scripture reflection and Q"&A froma different bishop each week.

Thebishops hosting the retreats are Auxiliary Bishop Alberto Rojas of Chicago,Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, Bishop David J. Walkowiak ofGrand Rapids, Michigan, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese forthe Military Services, and Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois.Bishops Rojas, Taylor and Malloy recorded their contributions in both Englishand Spanish for the first, second and fourth Sundays of Advent, respectively. BishopWalkowiak is featured in the English retreat for the third Sunday andArchbishop Broglio is the guest for the Spanish retreat for that week.

Thereare threefeast day Sundays in the brief Christmas season. The retreats for the feastof the Holy Family (December 29) feature Bishop John M. Quinn of Winona,Minnesota (English) and Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn, New York(Spanish). Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Indianapolis is the guestfor the English retreat on Epiphany (January 5) and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio L.Elizondo of Seattle is featured in the Spanish retreat for Epiphany. For thefinal Sunday of Christmas, the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, Bishop RichardJ. Malone of Buffalo, New York, is featured in the English program andArchbishop Thomas G.Wenski of Miami, the Spanish.

Thecalendar is interspersed with excerpts from Pope Francis' audiences andhomilies from the first year of his papacy and observations on Catholicdoctrine and practices from the ForYour Marriage website's "Catholic101" series. Other resources highlighted on the calendars include a Festivalof Lesson and Carols podcast, alist of recommended holiday-themed movies from USCCB, and prayers and blessingsfrom the USCCB publication CatholicHousehold Blessings and Prayers.

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Keywords:USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Advent, Christmas,retreats, English, Spanish, resources, web, online, Bishop Alberto Rojas, BishopAnthony B. Taylor, Bishop David J. Walkowiak, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, BishopDavid J. Malloy, Bishop Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn, Bishop Christopher J.Coyne, Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo, Bishop Richard J. Malone, Archbishop ThomasG. Wenski

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