Association Of Catholic Bloggers

    Imagine one day you hear a voice saying, "Stop wars. Love one another as I have loved you!". You did not imagine it. You heard it clearly. You're about to go tell someone when your spouse comes in. "Have you heard that?" Now you know for sure that you did not imagine it. Moments later you hear people talking outside. You go out of the house and you recognise your neighbours and a few other people. They heard it too. The voice was loud and clear and it came from above. Some think it was from a helicopter perhaps. Then someone looking at his cellphone says, "Hey ... it happened in another country too. My cousin just texted me!" As the day goes on, the news soon spreads. It seems at the same time the message was heard all around the world. Every TV and radio station is reporting that each country heard the same message in their own language at the same time. World leaders contact each other. Statements are issued by presidents, prime ministers, kings...

Tuesday morning, January 27, 2026. Sewer repair outside work begins.  Last week I talked about incidents, politics, and the news in my home state, Minnesota. This week I'm talking about a comparatively pleasant matter: sewer repair. Before anything else, though: good news , at least for us. Our household's sewer connection is now in good working order, and should stay that way for a long while. A Blocked Sewer Pipe Unavoidable Delay, Pipe Rot A Tip of the hat to Plumber St. Cloud Tuesday, January 27, 2026: Digging in the Cold, Cold Ground Reasonable Precautions Utilities, and Living Where the Edge of Town Used to Be Wednesday, January 28, 2026: Sewer Work (Almost) Done Old Pipes, New Pipes Finishing Touches: Now and Come Spring Back to Routines Something Extra in the Air Finding Morals, Within Reason Health Neighbors Home Maintenance and the Universal Destination of Goods ... More (including more photos) at A Catholic Citizen in America . (G...

      I've studied a lot of theology and such, so you can imagine my surprise when I learned from a little reflection that Jesus tells us who he is in the Beatitudes. I mean, how many times have we sat with the Beatitudes, reflecting on them and praying with them? How is it I have never heard anyone suggest that Jesus is revealing himself to us in them? If you are unfamiliar with the Beatitudes altogether, you can find them in the 5th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel. They are so beautiful in their call for us to be meek, merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers and so forth.  Naturally, when you read them with the idea that Jesus is describing himself, you can see him in every line, right down to the acknowledgement that he/we will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness.  I encourage you to open your bible to the Beatitudes and see them with new insight and allow God to call you one of the blessed for the ways that you strive to imitate Jesus through ...

  Sophie Scholl in 1942  (9 May 1921 - 22 February 1943)  [ Wikipedia ;  photo ] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (I Cor 2:2; Second Reading). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: (England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 5:13-16   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. ‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see you...

Hot topic from yesteryear: "Charity Begins at Home", Louis Dalrymple in Puck (NY). (December 28, 1898) Minnesota and Minneapolis have been national news for more than a month now. This is my home state. I'm not happy about what's in the news, and concerned about what's dropped out of the news. Ignoring the mess isn't an option. So this week I'll talk about what's allegedly been happening, and why I take so much of what I read with a few bulk lots of salt. Activists and a Distinct Perspective Apparently (Over-) Cautious: an Alleged Disclaimer Political? No! Perturbed? Yes Out of Step With The Establishment: Five Decades and Counting Minnesota: Good Grief, Another Month 'We Interrupt Your Worship to Bring You Our Message' Alternatively-Legal Immigrants Immigrants, Rules, and Unchanging Principles It's Just Fraud, Pay No Attention Headlines and Me It's (Not) Simple Labels, Attitudes, and America: Then and Now Bo...

Lala  Vicente  with Jordan Navor L'Arche , Cainta, near Manila. I have known both for many years. In Ireland this Sunday is the Feast of St Brigid, Secondary Patroness of the country. The Mass is that of St Brigid but the readings are those of the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: (England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 5:1-12a   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) At that time: Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, ...

                                                                        Mr. Didanoto's classroom I shuddered when, in response to a question about what could restrain his power, the president said: "My own morality, my own mind." God placed in our hearts a natural law, whose voice calls us to "love and to do what is good and to avoid evil." ( CCC1776 ) But, we must understand that Natural Law uses reason and a well-formed conscience: " It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law." ( CCC1778 ) We have to be careful here, because our judgment should be deeply rooted in divine law. It is actually the mind of God that we must follow. Following are some points of wisdom from the "Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)." I encourage you to take yo...

  "By their deeds, the disciples are to influence the world for good." This explanation in my Bible's footnote about verses 13-16 of Matthew Chapter 5 caused me to really think about who a disciple is and what they are called to do.  I had a conversation with a neighbor years ago who dismissed the idea of faith by saying that she was just teaching her daughter to be a good person, implying that was enough. Maybe you think this way, or you know someone who does, but being a good person (while commendable), is lacking, if your "goodness" is not built on solid ground and is disconnected from Jesus. An easy reading of Matthew, Chapters 4 & 5, makes it pretty clear: FIRST, Jesus called those who were to become his disciples, THEN he taught them what their mission was. He wasn't simply calling good people to follow him. He wasn't giving them instruction about how to be nice people. They needed both a relationship with him, and his instruction. ...

From Wanda Gág's "Millions of Cats". (1928) I don't know what, if any, name the neighbors had given "LGN": pronounced "Elgin". I'm not even sure that the little grey cat belonged to our neighbors at 1010. But she, or possibly he, came from their yard very regularly when my father and I were outside and near the front of the house. Now, cats act like cats: but they also have personalities. They can act aloof, hostile, seemingly-oblivious, vaguely interested in you: or possibly in something behind you.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Remembering a small grey cat my father and I knew. Rules about how we should treat both animals and people, and how the seventh commandment applies to both.)

It’s COLD outside, here in Minnesota. (4:28 p.m. (22:28 UTC), January 22, 2026) Eager readers and a jester-journalist. (1910) More than a century later, still familiar. Minnesota's in the news, but not because of the weather. That's another topic, for another day. An Extreme Cold Warning has been in effect for my part of Minnesota since 3:00 this afternoon. It runs until noon tomorrow, when a Cold Weather Advisory starts. That'll run until Saturday noon. But the weather my news feed has been showing me is about the "heavy snow, crippling ice and frigid temperatures" of a winter storm that'll make life interesting for folks in "more than 2 dozen states". Maybe excessively interesting. Focusing on states from New Mexico and Texas to Maine and the Carolinas does make sense.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (How I see current conditions: Cold Weather Advisory here in Sauk Centre, winter storm from New Mexico to the east coast. And sewer tr...

San Giorgio Maggiore at Dawn Joseph Mallord William Turner [ Web Gallery of Art ] For those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,   on them a light has dawned  (Mt 4:16, Gospel; see Isaiah 9:2, First Reading). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: (England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 4:12-23 or 4:12-17   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and sh...

    I was leaving the doughnut shop and I heard the next customer say, "I need a minute to look. I haven't been in a doughnut shop in years." Naturally, my first thought was, "What?" How is it possible not to be in a doughnut shop for years? Then, I heard the rest of the conversation. "I've been in China for 12 years and the best I could get was a doughnut from something like a Walmart. Not a real doughnut." It was all I could do not to stop right there and start asking him questions, but my more disciplined self stopped me. Still, I'd love to know the rest of his story. We all have stories to tell and while they might seem ordinary to us, I think they might be quite interesting to others. In addition to details about life, I am always interested in stories that bring people to faith. They are often a fascinating testament to God tangibly working in someone's life. Often circuitous, the twists and turns and surprises of life add gr...