Association Of Catholic Bloggers

  Exciting news!  I am thrilled to be a guest on "Morning Offering" on Annunciation Radio and Ave Maria Radio this Tuesday, February 17th. I look forward to speaking with Pat Oedy-Murray live at 8:45 am. Listen online at:  https://www.avemariaradio.net/ listen-ave .   I was slogging along on my treadmill while watching the winter Olympics. I was no match for the agile, fast, sleek fast skaters gliding along their icy track. Have you been able to watch the various events? It simply cannot escape us how hard the athletes work--and for how many years they practice--to achieve their level of expertise. Sometimes the result of all their practice is satisfying, and sometimes not so much. It seems to me that our journey to a mature faith can take no less time to achieve a level of communion with God. I've been reading Thomas Merton lately and he seemed to acquire a sense of unity with God that goes beyond words. Merton put it this way:   "the contempl...

There wasn't anything special about the back yard at 818. But 818 is the place where I spent the bulk of my childhood, so it's a place I often go on trips down memory lane.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (My childhood back yard: a home-grown vegetable that's only partly toxic, snapdragons, flowers whose names are lost to memory; and remembering priorities.)

The Sermon on the Mount Carl Heinrich Bloch [ Web Gallery of Art ] 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 5:17-37   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the ...

    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...