Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I was watching a video of a couple walking along the sidewalk, having a nice little stroll when I saw the husband reach up and touch the moss hanging from the tree. Noooooo! I said to myself! I nearly made a similar mistake several years ago. My husband and I were in Savannah, Georgia and as we walked along the sidewalks (much like the couple in the video), there was moss everywhere on the ground.   Not having seen it before, I bent over to feel it and for some reason, changed my mind and stopped short of touching it. Later, we were commenting to a local about it and they told me it was a good thing I didn’t touch it because it was probably loaded with chiggers. What’s a chigger ? Turns out they are larvae, sometimes called red bugs, and they like to bite us.   They are super small, but here’s the gross part: “The chigger [then] attaches its mouth to the skin and injects saliva. The saliva contains an enzyme that breaks skin cells down to liquid f...

I want to mention briefly, two things as a follow-up to my post yesterday, and then I will move on to my podcast content. First, this excerpt from today’s first reading from Deuteronomy Chapter 30 is often quoted in regards to being pro-life: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life.” In this passage, we hear Moses telling the people not to turn their hearts away from God nor be led astray and ignore God and his commandments.   It is a good passage to reflect on as we begin this holy season of Lent. Secondly, I just want to provide a link to a statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in regards to the news this week.   It is always wise to pay attention to what our bishops say. Okay, on to my podcast, which can be found at janetcassidy.blubrry.ne t . Do you feel like you are bearing a cross that is simply too heavy to bear? Are you wondering where you can find some relief? I have a...

It just boggles the mind that our duly elected senators could not agree on two reasonable things: Senate Bill. 311 (Born-alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act) “This bill establishes requirements for the degree of care a health care practitioner must exercise in the event a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion. A health care practitioner who is present must (1) exercise the same degree of care as reasonably provided to another child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) immediately admit the child to a hospital. The bill also requires a health care practitioner or other employee to immediately report any failure to comply with this requirement to law enforcement. A person who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. Additionally, an individual who intentionally kills or attempts to kill a child born alive is subject to prosecution for murder. The bill bars the crimi...

The Temptation of Christ Juan de Flandes [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Matthew 4:1-11 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone,      but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He wi...

Wow! How time flies! It seems like it was Christmas, just yesterday. Today, we approach the solemn season of Lent. Throughout Lent, we engage in fasting, prayer and almsgiving. Why? Well, let’s start with Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday On Ash Wednesday, we take the blessed palms received from the last Palm Sunday and we bring them back to our Church for burning. Once burned into blessed ashes, the priest, or designee, applies the blessed ashes on our foreheads, stating, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and unto dust you shall return.”  These ashes mark us as followers of Christ, for all to see. If you are Catholic, and have received ashes in the past, you know what I mean. Every Ash Wednesday, I always get questions about the smudge on my forehead. With that smudge, I witness to the world that, in my humanity, I am a sinner in need of forgiveness. The dirt on my forehead symbolizes the look of my soul. It also reminds me that I came from the dust/dirt of the earth (like Adam), ...

Apparently I am in danger of being arrested or having my social security card stopped if I am to believe any of the phone calls I have been receiving lately.   It seems that I am one breath away from going to jail.   The intimidating voice on the other end of the phone (which I never answer) is terrifying as it delivers the threat to my freedom. Where do these terrible calls come from? Awhile back I read a Reader’s Digest article about a guy named Ben Taylor (from Utah) who was contacted through Facebook by a guy he assumed was a scammer.   He decided he would drill down on the details of the guy who contacted him—something I would never recommend, of course. But he was curious, so he continued to message this guy from Liberia, West Africa (Joel Willie). Even though he was skeptical, he kept getting deeper and deeper into corresponding with this guy. As it turns out, their mutual interest in photography led to Taylor sending Willie a cheap camera and eve...

There is an Amazon Prime drama called Hunters (which I have not seen), that was created by David Weil.   He has taken some flak for his decision to use fictionalized characters and scenes in his drama about the Holocaust and the people who died, as well as those who survived. His thinking in fictionalizing this drama was that he wanted to honor those who died by not using their actual story or the events they suffered. He even went so far as to have every number tattoo on his characters be a number higher than the last one recorded at Auschwitz ( 202,499 ) . The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum has been critical of his approach, saying that if he truly wanted to give honor to victims of the Holocaust, he would give a truthful representation of the real horror.   In not doing so, they say “It also welcomes future deniers. We honor the victims by preserving factual accuracy." * At the center of the controversy was his decision to create a scene using...