Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I never met a mom who thought she had enough help. So here's a few ideas to make your days a little easier. Some ideas come from me, and some from other moms, but they're all offered from someone who's been there, done that, and wants to pass on what she's learned. 1.   Ask for it.  Moms sometimes have trouble asking for help, either out of pride or because they don't want to burden those around them. "For me, the word ‘help’ stuck in my throat like a fishbone," admitted author   Serena Kirby . "When you don’t ask for help you don’t get support and research shows with decreased support comes increased isolation, anxiety, fatigue and depression," she continued. So, overcome your reluctance, and ask for the help you need! Continue reading...

Greetings, Ladies (and you few gentlemen who are members of or visit this site). Thank you for the privilege of joining you in spreading the Gospel on the internet. I'm Connie Rossini. I'd like to introduce you to my new blog.   Learn how to pray and live the Carmelite way I began writing at http://contemplativehomeschool.wordpress.com in November. Unlike many homeschool blogs, Contemplative Homeschool is not so much about daily life in my family as it is about growing in Christ. I believe the best way to keep our kids Catholic and to educate them in the faith is modeling prayer and virtue for them. I write a lot (about half my posts) about how you can grow closer to Christ. As a former member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS), I write from a Carmelite perspective. Let your homeschool be an outgrowth of your own prayer time I use my own unit studies based on The Golden Children's Bible for daily instruction. I meditate on one of the Bib

“Sorry, No Steeple…but we do have a drive-thru” is what the clever, cool, hip billboard sign proclaims. I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant so I didn’t pay it much never-mind.  Then another one popped up with something that was, to me, similarly vague: We don’t accept perfect people.  Still, not paying attention.  Then a topic of conversation was begun in my small Catholic study group. The essence of the conversation, which has taken more than a few twists and turns along the way, was this: Should we allow—or even encourage—our Catholic teens to attend non-denominational churches? In particular, this local one with the clever, cool, hip billboards? In a way, though, the conversation was almost a non-issue since it appeared that our Catholic teens (and even many of our adults) were already attending on their own without our small group’s permission—or seemingly without much guilt, either.  At first we decided this was a good thing. Maybe because our hand was forced: everyone was doin

Image from fellow homeschool mom  Josette A quote from this article on  Halloween's Catholic Origins  probably sums up what I have been thinking and "talking" about lately on social networks and with people I know, (and just yesterday on  Radyo Veritas , when I was interviewed because of  this article on CBCP News  about  our homeschool group's All Saints' Day celebration on November 4 ): "Let's not focus on werewolves, witches, goblins or other evil characters but maybe other virtuous people or heroes," he said. "If not saints, then have them dress up as a fireman or football player or G.I. Joe. There are a lot of good figures in our secular culture worth emulating." In fact, I highly recommend all Catholic parents to read the complete article  here , along with the other thought-provoking, inspiring articles about Catholics and Halloween below: Should Catholics celebrate Halloween? Christians and Halloween: Should Christians c

Please visit the new Tea at Trianon Forum . It will be a place to discuss the same topics we discuss on my blog, but in more detail. Anyone can join. On the forum people will be able to introduce topics for discussion. Comments will be posted immediately, without having to wait for me to moderate them. Members will be able to post links and pictures and make block quotes, which is so much easier for trying to get one's point across. There are three main rules: 1. Be polite. 2. Be polite. 3. Be polite. The forum is for ladies and gentlemen. If you are not a lady or a gentleman then it is not the forum for you. Courtesy must be observed at all times. Members are asked to refrain from personal attacks, sarcasm, slanderous remarks about ANYONE and general snarkiness. While questions and inquiries are welcome, any attacks upon the Catholic Church or the Pope will be deleted immediately. We also ask that our guests stay on topic. Off topic comments will be subjec

Good morning and greetings from America's Heartland! My name is Valerie, and recently I was invited by Jackie to become a contributing author here at the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers .  What an honor and a privilege to be asked to keep company with such deeply spiritual and courageously-active faith-filled Catholics!  I have to admit...it's been a couple of weeks since Jackie read this post and offered up her invitation to me.  Since then, I have had a bit of writer's block...perhaps allowing the Deadly Sins of pride and sloth to interfere with me sharing my walk of faith!  I often allow my fear of "being wrong" to paralyze me, thus missing out on some incredible opportunities to share the richness of our faith with others...and to learn some lessons myself.  Believe me when I say, I'm striving to better display those holy virtues of humility and diligence! Right now, the season of life that I am in is that of parenthood.  And while

When I was asked by Jackie if I would like to write something for the ACWB website my initial reaction was Cool swiftly followed by the realisation (and panic) that I might actually have to write something sensible for a change . You will be relieved to hear that I decided against it... The other day I put my finger in a rat trap. Not a small one but a proper industrial trap designed to catch rats in such a way that you would never have to catch the same one twice. I did this for a simple reason. It was because I am a man and I wanted to know if it would hurt. It did . As a man I have a need to seek validation of the thoughts and opinions that I have formed through observation of my environment combined with theoretical knowledge and directed by past experience. I need to do this in order to prove to myself that my reasoning abilities are superior to anyone else's and that my judgements on the world are sound and based on logic and not guesswork. Or to put that another

“ Natural family planning ? What’s that? And does it really work?” These are probably some of the most common reactions or statements we get when people ask us how we spaced our two kids (Tim is turning 5 in October and Rysse just turned 2 last July). Those who are already in the know though can testify that NFP is the best way to go when it comes to family planning. Our kids are products of NFP, just like Umbert. ;-) What is natural family planning (NFP)? Wikipedia defines  NFP  in the following way: Natural family planning   (NFP) is a term referring to the  family planning  methods approved by the  Roman Catholic Church . In accordance with the Church's requirements for  sexual behavior  in keeping with its philosophy of the dignity of the human person, NFP excludes the use of other methods of  birth control . *To read the full article, please go to Philstar.com's unBLOGGED section by clicking  here .

I recently read an article titled “ The Teaching of the Catholic Church on Home Schooling – Parents for Eternal Life ” by Jesuit priest Fr. John Hardon, and the following paragraph really struck me: “...what they (children) mainly need is to know why God made them; why they are on earth at all; why they are in this world; that  they are here in this life in order to prepare and train themselves for the world to come . In a word,  children are to be taught that their short stay here in time is only a preparation for the world that will never end . They are to be trained for heaven.” Our kids need to be “trained for heaven”?! What a big responsibility we parents have then! In fact, Fr. Hardon goes on to say: “The Church teaches that, ‘Under God, parents are the  first in time, first in authority, first in responsibility, first in supernatural ability, and first in dignity  to  educate their children for eternal life .’” “... believing Catholic parents ...must be convinced that