Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I am an English Literature Grad who loves a well written book. I refuse to read pedantic, heavy-handed, moralistic, Catholic books masquerading as fiction. Ellen’s books are anything but. I could hardly put down the first novel I read. My reviews will come next week but first I urge you to pick up one of these novels on Kindle and enjoy well-rounded, realistic characters who will work their way into your heart as they keep you spell-bound, insuring you read well past your usual bedtime. Enjoy! Introducing Ellen Gable Hrkach Ellen is an award-winning, best-selling author of four books. Her third book, Stealing Jenny, a pro-life suspense novel, spent six weeks at #1 on Amazon Kindle in Religious Drama in June/July of 2012. All three of her novels have been in the top ten of that category since January of 2012. She is a columnist for Amazing Catechists.com, a columnist at CatholicMom.com, and a reviewer for CatholicFiction.net. She and her husband create the “Family Life” carto

I've been studying Spiritual Canticle by St. John of the Cross as part of my OCDS Secular Carmelite formation program .    Every Friday afternoon, I spend an hour in the Adoration Chapel at church. Today, I had the idea to practice lectio divina with the stanzas. I was surprised by some of the reflections I had. For some reason, I was pulled to the topic of mental illness, specifically anxiety disorder , panic attacks and borderline personality disorde r.  The first twelve stanzas struck me as "angsty" and full of longing and distress. Anxiety permeates the entire section. The "bride" has seen God, who is "the bridegroom," only for an instant, and then He was gone. If she had not seen Him or known He was there, she could not feel the pain of loss, and because he caused the sense of loss, only He could heal her. The phrases of the Canticle are intense and dramatic,such as, " If you shall see Him Whom I love the most, Tell

Our whispered hello to God and each other is called prayer. I am not just reciting theology when I remind you that there is neither time nor distance when we live and move and breath in the Spirit. When someone dies or moves far away, I don’t have to say good-bye just whisper hello, a different kind of hello that moves with the speed of light to brighten each heart when I think of them. As believers, we are all connected in the Mystical Body of Christ. God  is the great “I AM” who exists in yesterday, today and tomorrow. His Spirit mysteriously unites all of us, intimately present to each soul, all at the same time. Our whispered hello to God and each other is called prayer. We are never alone. We live in the Spirit and He dwells in us. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who pray for us and support us, they are as near to us as our next breath because they are also in the Spirit and He is in them. Let’s welcome the Word of God and the prayers of the faithf

April is "Autism Acceptance Month." Some organizations have called it, "Autism Awareness Month," but because so much of the negative advertising of many autism charities, autistics like myself have re-titled the month, "Autism Acceptance Month." It seemed most charities only wanted to make people aware of the negative parts of autism, leaving out the good parts!  I've had a tough time accepting my autism since the day I was diagnosed. The part I hate most about it is that I need help in areas and ways that other people don't. Because of that, I feel like I'm not equal to other people. So, "Autism Acceptance Month" has given me a lot to think about. Autism is a difference in neurological wiring. Although some aspects of this are disabling, they are balanced by the many strengths we also have. Autistic people generally have a great eye for detail, an unparalleled conscientiousness, sincerity and honesty. In general

"We are not called to be successful. We are called to be faithful." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta Lately, I ponder this quote and its meaning on a daily basis. In my mind, I am never successful enough. I never get enough done in a day. The work I actually do is not productive enough. No matter how much I do, it does not make enough impact on society. And, you know what? It won't. Ever. I can't do anything without God. I can't blog. I can't brainstorm. I can't even breathe. Without God, not only is doing anything at all impossible, but everything I do becomes meaningless and pointless. Our new pope said something today which rang true for me. He said, " "...self-help courses can be useful in life, but to live by going from one course to another, from one method to another, leads us to become pelagians and to minimize the power of grace, which comes alive and flourishes to the extent that we, in faith, go out and give ourselves and

Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus .~ from the Te Deum When I wrote to Dr. Moss requesting her latest work The Myth of Persecution , I received a prompt and gracious reply assuring me of a copy. Dr. Moss hoped that I would not see the book as an attack upon the Church. I responded that I did not see the book as an attack on the Church and even if it was, the Church has been through worse. We have nothing to fear from the truth of history. After reading the book my reply is not altered. It is a well-written book with clear explanations indicative of a skilled teacher. However, I recommend Myth to others with reservations, since in spite of the genuine scholarship which Dr. Moss shares with us, there is a contemporary political slant given to the narrative which clouds the objectivity of how the historical evidence is presented. For instance, my cognitive processes are strained to envision St. Justin Martyr (pp. 109-112) and Glenn Beck (p. 250) as conf

I went to Holy Confession yesterday - they were having a 12 hours of grace of confessions, Father Eric Johnson was in the church (Our Lady of Perpetual Help) hearing confessions. I came after work so I didn't get there till about 6:30 p.m. - confessions ended at 8 p.m. When I walked up to Fr. Eric I was smiling because I was happy to see him and then I saw how tired he was.   By the look in his eyes and his posture - I could tell immediately he had been there a while. Concerned, I asked if he was alright, and he said he was. Then  the beautiful sacrament began, and something wonderful happened! It was like Father Eric was given a special grace, bolstered by the sacrament and he  no longer looked tired anymore  - he was totally present, attentive, along with someone else, our Lord, I could feel it.  As I listened to his instruction I could see the compassion in his eyes and it hit me how much he was giving to me, he was giving all, not because it was his job, but because of a de

  Corpus Christi Procession – Hipolit Lipinski, 1881 This piece is prompted by a couple of posts I saw about a procession being held in Brighton to mark the Feast of the Immaculate Conception .  Such public displays of the Catholic faith are very rare these days and are to be applauded - I think that the more of them that take place, the more people will get used to them. After all, most of us have marched in many a parade or demonstration marking secular or political events – and I have seen large public marches and demonstrations marking other faiths. Not so very long ago, the Salvation Army band used to march up the road I was then living in every Sunday morning.  I do not think that these processions are wholly about witnessing to the faith in public – they are also spiritual occasions and another manifestation of the way in which the Church and the practice of the faith is also material and physical.  And let us not forget that this is

Reposted from Costing Not Less Than Everything Mary the Mother of Mercy, Chapel of the  Gates of Dawn  in Vilnius, Lithuania The  rizas  (robes), or revetments, of gilded silver, are in three separate pieces. The gown of Our Lady is embellished with flowers, in a reference to Our Lady as a ‘hortus conclusus’ or walled garden.  Many miracles have taken place after veneration of the painting – and about 8,000 votive offerings have been presented to the chapel, including the silver crescent moon at the base of the painting. The painting is believed to be of Polish origin and, unusually, represents Our Lady without the Infant Christ. The statues on either side of the painting are of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin. The chapel is an important place of pilgrimage in Lithuania and was visited by Blessed John Paul II in 1993. In the third week of November every year – in 2012, from 11th to 18th of November, the Indulgenced Feast of the Merciful Mo