Association Of Catholic Bloggers

A picture's worth a thousand words, so when I went off to lunch with super-popular author Jen Fulwiler and 7 other lovely ladies I was dead set on getting a picture. Except then I forgot. "You've got to Photoshop  something ," one of my friends insisted. So with Jen's permission and the guidance of my 9-year-old daughter, I produced this expertly-crafted image, which proves beyond doubt that Jen and I were in the same room on the same day having lunch together. Who says old bloggers can't learn new tricks? Jen and I lunching together. Clearly. The reason I forgot a picture was because the conversation was so awesomely distracting. We started off talking about recipes, since women do cook. The equivalent for men would be something like "How 'bout those Mets?" The discussion quickly moved on from the genius of bacon-stuffed deviled eggs to who are you, where do you blog, and what was your favorite part of Jen's new memoir/conversion s

I have been working on a series every day, all month (except Sundays) where I blog my way through the Catholic faith, by way of the alphabet. Today, I wrote about N ovenas and thought I would share the midpoint of what has become a wonderful, ongoing conversation with atheists, Protestants and cradle Catholics, people from the United States, India and the UK to name a few. I extend the invitation to you, to share your voice and add to the whole of our Catholic faith. Read more at Filling my Prayer Closet...  

I’ve been writing, furiously, for April. I am participating in the A to Z challenge , writing through the alphabet entire in Catholic, with a twist, of course. About a month or so ago, I created an editorial calendar with ideas for each letter that I could research and write about. The twist, is that I also want to provide a reflection from my point of view, that could be slightly different for the myriad of readers and bloggers participating (over 1,500). This is pretty daunting. How can you keep anyone’s attention for longer than a paragraph? How do you do it if the reader is wholly uninterested in organized religion, let alone Christianity and specifically, Catholicism. That’s my hook. That’s my twist. What does that mean? It means everything. It’s what being Catholic, for me, means. Kata- according to, holos- the whole.  According to the whole . It’s not, as  Eddie Izzard  (whom I do love, by the way) defines in his stand up: “Catholicism, we believed in the teachings of Catho

Yes, dear friends, we’re all about the  Shrove Tuesday  today. Now, when I began to research, I thought Shrove…hmmm Totes not a shrove... Then I thought it could mean this… Classy, but still not shrove. So what exactly is Shrove Tuesday? Quite simply, it’s the day before Ash Wednesday. That’s it. No royalty, no mushrooms, nothing crazy. Or is there more?   Click for more shenanigans and factoids at Filling my Prayer Closet.

We all know that I am married to an atheist. Who gasped? Really, it's something that we work on in our marriage like anything else. Granted it was hard and there was arguing in the beginning. I even  ruined some tongs over it . A lot of it is a delicate balance of respect and a whole lot of  Holy Spirit intervention and trust! What does this have to to with Ash Wednesday ? It's a perfect example of that balance I wrote of earlier. We always try to compromise on the little stuff so it's easier to when the big stuff comes. Usually, when he compromises, I can tell, because he says funny things like "I accept you, and I love you", with a grin, especially when I come downstairs in the morning looking particularly groggy, or scratch my very dry legs while watching a basketball game, and even...burp! That last one doesn't happen often anymore. See, (tangent coming) I thought when you didn't let the burp out, no one could hear it. My husband finally fill

I didn't think I would post here again so soon, but I really wanted to share this with you. As a Lay Dominican in training, I have to complete and present modules on various topics. For now, I am working on prayer . I presented on the Laity in the Church and the life of St. Dominic previously.  I won't share all of my reflections as I usually do. I wrote quite a bit for my presentation. There is a nugget that I felt called to share. I felt it needed more sharing than the presentation I will give tonight *shameless request for prayers inserted here* I was asked to locate a specific psalm, meditate upon it for 10-15 minutes and write down my reaction to it, as well as any insights, thoughts, and resolutions I could have. In my initial read, I wrote that I have to to trust in the Lord and only in the Lord no matter what – He is my portion and my cup.  I read it again and my eyes stopped here:  Psalm 16:4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; t

For my first post here at the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers, I thought it best to give you a flavor for why I write. Why I write Catholic, converted , unequally yoked , mother, Latina,  Dominican Spirituality with a smattering of funny. I try to apply what I learn at mass to what I see in the secular .  I started on Pinterest - which isn't very common. As a convert to the faith married to an atheist, I wanted a place that I could gather all I could about this wonderful, rich tapestry of faith while at the same time respecting my first vocation as a wife. In the dark, I could collect images attached to websites that spoke of scapulars, saints, the Virgin Mary, Third Orders, the Mass and the Sacraments. This would be my first schooling into the faith as it happened in real life - after RCIA.  The images turned into writing on a summer day last year and I write most every day. Some of my favorite posts are funny, revealing, controversial and deeply personal. The poin

Praying to Saint Anthony when something is lost is a Catholic tradition: Tony, Tony, look around. Something's lost and must be found! That prayer and the more "polite" version ( Dear  St. Anthony  please come around something is lost and it cannot be found .) was repeated over and over at our Girls Night Out. After a long time apart, my friends and I were finally able to gather together to celebrate not only our friendship, but life in general.  To commemorate the occasion, I purchased each member of our group a leather bracelet with the Girls Night Out charm from  Ohm Beads . To read more about our night out with St. Anthony, please click here .

Facing my greatest challenge, as a person of faith, was when I took care of my mother after my father died. My mother and I had a tumulus relationship my whole life and I left home at the age of nineteen. I only spoke to her on the phone to ask for my dad and I never went to see her. When my husband and I decided to get married, he encouraged me to reconnect with her. I did, but the woman was hell bent on trying to make me, my husband, and later, our children, as miserable as she was. Is there a happy ending to this story?  To find out you can read the rest here .

‘Whoever flees from prayer flees all that is good.’ St. John of the Cross Prayer. We often think of prayer as something difficult, especially contemplative prayer. If we read the classics, written by the saints, it seems to take years of arduous training to pass through gradually ascending levels to reach the pinnacle of prayer, complete union with Christ where we can say with St. Paul,“No longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.” Yet after living with children for 34 years, I have good news, tidings of great joy for you. If I allow myself to relax and surrender control,  like a child trusting in her heavenly Daddy, I discover that it is God who heals, purifies and transforms me into His presence on earth. This process is all about Him, NOT me. My efforts, discipline, asceticism will not earn me union with God. This is not a competitive race to see who will succeed. This is a difficult concept to grasp for the modern Western mindset. I experienced  an eurek

Since I'm new to the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers, I thought I would introduce myself. I started blogging at ChicagoNow  three years ago.  This was my very first post:   Yes I'm Catholic ... Really . I hope you'll stop by and take the time to read that and some of my other posts.  You can also find me on Facebook  and Twitter . Come join the conversation and the fun!

Many of us never know how close we have come to going to hell.  I found out today just how close I really came to being in the place of eternal torment.  Really close. When my husband was alive I had come back to the Catholic Church and I prayed my Rosary and loved to spend time with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  After my husband died, everything hurt, and I mean everything.  Little things like going to the grocery store or watching t.v. was painful, and yes going to church was painful too because everywhere I was, I could feel his absence.  (He never went to church with me, but I prayed for him much there.)  Well, after his death, I was hurting so bad, that I just didn't care about anything, myself included.  All I wanted was to not hurt just for a little while.  I worked 50 hours a week, because I knew if I kept busy the 'demon' of sadness was kept at bay.  (There is a physical law that you can't think of two things at the same time, so the busier I was

The words prayer and contemplation intimidate many people but the reality is that prayer is simple, so simple that it eludes many adults. Rest in God and enjoy God in the silence. Sometimes we need to simply cease our activity, live in the moment and breathe in God. This is reality. When the Spirit flows in and through us we are in sync with everything and everybody. We are part of the Trinity, part of the human community and part of the communion of saints. How do we relax into this state? In and through prayer. Have you ever noticed that every liturgy begins with a blessing of peace and simultaneously a call to prayer because they are intricately connected. L: “Peace be with you” P: “And also with you.” L: “Let us lift up our hearts to the Lord” P: “We lift them up to the Lord” L: Faithful and gracious God, we seek to draw nearer to you in this time of devotion and prayer. Open us to your word that we might be guided in your Spirit toward all truth and love,

“ It is a special medicine… Do not forget to take it, because it does us good: the heart, the soul, our whole life! ” −Pope Francis Check out the medicine our Papa has prescribed! [via link] Pope Francis Prescribes “Misericordina” to Faithful: “On the outside it looks just like any medicine box, with the contents clearly printed on it: 59 intracordial pellets…” http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-misericordia-mercy-29803/ Photo of Rosary given to me by my Irish mom.--EF   http://thewaytonourishforlife.wordpress.com/    

I was wandering the woods in my amnesia,  Following the lights to scattered campfires, wandering to who knows where. The moon was full My heart was hungry Who am I? Where am I?  So lost, confused and crying. When my father held me as a baby, his heartbeat soothed my every tear. When I am close to Jesus, I am near his heartbeat too.  I am a baby in his arms and His Sacred Heart holds my heart in the safest place I'll ever be. As I grew older, my dad and I camped by the river. The heartbeat of the river soothed me in the intoxicating laurel thicket where we slept. Every evening, my dad's friend would say, “This is the life.” Years passed when I could not hear that heartbeat. All I could hear were chaotic sounds of need and fear, frantic crickets and cicadas seeking quickly fleeting mates. The moon was full My heart was hungry Starving, all alone. One day, I will find myself, floating on my back, nailed to my cross. I won't move there but I'll be f

painting by J. Kirk Richards Think about the last time you broke a rule (a big one,  not just ripping the tags off your pillows).  Were you burned, or did things turn out for the best?  I did not simply break a rule here and there;  no, like every other human being, I continually break the most fundamental law of the universe without any conscious effort by refusing to accept reality. Instead of realizing my place in the universe, as one of God's creations, I put on masks and false personalities in a vain attempt to deny my very nature. In pride, I act like a queen at the centre my own little world. According to Thomas Merton ( Seeds of   Contemplation ), a frog or tree are holy simply because they are who they were created to be. On the other hand, I broke all laws of nature out of pride. Steeped in delusion, I clung to a false persona and refused to relax and accept the reality that I am not the centre of the universe. The result? I was not simply burned. Oh

At the Secular Carmelite retreat I went to last weekend, I heard a message I didn't expect and it has changed the way I'm hearing scripture, liturgy and homilies. I have different ears somehow. The topic of our retreat was, "Rediscovering the Riches of Divine Intimacy," with retreat master Father Robert Barcelos, OCD. I had been wondering how to grow in intimacy with God, pondering how it was that I had been feeling stuck for so long and even having a hard time following through on my prayer commitments.  Father Robert said that Jesus loves us MOST where we are weak. He doesn't love us DESPITE when  we're weak, but loves us MOST when we are weak. It's his preference. Whenever Jesus picks a place of encounter, it is in a place where life is messy, shameful or overwhelming for us. Where did Jesus choose to encounter mankind, face to face, in the flesh, for the first time? In a dank, smelly stable, in the middle of the night. He coul

I went on a image  search binge  this week, unearthing countless images of Mary onto and from Pinterest.  It is an eclectic mixture with everything from obscure fine art, modern abstracts, old, icons, stained glass, statues and even ethnic and folk art.  So in honour of the Feast of the Holy Rosary, a collection:  Mary in the art of J. Kirk Richards Annunciation many more images> >

Every time a Catholic recites the Nicene Creed , he is proclaimingbelief in the “Four Marks of the Church.” He joins with all other believers and professes a faith which says, “We believe in one , holy , catholic , and apostolic church…” These “four marks” are called “indelible” in that they cannot be changed or removed. They are the same as when Christ founded the church and will remain the same until his return. As indicated in the Nicene Creed , they bind together the believers in a unique and significant way. The first mark: the church is one . As diverse as we are, we are also considered one in that we are one body in Christ. Even as we bring our different cultures to the one body of Christ, we all believe that this Christ is our Lord and Savior; in him we have our redemption. All who have been baptized are part of his one, true church. The second mark: the church is holy . The teachings of the church lead each believer to holiness . They never lead away from God—who

Relax and bask in the peace evoked by strong images of angels as the Light of God light shines  through these rich colours.