Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Jesus, through this frantic world, could you just hold me still? I don't want to be happy. I do not want comfort, for these things pass. O How I long to be still, still, still with you. I've had enough, and nothing else will satisfy. and there is nothing I won't do to be still with you. Let the world keep spinning, Let it spin until I'm sick, but Jesus, hold me still. continue reading

Every Catholic Priest that walks the Earth had a mark placed on him at his conception for the Priesthood.   This is a gift by God as a reflection for what God did for Mary in her womb, because every Priest is her son.  The Priest is not immaculate, but only marked as one chosen for the Priesthood.  This is not a guarantee that he will become a Priest, it is up to God whether or not he is called later.  I am sure that there are a few Priests walking the earth that were not called, although they are very few.  But the Priest, whether called or not will always carry this mark as being chosen to the Priesthood from conception..... To Read More... CLICK HERE!

I do not know how I would cope with my life if I were not Catholic. I can easily tell you that I would not cope well. Years of living beforehand would bear that out. Here are some differences in how I get through tough times today vs. during my "heretical" years.  (1) My emotions do not control my decisions as much Free will has to do with making decisions without being driven by emotions. I am making more solid, logical and clear choices now than I ever have before. During my "heretical years," I believed that free will had to do with extricating myself from the oppression of moral obligations in order to be free to follow my feelings. How did that work out for me? Hmm.. I'm writing this... so... (2) I take care to have selfless motives.  When I pursue being of the greatest service to God above the motives for comfort, public opinion or material things, each decision I make has meaning. When I work to make my life a gift to God rather than a gif

Alone at St. Stephen the Martyr.  In the dark, in front of the tabernacle, just me and Him. This is where I am happiest, with Him. The door opens and a woman comes in in nurses scrubs, and sits down.  She is crying.   She is crying so loud it tears at my heart.  I go to her. With tears in her eyes she looks up at me.  She sees perhaps the compassion in my eyes and that I want to be with her and moves over so I can sit down. "I'm here if you need to talk, if you need anything." TO CONTINUE READING - CLICK HERE

One of the greatest gifts that God gives us in the Holy Mass, and the Holy Eucharist is to prepare us for Eternity.  There is no where you can go on the planet and prepare for your own Judgement and Eternity like you can by going to Holy Mass, Holy Confession and taking the Blessed Sacrament.   There is no Preacher or Church service in the world that prepares you for heaven like what happens every day at Holy Mass.   To Read More CLICK HERE.

As we announced last week , Ave Maria Press will be releasing our Catholic marriage help book in 2016. The working title (although publishers always change the title!) is Secrets of Turning Water into Wine. Why are we writing the book? What can you learn from the book? Read on to find out! SECRETS OF TURNING WATER INTO WINE Divorce rates for Catholic marriages have almost tripled since the early 1970s, proving that Catholic marriages are not immune from the terrible epidemic of divorce. Catholic couples today desperately need a transfusion of spiritual truths combined with solid practical advice.  Secrets of Turning Water into Wine  offers a warm catechesis that illustrates how God’s plan for marriage can free us to experience deep, lasting, and soul-satisfying love in our everyday lives. Weekend or one-day marriage preparation programs might not give couples all the information they need or want.  Secrets of Turning Water into Wine  shows how Biblical principles c

I finally figured out what matters. This is it. (1) I do not need a happy ending in life.   The Meaning:   Life isn't meant to be a fairy tale. Whether.... The Freedom:   No matter how my life ends, .... (2) How I feel about my life doesn't matter.  The Meaning:  Whether I think my life is going well or not is.... The Freedom :  Less time wasted with pointlessly evaluating my life in.... (4) Even if I became a god or goddess, it wouldn't matter.   The Meaning:  Having "personal power," or realizing the greatness in my soul in order.... The Freedom:   Who cares who I am?... "Lord, when we ask you for honors, income, money or worldly things, do not hear us." -St. Teresa of Avila (7) Never stop asking- "How Could I Do Better?"  The Meaning:   It doesn't matter... The Freedom:   This is the annoying part... Here's the rest of this post: " The 7 Most Mindblowingly Liberating Things I've

The debate rears its ugly head even in the safest of places. A mom posts in my local homeschool group that her family is going through pertussis - all of them - including her vaccinated husband and vaccinated public school child. First there are posts back showing support and advice on how to soldier through with a household of sick children. Then the accusation, "Weren't your children vaccinated?" My finger hovers over my mouse, strategically positioned between the delete and the moderation button.  This is the type of discussion that can get heated quickly, and the relationships and camaraderie of this group of woman could be broken with one harsh word or a misinterpretation of intentions. What breaks the camels back and causes me to hit delete and then quickly put us into moderation mode was a comment like this. "The Pope says that everyone should vaccinate their kids for the common good and it's a sin not to vaccinate." Nothing is going to kill o

The Edel Gathering is this weekend and there were some of us who couldn't attend, as much as we would have loved it! Rita over at The Catholic Review: Open Window thought it would be great to host a blog hop wherein we'd have a virtual conference! I loved the idea and thought to share how I keep the faith alive between Sundays, with kids. I'll admit, I don't always do a bang up job each week. Because work.You'll see what I mean. Finding the time to share the Catholic faith with my children isn’t easily done during the summer months especially when they’re not in school. I work full time from 8:30AM - 5PM Monday through Friday. The time I have with the kids is limited, but I make the best of it. Here's what we do to keep the faith! Check in with them about their feelings about their prayer life. Little ones can struggle too and experience spiritual dryness just like adults. Let them know that they’re being heard and share with them how you work through the

So much has happened when I was praying the Stations of the Cross.  The demon has tried everything to scare me off.  He can't.  I won't say I haven't been scared, I have, but I have stood my ground.  On this day, I was praying the Stations of the Cross and begging God for those that were lost.  I was alone in the Church.  I had gotten to the 4th Station...to find out what happened next, CLICK HERE!

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, * and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  Matthew 16:18. "...and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." .  What does this mean? How can a gate prevail?  Wouldn't it be demons that would prevail, but that isn't want our Lord said, He said 'gates'.     A gate is something to keep something in, or to keep something out.  It can also be used as a passageway.   From the scripture we know there is more than one gate. (' gates' plural).  There are supposedly 12 gates into heaven the same as the number of apostles, the demon loves to mock God, so their must be more than one gate into hell, but how many? To Find out How Many.. Click HERE!!

I'm Laura Paxton and I am free. I am free to play, to create, to express myself, to explore my world. I am freer to think and to reason and daydream than I ever have before. I read more. I have meaningful work that I enjoy very much. I wake up each day with the joy of purpose before me. Only about five years ago, I existed in a cramped, dark apartment where I had given up on life, agoraphobic, eating mostly chocolate bars for sustenance and playing online scrabble all day long to keep my mind off the pain trapped deep inside. How did I end up there? Let's face it... I'm autistic. I'm bipolar. I've lived on the dangerous edges of life. I've been raped,  survived a near fatal suicide attempt, was almost successfully murdered and lived homeless at times in my teens. Over the course of my life, I've also been taken advantage of, tricked and abused because of my poor judgment, (which was poorer than most people's to begin with,

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 .