Association Of Catholic Bloggers

You know what I love about the internet? You can discover all kinds of information with your fingertips AND you can buy all kinds of obscure stuff from all over the world. Quirky things that can actually help build a child's faith and prayer life. Alec, a family friends' middle child, celebrated his First Communion today. That's him at his home next to his dad after the Mass after he changed into a plaid shirt and striped shorts. His patron saint is Alexander of Comana, the charcoal burner. Seriously? I had never heard of the guy. Read more here...

On this sunny, blustery February day, we have just returned, our little family of four, from a standing-room-only Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, where the celebrant was the newly minted Timothy Cardinal Dolan. Given the politics of these days, I expected he might preach about the intrusions that politicians are making into Catholics' lives of faith. But he didn't, at least not overtly. Instead, the joyful man in the red hat preached the Gospel, reminding us that, just as Jesus learned during his 40 days in the desert, during Lent we need to realize that our lives must be lived with God's will, not our will, for God's kingdom, not our kingdom, for God's values and not the passing values of the world we live in. (Thanks to my CL friend Dan Finaldi for sharing the photo he took after Mass)    Read more here...

I have always felt that Maxime de la Rocheterie's description of Marie-Antoinette is one of the best: She was not a guilty woman, neither was she a saint; she was an upright, charming woman, a little frivolous, somewhat impulsive, but always pure; she was a queen, at times ardent in her fancies for her favourites and thoughtless in her policy, but proud and full of energy; a thorough woman in her winsome ways and tenderness of heart, until she became a martyr. ( The Life of Marie-Antoinette by M. de la Rocheterie, 1893) Marie-Antoinette spent the first fourteen years of her life in Austria, worshiping in Rococo churches and listening to the music of Haydn and the Italian composers. Architecture and music in that time and place celebrated the glory of God in the beauty of His creation. As Queen, her desire to promote beauty around her, especially in the lives of those whom she loved, was an outgrowth of the culture in which she was raised. She loved theater, acting, o

In the gospel today the Roman centurion makes his confession of faith which forms the wording of our own confession of faith before we receive Holy Communion. This confession of faith demonstrates the unworthiness we all have when approaching the wonderful gift of the Body and Blood of Christ. Standing before this throne of God’s grace we simply confess I am not worthy, never will be, a wretched sinner! I am living only for the grace that my Lord and Saviour gives to me. Despite my unworthiness just say your Word Lord and it will heal me, revive me, thrill me and enable me to be nurtured into a dim shadow, a pale reflection of the glory that is the Christ I receive.   It is the interior life that allows us to express outwardly our spiritual selves. I make a show to others of my saintliness when I live out the gospel not when I make a show for others of my piety! The spiritual life is not about the show, the face I put on, the mask I use to hide my shortcomings, it is about the

I found this video on CathNew s, Australia. I've been to Preston, which means 'Priest town', a number of times while based in Britain from 2000 to 2002, doing mission appeals. Most of the town is in the Archdiocese of Liverpool but part of it is in the Diocese of Lancaster. I made a friend in another part of the Diocese of Lancaster who was seriously contemplating suicide. But one Good Friday the local Catholic parish held a Way of the Cross. She happened to see it and it led her away from her depression and eventually into the Catholic Church. What the Capuchin Friars in Preston did on Ascension Thursday this year is a variation on the traditional Corpus Christi processions that used to be so common in many parts of the world. The processions were expressions of faith by the community. This was partly so but also a form of evangelisation, raising questions in people's minds. The Friars run a chaplaincy at the University of Central Lancashire. At the chaplaincy 

Pope Benedict calls Eucharist ‘antidote’ to modern ills June 26, 2011 3:05 PM Vatican City, Jun 26, 2011 / 02:05 pm ( CNA/EWTN News ).- The Eucharist is the medicine which can heal our individualist society, Pope Benedict XVI said in his midday Angelus address on Corpus Christi Sunday. “In an increasingly individualistic culture in which Western societies are immersed - and which is tending to spread throughout the world - the Eucharist is a kind of ‘antidote’ which operates in the minds and hearts of believers and is continually sowing in them the logic of communion, of service, of sharing - in other words, the logic of the Gospel,” said Pope Benedict to pilgrims in St. Peters Square on June 26. Catholics believe that the bread and wine offered by Christ at the Last Supper literally became his body and blood - and that this same miracle is repeated by priests at every Mass since. Hence the name of today’s festivity – ‘Corpus Christi’ Sunday or ‘Body of Christ’ Sunday. “From the Euchar