Association Of Catholic Bloggers

  Do you ever feel like your fears have the upper hand? Do you wish that you could approach life differently, where your fears take a back seat and you excel at achieving your dreams? If so, then it is time to wrestle fear with Fortitude! Wrestle Fear with Fortitude To get the upper hand on our fears, we need to embrace the virtue of Fortitude, a gift of the Holy Spirit. Fortitude is there for the asking and the Holy Spirit is ready to give it to you. The  Catechism of the Catholic Church  defines Fortitude as ensuring “ firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. ”  1  This virtue enables us to conquer fear, with grace and strength. We will never have enough courage and bravery to tackle our fears if we first... Read more... 

In the United States, we celebrate Memorial Day today; a day to remember those who died in service to the U.S., in defense of the U.S.   Unfortunately, the U.S. has seen several wars over its 240+ year history. Yet, remembering those who died, for our safety and security, is worthy of showing our appreciation. Remember Those Who Died This day never passes by me without remembering my next door neighbor, Tommy Myers, who died while serving my country, in Vietnam, back in the 1960’s. I was a pre-teen, when I saw the U.S. Army car pull up in front of Mrs. Myer’s house to give her the bad news. Tommy is the only person, who I personally knew, who died while serving his country in the armed services. Yet, there are countless others. Perhaps you know of someone, who deserves to be remembered this day. Please share your memories in the comments section, so that we can all honor his/her service. War is ugly and filled with fraught. Each day might be your last. It takes great...

I love January! Why? Because I love the silence of winter, when everything slows down. We cozy up with a warm blanket, in front of the fire, while reading a good book, amidst the silence. Or, one could take a walk in the freshly fallen snow and hear silence. I find silence to be peaceful and that brings me joy! It is also, in the silence, that we open our ears to hear the whisper of God speaking to our hearts. Silence of Winter The silence of winter provides us with time to reflect on how we are doing, where we are going, and what we want to accomplish. When we assess how we are doing, we can count our blessings. This brings us both gratitude and joy. When we plan our futures, we set a course for ourselves. This fills us with the hope of endless possibilities. And when we crystallize our goals, God graces us with ... Read more...

It takes a special person to walk into danger when everyone else is fleeing to safety. I have great admiration for the courage and bravery of the first responders from 9/11. Their virtue exhibited on that day, and the weeks afterward is a result of possessing Fortitude. You see, Fortitude gives us the capability to face fear, while courage and bravery allow us to act upon our fortitude. Therefore, the fortitude of first responders is something to behold. They are living witnesses of what it means to truly serve for the glory of God. Fortitude of First Responders Inside each of the first responders is a desire to serve others, even at the expense of one’s own life. How could that be, that the first responder would be willing to die, just to save the life of another? It is that way, because the first responder possesses Fortitude! We are all graced with this virtue at Confirmation, but I think that people of this vein are... Read more...

What have you been afraid to tackle in this new year? Is it a tough conversation with a loved one, a conversation you would rather ignore? Or, maybe it’s summoning the courage to get that physical you have been putting off? Perhaps you haven’t been to Confession in a while. As this new year gets underway, now is the time to address those things you conveniently put out of your mind. By embracing Fortitude, you can succeed in addressing those uncomfortable situations. What Can Embracing Fortitude Do? Fortitude strengthens our resolve. It will also help us to achieve our New Year’s resolutions. How so? Well, Fortitude gives us the courage and strength to be brave in moments of fear; to act to overcome obstacles. In addition, Fortitude gives us the strength to resist temptations. Therefore, if you want to accomplish anything, in this new year, you will need... Read more...

This has been a year of ups and downs for me, as I’m sure it has been for you, as well. With the passage of time, (a long time I might add), I finally got my new front top teeth this past year (three implants, and a five-tooth bridge) – ka-ching! Then later in the year, two more crowns! My dentist loves me! Yet, with that money going out the door, God has also blessed me with new business (editing manuscripts for Catholic authors). So, all in all, as 2018 comes to an end, I am counting my blessings. I look forward to new opportunities in 2019, without having a clue what God might have in mind for me. But, I am open to His will. I know that He has plans for me, plans to give me hope and to make me prosper (Jer 29:11). For that, I am grateful for His blessings. Your Blessings What might God have done for you, or given you, in 2018, for which you are grateful?  What new opportunities might you hope would be on your horizon, as we enter 2019? Read more...

In today’s Gospel reading from Matt 5:1-12, we hear Jesus teach about the Beatitudes. I am quite partial to the Beatitudes, as they embody virtue. As you all know, virtue is my “thing.” When we look at each one of the Beatitudes, we see that they are actually God’s gift of grace. That is because, to master the Beatitudes, we must embrace virtue. To embrace virtue, we need God’s grace. The Beatitudes – Jesus’ Way! To be poor in spirit, one must embrace and exemplify   humility If you are one who mourns, you are   compassionate Meekness is obvious. Yet to be   meek , one requires great strength ( fortitude ). If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you embody   justice Merciful is obvious, like meekness. However, to be   merciful,   to the extent necessary, one must be ready to also   forgive ... Read more... 

My dad's name was Leon, but to his friends he was "Lee."  And to his "grandthings" he was "BIGFOOT." Always.  He insisted on that.  (If you were lucky enough to know my father, you know that he was a character.) Dad passed away on November 25, 2016, one day shy of his 82nd birthday and about five months after celebrating his 60th wedding anniversary with the love of his life. Mom and Dad on one of their early dates at the Naval Academy in 1955. The end seemed to come quickly and suddenly, and it took our breath away.  But Dad's death was not really unexpected; just a month and a half before, we had gotten the tragic news that after years of blood disorders, frequent trips to the hematologist, and regular transfusions at the cancer center, he had full-blown leukemia.  Without treatment, he had maybe 3-6 months to live; but there was a slim chance that chemotherapy might buy him a year or two....

Out with the old, in with the new! As we welcome the promise of the New Year, let us not forget all that God provides. Everything God gives us is a gift, right down to every breath we take. Many times when we experience struggle and illness, we want to push the pain away as soon as we can, and forget the incident. Out of sight – out of mind! We certainly do not consider struggle and illness as gifts coming from God! However, that is not necessarily true. Even times of difficulty can be a gift from God. It is at these times that He graces us with opportunity to grow closer to Him. No – He does not give you hardships and illnesses. Let’s make that perfectly clear. But, He is with you always through the struggle and the pain. He graces you with... Read more...

This begins a seven part series on the seven deadly sins. Today, in part 1 of 7, we start with Anger. Do you ever get so angry that your face turns red, your blood pressure rises, and you lose control? When this happens, do you ever stop to think about what really causes you to experience such rage? Anger arises when an evil persists in the face of our resistance or when a good remains beyond our grasp, despite our efforts. 1   Anger is a natural emotion. Even Jesus lost his temper with the money-changers at the Temple. Yet, Jesus’ anger was righteous; used for the purpose of defending His Father’s house. For most of us though, anger arises when we feel unrighteousness crossing our paths. For us then, it is how we deal with it that makes all the difference. We best channel our anger appropriately when we... Read more... 

" If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking ." James 1:5   Where I lack the greatest wisdom without a doubt is in discerning the Will of God. There are several factors that block my clearly hearing God speak in my life - primarily my own voice and will are often drowning out God's voice. A very anxious person by nature - I erroneously believe the more of my life I control; the better my life will be. I seem to have this crazy notion that I know better than the creator of the universe what is needed for me to be happy.   God is not in the happiness business - he is in the holiness business.  Paradoxical however,  the more I order my life to holiness - the truly happier I will be. Not the fading worldly happy but a much deeper, "it can't be taken away from you" joy! His ways are always 'different and higher' (Isaiah 55) from any ideas I may hold onto.   I see tomorrow, and the next d...