Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Do you place God first in your life? Today’s Gospel reading from Luke addresses this very question. In this Gospel reading we hear Jesus speaking with His disciples on the very topic of discipleship and what it takes to follow the Master. We learn what needs to be done to prepare ourselves to enter Heaven. In this Gospel reading Jesus asks two questions that need some interpretation: Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there enough for its completion?  (Luke 14:28) Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing with twenty thousand troops?  (Luke 14:31) Are You Prepared to Enter Heaven? You are a Disciple of Jesus, but are you prepared to enter Heaven? We interpret the questions from today’s Gospel by asking ourselves some additional questions. Like the person building the tower, or the king ready...

GO TO HEAVEN GO DIRECTLY TO HEAVEN DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT ... CLICK HERE AND FIND OUT

We in the flesh are hindered in such a way that with our senses we cannot perceive eternity.   The God who took flesh in the form of Jesus in order to be like us in all things chose to forgo some knowledge in agreement that such temporarily 'forgetting' was part of the perfection of the plan of God.  As God shielded Moses when God passed by, Moses was denied a knowledge of God because his flesh could not look upon the face of God and live.  So to Jesus while incarnate in the flesh would suffer a 'shielding', or a lack of knowledge of some things that He would have had access to prior to the incarnation and would again gain access at the exact moment of His last heart beat.  This 'forgetting' of certain things for a time was part of God's participation in our humanity and the perfection of His passion on the Cross.  The God who knows all could by His own will decide to forgo knowledge in order that an infinite benefit could be given to us by His Passion....

Heaven How often do you think about it? Do you ever wonder what it is going to be like? Mansions in the sky? A feast to top all feasts? Whatever your concept of Heaven might be, there is something that you need to be working on right now if you ever want to see it: developing the virtue of Piety, in the here and now. Piety is both a gift from the Holy Spirit and a virtue. To be pious, or in other words, to possess piety, means that you are holy, or saintly, in your thoughts words and deeds. Do you think of others’ needs and address them before your own? Do you speak well of others, and of God, or... Read more...

WHAT DOES HEAVEN LOOK LIKE? PEOPLE PLAYING THE HARP ALL DAY? A MANSION WITH MANY ROOMS? IS THAT ST PETER WELCOMING AT THE DOOR? CLICK HERE

What victory is this, that all suffering that we suffer now will pass away, and every tear, every pain along with every joy, and shout of praise will bring to fruition the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. I have seen the victory, and it is wondrous. In a moment at God's will I was shown the end.... TO READ MORE..CLICK HERE!

St. Michael the Archangel and the Souls in Purgatory   The trap of Purgatory is too many souls rely on Purgatory as the destination of their soul after death, and slap God in the face by not trusting in His mercy, and do not seek Heaven.  They use Purgatory as their "backup plan" and as a result lead lukewarm lives, saying to themselves that in an exchange for just doing the "minimum" faith requirement, thinking that when they die they will just have to spend a few years in Purgatory and then eventually end up in Heaven. Whether we spend time in Purgatory is at  God's  discretion, not ours.   The greatest misuse of Purgatory is that many Catholics do not fear God because of Purgatory. Those that hang their hopes on Purgatory are already among the lukewarm and possibly among those heading to the second death. Jesus will spit those out of His mouth that have failed to make every effort to follow Jesus and heaven, NOT Purgatory. To READ MORE: CLICK HERE! ...

Today's Gospel reading, John 3:14 - 21 , includes one of my favorite bits from the Bible.... ...My main job, just like everyone else, is loving and serving God. Whether or not I do that job is up to me, every moment. Humans are rational creatures, able to decide what we do: or don't do.... ...Some folks, understandably, don't particularly like being told "you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God" if you don't agree with some enthusiastic disciple of Edwards. I think, and hope, that Edwards meant well.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Consecration: (The Battle Begins)  "This is my body..." This is when I am usually attacked.  When I know the consecration is near, I prepare myself, steel myself, get ready.   I do not know exactly why this is when I am attacked, but I think it is because I know what is coming and how to effectively utilize the gift God has given us in the Holy Mass for others.  The Catholic at the Holy Mass is for the  other .  We should rarely be there for ourselves, but we should be there for the rest of the world that is  NOT  there.    The demons do not want you to fully understand what is really happening in the Holy Mass, and will do everything in their power to distract you from the work that God is doing on the Earth.  To read more... CLICK HERE!

The other day, a friend of mine at OLPH came up to me and said, "I just wanted to say that at Mass, you just light up!  You glow. It makes my heart leap to see you.  I don't know if you know, but I wanted to tell you."   My first thought was, I don't want her looking at me!  I in no way want to be a distraction from what is REALLY happening at Holy Mass.   Do I know? Yes, in a way I do.   After Holy Mass, I prayed and sought an answer of the Lord.   I know how important the Holy Mass is for not just those in attendance but for the whole world, and I in no way want to be a stumbling block from those coming to this gift from God.   "Lord, I don't want to be a distraction, I don't want people looking at me.  What do you want me to do, I can go somewhere else to Mass, (then I thought, it's going to happen their too!) or I can sit in the back or I can cover my face."  At that last suggestion I could feel that Lord did not want that...at all...

A man that takes the role of a Deacon is by faith shows himself by his submission, sacrifice and love to be extolling a purification of manhood.    Donning vestments, whether Priest or Deacon is the ultimate witness of manliness.  It is no coincidence that the first Christian Martyr was a Deacon.  By God’s grace, through a Deacon, God let open the heavens to let St. Stephen see the rewards of all those who die for the faith.  The grace of martyrdom is a joy of the will of God being fulfilled, for if we love God, we love Him and  those He loves to our last breath and our last drop of blood.   Those that are chosen for this gift are very few, and it is only by the love in their heart for others that they are chosen.  The martyr is prepared for death by the knowledge that their blood feeds the Church, and by the shedding of their blood, within God's will, they are given the greatest gift while still in the flesh; .... TO READ ...

It makes perfect sense to call the thirteen words every Catholic must know a “Baker’s dozen.”  Christ, after all, used such references as “yeast” and “leavening,” in his parables. So, with yeast as the foundation of baking, these thirteen words, when part of the Catholic’s every day journey, will grow and expand into a vibrant and exciting understanding of faith. Redemptive Suffering What do you want to hear first: the good news or the bad news? The good news is that Jesus suffered and died for us. He bore our wounds, his stripes healed us. The bad news is that this does not eliminate suffering in the world. Enter the often misunderstood teaching of “redemptive suffering.” This isn’t to say that what Christ suffered was insufficient or lacking; rather, redemptive suffering is the ability to be a co-worker of Christ’s. It is the anointed opportunity to join your own difficulties and afflictions with Christ’s for the sake of others. It is the beautiful ...

There isn’t anyone among us who hasn’t enjoyed a Christmas movie wherein an angel earns his or her wings. We love to hear the bell jingle because at that moment we know that heaven’s angel population has increased by one. Wrong. As much as those movies endear themselves to us, the fact is, the angel population neither increases nor decreases over time. But it does make those of us interested in angels sit up and take notice—and want to learn more about these heavenly creatures. What are they? Who are they? Why are they? Angels are spirits created by God (Colossians 1:16, Hebrews 1:14). They are the invisible created things that have a hierarchy. These invisible created things are spirits meant to serve those who are to inherit salvation—fallen man who now freely chooses Christ. This establishes our relationship with angels in that they are to help us in ways that we may not fully know or understand; however, we shouldn’t be trying to discover how to boss them ...

I know you're there, waiting for me.  So, how's heaven, really?  Are the angels always flying around or do they stop and talk with you?  Do they walk with you?  Do you have a home where you live, or do you travel all over heaven walking with the angels or Our Loving Lord?     I have a friend you've never met, and she's quickly nearing the day when she will fall into  the open arms of God.  She and I have decided that we will meet at the river that flows through heaven when we both cross over.  How big is that river?  Will I be able to see her across the river?  Do you ever walk the banks of that river?  Are the waters really living?     Is there food in heaven?  I know the Heavenly Food, the Eucharist, will always be enthroned there, but do you gather for meals or prayer times?  Are there parties and celebrations?  What do you say when you see each other in heaven?  Do you h...

October begins with the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux, patron saint of the missions. The same month ends with Halloween, or the Vigil of All Saints’ Day, soon followed by All Souls’ Day (Nov 2). On the surface, these three feast days may seem to have nothing in common, since mission may seem unrelated to death, but a closer look shows that both mission and death have a common denominator:  Heaven . Mission, or “gospel”, is bringing good news to kind ears, good news of  Heaven . Saints, too, are only saints because there is a  Heaven.  And since Halloween is the vigil of All Saints’ Day (and not to Christians a feast of the occult) Halloween celebrates Heaven.   Continue reading...

One day a new demon was asking questions of his demonic mentor, the elder demon assigned to show him the ropes so to speak.  "Why does the illustrious evil one hate humans so?"  asked the new demon. "You don't know?"   TO HEAR THE REST OF THE CONVERSATION...CLICK HERE!

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2014: Isaiah 25:6 - 10a Philippians 4:12 - 14 , 19 - 20 Matthew 22:1 - 14 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2014 By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas October 12, 2014 This is a story of an older couple to be married. Both had lost their spouses to death and had grown children. The combined children sent out this wedding invitation to their friends on behalf of their mother and father, Philip, Richard, Karen and Allison, John, Matt and Steve, we request your presence at the marriage of our mother and father. Because they are combining two households, they already have at least two of everything, so please! no presents! Reception and garage sale immediately following the ceremony.... (A guest post) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I have always considered myself blessed with ten pregnancies  which resulted in nine healthy babies and only one miscarriage. I thought that I knew how to handle a miscarriage, emotionally and spiritually. I thought I had done everything right by this little one who died before birth. I was mistaken. Twenty-five years ago I was in a panic when I discovered that I was pregnant with my seventh.  I had just reconciled with God and embraced this baby when I started to spot. An ultrasound revealed that although I was 12 weeks pregnant, my womb was only at 9 weeks in size and was empty. Apparently the body reabsorbs a fetus in spontaneous, natural ‘abortions’. This news shook me. I felt a sense of betrayal because I had experienced real, spiritual joy when I finally accepted that I was expecting again. My womb was empty, yet  I KNEW, we had created a soul. I had learned that it is important to name a miscarried baby. During prayer, we sensed that this baby was ...

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.

Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins Today’s post is a throwback to last year’s series Finding God in Children’s Literature. J. R. R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is not children’s literature, per se, but is suitable for reading aloud with the entire family. I’ve been thinking about a passage from The Fellowship of the Ring lately, and Sunday’s reading on Abraham fits perfectly with it. If your mind wanders to books during Mass, let it be to great literature that can teach you lessons about the spiritual life! (Yes, I admit I was thinking about Frodo at Church.) Traveling to an unknown land “The LORD said to Abram: ‘Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you’” (Genesis 12:1).  To fully understand the import of this verse, we must look to the New Testament. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he...