Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Candlemas, a nearly forgotten holiday which happens 40 days after Christmas, began this morning when our sons took the Christmas tree out to the curb and put the tree stand in the basement.  Later, I had two girlfriends over and we made beeswax candles. None of us had made candles from scratch before, so we all learned together. I had bought the beeswax pellets this fall to dip autumn leaves and I had a whole lot left over.  Keep on Reading...

Advent is its own season; a time to prepare for Christmas day. This year, I realized I need to prepare for the preparation; otherwise it is far too easy to let the season pass in a blur of Christmas shopping and Christmas baking and Christmas decorating. I want to give this season four weeks all its own for our family and for our home. What about you? What plans do you have to mark this holy season of waiting? read  more here...

Hurricane Sandy, the late-season storm that already has taken 43 souls in the Caribbean, is heading here to the East Coast of the United States. The radio stations are full of advice and warnings about what some forecasters are calling "Frankenstorm," because the cyclone is expected to meet a winter storm sometime close to Halloween.  I don't know if what happen in New Jersey, though I feel certain we will lose power for several hours, if not days. That happens a lot in our old town with its ancient trees that tend to fall right on power lines. Our power grid is pretty fragile. My next-door neighbor is putting gas in his  generator. Keep Reading...

In Motherhood Matters , Canadian author Dorothy Pilarski writes with profundity and wit about matters practical and divine. Full of anecdotes and humor, this book makes us take an honest look at the lives of women today, and helps us to focus on what matters most. Has "liberation" truly led to greater happiness for women? Are children to be viewed as commodities, to be acquired just as we acquire a house or car? Or should children be seen as the gifts from God that they are, given to our stewardship? Dorothy makes it clear that until we rectify our confusion about such basic questions then peace of heart will elude us. To quote: We will find happiness in living out God's purpose for our lives, not our own. The culture of the early twenty-first century makes it easy to follow mistaken paths. The media bombards us with the temptation to fulfill ourselves, to find ourselves, to meet our own needs. It is a message of selfishness. And it is spread constantly. M...

Women have a gift for hospitality. We have a knack for making our homes welcoming; we pay attention to the little details that make for comfort. We are interested in people, and our instinct is to care for them. An illustration of the last point can be found in the gospel of Luke, "Jesus entered the house of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with Him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them." (Lk. 4: 38,39) She was a Jewish mama. There were people in her home and they needed feeding, of course she got up immediately! In Matthew 25, the parable of the talents reminds us that God does not like stinginess. He does not want us to hoard what we have in the hope that at the end of all things He Who Has Most, Wins. In fact, the opposite it true: it is when we give away what we have been given, that we receive more. How can we give away our talent of h...

Our 14-year-old son returned from a vacation with the youth group of Communion and Liberation this week, eager to buy a copy of the latest translation of Giacomo Leopardi's "Canti" as well as a good translation of Fyodor Doystoevsky's "Crime and Punishment." His emerging interest in fine literature is yet another reason my husband and I are so grateful for CL, a lay ecclesiastical movement within the Catholic Church. Our son is learning that faith is a living entity and that the beauty expressed by poets, and musicians is one way we can gaze upon the Infinite. My conversation with him also is a reminder we parents have an obligation to continue to nurture our children's souls as they navigate adolescence. Here is what Leopardi, a poet, essayist and philosopher of the early 19th century, has to say about the Infinite: Read more here...

If you have time, please pop on over to my kitchen, on my  Life on the Home Front blog :) I haven't had much time to update it lately, and my readership has gone down, but today I posted some tempting pictures of Cakes and Tea  which I'd love to share with you. I also have a series of posts on Proverbs 31  and Saint Zita . I shall attempt to blog there more regularly from now on... Here's a sneak preview to entice you...