Association Of Catholic Bloggers

The Gospel reading for Palm Sunday is riveting  (Matthew 26:14—27:66); it moves us through a gamut of emotions as we picture crowds adoring Christ as He enters Jerusalem, witness the Last Supper, watch Judas betray his friend, Peter deny his Lord, the trials, the crowds now roaring for Jesus’s death, and the agony of the crucifixion. However, what strikes me this year about the Passion narrative is that everyone eventually ends up serving God, whether they know it or not, whether they act in an ungodly manner or out of weakness. read more

Exactly six years ago, I finally became cognizant of how thin the line between life and death really is when I nearly lost one of my daughters as she struggled to give birth. During labour, she almost bled out when she lost a litre of blood in mere seconds after an emergency C-section, the result of a series of unforeseen complications, a one-in-ten-thousand chance. read more

As a mother of a large family, struggling to wash, dry, and fold three or four loads of laundry every day, I secretly wondered if there was an obscure saint, with little to do, who could fill in as my patron saint of missing socks. Little did I know, God was using the dilemma of unpaired socks to purify me because I was trying too hard to be the perfect mother and housekeeper. read more

I am living in a fantastical delusion when I see myself as the centre of the universe, viewing everything as it circles around me. As believers, we sing and recite prayers that proclaim that God is the centre of all but our psychological make-up screams the exact opposite. I view people, events, history and yes even God through my eyes, judging what is right, trusting my thoughts and my feelings as the final judge of what is real. Most of us live in delusion. Even when we become aware of our narrow world view, it is almost impossible to let go of our deeply rooted assumptions and see reality. Actually, we can only see reality when we live in, with and through God. continue reading

In the middle of what I call mental kung-fu, (picture words battling with each other in my head), I could “hear” a musical version of the  Our Father,  deep in my spirit, at the same time as I indulged in my own whirling thoughts. When I paid attention, the words Jesus taught His disciples rose up, sweeping away all my own thoughts, ushering in joyful worship and thanksgiving. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

In 1521 – O ur Blessed Mother appeared to San Juan Diego on the Hill of Tepeyac, near Mexico City. see more

Pope Francis is like a canary in the coal mine, identifying toxic trends in our society, then, offering hope as he suggests Christian solutions to current issues. The expression, a canary in the coal mine, is a saying which refers to caged canaries miners would bring with them into mine tunnels. These birds were used in Britain,  right up until 1999  as a way to warn miners if gases like carbon monoxide collected in the mine. Noxious gas would kill a tiny canary before miners even knew they were in danger. Now the phrase, a canary in the coal mine,  alludes to someone whose sensitivity delivers early warnings to society. Our popes have often perceived subtle shifts away from gospel values before most of us even notice. continue

Unless I embrace the cross, I cannot embrace the Resurrection. Don’t get stuck on the cross. We draw our strength from the resurrection. My life as a mother helped me learn how to live out my call to live with the resurrected Christ. When life was stripped down to the basics of survival I was forced to turn to God. Suffering was actually the key to learning how to live in joy. My difficult life was miraculous when I relaxed and allowed myself to live in the moment,  continue reading

Some Catholic authors write as if they belong to a Church Beleaguered, not the Church Triumphant.  Articles tend to be either defensive or angry attacks against adversaries.  Many religious writers retreat, focusing only on like-minded souls, writing for a small, mutual admiration society. The rest are tempted to quit when it seems like the world is wearing a spiritual blindfold. In an online conversation with me, Victor S. E. Moubarak articulated the dilemma of Christian writers today: Many Christian are busily writing their blogs daily wondering who is visiting them, or whether their efforts are having any effect on anyone. We all write for different reasons.  Some genuinely want to put some positives out there in a negative and dark internet full of bile and cynicism. Others write for pure vanity. Whilst others wonder whether to bother to continue writing or whether they should just give it up. The latter would be a pity because it would turn off yet another of the little lig

After a few decades of dry spiritual exercises, Catholics either become just like the Pharisees who thought they were holy because they acted and looked holy on the outside or if they are honest with themselves, they become so frustrated they lose hope, believing communion with God is only for ancient saints or a few chosen ones. Most settle for a man-made spirituality when God offers all intimate communion with Him. The truth is a vibrant, joyful relationship with Christ is simply the normal Christian life when we learn how to surrender to God and let go of control. For years, I did not understand the subtle difference between authentic and man-made spirituality.  It is not an easy distinction to make; most of us remain in delusion until a spiritual director can shake some sense into us. For myself, I tried to force God to relate to me on my own terms. Since God refused to be manipulated, the harder I tried to grow closer to Him, the more I hit a wall. The experience often broug

With a Jesuit leaning, An Engaging Faith looks at the discovery of God in our everyday while also engaging the social realities in the world around us. She will be interviewing Melanie, our administrator, on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 4pm and another of our writers, Virginia. Tuesday:  Melanie Jean-Juneau  is a mother of nine children who blogs at  Joy of nine9.  Her writing is humorous and heart-warming; thoughtful and thought-provoking. Part of her call and her witness is to write the truth about children, family, marriage and the sacredness of life. Melanie is the administrator of  ACWB , a columnist at  CatholicLane , CatholicStand ,  Catholic365  ,  CAPC  & author of   Echoes of the Divine . Wednesday:  Virginia Lieto , In 2011, Virginia decided to leave Corporate America and made a commitment to give her life to God. With that commitment, and her faith, she obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Theology from Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. Upon graduation, Virgi

The challenge is to witness to the validity of our Catholic spirituality with a mature love, without stooping to ridicule our Protestant brothers and sisters.   I am proud to proclaim I am a Catholic writer. A saved, born again, Spirit-filled lover of Jesus who expects to be accepted by Protestant lovers of Jesus, because I am a sister in Christ. However, my culture conspires against my attempts at reconciliation, because my language habits sound foreign to Protestant ears.  I am misunderstood and judged to be against the true faith by Bible-based Christians. Initially, I wrote for secular and Protestant sites and felt I had to hide my Catholicism. When I finally wrote about my Catholic faith, I was immediately grilled and interrogated by shocked readers and co-authors. Yet God had His own agenda and through the moderator, forgiveness and unity began. Of course, the site decided to simply ignore my Catholicism and centre on my love of God. When I discovered Catholic sites and w

Allison Gringas is interviewing Catholic mum’s who are bloggers May 4-9 The link to Melanie's podcast is http://realjoy.podbean.com/e/a-seeking-heart-w-allison-gingras-feat-melanie-juneau-joyofnine9/#.VUzmq4B_rdg.facebook A Seeking Heart with Allison Gingras: LIVE!  WEEKDAYS – 10:00 am ET on  RealLifeRadio.com DOWNLOAD THE RADIO APP:  iOs App  or  Android App    Her  Catholic Blogger Week- Mega Giveaway Prepare for a special Seeking Heart week of shows! FIVE days — 5 Catholic Bloggers! AND to Celebrate we are hosting a MEGA GIVEAWAY! Prize #1 from me:  Books, Bracelet and a Squirrel BUDDY! read more

A good self-mortifying exercise for Lent?  Look no further than your local self-publishing site. Actually,   Smashwords    publishing  is  wonderful, explaining every step with diagrams and in ordinary terms  in a  Smashwords Style Guide. . .but I am a technological idiot. After days of fumbling, forcing myself to work as if I was technologically intelligent, I finally self-published a short, free e-book on Smashwords.  The bonus of this ordeal is now, if anyone is stuck while trying to self-publish, just ask me..I made all the mistakes.    continue reading Link to  Echoes of the Divine “Melanie Juneau—motherofnine9—knows that a woman’s ground of creativity lies as close as her child’s heart. In her delightful stories and memories of mothering nine children, she shows how a Christian mother bathed in love brings all the power and light embodied in her faith to that most important sphere of hope, the family. ”— Isabel Anders, author of Blessings and Prayers for Married Couples 

How do we perceive the Divine and communicate with God as beings who possess both physical and spiritual senses? Some ascetics might try to starve their physical senses to sharpen their inner senses, but such a notion seems to me to be contrary to Catholic wisdom and practice. The Catholic Church  repudiates Gnosticism, realizing that believers come to a fuller sense of Christ through the totality of their human person. The first time I walked into a Catholic Church as a child, I was hit by a sense of a Holy Presence.  Overwhelmed by awe, I tip-toed  around this foreign Church. The whole atmosphere seemed exotic, with dim, soft lighting coming through gorgeous stained glass windows and a few votive candles. Incense assaulted my nostrils, countless paintings and statues begged for my visual attention and the holy water   in the font  felt  holy. This encounter was an experience of both sensory and spiritual overload, a profound experience of the Holy.  God touched that little

I  am appalled  by commentators  and writers who quickly denounce Pope Francis, often  misinterpreting or twisting  the meaning of his comments by taking them out of context.  These critics are acting like the ‘ the accuser of our brethren… which accused them before our God day and night’.     [Revelation 12:7-12]    They   seem poised, ready to  pounce on any hint of  his supposed sin against tradition. Pope Francis’ detractors  condemn him as a modernist heretic who is selling out to secular opinion by refusing to stand up for traditional  Roman Catholic Church teachings. The pope’s critics seem determined to over throw this Spirit-filled man of God.  I am truly baffled. What are these self proclaimed champions of religious purity doing? The most important point in this whole issue is that Jesus never commanded his followers to go around pointing out sin, faults, shortcomings or failures of others, never mind tearing down the pope.  The only role that pointing out sin