Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I have the book Have a New You by Friday by Dr. Kevin Lehman, but I haven't read it. It's on my very long TO DO list, although by the title, it sounds like it should be at the top of that list. Imagine, a new me by Friday...    ...cue the wavy, dreamy scene change as I am transformed into A New Me by Friday... I'd always find my keys and cell phone but lose the extra 20 pounds I've been carrying around the last few years... I'd be thin and in shape and curvy but only where I want to be curvy...  My hair would finally tame itself and listen when I tell it to relax and straighten out... The line between my brows would be gone, my upper lip wouldn't disappear when I smile, and my lashes would be long and lush... I'd be smiling and happy, filled with Joy every day, in every moment no matter what was happening - or how crazy those boys drove me to be some days... continue

MARRIAGE DIVORCE ANNULMENT YOUR VIEWS?

Preparations are heating up for this October's Extraordinary Synod on the Family, scheduled to take place in Rome. What will Pope Francis do? What can he do?   M y debut post on the popular Catholic news website Aleteia  answers some of these questions. *********************************************************************************** The recently released  working document for this October's Extraordinary Synod on the Family  presents a remarkably candid  view  of the troubles besetting Catholic marriages and families today. Young people are frequently afraid to commit, marriage preparation is often seen as a useless obligation, there is wide ignorance of Church teaching, few understand that using contraception is sinful, and many parents show limited interest in the religious education of their children. There are bright spots. In contrast to the wide-spread confusion over contraception, most Catholics realize that abortion is a serious sin. The faithful also expr

The Internet is abuzz with a duel of sorts between Patheos blogger  Simcha Fisher  and young, engaged-to-be-married Emma Smith, who wrote on  Catholic Exchange  that she knows for a fact that she and her husband will never have to face the issue of infidelity. "God is faithful, but we're not marrying God," proclaimed Fisher. "What do we know about human beings? They sin. They sin, and they sin, and they sin. Sometimes they enter into a valid marriage and then they cheat. Sometimes they understand fully what they are supposed to do, and they just don’t feel like doing it," she explained. I'm inclined to agree with Fisher. Because the issue in Catholic marriage is not whether anything will go wrong, but how will you handle it when it does. Read more  here ...

On December 2, 2012, I started the Can We Cana? blog on a wing and a prayer, hoping to provide support for Catholic marriages and families. Thanks to you wonderful readers, the blog reached its  1000th pageview  in less than two months. By today, its one-year anniversary, the blog has attracted more than 30,000 pageviews from readers in all 50 states and in countries around the globe. Blogpost topics have included everything from sexuality and the Theology of the Body to staying married through sickness and health, unexpected pregnancies, first-year disillusionment, and the pressures of raising a big family. There are parenting tips, household tips, and reviews of awesome Catholic family resources. I've even included discussions of difficult issues like marital abandonment, abortion, annulment, virginity, and rape. Thanks to the support of some amazing on-line friends I've made, Can We Cana? posts have also appeared on CatholicMom.com, CatholicLane.com, AmazingCatechists.co

As preparations heat up for Pope Francis'  2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family , it's a good time to revisit some ideas for fixing what's broken about the marriage preparation and annulment process in the United States. Catholic author John Zmirak recently asserted that we could  fix Catholic marriage in five easy steps . But can we? Although thought-provoking, Zmirak's proposals underscore the need for more thorough education about the annulments process among Catholics today, say some canonists. Let's take a look at Zmirak's five proposals and see what might work, what might not work, and what's already being done. Read more here...