Association Of Catholic Bloggers

(From Elia Kazan, via Petrusbarbygere/Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Screenshot from a " Panic in the Streets " trailer. ( Elia Kazan , 1950)) Actually, "Amoris Laetitia" means " The Joy of Love ." Pope Francis signed "Amoris Laetitia," about 58,000 words about love in the family, March 19. The apostolic exhortation was released Friday. So far, I've heard an imaginative summary on radio news, read a few dramatic headlines, and one or two online remarks about it that make sense. The latter generally boil down to 'I haven't studied it yet, so I don't know what it says.' That's pretty much where I'm at, but that won't stop me from talking — briefly, for me — about what I have read. So far, I've finished the introduction, glanced at the index, and am working my way through the first chapter.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

In the Compass Catholic small group bible study: Navigating Your Finances God's Ways -- week 5 examines the 4 elements of giving: attitudes advantages amount approach   Attitudes My discovery here was si mple and was  eluded to in the last week's post .  I have no trouble giving money. I think it is a wonderful gift to be able to share with others.  I do need to be weary of my motives - the whole don't let your left hand see what your right hand is doing.  My trouble honestly is not in my generosity with treasure but with time and talent.  Although, I have also learned that my monetary generosity needs to be budgeted and that 'giving from your poverty' does not mean  going into credit card debt .  My attitude needs some tweaking as I consider how I will share my time. I am very stingy with my time.  Perhaps this is best explained by sharing that I am an extrovert with introverted tendencies; meaning I love being with people and I especially love sh

(From John Martin, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) I care about God's mercy because I'm a sinner, which doesn't mean what you may think. First, a quick review of what I don't believe is true. ( March 15, 2015 ) I'm not "some loathsome insect," and neither are you: " ...every unconverted Man properly belongs to Hell.... " " ...The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you.... " " ...you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God.... " (" Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ," pp. 6, 9, 15, 18; Jonathan Edwards (July 8, 1741) (via Digital Commons@University of Nebraska-Lincoln)) Samuel Clemens apparently had a well-defined attitude regarding "converted" folks, and I can't say that I blame him.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

There have been only three to six major events so far, depending on how you count them: the creation of this universe; humanity's creation and fall; and our Lord's arrival, execution, and resurrection. There's another big one coming, eventually, and I'll get back to that. Cosmic Scale I'm a Catholic, so I take Sacred Scripture very seriously, 1 including this: " God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed - the sixth day. " ( Genesis 1:31 ) We've known that God's creation was big and old, and been impressed, for a long time: " 1 Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. " ( Deuteronomy 10:14 ) " The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft. " ( Psalms 19:2 ) " 3 Raise your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; Though the hea

Despite this post's title, I won't be indulging in a guilt trip , or bewailing the decline and fall of practically everybody. 1 An incident earlier this month could have been much worse: like the Judenschlacht of 1241 or Hep-Hep riots in 1819. What happened was bad enough, though.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Holy Week is here ... Lent 2016 will soon be done But am I any different than when it all began 40 plus days ago? Did my Lenten sacrifices - prayers, almsgiving and fasting - transform me? Did they prepare me for the coming Triduum s(Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) services? Most importantly have the readied my heart to rise again with Jesus on Easter -- a new creation in Christ ? Lent and the expectation of the coming of Spring, maybe because I live in a seasonal location, have always co-existed in my heart. Lent starts often in the harshness of winter - cold, long, dark nights. Easter arrives after daylight savings and (usually) the last snow fall. Flowers and trees are budding, maybe even flowering, and there is an emerging from the cocoon like feel to the world. But have I changed? Has this time of no television, extra prayer and attention to participating in the Sacraments, awoken something in my heart.   What will my spiritual practices look like goi

Tiberius was Rome's absentee emperor around the time the Han Dynasty was getting back to business-as-usual, after Wang Mang 's brief takeover. I mentioned him before: Wang Mang, I mean. ( December 27, 2015 ) Meanwhile, Phaedrus was retelling Aesop's Fables in Latin, and Pontius Pīlātus was prefect of the Roman Province of Judea . That part of the world had been under Roman control since the Battle of Philippi , Armenia wasn't a Roman province yet, but it wasn't the force it had been during Tigranes ' reign, and that's another topic. Tigranes, Tiberius, and Wang Mang, were well-known folks in their day; 1 at least in their homelands. Two millennia later, not so much. Pontius Pīlātus is another matter. He's mentioned each year around this time, when something like 2,000,000,000 folks pay at least fleeting attention to a Nazarene's progress from top-of-the-polls celebrity to executed corpse. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Rembrandt, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Jesus and the Adulteress, Rembrandt .) I figure you know what happens in John 8:1 - 11 . The scribes and Pharisees haul one of two folks who were committing adultery to the temple, tell Jesus what she'd done, and remind our Lord that it's a capital crime under their law.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From USCCB, used w/o permission.) Depending on whether or not folks are going through RCIA, we could be hearing either Exodus 3:1 - 8a , 13 - 15 ; 1 Corinthians 10:1 - 6 , 10 - 12 ; and Luke 13:1 - 9 — or Exodus 17:3 - 7 ; Romans 5:1 - 2 , 5 - 8 ; and John 4:5 - 42 during Mass today.... ...Today's RCIA goes back to 1972, "as part of the liturgical renewal mandated by Vatican II." 1 Before that we'd been using a Rite of Baptism introduced in 1614: which was just baptism. I suppose some folks are upset that we changed something that'd been around since the year Pocahontas married John Rolfe and the Siege of Osaka began. Tokugawa Ieyasu became the next shogun, and yes: there are worse things than American presidential elections. My opinion. By the way — if this post seems a bit more scattershot than usual, you're quite right.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The last time I shared what I 'gave up' for Lent, I was severely chastised.  The person was horrified that I would seek glory for my Lenten sacrifice instead of doing it in secret where only God and I would know.  This made me sad - as it was not at all my intent.  Sharing our Lenten sacrifices, our fasts, instead allow us to do several things: Encouragement for each other .  Fasting is hard work - and we can get discouraged.  It is good to know how others are celebrating this season - it is not so much misery loves company but for me anyway.  I think more of the scripture that states a chord of 3 is not easily broken.  Accountability .  This is probably my greatest catalyst for blogging about and sharing with others my Lenten fasts.  If it is just between God and I, while that should surely be enough to keep me on track, often it is not.  I need those extra eyes on my behavior - to be sure I'm not sneaking TV apart from Sundays, or spending money (if you read Mond

As usual .. I don't offer your typical review: IT is a small book.  I like small books. Get to the point and do it in the shortest amount of time - life is busy.  Check! Build the idea of your book on the words of Pope Francis.  I like Pope Francis. Talk about getting to the point! I was on Copacabana Beach at World Youth Day, 2013, when Papa Francisco said, "Go!...the experience of this encounter must not remain locked up in your life or in the small group of your parish, your movement, or your community.  I want a mess. I want people to go out!"  Check! Remind people they have been commissioned by their Baptism to share the good news, to be heralds of the Gospel - that it is not just for their benefit.  In fact, if we are not willing to take bold risks -to be MESSY & FOOLISH, For much much more... read here ! All rights reserved, Allison Gingras 2016

I take the Bible, Sacred Scripture, very seriously. As a Catholic I have to, and I'll get back to that. I also pay attention to what some of the best minds of the last few thousand years thought about this sort of thing: " 12 I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, " those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, " those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away. " ( 1 Corinthians 7:29 - 31 ) - - - which is why I still think my youthful decision to stay out of the rat race was right. ( December 13, 2015 ; May 3, 2015 ) I don't, however, take what folks like Harold Camping say seriously. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Wereldburger758, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) Lent is a time for me to improve myself, right? That will be a by-product of what I do, but — no. Lent isn't about me. It's like the rest of the annual cycle of Advent, Lent Easter: we're reviewing and, in a sense, re-living what our Lord did, two millennia back now. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1095 ) Lent is when we join Jesus in the desert. Sort of. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brian May, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Ash Wednesday celebration aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp .) Ash Wednesday comes this week, so I'll get ashes on my forehead and start doing my Lenten routines — along with folks around the world. That won't include the usual fasting: I'm past the 18-to-59 age requirement for Catholics in my region, and diabetic to boot . We're called to holiness, not stupidity; common sense applies, or should; and I'm putting a 'resources' link list at the end of this post. 1 More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Last week I talked about why I don't try to be someone I'm not: more specifically, why I don't insist that God equip me with what's trending in charisms. Also spirit-filled administrators and loose cannons . ( January 24, 2016 ) That Sunday's second Scripture reading got me started: 1 Corinthians 12:12 - 30 . Today's second reading, 1 Corinthians 12:31 - 13:13 , picks up on the next verse: " Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.... " ( 1 Corinthians 12:31 ) I could stop there, and claim that everybody should start clamoring for "the greatest spiritual gifts." I've talked about cherry picking before. It's a bad idea.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, saw a connection between power and responsibility: " The possession of great power necessarily implies great responsibility. " (" The Parliamentary Debates From The Year 1803 To The Present Time ," Vol. 36. (1817)) Quite a few other folks have said pretty much the same thing, including a now-famous comic book writer: " With great power there must also come — great responsibility! " ( Stan Lee , in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) (the first Spider-Man story)) It's hardly a new idea: " ...Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more. " ( Luke 12:48 ) - - - and that gets me to today's second Scripture reading, 1 Corinthians 12:12 - 30 ; the gist of which is in the shorter option.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I'm in the lower half of America's economic ladder, but I've never been homeless. That's just as well, since I've spent the bulk of my life in Minnesota and North Dakota. Winters get cold up here. I am, however, a recovering English teacher; and I like to verify my assumptions about what words mean. Here's part of my country's definition of "homeless." There will not be a test on this.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From CTV, used w/o permission.) (Holy Mass for the Opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. (December 8, 2015)) There are reasons for my writing about science or technology most Fridays, and not declaring that you must worship exactly as the Apostles did: in 1962 . Briefly: I'm interested in science and technology, I know a little of what's happened over the last two millennia, and I'm a Catholic. I'm not a traditional, vegetarian, gummy bear, or whatever, Catholic; just a Catholic. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(Our Lady of Angels, Sauk Centre, Minnesota, Saturday afternoon. (January 2, 2015)) Statues of Caspar , Melchior , and Balthazar started out across from the nativity scene in our parish church. They were lurking by the poinsettias during Friday's Mass — the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God — and no, Catholics do not worship Mary. We're not supposed to, anyway. 1 Getting back to the statues, they were in place at the nativity scene when I stopped by with a camera Saturday afternoon. Two look like they're kneeling to the Baby Jesus, the third is bowing slightly. But Friday they were in front of the altar, by the poinsettias you see in that top photo. Two of them seemed to be crouching behind poinsettia leaves; with the third several paces back, leaning out from behind a plant. It looked like they might be getting ready to yell "surprise!"... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Silar, Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Nativity scene at the Christ the King Church in Sanok , Poland, 2010.) Shepherding is a comparatively new occupation, compared to hunting and knapping . The earliest evidence we've found so far puts the first shepherds north of Sargon 's Akkadian Empire , where the Hittite Kingdom was, a dozen or so centuries later. I've mentioned them before. ( August 21, 2015 ; October 16, 2015 ) That was about the time someone carved a bit of siltstone into the Narmer Palette , and folks started building Stonehenge ; and that's another topic. Around the time Emperor Ping died, leaving Wang Mang in charge — he was either a great reformer or conniving scoundrel, depending on who you read, and that's yet another topic — the Roman Emperor ordered an empire-wide census. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .