Association Of Catholic Bloggers

When faced with difficult moral choices, where there seems to be only sinful options, prayer and discernment will see you through. Take for example, a relative dying from cancer. Everything that could be done to save this relative’s life has been done. Death is immanent. A decision needs to be made as to whether to give a heavy dose of morphine to the relative. If you allow the doctor to give the morphine to your dying relative, death will surely hasten. If you do not allow the doctor to give the morphine to your relative, death will eventually come, but the patient will die in excruciating pain. What do you do? Making Difficult Moral Choices We can apply the Principle of Double Effect to the decision-making process. If you can answer yes to all four of the following questions, then the Principle of Double Effect applies, and the resulting decision does not create a sin. Let us use the example above to explore this concept: Question #1:... Read more...

When you need to make a big decision, do you take time for discernment? Do you gather all the facts and weigh your options? It is important to make the time to discern the appropriate course of action when facing life-altering decisions. As a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) Coordinator, I see all too often, those wishing to become Catholic wanting to rush through the process. I get questions like, “What’s the big deal?” “Why do I have to wait?” Using RCIA as an example, let me explain why it is important to gather all the facts and weigh all options. My example could apply to anything occurring in your life as well. Take Time for Discernment A desire to embrace faith, when there has been none in your life, to date, is a big deal! Therefore, it is one, big, life-altering decision. When you embrace the Christian faith, you make a commitment to living a Christ-like life. Now, that can seem like a tall order to one who has been raised with no, or little, faith. First...

(Excerpt is reprinted with permission from  All Things Guy: A Guide to Becoming a Man that Matters) Have you ever been in a religion class or in Church and Father asks you to think about a vocation? Do you get the feeling you want to crawl in a hole and disappear, fearing he will ask you to become a priest? A vocation is a call from God. It’s not merely a career choice. Everyone, everyone, everyone has a calling from God! The word vocation refers to three different things:     1.         Vocation comes with baptism. It’s a call to know, love and serve God in your life. 2.       Vocation also means, “state in life,” such as priesthood, religious life, marriage or single life. 3.       Vocation also means a personal relationship you have with Jesus. It’s you, yourself, trying to know, love, and serve God. read more here

Dear Friend, You are pregnant. Married just over a year and working steadily at your career, you were hoping to wait a while longer before this day arrived. But here it is. You wish this pregnancy felt more like a deliberate choice rather than a shock. But let me propose something, something you already know, which is worth considering now in a new way: with this pregnancy, God is visiting you. You might quickly object--and rightly so--that God was  already  a frequent visitor in your newlywed home; there was no rush for God to send a baby at this particular moment. In truth, God has been your constant companion, accompanying you in your first year of marriage, in your engagement, in your courtship, in your college years, in high school, in your childhood . . . in your own mother's womb. Read more at Praying with Grace .

As Catholics, we make a lot of Mary’s fiat. Her “yes” to God. And rightfully so: we get how that “yes” gave us a chance at salvation. Unfortunately, in seeking to imitate Mary, we have almost crushed ourselves with consequences of a life filled with our own “yes” responses and have, ultimately, been saying “no” to God without often realizing it. Somehow we have translated Mary’s “yes” to mean that we ought to say “yes” to everything that comes our way—to every idea that pops into our head and to every opportunity to do something good; we’ve mistakenly believed that our lives are meant to be filled with fiats when, in truth, these fiats have often taken us away from God. They have filled our lives with obligations and busy-ness that may not actually be God’s will for us. I’m at the age where all my friends and acquaintances are caregivers of one sort or another. They are grandparents doing everything they can to help pick up the slack and they are volunteers at a variet...

The rich man asked Jesus what was necessary to enjoy eternal life. Apparently the man had been a devout follower of the laws but still questioned what that final“piece” needed to be for his own salvation. I think it is interesting that the guy knew, in his heart, that more was still being asked of him. Unfortunately, the answer saddened the man, for Christ told him that he had to sell all his possessions—and the guy had a lot of stuff! We don’t know, based upon the reading of the text, if the man did or did not do as Christ instructed. We read that he walked away sad but that doesn’t necessarily translate into disobedience. I am often sad when I have to “do the right thing” but it doesn’t stop me from doing it. So let’s give this rich guy the benefit of the doubt and say that he forlornly sold his possessions but then followed Christ. We know, of course, that his sadness would have been fleeting, right? After all, he was now in a position to enjoy eternal rewards with Jesus. ...

“So basically you are a ‘vanity press,’” was the question posed to me that really sounded more like a statement of fact—and an unattractive one at that. “Well, we offer a variety of publishing services and some of those services are that authors do, indeed, pay to have their books published with us,” were the words I said that didn’t even begin to cover the true response. What I’ve come to see over these past six years working with different authors is that there isn’t a vain one among them. In fact, what I’ve come to know and be blessed by are the men and women who have made the conscious choice to answer the call the Holy Spirit has put upon their hearts to bring a work of fiction or non-fiction to fruition. These are men and women who have taken the “new springtime of evangelization” to heart and have responded. They aren’t in positions of power where their names can open doors; rather, they are the simplest and most humble of people who have prayed and discerned to know God’s c...

In ‘A Landscape with dragons’, Michael O’Brien writes about children knowing whether something (or someone) is good or bad. Their little souls are still sensitive, whereas we adults have taught ourselves to disregard that awareness. Perhaps the world or our busyness drowns out the voice of our guardian angel who is prompting us to steer clear of a certain person, to turn off a particular movie, or to not try to drive home in a heavy snow storm. O`Brien advises parents to not scoff when children talk about monsters under the bed, because doing so teaches them to distrust their own discernment. Good discernment is so important in living a Godly life. Just as our conscience must be formed, our morality developed, our code of ethics established, so our ability to discern needs to grow in strength and maturity. That discernment is a gift we all have, men and women both. There is a lot of emphasis on `women`s intuition` but men have it, too. The inherent differences between me...