Association Of Catholic Bloggers

A man asked Jesus "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" in last Sunday's Gospel reading. That's what Fr. Greg talked about — our Lord's answer is simple, by the way, and can be boiled down to 'be prudent'. There's an election looming in our country, so Fr. Greg also talked about acting as if love matters, and making prudent choices. Then he shared a prayer that I've had in my daily routine for a while. But (more than) enough about me. Here's what Fr. Greg said: Eternal Life Definitions and Choosing Wisely Love, Choices, and Wisdom Prudence Judges, the Constitution, and Freedom A Wedding Cake Artificial Contraception Second Amendment and the Right to Defend Myself Abortion Choice: and Responsibility Bodies and Rights Roe v. Wade, the Constitution, and a Eureka Moment Let Love Choose Wisely Video: Gospel Reading and Homily at St. Paul's, Sauk Centre, MN; October 13, 2024 More at A Catholic Citizen in ...

America has changed since my youth. I've seen fire and brimstone give way to tofu and soy sauce, rotary dial phones replaced by smartphones. Some things, however, haven't changed. Like the value we place on freedom. How my country's self-described best and brightest see freedom, particularly freedom of speech: that's what I'll talk about this week. "We Will Come After You" — He Really Said That RIOTERS RUN RAMPANT AS CHAOS STALKS THE LAND!!! "Complete Nonsense" and a Warning Scary Situations, Fear, and 'Those People' Four Freedoms: a Catholic Viewpoint Freedom of Worship, From Want, and From Fear Free Speech and Being Responsible The Powers That Be and Malcontents, Viewpoints and Fear "Outside Agitators", "We Will Come After You": Same Attitude, Different Eras "With Great Power...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The London police chief warned that illegal online speech ...

I like being an American. There. I've said it. I like living in a country where freedom of speech is part of our heritage. And where freedom of expression extends even to folks whose ideas aren't approved by The Establishment's current iteration. Usually.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (A quick look at America over the last century: good times, droughts, politics; and getting through anyway. Why being a good citizen matters: to me, anyway.)

I'll be talking about today's Pakistan: particularly what it's like being a Pakistani Christian, Hindu or Sikh. Or, for that matter, the 'wrong' sort of Pakistani Muslim. The list of at-risk Pakistanis depends partly on who's talking. A few weeks ago, someone asked me to write about what Pakistani Christians are enduring. Finding more-or-less current news or information on that general topic wasn't nearly as easy as I'd hoped. What I did find told me that what's happening now has very deep roots. More at A Catholic Citizen in America . The story so far, from before the Indus Valley civilization and Vedic period to the East India Company, independence and blasphemy laws.

I'd started writing about soliloquies in Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus...." That reminded me of film noir and the Gunpowder Plot. So today I'll be discussing Christopher Marlowe, but mostly his era: Elizabethan England. Along with European politics and whatever else comes to mind.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I logged in to my Twitter account yesterday. It was the first time in months that I'd been able to log in. I could spin my experience as Twitter, Big Media, the Pixie-Leprechaun Cabal or whoever suppressing The Truth. But I won't. I'm pretty sure it was a technical glitch somewhere. Or maybe operator error. I've noticed that I sometimes read 'sign up' as 'log in.' Particularly late at night.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Many people think that freedom is defined as “doing what I want.” Well, not exactly. Freedom is defined as “the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or do that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.”  1  So, when a person does what he/she wants, without regard for anyone else, that is not freedom. That is selfishness. Freedom comes with responsibility to act in accordance with the common good. Freedom Comes with Responsibility Let’s take this whole “wearing a mask” debate, as an example. Some people choose to wear a mask; others choose not to wear a mask. Those opting not to wear a mask say that it is their right to not do so. That is a true statement. Such an opinion is valid. Those who opt to wear a mask state that they do so for health reasons; to protect themselves and others from the spread of the coronavirus. This, too, is a true statement. Such an opinion is also valid. So, how might “freedom” impact this...

Today, in the United States, we celebrate our independence from Britain. The whole basis for the Revolutionary War was for a desire to be a free and independent nation in the New World. As Americans, we wanted to chart our own course. We wanted the freedom to make our own decisions; our own mistakes. Yet, what we really wanted was authentic freedom, which is different from a freedom that allows us to do whatever we want. Gaudium et spes  defines authentic freedom as follows: Only in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness. Our contemporaries make much of this freedom and pursue it eagerly; and rightly to be sure. Often, however, they foster it perversely as a license for doing whatever pleases them, even if it is evil. For its part, authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within man. For God has willed that man remain ‘under the control of his own decisions,’ so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful per...

Danae's odd view of Papal infallibility isn't accurate. ( July 30, 2017 ) But I'm not upset by Non Sequitur's 'Church of Danae,' particularly since I see the funny side of the cultural quirks Wiley Miller highlights. I do, however, occasionally use Danae's distinctive theology and Eddie's "Biblical Prophecies" as a contrast to my faith. I'm a Christian, and a Catholic. I have well-defined views on social and legal issues: but I am not conservative or liberal. I'm Catholic. That means acting as if Jesus, love, and people matter.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This very famous bible passage, “ you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free “(John 8: 32), is the subject of today’s Gospel reading. What is Jesus trying to say to us? Didn’t He give us free will, which automatically makes us free? Why then, would we need to know the truth to be free? We need to read a few more verses to get the full gist of Jesus’ message. In John 8:34, Jesus states, “ everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin .” When we sin, we give up our freedom and become enslaved to the sin. We diminish our relationship with God. We reject God’s grace. This begs us to ask then, what is freedom and free will? Apparently, it does NOT... Read more...

Have you written a letter to God lately? Fr. Daniel Lord, SJ, will inspire you! Join me at Praying with Grace for some excerpts and inspiration.

This morning's readings — Sirach 3:2 - 6 , 12 - 14 ; Genesis 15:1 - 6 , 21:1 - 3 ; Colossians 3:12 - 21 or Hebrews 11:8 , 11 - 12 , 17 - 19 ; and Luke 2:22 - 40 — have one thing in common: marriage and family. That figures, since this is Holy Family Sunday. Taking a cue from our Lord, Catholics see family as a big deal. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1601 - 1658 , particularly 1655 ; 2210 ) That's not the same as holding up Happy Days or All In the Family as an ideal toward which all must strive. So why is this in one of today's readings? 8 Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord." ( Colossians 3:18 ) More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From NASA/Jim Grossmann, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) (Some of America's new citizens at the Kennedy Space Center. July 1, 2010.) ...The Irish and Other 'Threats' Some of my ancestors were none too pleased when one of those Irishmen came sniffing around their daughter. When asked about her daughter's suitor, one of my foremothers said, "he doesn't have family: he's Irish." ( November 13, 2008 ) I can understand her attitude. Quite a few 'proper' folks were convinced that those Irish were violent, indolent, and chronic drinkers: hardly the sort one would want marrying into the family. The daughter of a decent family and that Irishman got married, anyway. I think we earned our reputation for being garrulous and charming, and that's another topic. When my father's father died, my father received a small inheritance from his maternal grandfather. My father figured that his grandfather didn't want 'that Ir...

I'm Laura Paxton and I am free. I am free to play, to create, to express myself, to explore my world. I am freer to think and to reason and daydream than I ever have before. I read more. I have meaningful work that I enjoy very much. I wake up each day with the joy of purpose before me. Only about five years ago, I existed in a cramped, dark apartment where I had given up on life, agoraphobic, eating mostly chocolate bars for sustenance and playing online scrabble all day long to keep my mind off the pain trapped deep inside. How did I end up there? Let's face it... I'm autistic. I'm bipolar. I've lived on the dangerous edges of life. I've been raped,  survived a near fatal suicide attempt, was almost successfully murdered and lived homeless at times in my teens. Over the course of my life, I've also been taken advantage of, tricked and abused because of my poor judgment, (which was poorer than most people's to begin with, ...