Association Of Catholic Bloggers

The kick-off to this great new series  How to Stay Married 10 Years & Then Some  is written by yours truly, me and my husband Manny. Here are our prime bits of advice gathered over the years, and a few of our most cherished stories. 1. How many years have you been married and how many kids do you have? Manny & Karee:  We've been married 14 years and have 6 kids: Lelia, age 13; Miguel, age 11; Maria, age 9; Marguerite, age 7; Cecilia, age 5; and Elisa-Maria, age 3. Yes, we know that's a lot of girls. 2. Name 3 things that have helped you to stay married this long. Manny:  “Not staying married” was never really an option in my mind. So I would say that the first thing that has helped me stay married is a proper understanding of what marriage is -- a promise of forever. The second thing that has helped me stay married is that I meant what I said on my wedding day. The wedding vows I spoke were not flowery or cute, but rather simple and direct. They were

What happens to the seeds that fall to you? Matthew 13: 3-8 After my husband left, I spent hours, or was it days, weeks, or even months, wondering what had happened to his faith. Despite going through 12 years of Catholic school, his faith in God was weak. He'd claimed I brought him to faith and then ruined faith for him, but as I look back over the years at red flags I should have taken more notice of and at my own weaknesses, my own feeble faith, I wonder about the seeds each of us sowed and at the ground those seeds were planted in. If I follow his suggestion that my leading him to faith planted the Seed of the Word of God in him, then I also found myself asking… Was he the path and were the birds who came to eat up the little bit of faith I'd planted, devils of temptation in the forms of greed, lust, and pride? And why did I stop at just a little bit of seed? Why hadn't I planted so much seed that it couldn't be stolen away? Was he the rocky

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 Biblical story of Tobit's marriage to Sarah, whose previous seven husbands had been slain by demons, has been cleverly reimagined in a new novel (released April 2014 by Ignatius Press) called  Tobit's Dog , by Michael N. Richard. The novel is set in the backwoods of Depression-era North Carolina. The plight of blacks in the Jim Crow South parallels the plight of the 7th- and 8th-century Jews during the time of wars, deportations, and exile that formed the backdrop for the Biblical tale of Tobit. Tobit's Dog  combines elements of a young man's journey into adulthood, a love story, and a murder mystery. Tobias must collect a debt due to his blind and poverty-stricken father, lift the cloud of scandal from his bride-to-be Sarah, and discover who killed Sarah's former fiancés.The novel's plot closely follows the Bible story, with the character Ace Redbone (i.e., the Archangel Raphael) safely delivering Tobias, the son of Tobit, to meet his wife-to-be, his d

The Family of St. Thomas More by Rowland (Wikipedia). Here are 10 activities you can do as a family to support religious freedom and true marriage in the two weeks between June 21 and July 4. You can do all these even in a diocese with no scheduled events. 1. Pray the family Rosary. Pray the Luminous Mysteries together for the recognition of marriage as one man and one woman. Pray the glorious mysteries for the protection of our God-given right to religious freedom. 2. Make an extra visit to the Adoration chapel. This is a great opportunity to introduce your children to Eucharistic Adoration, or bring them back if they haven’t gone for a long time. Make this a special trip for the intentions of the Fortnight for Freedom. Don’t worry if you can only stay ten minutes with all the little ones. 3. Watch and discuss A Man for All Seasons. June 22 is the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fischer (also Corpus Christi this year). Learn about the saint who died for

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The Trinity with the Dead Christ   Lodovico Carracci, c.1590.  Pinacoteca, Vatican [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)   Gospel   John 3:16-18   ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada)  Jesus said to Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.   “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.   Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ” The Two Trinities   Murillo 1675-82.  National Gallery, London [ Web Gallery of Art ] A few years ago we in

On May 9, our second-oldest son got engaged to a lovely young lady whom we are thrilled to welcome as a fourth daughter.  This is a date my husband and I will never forget because it is also the birthday of my late father-in-law, a figure beloved by so many, who would be 86 if he hadn't been taken from us--way too soon--back in 2003.  Papa lived for his grandchildren, and he would have certainly approved of his grandson's choice of a mate. Three of our other sons are married already; son #1 got married in December of 2009, son #3 in December of 2013, and son #4 in February of 2014.  Now son #2 and his bride-to-be are looking at a November 2014 wedding date.  Our firstborn pointed out recently that the oldest four in our family were born less than five years apart, and now they're going to all be married within five years of each other.  He had quite a head start on his younger brothers, but the three of them are making up for lost time by getting married in one 11-mont

I cannot remember how long ago Melanie asked that we introduce or reintroduce ourselves, but at last I have put something together.  This is a reintroduction. Some Things about Me that You Might Like to Know Lifelong Catholic Married 35 years and still going strong Mother of one Mother-in-law of one Retired since 2008 Professed Lay Carmelite Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, but now living in Northern California, after having lived in a few other places as well Educated at Palmer School, St. Edward School, Sacred Heart Academy, Resurrection High School, DePaul University, Northeastern Illinois University, Franciscan School of Theology Employment history: waitress, lab tech, school teacher, U.S.A.F sergeant, Chicago police officer, director of religious education, and more Learning guitar and Spanish You can find more, if you like, at my blog, From the Pulpit of My Life, on the " Meet Ruth Ann " page.  I would enjoy hearing from you!

This seemed a good day to talk about motherhood, family, and why Minnesota has the start of fishing season fall on Mother's Day weekend. My wife says it may be so that mothers can have some time alone . If that's so, Minnesota's DNR blundered. They say this weekend is "Take-a-Mom fishing weekend." Ephesians and Diapers 'Family' is very important to Catholics, or should be. The Catechism devotes quite a bit of space to what a family is, and how families should work. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2201 - 2233 ) . ( September 24, 2009 ) On the other hand, I'm not allowed see marriage as a casual agreement between consenting adults. For starters, we all have duties: children and parents (Catechism, 2214 - 2220 , 2221 - 2231 ). When I married my wife, I knew what I was signing up for. Ephesians 5:22 - 25 points out that as her husband, I must love my wife "even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her." That

When the gearshift pulled up and into his hand, my husband realized it was time to junk our 21-year-old car. The Saturn we bought as newlyweds had about 232,000 miles on the speedometer - six years ago when the speedometer broke. It has no horn, no ceiling upholstery, no working gas gauge and so on.  Since New Jersey only checks emissions on cars now, it did pass inspection recently. After a long winter that felt as if everything was stalled, life is moving at a fast pace. Keep Reading...

I have always known my vocation to be a mother. I've never felt a pull towards celibacy, my heart has always belonged to babies. For as long as I can remember, I was going to be a mommy when I grew up. I imagined getting married at a fairly young age and starting a family right away. Life obviously doesn't turn out the way we plan it. Read the rest here .

My husband and I hadn't been to  Helyar Woods  together in years. I remember going with our sons when our puggle was a puppy; Greg doesn't remember the last time we walked the woods together and neither do I. This 43-acre patch of old growth forest sits hard against U.S. Route One in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Easter afternoon seemed the right time to wander these trails. Read more here...

The Raising of Lazarus , Rembrandt, c.1630 [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   John 11:1-45 [or John 11:3-7, 20-27, 33B-45]  ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada)  [Shorter form of the Gospel: omit what is in square brackets] [Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.]   So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazar

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 ...

Woman marries dog. Just another weird story, or a sign that marriage has lost validity as an institution? 47-year-old British divorcee Amanda Rodgers married her female Jack Russell terrier, Sheba, in a ceremony in Croatia, and the couple are now making rounds on  the British talk show circuit . Two hundred people attended the overseas ceremony, reported the  New York Daily News . It is unclear whether the well-wishers were merely curiosity-seekers or whether they truly believed that Ms. Rodgers (and the dog) had found their respective soulmates. In proposing marriage to Sheba, Ms. Rodgers followed the traditional custom of going down on one knee. "I could tell by her tail wagging that she said 'yes,'"  explained Ms. Rodgers . (For more on how to ascertain the consent of non-humans to marriage proposals, see my earlier article on the subject  here .) Ms. Rodgers married a man 20 years ago, but the marriage only lasted a few months. Although Sheba and Ms. Rodg

We all know that I am married to an atheist. Who gasped? Really, it's something that we work on in our marriage like anything else. Granted it was hard and there was arguing in the beginning. I even  ruined some tongs over it . A lot of it is a delicate balance of respect and a whole lot of  Holy Spirit intervention and trust! What does this have to to with Ash Wednesday ? It's a perfect example of that balance I wrote of earlier. We always try to compromise on the little stuff so it's easier to when the big stuff comes. Usually, when he compromises, I can tell, because he says funny things like "I accept you, and I love you", with a grin, especially when I come downstairs in the morning looking particularly groggy, or scratch my very dry legs while watching a basketball game, and even...burp! That last one doesn't happen often anymore. See, (tangent coming) I thought when you didn't let the burp out, no one could hear it. My husband finally fill

I’m all about symbolism. So when we decided to give away copies of the newly released, 2 nd revised edition of All Things Girl: Truth for Teens, symbolism was bound to play a role! LOL! My decision on 18 copies is based upon the number representing “life” in Jewish teaching. That just resonates so deeply with me. I pray for great life for the book and for those who will read it. That is why we are giving away 18 copies of All Things Girl: Truth for Teens. The link to the giveaway is on the new Facebook page being administered by one of the amazing new contributors, Heather Renshaw. Heather is a blast. She’s a mother of five youngsters who somehow found the time to write a chapter on vocations in general and motherhood in particular. Because of her honesty and great sense of humor, I am convinced that her chapter will deeply affect the teen girls who read All Things Girl: Truth for Teens. If you’d like to enter the contest, visit the new Facebook page, like it, share it

When All Things Girl first came on the scene there were a lot of mixed reviews. People said things like "it is terrible; it seems homemade" to "the best book EVER for young Catholic girls." Of course, once those books went out of production (there are new ones now in print), everyone clamored for them. I suppose that's how it always goes, right? We don't know what we have until it is gone. We are now excited to say that the newest All Things Girl book is out! In the 2014 release of Truth for Teens you are going to find the same great open and honest talk that girls love (and moms and grandmas are so appreciative of) but with fresh, new, relevant voices! Peggy Bowes (best-selling author of The Rosary Workout and popular speaker) writes about health and fitness. Heather Renshaw, mother of 5 youngsters, somehow found the time to write about vocations in general and motherhood in particular. Kayla Brandon, a journalism major with time in at Fox and othe

This post is Part 2 of guest blogger Carlos X's defense of traditional marriage in honor of National Marriage Week.  Part 1  of Carlos' post explored the common mythological roots of the male-female union as expression of the divine in Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. Part 2 details the scientific acceptance of male-female union as the essential archetype of humanity. Read on to enjoy Carlos' post, and for more National Marriage Week resources, be sure to check out  Catholic Match Institute ! **************************** The Pioneer plaque, created by NASA Love between a man and a woman has a mystical dimension in the sacred texts of Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism. But the ultimate manifestation of “the mysticism of sexual love” is when “the love experience becomes cosmic.”  (Joseph Campbell,  The Hero with a Thousand Faces ). So it's appropriate that when the world's scientists wanted to introduce humanity to possible alien races, they showed a pi