Association Of Catholic Bloggers

A journalist, who was intrigued by a mother of nine kids, interviewed me for an article on Mother’s Day. Even though my article merely shared a humorous peek into my hectic life, half of the ninety comments had to be deleted after publication. Many comments were angry, profane attacks. Obviously, a pro-life feminist stance strikes a raw nerve in society, a symptom of a decades-old battle between the pro-choice and pro-life camps. Ironically both sides fight for the equality and dignity of women.  In the face of this dilemma, I wrote an anthology with four other Catholic women about the pain and joy of reclaiming a sense of dignity as a mother in today’s society called  Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood . continue

My Mother: Virginia Duffy Today would have been my mother’s 95 th birthday has she still been alive. Virginia Christesen Duffy was smart as a whip, yet only received a high school education. She’s the only person I know that would dare to complete the New York Times Sunday Puzzle in ink ! I fondly remember the time my parents took me to Europe for a vacation. I was 19 years old. I took French for three years in high school, and I was ready and anxious to use it! We were in a French café, one day, looking at... Read more...

One of the greatest mysteries in scripture is the hidden Mother.  One of the greatest of these is... TO READ MORE CLICK HERE. 

On the Feast Day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, my patron saint, it occurred to me to wonder how others of the faith relate to their own patron saints. Are they perhaps seen as far-off, above our lowly human state, unreachable other than by solemn prayer and petition to intercede on our behalf? Or perhaps (and, to me, better!) as companions and constant friends, ready and willing to be there for us at any time, for any reason? + + + If I may, I'd like to share with you my own relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary, my beloved patron saint. It is ever-changing in the most wonderful and helpful of ways.  When for years I would only reach out to her respectfully and from afar to intercede on my behalf with petitions and requests, I now feel quite comfortable and free to reach out to her in a constant stream of companionable and silent conversation throughout my days, just as I would to a trusted friend and confidante. And what I feel is especially

Every Catholic Priest that walks the Earth had a mark placed on him at his conception for the Priesthood.   This is a gift by God as a reflection for what God did for Mary in her womb, because every Priest is her son.  The Priest is not immaculate, but only marked as one chosen for the Priesthood.  This is not a guarantee that he will become a Priest, it is up to God whether or not he is called later.  I am sure that there are a few Priests walking the earth that were not called, although they are very few.  But the Priest, whether called or not will always carry this mark as being chosen to the Priesthood from conception..... To Read More... CLICK HERE!

Time:  1970's  Location: Midwest farm...the Kitchen. A young boy of the age of 12 with brown hair sat at a kitchen table, writing something on a paper, possibly a homework assignment.  Into the kitchen comes a woman with brown hair, tied in a bun in a blue dress with a baby on the hip.  There are two small children trailing behind her, and she is carrying a bag of groceries.  "Jesus..." She didn't even have to finish His name, the young boy at the table had turned when she came in the room and was already rising from his chair, taking the grocery bag from her and digging into the bag to put the food away.  TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

"Mom, why do you go to Mass everyday?" "Because I love Him."   "Who?" "Our Lord." "Oh." "You don't understand do you." "Not really."   TO READ MORE CLICK HERE!  

This encounter started sometime back, I will begin there.   For some time after my husband's death, I had been not living a good life.  I was breaking a commandment pretty regularly.  It wasn't I was mad at God for my husband's death, it was because of the intensity of the pain I was suffering because of grief.   In truth, it hurt worse to go to Church than it did to sin.   I knew better, I had already had the Vision of the Eucharist, so I knew the truth, and I would say to myself, "What are you doing! You know better!!"  After three years, when my heart had healed sufficiently, it was time to come home. Mother calls.  ....TO READ MORE OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE VIRGIN...CLICK HERE.

Recently, I’ve  found myself enjoying the writings of St. Francis de Sales.  Due to discovering much inspiration in his spiritual advise that is relevant to my vocation,  I’ve decided to dedicate Fridays at The Sincere Gift as a day to share some of the meaningful insights that I’ve found to be helpful.  His spirituality is a gentle one and very doable for the ordinary person.   “Go on kindling the spirit of joy and sweetness in your heart, and believe firmly that this is the true spirit of devotion; and if you are sometimes attacked by a contrary spirit of sadness and bitterness, make a real effort to lift up your heart to God, committing all to Him..... To read more, visit The Sincere Gift .  

Some religious people would maintain that only an active Christian can act lovingly. Yet Pope Francis and even Sacred Scriptures disagree with this narrow view. St. Paul explains that God will judge everyone by  much  how truth God has revealed to them. If a tribe hidden in a jungle has never heard the gospel, God will  judge them based on what they know and St. Paul assures us that all men have the basic laws of God carved into their hearts. In modern language, we all have an awareness of good and evil or a conscience.  God has inscribed a moral code on my heart. It is  hidden in my deepest self. Actually, if  as an adult, I can block out my own ego and simply stop to listen, I can live a holy life. In fact Christ  offers an easy way to sanctity, to loving God and each other.  A spirituality that a child understands. A spirituality that St.Thérèse of Liseux understood .  Relax. Give up striving. Surrender to His love and let it saturate every cell of your body. Then simpl

Pregnant with my seventh child, I was bedridden in the high-risk, neo-natal wing of the maternity ward for a week while waiting for a housekeeper to come to run my home and help tend my six children. I faced 6 months of bed rest but that one week gave me perspective and kept me from sinking into self-pity. The other two women in my room were desperate to keep their babies in uteri and finally become mothers. One of the two had suffered five miscarriages. She was stuck in a ward room for months, only going home after the birth of her baby. Secretly we all feared that we would lose our babies. Suddenly our fears materialized as a high-risk woman’s baby died in her womb. That poor woman had to endure an induction and labour for hours, only to push out a dead baby. The pain in that wing of the hospital was tangible. Tears ran down women’s’ faces as they grieved with their neighbour. It did not matter that none of us had even glimpsed her face. Nurses as well as patients mourned for

    Today I got to help my friend K., who teaches at the same high school I do, celebrate her daughter's first birthday! It has been a long time since I have been to a child's birthday party, given that our own sons are 13 and 16 years old. So I didn't mind driving an hour each way to help her large extended family and circle of friends celebrate Joy's first year on the planet. Keep Reading...

How great the suffering in Hell of the mother who at death is unrepentant for aborting her child, yet how much greater, even hundreds of thousands times greater is her suffering in Hell if she has aborted a Priest, Bishop or Prince of the Church!