Association Of Catholic Bloggers

What is the best gift you have ever received?  How about one that you have given? Learn how God loves and why the gift of love is the ultimate imitation of Christ.   Read the talk here at Veils and Vocations .

Who doesn't like to be pampered like a princess?  This talk is the second in my retreat series and explores how a princess of God should be treated.   Read it at Veils and Vocations !

Early last summer, I had the pleasure of hosting a mini-retreat for preteen girls and their mothers.  It ahs been a long time in coming, but I finally am sharing the talks and resources from that retreat so that others can host their own.  To read the first talk, visit Veils and Vocations .

This past weekend, I was honored to present my “ Living a Virtuous Life ” day retreat to my home parish. I have to admit, that I was nervous at first. I kept thinking about the biblical passage where Jesus wasn’t accepted within His own home town of Nazareth (Luke 4:14-30). Would my own parish family treat me the same? It wasn’t like I was claiming “ Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing ” (Luke 4:21), but I was proclaiming what we as followers of Christ need to do to become more Christ-like; more virtuous. I kept wondering, “why should I be treated any better than Jesus was treated?” If anything, I should be treated worse, because I don’t deserve the level of respect that Jesus deserved. He is God; I am a mere human servant. Yet, Sunday was Pentecost Sunday; a day to celebrate when the Apostles received the power of the Holy Spirit. My pastor and I decided to... Read more...

My husband and I were watching the investigative reporting program 60 Minutes recently, and one of the segments had to do with Buddhist "mind-emptying" meditation. The reporting journalist told of how he'd decided to try to immerse himself in the practice as part of a week-long journalistic piece he was preparing, but that he'd not ever given it much thought and didn't expect much to come of it. 

Can We Cana's First Ever Give-Away! Awesome author Sarah Reinhard has generously agreed to donate a free copy of her book  Catholic Family Fun : A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative, or Clueless  to the next person to register for my  online marriage enrichment retreat  this February 3, 4, 10 and 11!! So be sure to join in Can We Cana?'s first major give-away by registering for the retreat  here . For those of you who don't already know Sarah, she describes herself as a Catholic convert/wife/mom/reader/writer enjoying the idiosyncrasies of life on a farm with critters and kids. She blogs at the  National Catholic Register  and has written  five books  for amazing Catholic publishers like Pauline Books and Ave Maria Press. She's heavily involved with CatholicMom.com and is always ready to lend a helping hand to beginning bloggers such as yours truly. Sarah's book,  Catholic Family Fun , is as great as the ...

             Looking for ways         to make your marriage                   stronger? Join me this February 3, 4, 10, or 11 in an online marriage enrichment retreat. Spend an hour or two, just in time for Valentine's Day, to make your marriage stronger! Similar to an interactive  webinar , the retreat offers talks illustrated by sacred artwork with a background of Gregorian chant.   If you've never attended an online retreat before, don't worry -- the technology is easy. All you need is high-speed Internet and speakers for your computer. You can ask and answer questions simply by typing in a chatbox. But if you wish, you can purchase low-cost earbuds with a computer mike and speak directly with me and the other participants. You’ll receive a link by email to enter the online environment and a friendly tech will help you get used to all the features. ...

At the Secular Carmelite retreat I went to last weekend, I heard a message I didn't expect and it has changed the way I'm hearing scripture, liturgy and homilies. I have different ears somehow. The topic of our retreat was, "Rediscovering the Riches of Divine Intimacy," with retreat master Father Robert Barcelos, OCD. I had been wondering how to grow in intimacy with God, pondering how it was that I had been feeling stuck for so long and even having a hard time following through on my prayer commitments.  Father Robert said that Jesus loves us MOST where we are weak. He doesn't love us DESPITE when  we're weak, but loves us MOST when we are weak. It's his preference. Whenever Jesus picks a place of encounter, it is in a place where life is messy, shameful or overwhelming for us. Where did Jesus choose to encounter mankind, face to face, in the flesh, for the first time? In a dank, smelly stable, in the middle of the night. He coul...