Association Of Catholic Bloggers

  During the Olympic competition this summer, champions and the emblematic figures of the sport emerge. They are the new gods of human physical perfection and outstanding ability. This sport feast bring us memories of past idols, specially the stunning case of the Jamaican sprinter Bolt, protruding on the Olympic horizon.   But success has its price, and already for some time, incredible physical ability was the only área of his personal life that he was interested in, for in his personal life, training and preparation were not his main objective.

The Consecration: (The Battle Begins)  "This is my body..." This is when I am usually attacked.  When I know the consecration is near, I prepare myself, steel myself, get ready.   I do not know exactly why this is when I am attacked, but I think it is because I know what is coming and how to effectively utilize the gift God has given us in the Holy Mass for others.  The Catholic at the Holy Mass is for the  other .  We should rarely be there for ourselves, but we should be there for the rest of the world that is  NOT  there.    The demons do not want you to fully understand what is really happening in the Holy Mass, and will do everything in their power to distract you from the work that God is doing on the Earth.  To read more... CLICK HERE!

A man that takes the role of a Deacon is by faith shows himself by his submission, sacrifice and love to be extolling a purification of manhood.    Donning vestments, whether Priest or Deacon is the ultimate witness of manliness.  It is no coincidence that the first Christian Martyr was a Deacon.  By God’s grace, through a Deacon, God let open the heavens to let St. Stephen see the rewards of all those who die for the faith.  The grace of martyrdom is a joy of the will of God being fulfilled, for if we love God, we love Him and  those He loves to our last breath and our last drop of blood.   Those that are chosen for this gift are very few, and it is only by the love in their heart for others that they are chosen.  The martyr is prepared for death by the knowledge that their blood feeds the Church, and by the shedding of their blood, within God's will, they are given the greatest gift while still in the flesh; .... TO READ ...

Following up on  last week's blog tour  where I reviewed Jean Heimann's new book Seven Saints for Seven Virtues, Jean and her husband Bill return to Can We Cana? for some advice on  How to Stay Married 10 Years & Then Some . 1. How many years have you been married and how many kids do you have? Bill & Jean :  We have been married 22 years and have no biological children. Bill has an adult son from a previous marriage, which was formally annulled by the Catholic Church prior to our marriage in the Church in 1992. 2. Name 3 things that have helped you to stay married this long. Jean : Our strong Catholic faith bonded us from the beginning and has kept us together over the years. We are “equally yoked” as the Protestants say. We were both actively involved in leadership roles in various ministries prior to our marriage (and continue to be) and saw eye to eye on the important issues that face engaged couples: openness to life, putting God first in our...

On this past Divine Mercy Sunday, two beloved Popes were canonized in St. Peter's Square -- Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII. Both popes believed firmly in ushering the Church into the modern world, Pope John XXIII by calling the Second Vatican Council and Pope John Paul II by working tirelessly to implement those conciliar reforms in a way that did justice to the Church's past and her present. But Pope St. John Paul II will always be closer to my heart. When I began contemplating conversion to Catholicism in the late 1990s, Pope John Paul II had already reigned for more than 20 years. The JPII generation was on fire with love for Christ and his Church. They were passionately devout, fiercely intelligent, and quoted passages from the original documents of Vatican II with the same fluency an evangelical might cite Scripture. John Paul II's  Theology of the Body  (or TOB), with its message that our bodies and sex itself were glorious gifts from God, was just bec...

  All Saints Day celebrates the lives of all Christians  who have died in a state of grace. This was the first All Saints Day that I could commemorate my newly discovered patron Saint Melania!!! However, holiness is for every baptized person, regardless of personality type, career, age, race, or marital status. Leon Bloy, a French Catholic writer, once said  “the only tragedy in life is not to become a saint.”  Holiness is about realizing our deepest, greatest potential, becoming who we were truly destined to be. The problem is most of us go about becoming saints all the wrong way! We try too hard using our natural energy, concentrating on our own piety, discipline and not on the saving power of Jesus Christ. In fact the best way to become holy is to quit trying so hard.  I discovered that I just got in God's way.  WHEN I ADMIT DEFEAT, GOD HAS A CHANCE TO SAVE ME FROM MYSELF Surrender, giving up control ho...