Association Of Catholic Bloggers

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 .

When a scholar of the law asked Jesus for the greatest Commandment, my Lord gave two.... ...The Samaritan: An Unexpected 'Good Guy' After two millennia, the shock of a Samaritan being the 'good guy' in this sort of story has worn off. Jews and Samaritans did not get along: at all. These days, it'd be like telling a story in a redneck bar: where a coal miner, poor farmer, and truck driver wouldn't help the accident victim: but an east Asian immigrant did.... ...Okay: I've had a cup of coffee, walked around a bit, and calmed down. Let's see, where was I? The greatest Commandment, the good Samaritan. Right. The rules are simple, but not easy.... ...I'd like to end world hunger, establish a lasting peace, and cure the common cold. That's not gonna happen. For starters, I don't have the connections or power to get any of that done. Besides, things take time.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

This year's Ebola outbreak has killed thousand of folks in West Africa: and one in the United States. By any reasonable standard, it's a very serious health problem.... ...As I've said before, being healthy is okay. ( June 13, 2014 ) Not being healthy is okay, too: but I'm expected to take care of my health: within reason.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

'Kids these days! Nobody takes responsibility! Back in my day, nobody tried blaming the other guy!' I've been hearing variations on that complaint for more than a half-century now. I started wondering if it was true in my teens. By now, I'm pretty sure that it's not: partly because now I remember the 'good old days:' and like I've said before, they weren't. One of 'Those Crazy Kids:' Five Decades Later I was one of "those kids" in the late '60s and early '70s. Some of us were lazy bums, and others were only too eager to blame our parents, the government, or anyone else, for our problems. But others were "irresponsible" only in the sense that we wouldn't accept the status quo. That attitude didn't appeal to folks who believed in buying stuff they didn't need, with money they didn't have, to impress people they didn't like. We thought we could reform the world: and certain that we

After nearly five hundred years, the Roman Republic had grown from a small city-state to a major world power: and it was a mess. I'm not talking about the chronic SNAFUs perpetrated by America's Congress. If America's government was like the Roman Republic's, we might see the House ways and means committee lead an armed assault on the Senate: while their assassins took care of a filibuster the hard way. Yes: things could be worse. Run-ins like the Catilinarian Conspiracy and Second Catilinarian conspiracy made the worst Washington mudslinging seem like a sedate poetry reading. The Roman Senate finally named one of their members " dictator perpetuo " ("dictator in perpetuity") — hoping that Julius Caesar would solve their problems. A few Senators got nervous: cutting the term, and Caesar's life, short. 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

(From Hel-hama, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) ( Kingdom of the Avars , and surrounding lands: 814.) A dozen centuries back, a warlord brought order and a measure of stability to lands from Vasdomia to Chrobatia, and from the Kingdom of the Lombards to Jutland. For the first time since Rome's empire had dissolved, lands from the Mediterranean to the North sea had some hope of peace and stability. We call this leader Charles the Great. Charlemagne is also known as Karl der Große, Carolus, and Karolus Magnus. Charlemagne has been mythologized as a shining light of civilization, and a demonic slayer of 'true' Europeans. There's a very slight element of truth to both images. Scholarship, arts, architecture, and literature, flourished during Charlemagne's reign. On the other hand, he gave those he conquered a choice: say that they were Christian, or die. Some of my wife's relatives may have been among those who chose to die, rather than give u