Association Of Catholic Bloggers

In my  last post , I related my reasons for gaining weight this past year. Now, as my ankle completely heals, it’s time to get serious about losing the weight. Increasing my walking will help me to lose weight, but that alone will not do the trick. I also need to stop eating the sweets! What better time to lose weight, than when we turn the page on the calendar? Or, for me, as my ankle completely heals. I have no more excuses, other than I lack Temperance.  Therefore, it’s time for Temperance, as well. We start each new year with hope. If I ever hope to get out of the sweatpants, and back into my clothes, then I need to call on God to give me some Temperance. I know that I cannot stop eating the sweets on my own, as sugar is so addictive. I need the strength of Christ to assist me in my endeavor to lose the weight. And while He’s indulging me with Temperance, a smidgen of... Read more...

Lent is a time to give up something we love a lot, like chocolate, or wine, as a sacrifice, in thanksgiving for what Christ sacrificed for each of us. To give up something we really love a lot requires Temperance – the ability to control one’s passions. Therefore, Lent and Temperance go together like bread and butter. You can have one without the other, but they’re much better together! Lent and Temperance We need the virtue of Temperance to live up to our sacrificial commitment, thereby giving a more meaningful purpose to the season of Lent. We are about half-way through the Lenten Season. How is your Lenten sacrifice coming along? Are you living up to your commitment? Might you have slipped a bit, or perhaps forgotten all about your Lenten sacrifice? If so, here are a few things you can do to help you get back on the right track: Read more...

We’re two weeks into the New Year, and many of us have already failed to live up to our New Year’s resolution to lose weight, and/or to get fit. Why? Because we lack the virtue of Temperance. Embracing Temperance helps us to gain control over our passions, even the passion for food and the lack of passion for exercise! I love to eat good food, and I detest any exercise. As a result, all the weight that I lost a few years ago returned – every pound of it! I know this is not healthy for me. Yet, when your “Temperance Tank” is running on empty, it is very difficult to make positive change. That’s why we fail to live up to our New Year’s resolutions. So, it’s time to fill up on Temperance. Embracing Temperance Temperance is responsible for moderating our attraction to pleasure – and that includes food, drink, sex, excessive shopping, gambling, etc. You get the point. It also provides us with balance in using things, exercising control over our impulses and desires. When we seem t...

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, odds are we are all up a pound, or two, or three… With all the holiday parties, it is so easy to overindulge; so easy to gain weight. Embracing temperance, this holiday season, can be a gift to ourselves and to Christ. When we refrain from that extra piece of pumpkin pie, the cookies, and the hot chocolate with whipped cream, we save on the calories. The “sacrifice” we make, by saying no to the goodies, can be offered up to Jesus, in thanksgiving for His sacrifice on the Cross. When we refrain from drinking too much, we prevent scandal to our reputations. The “sacrifice” we make, by saying no to the alcohol, can be offered up to Jesus in thanksgiving for His love for us. When we refrain from overspending on holiday gifts, we save money for those needed expenses. The “sacrifice” we make, by saying no to extravagance, can be offered up to Jesus, in thanksgiving for always providing what we need. Embracing temperance takes some practi...

I'm a Christian. So why, one might ask, am I not denouncing something most folks enjoy: like demon rum or Bingo? Or playing the Grinch for Halloween? Or enjoying a friendly pint with the boys, but adding my voice to the ensemble 'prophesying' the purported perils of fantasy and imagination? Or at least stalwartly refusing to learn anything we didn't know before the 18th century.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Perhaps I should remember my station, and be respectfully silent before the weekend's mighty display of power and glory. I am, after all, but one of those who live neither in the Northeast megalopolis nor the shining lands of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Daylight Saving Time — Again — Still Enough of that 'umble posturing. If you live in America, there's a pretty good chance that you remembered to set your clock back an hour during the weekend. We've gone through this routine every year for — too long, I think. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The diagram shows how a Pythagorean cup works. It's a thinking person's dribble glass , sort of. The cup, pan, and ladle in the photo is a yuza no ki . Both are gadgets used for teaching moderation. The yuza no ki is in the Ashikaga District , 足利郡 , in the Tochigi Prefecture . It hasn't been since around 1896. Ashiga District, that is. Not officially. The cup might be. It's a learning tool. Empty, it's tilted. Pour a little water in, and it goes upright. Pour in more, and it tilts again. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Eleven days into the new year – How’s that resolution coming along? Still going strong, or has the willpower waned? Making positive change is not always so easy. We all have good intentions as the ball drops at midnight on New Year’s Day. We even have that gung-ho attitude on the first Monday back to work. Everyone is ready to hit the salad bar rather than the burger joint. The local gym is overcrowded with people working out. Self-Control is on steroids! Then, after a few days, the desire to keep up the diet, or go to the gym, or resist that cigarette seems to wane. What is one to do? How can you keep your new year’s resolution to improve your life when your willpower seems to desert you and your self-control becomes non-existent? Read more...

We continue with the fourth installment of our seven-part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Gluttony. Gluttony, the overindulgence of eating/drinking to excess, will physically and spiritually harm you if left unchecked and unaddressed. Overeating/drinking can result in physical illnesses such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and liver disease, just to name a few. Gluttony robs you of the life you were meant to live, because you become the slave to the object of your temporal desire. You become fixated on the food and/or the drink. Gluttony causes you to use food and/or drink to ... Read more...

We continue with the third installment of our seven part series on the seven deadly sins. Today we discuss Lust. Lust causes you to objectify the “object” of your desires, rather than to see the individual as a human being deserving dignity. When you remove human dignity from the equation, it becomes very easy to lose respect for others and for yourself. Lust is disordered desire for, or inordinate enjoyment of, sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes . 1   Lustful behavior is addictive.  Repeated over and over again, it deludes... Read more... 

(From O. Herford, via Life Magazine/Wikipedia, used w/o permission.) ("Life" magazine, Demon Rum, and Matthew 12:45 : June 26, 1919.) My household is "dry:" there's no beer in the fridge, wine in a rack, or whiskey on a shelf. That's partly because I drank too much, which was a very bad idea. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2290 ) After that experience, I could get cherophobia and virtue confused — but I won't. Cherophobia, aversion to happiness ; and hedonophobia , fear of pleasure; are real words. But "blessed are the miserable, for they shall spread misery" is not in the Beatitudes. 1 ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Lose weight at this time of year? Yes, it can be done! Lose weight the right way – this time for the right reasons and for good! It’s that time of year, when we are tempted to imbibe on eggnog and eat all sorts of baked goods. The temptations are everywhere you look: At the grocery store, on TV, in magazines; even in your own home. Would you like to get through this holiday season and not gain weight? Maybe even lose a pound or two? If so, let me introduce you to the process I used to lose 60 pounds... Read more...