Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Fr Alfred Delp SJ, 5 September 1907 - 2 February 1945 Stamp issued in West Germany 1964 I used to own a copy of The Prison Meditations of Alfred Delp SJ but lost it somewhere along the way while being transferred from one place to another. Jenny Howell, of the Center for Christian Ethics, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, writes her reflections on these writings here . She uses the title under which Father Delp's writings have been more recently published by Ignatius Press, Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings .  I was born in Ireland on Hitler's birthday in 1943, just two years before World War II ended. Though independent Ireland wasn't involved directly in that conflict I have often wondered how the profoundly anti-Christian and anti-human Nazism took hold in a country that produced so many great saints and creators of beauty such as Beethoven, led by a man from the country that gave birth to Haydn and Mozart. (I once met a man in rural Kentucky wh

Annunciation , El Greco, painted 1596-1600 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Luke 1:26-38 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'But how can

On my way home from work this afternoon, I stopped by a Best Buy electronics store off the highway to pick up a VGA adapter for my MacBook. It was supposed to be a mindless errand - park the car, go in, find what I need, wait in line, buy it and leave. Nothing to it. But an encounter in the check-out line moved me to consider how much even the most ordinary moments can be filled with grace. Read more here...

"I cannot promise you happiness in this world, only in the next" Wow.

The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, near Mexico City, is one of the most celebrated places of pilgrimage in North America. On 9 December 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, at Tepeyac and left him with a picture of herself imprinted upon his cloak. Devotion to Mary under the title of “Our Lady of Guadalupe” has continually increased, and today she is the Patroness of Americas. Because of the close link between the Church in Mexico and the Church in the United States this feast was also added to the proper calendar for the dioceses of the United States. Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe At daybreak one Saturday morning in 1531, on the very first days of the month of December, an Indian named Juan Diego was going from the village where he lived to Tlatelolco in order to take part in divine worship and listen to God’s commandments. When he came near the hill called Tepeyac, dawn had already come, and Juan Diego heard someone calling him from the very

We are already half way through Advent, our time of preparation for Christmas. Feeling rather as though time were getting away from me, I have been taking stock and pondering the importance of Advent - not just at this time of year, but in my spiritual life at all times. Advent has been my favourite liturgical season since first becoming Catholic. It is well placed between autumn, naturally a time for assessment and preparation - and winter - the season of hibernation, resting, going inot the deep within. Advent has shades of both: it is a season of silence and growth. It is the time of Christ growing in us - as He did in Our Lady - in secret. Silence Nature has gone quiet, and we are inclined to do likewise, if we listen to the promptings of the Spirit. We enter into the stillness to hear the Voice of God, to be attentive to His Presence, to become aware that "Christ is being formed in our lives from what we are." (62) It can be very difficult to find that silence wh

View from the Domestic Church: My book trailer for "Embracing Motherhood" soon to be released!

Inspired by the blogger at Feast of the Immaculate Conception : Family in Feast and Feria as well as this thread, my daughter Izzy and I made our own candle for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception back in 2009. Two years later, it's still holding up! I bought a simple white candle at Walmart. Izzy found a picture of Mary to color on line. Then we glued it to the candle and to set it- we melted wax and rolled our candle in the wax to give it a coating and protect it to the candle. I think it turned out pretty well for a first effort! We will light it tonight for dinner!

Maybe it's an American thing but when I saw this Tweet from @ChristyTV, Christy McDonald: "Ho ho ho parents... it's time to officially use the Santa threat. tinyurl.com/6nmu5wa #parenting #santa"  I just had to respond. On her blog  she defends her use of the threat; in part she writes ".....there’s nothing wrong with a little he’s-gonna-find-out-who’s-naughty-and-nice-so-you-better-not-hit-your-sister-again-or-Santa-won’t-bring-you-any-presents reminder."  Really Christy! Really!  I  think that the "Santa Threat" and all other threats don't teach our children what we really want them to know and have: Respect and self-discipline. All threats the Santa and my personal favourite: "If you don't eat all your dinner no desert!", are hollow.  Hollow because they backfire more often they "work."  Think about what the Santa threat says.  I have no authority, no standing with you, my child, so I have to go outside to

Preaching of St John the Baptist , Domenico Ghirlandaio, painted 1486-90 R eadings    (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel John 1:6-8, 19-28 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light. This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, 'I am not the Christ'. 'Well then,' they asked 'are you Elijah?' 'I am not' he said. 'Are you the Prophet?' He answered, 'No'. So they said to him, 'Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?' So John said, '

View from the Domestic Church: You will love this!

The Virgin of Immaculate Conception  and St John , El Greco, painted c.1585 VIRGEN DEL ADVIENTO Virgen del Adviento, esperanza nuestra, de Jesús, la aurora, del Cielo, la puerta. Madre de los hombres, de la mar, estrella, llévanos a Cristo, danos sus promesas. Virgen del Adviento, esperanza nuestra, de Jesús, la aurora, del Cielo, la puerta. Eres Virgen Madre, la de gracia llena, del Señor, la esclava, del mundo, la Reina. Virgen del Adviento, esperanza nuestra, de Jesús, la aurora, del Cielo, la puerta. Alza nuestros ojos hacia tu belleza, guía nuestros pasos a la vida eterna. Virgen del Adviento, esperanza nuestra, de Jesús, la aurora, del Cielo, la puerta While researching for Sunday Reflections I came across this Advent hymn by Antonio Alcalde. I know nothing about him nor where this was recorded. I suspect it was in one of the Spanish-speaking Latin American country  rather than in Spain. The music is by Fr Jose Cristo Rey Garcia Paredes CMF . Here is my rough,

This fall I've been teaching Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth to high school juniors. And this week I finished reading Tolstoy's novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In both stories, writers describe men at the end of their earthly lives, men guilty of serious sins and yet who find redemption at the very end of their days. The possibility of redemption: I can think of no more compelling message this Advent season, a season in which we Christians await the birth of our Redeemer. Read more »

Last Sunday's  advent readings were about John the Baptist and today is the Feast of St. Nicholas! So with that in mind here is a picture from a few years ago - a good friend of ours portraying good St. Nick and Mr. Pete as the voice in the wilderness, John the Baptist! This is one of my favorite Advent feasts! Be sure to visit the St. Nicholas Center today. Also the Bounty of St. Nicholas Fair My links for St. Nicholas on Diigo and also my mega Advent links page! A few years ago we made a  St. Nicholas Spoon Saint! Our assorted St. Nicholas statues come out today.  Here is one that Rosie and I made yesterday. More Feast Day Fun with St. Nicholas here...

I'm sitting in the family minivan, sipping coffee and trying to warm up. In my rear view mirror I see our son cycle past with some cyclocross friends. We're waiting for the start of the Men's 14-18 Horseshoe Scramble cyclocross race here at a former horse farm in Warren NJ, a lovely area of rolling hills. And I am contemplating the resilience of children and the Presence that carries us. Cyclocross, or CX,  is a kind of bike racing, a sport our son first discovered earlier this year and has embraced with great enthusiasm. Over the summer he worked two jobs, earning enough money to buy himself a cyclocross bike, at discount, for $800. He's spent the fall season racing.  On Friday, he was hit and knocked into the road by a red SUV while cycling home with a buddy from a McDonalds  in a neighboring town. He was in a crosswalk. He felt unnerved and angry the driver sped off. The trip to the emergency roon revealed he was badly bruised and nothing more. Tha

I got an email from a friend of mine who was forwarding a link to a cute You Tube/Busted Halo video and I thought I would post it here.  Thanks Peter Frahm! A small warning, there is a bit of an advert for Busted Halo towards the end.

Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ros is back!!!!!! fireoftheirlove: Waiting........ : image found online

Saint Francis Xavier is the patron saint of our parish in Mount Washington, Kentucky. Please celebrate with us. Deacon Gerry Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us! A painting of St Francis Xavier, held in the Kobe City Museum. Jesus asked, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16:26a). The words were repeated to a young teacher of philosophy who had a highly promising career in academics, with success and a life of prestige and honor before him. Francis Xavier, 24 at the time, and living and teaching in Paris, did not heed these words at once. They came from a good friend, Ignatius of Loyola, whose tireless persuasion finally won the young man to Christ. Francis then made the spiritual exercises under the direction of Ignatius, and in 1534 joined his little community (the infant Society of Jesus). Together at Montmartre they vowed poverty, chastity and apostolic service according to the directions of the pope. From Venice, wh

Time Chances are, this baby girl is named Sophia. BabyCenter , a popular parenting and pregnancy website, released its annual list of the 100 most popular baby names (not to be confused with the Social Security Administration’s annual report of the most-given names). Sophia and Aiden, last year’s respective leading girl and boy baby names, retained their status as the most popular baby names in 2011. (LIST: Top 10 Most Ridiculous Celebrity Name Changes) Other fashionable female names — namely, Ava, Abigail, and Isabella — kept their place in the top 10. Meanwhile, male names continued the trend of “n” endings; joining Aiden in the top 10 are Jackson, Mason, Jayden, Ethan and Logan. This year’s biggest newsmakers influenced naming trends, as usual. CNN’s resident silver fox Anderson Cooper’s moniker jumped up 101 spots, while royal (ish) names William, Kate/Catherine and Pippa gained momentum. The name Mason’s newly-minted status as the third-most popular is likely (though