Association Of Catholic Bloggers

The world didn't end last Saturday. That's nothing new, and neither is another fizzled End Times prediction. I'll be talking about how a current End Times prediction affected someone whose name is the same as the wannabe prophet's; but is an entertainer, not a doomsayer. I'll also take a look at the continuing, and serious, search for Planet 9; predictions involving close encounters of the cometary kind; and what we're learning about the outer Solar System.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Inspiration of St Matthew , Caravaggio  [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Matthew 21:28-32 ( New Revised  Standard Version, Anglicised CatholicEdition )   Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went.  The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collect

Christ offers even adults an easy way to commune with Him.  Relax. Give up striving. Surrender to His love and let it saturate every cell of your body. Then simply let His love flow through you. It ends up being a long journey to such carefree lifestyle because pride and ego get in the way. It is so simple that it seems complicated to our adult, logical minds. No wonder Jesus praises children, I assure you,” He said, ‘unless you are converted and become like children, you will never get into the kingdom from heaven’ [ Matthew 18:4 ] Union with the living God is child’s play.  Listen to this debate between two of my pre-schoolers. continue reading

To be filled with the joy of Jesus is an experience like no other. For it is a joy unmistakably from Him, and only Him. There is no uncertainty as to whether it comes from someone or anywhere else. This is the beauty of Our Lord. He gives ultimate clarity, ultimate certainty, ultimate peace, so we know something to be His Truth and His Will. I am not speaking of the “truth” in the kind we speak of in our world where truth is relative, but the ultimate “Truth”, to which there can be no disproving it, no denying it. This is because this Truth comes from Our Creator, Our Redeemer. So when He speaks His Truth, His Will to our heart, there is no uncertainty. There is only peace that comes from Our Almighty God. Read more

Born in 1581, Saint Vincent de Paul, of French descent, earned his Theology degree, in 1612. Ordained a priest in Clichy, France, he dedicated his entire adult life to addressing the needs of the poor. Saint Vincent de Paul took the Corporal Works of Mercy to heart. He gave food and drink to the poor, via the establishment of soup kitchens. He clothed the poor, via donations from those who could spare items. A true missionary to the poor, he sheltered the homeless, visited the sick and imprisoned, and buried the dead. Saint Vincent de Paul, Apostle of Charity Saint Vincent de Paul, became an inspiration to many, because of how he lived his life in self-service to those in need. He is fondly known as the Apostle of Charity. Today, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, made up of laity, follow in Saint Vincent’s footsteps by... Read more...  

At the National Catholic Teachers Association convention next year, I will be speaking on prayer. The organizers asked me to rework my talk’s title and description to reflect the theme “missionary disciples.” In doing research, I discovered that Pope Francis used this term in his encyclical “The Joy of the Gospel,” and this year our United States Bishops Conference issued a document called “Living as Missionary Disciples.”  Click to continue

Apparently, I missed hearing about this movie when it first came out in 2014. I'd never heard of it until we stumbled upon it on Netflix one day while looking for a family movie we could watch together with our toddler. Now I usually assume, if I haven't heard of a family-friendly movie but find it on Netflix, that's it's not going to be very good. Because there are plenty of poorly written, poorly acted, all around lame options available particularly in the family category. We pretty much expected this to be one of those but for some reason decided to give it a try anyway... Continue Reading

WHAT DOES "RECEIVING JESUS" MEAN TO YOU? HERE IS HOW A PRIEST EXPLAINS THIS CLICK HERE

DO MIRACLES HAPPEN TODAY? HAVE YOU WITNESSED A MIRACLE? DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? WHAT ARE MIRACLES ANYWAY? CLICK HERE

WHAT WOULD THE TRADE UNIONS SAY ABOUT JESUS? CLICK HERE

Hi there, ya'll!! =) A few weeks ago I made an appointment (haha, just kidding, my mom made the appointment.  Making it myself would require using the phone, and this introverted lass doesn't use the phone unless absolutely necessary) with my doctor to have him look at a strange rash all over my back and legs.  Turns out it was a pretty bad Staph infection, so I have been quarantined in my room for the past couple of weeks with nothing to do but read and search Amazon Instant Video for movies to take my mind off the itching.  One of the movies I tried was the chick flick "So Undercover" with Miley Cyrus (I was REALLY bored, don't judge) and the twenty-three minutes I watched of it gave me a lot to think about.  The main character is a tough, foul mouthed, slouchy young woman who spends her days riding a motorcycle around her town and working as a private investigator.  One day an FBI agent shows up and offers her a job where she would be working undercover as a

Greed, avarice and envy are all at the root of contradiction with the Tenth Commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods” (Ex 20:17). With greed, there aren’t enough earthly goods to satisfy us. We’ll always want more. Remember the old line, “keeping up with the Joneses?” With greed, we must always have more, or better, than the Joneses. Avarice, on the other hand, is an inordinate desire to accumulate wealth. One can never have enough money. And then there’s envy; the inordinate desire to want what someone else has, simply because they have it and you do not. All three – greed, avarice and envy – try to fill holes that only God can fill. All three have at their root in the sin of pride. Battling with Greed, Avarice and Envy If we don’t have the latest gadgets, if we don’t have enough money, what will people think of us? Will they think less of us? Our pride drives us to... Read more...

        The past few days have been very hard for our people, specially in the far away towns where help does not arrive quickly. Please help in any way you can! For the emergency has passed but the reconstruction just begins... and most of the ones that los

Jesus said we should always pray. Our Lord gave us pointers about prayer, too: the parable of the persistent widow and another about the pharisee and the tax collector. That's in Luke 18:1 - 14 . Maybe someone's taken those verses and decided it means that Christians should be saying prayers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or at least until our voices give out or we drop from exhaustion. I'm pretty sure that's not what our Lord had in mind. Prayer is important, though. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Nice to meet you all! My name is Hilary Thompson and I am so excited to join this family of bloggers. I am a mother of two little boys (and more to come, I'm sure) and an organist on weekends. I have a special love for the music of the Old Rite and the Big Green Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Please stop by my blog,  "Messy Buns and Latin Chant" .  From "Thank God I am a Catholic" Catholics have a monopoly on Truth. We don't have to just say, "We believe that this is true", we can also say, "We know this is true." Jesus told us that He is "the Truth" (John 14:6) and that He left His Church the fullness of Truth. While we may not completely understand the teachings of the Church at all times, we have the surety that Her teachings are infallible and will always lead us to God. The Truth we have is not something stagnant or quiet. The Truth of Christ is something that challenges us to learn, grow, evangelize, and figh

The Red Vineyard, Van Gogh [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales) Gospel Matthew 20:1-16a ( NRSV,CatholicEdition ) Jesus told his disciples this parable: ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of

A nation's schools are returning to traditional values. Whether that's good or bad news depends partly on how you see what we've learned since about 1859. I think we've learned more about how the universe works, and that this is good news. We haven't consistently made good use of the knowledge, but that's our problem. We've made good and bad use of everything we've learned, from using fire to writing blogs. Whether it's good or bad depends on us, not fire or the Internet. And that's another topic. Two scientists studied an ichthyosaur that had been used as a wall decoration. What they learned adds to what we're learning about those critters. I think that's worthwhile. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

In the midst of preparing for a religious vocation, God surprised me.  He upended my life in a single day when I met Michael, my future husband. I was secretly disappointed I was not going to be a nun because I imagined myself embracing a heroic calling. I literally felt a sinking feeling when I surrendered my grandiose schemes and dreams, even though I knew without a doubt marriage to this man was the will of God. Now, I have to laugh because m arriage is a powerful vocation with the potential to transform us into saints continue

So, you think you know what it means to steal? Why, it is the taking of another’s property against the owner’s will, right? Yes, but stealing also includes: vandalism, cheating on exams, reporting more payroll hours than actually worked, wasting time at work, price gouging, shoplifting ,” 1   as well as, finding things of value and not returning them to the rightful owner. Let’s also include: “failure to pay taxes and bills, overspending the money of another person, failing to put in an honest day’s work, and reneging on a business contract.” 2   Let’s finish off this massive list with the well known actions of robbery and excessive gambling. This laundry list of 13 different actions sum up how to violate the Seventh Commandment: “You shall not steal” (Ex 20:15). You thought you were scot-free because you never held anyone at gunpoint and took their watch and money, or because you never robbed a bank, right? Well... Read more...

The centennial year of Our Lady of Fatima is coming to a close. Therefore, for today’s blog, I offer a few frivolous facts about Mary. For heavier explanations, see my previous blogs about our Blessed Mother or read one of my bestselling books The Catholic Companion to Mary , which has theology as well as “tidbits” of information.  For starters: A candidate for a religious men’s community showed up one morning with blue hair.  The novice director inwardly groaned, but then the lad explained, “I dyed it blue in honor of Mary. Today is her feast day.”  click to continue

I love a good young adult, coming of age story. And... I hate a bad one. There's been a weird phenomenon lately, where most of the ones I've see on-screen have been falling into the latter category. After watching (part of) the Netflix “ 13 Reasons Why ” series, I was beginning to doubt I'd ever find anything similar to my good old young adult favorites – movies like Mean Girls , or Juno , or Bring It On (only the first one!) that are about growing up but are well-done enough that adults like them too (or maybe even more). So when Netflix's original movie #RealityHigh showed up on their new release list, I was hopeful but had my doubts... Continue Reading

Human love demands a total self-giving of one to another within the covenant of marriage. There is no room for self-gratification, or for expressions of sexual intercourse aside from the conjugal act within marriage. For when these things happen, they are not based on love. Rather, they are based upon deception and a misuse of one’s own sexuality. Actions such as these, linked to the Ninth Commandment, diminish the dignity of all parties involved. Innately, we all know this, because God has infused within each one of us His Natural Law of right versus wrong. Yet, we still commit the sins against Chastity. Sins Against Chastity We know that to practice Chastity, we are to refrain from engaging in sexual relations with someone other than one’s own spouse. When we do not refrain from doing so, we commit the sins of... Read more...

A MUST-READ STORY FOR ALL MOTHERS ... AND FOR EVERY ONE ELSE TOO ... CLICK HERE

The neighborhood parish took a second collection again today. This week's was to help folks hit by Hurricane Irma. The one before that was for those affected by Harvey. Folks in the Caribbean, Gulf Coast, and Florida weren't the only ones dealing with disaster recently.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Quite a few parts of the Bible don't talk about forgiveness. But quite a few do, and they're not just in the New Testament. This morning's second reading doesn't mention forgiveness directly, but the verse right after it does. They all say why forgiving is a good idea. It's enlightened self-interest, in the long run.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Back when I was in college I remember experiencing debilitating fatigue and muscle weakness. I thought I was just being lazy. After I had my second kid, it got worse. Again, I thought I was just being lazy.  There were days I couldn't even pull myself off the couch. One day that was particularly awful, I heard the Lord tell me that I had a physical illness. He also showed me some other stuff which you can read about  here . That began the long road to getting answers. Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns>

The Gospel for the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is the passage in which Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the Beloved Disciple, both stand at the foot of the Cross. Some Catholic artists have depicted Mary sobbing, prostrate on the ground but  the women and the Beloved Disciple stood together with courage, at the foot of the Cross. continue reading

St Peter in Penitence, El Greco [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India, Ireland) Gospel Matthew 18:21-35 ( NRSV, Anglicised Catholic Ed ) Then Peter came and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. ‘For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him th

The Cassini-Huygens mission ends this week, after 13 years in orbit around Saturn. Scientists found answers to some questions they had, and uncovered new questions. I think they'll be studying Cassini's and Huygens' data for years. Decades. I'll take a quick look at what we've learned, and why scientists want follow-up missions to the Saturn system. The Enceladan subsurface ocean wasn't a complete surprise. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

  Para muchos jóvenes, no parece fácil hablar de matrimonio, pareciera que no tienen en entre sus prioridades casarse, quizá, por rehuir al compromiso, quizá por tener altas y diversas expectativas. Quizá ambas o alguna otra…. La verdad es que los jóvenes que llegan al matrimonio son siempre menos.   Esto es un hecho: los jóvenes ¡no quieren casarse! ¿Por qué los jóvenes no se casan? ¿Por qué a menudo prefieren una convivencia y tantas veces “a responsabilidad limitada”? ¿Por qué muchos – también entre los bautizados – tienen poca confianza en el matrimonio y en la familia? Es importante tratar de entender, si queremos que los jóvenes puedan encontrar el camino justo para recorrer. ¿Por qué no tienen confianza en el matrimonio?  

IMPORTANT NEW RESEARCH CLICK HERE

Adultery has no place in God’s plan for how He defines marriage. That is why it is clearly spelled out in the Sixth Commandment: “ You shall not commit adultery ” (Ex 20:14). We can go all the way back to Genesis, and read about the creation of man and woman. It is here that we learn of God’s plan for marriage. We see that Adam and Eve were created in a state of union and love with God. God blessed them, saying to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ (Genesis 1:28)   By God’s design, through the complementarity of male and female, along with the gift of sexuality, humans may procreate. This design is further clarified later in Genesis, where it states: That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two become one body (Genesis 2:24).   Not only do the couple become one body through the conjugal act, but they unite their love for each other, as Adam and Eve’s love was united with God, before the fall. Also, take note of the usage of the word

My newest book is out: “I Am Going . . . : Reflections on the Last Words of the Saints” (89 of them!) published by ACTA Publications.  It has lovely full-page portraits of 14 of these saints. I thought you might enjoy reading the introduction . . . and be interested enough to purchase the book, which is $12.95!  By the way, the intriguing title “I Am Going” is taken from the last words of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity: “I am going to Light, Love, and Life.” Click to continue

I'm not really a comic-book geek or anything, and yet I admit that I was fairly excited for the Netflix original “The Defenders” series to premier. Mostly I think I was just hoping for some more of the material I loved in the “ Daredevil ” series, and hoping for none of the cheesiness that I very much didn't love in the “ Iron Fist ” series. As for the two other characters featured in “The Defenders,” we never watched “Jessica Jones” after hearing that there was a scenario in it that totally condoned abortion and would have really pissed me off; and “Luke Cage” we tried but didn't get through a whole episode before deciding that it just wasn't appealing enough to go back to. So, as excited as I was for “The Defenders,” I wasn't quite sure what to expect... Continue Reading

Hi there, ya'll! =) Don't you just love it when your favorite store has a huge sale??? Few things make me happier (okay, that may be a  slight  exaggeration, haha) than seeing an email in my inbox telling me about a big sale coming up somewhere that I love to shop.  A couple of weeks ago, Neesee's Dresses sent me one of those oh-so-happy emails to let me know they were having some great deals to celebrate Labor Day.  I had originally intended to only get one Maxi dress for my family's upcoming vacation, but when I saw all the prices and deals (including TWO FREE DRESSES, YA'LL), I ended up with several Maxi dresses, and two new Midi dresses.  I've never written a haul post before, but I think this will qualify nicely, and I can share some of my ideas for styling each dress with you all!

Oh, there are so many ways to violate the Fifth Commandment! Did you know that? Besides murder, we can violate this commandment as follows, via showing a disrespect for others in the form of …anger, hatred, abusive language, resentment, omissions in service, racism, and failures to treat enemy oppressors with love. Revenge or vindictiveness also has no place in the heart of a Christian .” 1   After reading this list, are you like me? Are you having a “whoa” moment, thinking about all the times when you got unjustly angry because of greed or pride? Are you saying “ouch” when you realize that you think you’re better than others, only to learn that you are not (hatred and racism)? How about when you resented someone for getting something you wanted, and envy reared its ugly head? More Ways to Violate the Fifth Commandment! It gets even worse! We can violate the Fifth Commandment by showing a disrespect for ourselves, when we commit... Read more...

The good news is that folks on the Gulf Coast probably won't be affected by Hurricane Irma. Not directly. Cleanup and rebuilding there is taking a back seat to news of this weekend's hurricane and Mexico's major earthquake. I'll be talking about this week's disasters, and how folks deal with them. Also faith, reasonable and otherwise, and a little science.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

ARE YOU STUBBORN? ALWAYS DOING WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT? NEVER DO AS SUGGESTED TO YOU? WELL ... I BET YOU WILL NOT CLICK ON THIS

Marie Constantin, the photographer, and author of  Finding Calcutta: Memoirs of a Photographer understands   images have power, more power than words alone to impact lives. I recently spoke with Marie Constantin, who has photographed some of the world’s worst slums in Calcutta, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Tijuana where she discovered beautiful nuns, serving with joy. “Mother Teresa and all the nuns I was privileged to be around or write about stole my heart forever.  I gave it back in this book”. continue reading

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Prayer before a Meal, Adriaen Jansz van Ostade[ Web Galle ry For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them (Matthew 18:20). Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel Matthew 18:15-20 ( NRSV, CatholicEdition ) Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever

  Seguro que todos estamos orgullosos de ser mexicanos. Pero actuamos de manera incongruente.   Nos denigramos unos a otros por nuestra diferente forma de demostrar nuestra mexicanidad. Cualquiera que nos mira sin saber nuestras particularidades podría decir que somos un país singular. Y es muy cierto: ¡todos somos guadalupanos! Somos un pueblo de múltiples costumbres, diferentes tradiciones, diversas herencias culturales, distintas lenguas, heterogéneas maneras de vestir, interesantes maneras de expresión artística, amenas tertulias y entretenidas maneras de divertirnos.   Contamos con una cocina mundialmente famosa, con una música que nos caracteriza, con un folklor muy particular, con increíbles coloridos en nuestros trajes regionales, con bailes y fiestas muy reconocidas según la región en las que se celebran. Tenemos también un gran bagaje antropológico y colonial, una diversidad de lenguas y costumbres y una historia, que aunque en ocasiones ha sido malamente reseñada

I nearly missed an interesting development in SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Interesting, and as newsworthy as most Stephen Hawking stories, but probably not significant. Professor Hawking didn't start chatting with aliens over the Labor Day weekend. That would be major news. But an outfit he's connected with will be listening to FRB 121102. I think it's likely that they'll collect useful data, and that this isn't a prelude to 'first contact.' Other scientists say they've spotted several planets orbiting Tau Ceti. Two of them may be just inside that star's habitable zone. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

In his book,  Small is Beautiful,  Schumacher said, "Although people go on crying out for solutions, they become angry when they are told that the restoration of society must come from within and not from without." The evil that we read about daily in our newspapers or see on our television screens is but the outward projection of the evil that is firstly conceived and spawned within the human heart and mind. That is why, when she was asked how to combat the woes of the world, St Catherine of Siena said, "The trouble with the world is me." It is all too easy to blame God, or ask why he does not prevent evil when it tears our lives apart, or the lives of the innocent for whom we can do nothing but offer sympathy. But the truth of the matter is that God is at all times poised to possess anyone who is open to receive the love that only he can give. It is this love that brings the profound inner peace that Jesus promised on the night before he died, so that it can