Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I posted this piece at The Feminine Gift.

Yesterday I was a time traveler, myself and 30 or more others stood or sat freezing on a cold Cardiff day and for a span we were in pre-reformation Wales. As our presiding Priest said in his homily, this building is normally a shadow of a church, without its congregation and the services of a Priest it isnt a church, but today we join with the generations of people for whom this church was a part of the story their lives and a memorial to their souls, For an hour it was a church again. The service was organised by the Cardiff University Chaplincy, and has becom an annual event for the Saturday after St Teilos day (9th Feb) The figure of St Teilo astride his faithfull white deer can be seen to the left of the altar in the picture below.  A small group were singing Byrds Mass for three voices, in Latin in the chancel of  St Teilo's Church which is as near as modern archaeological skill can make it a church rebuilt and decorated to what it was before The Kings Great Matter...

When you think of how God calls us to be the first teachers of our children, what can a father teach his daughter if he decides to act like a teenager himself? There is a much talked about viral video of a disgruntled father shooting his daughters laptop, the message he records for his daughter is entitled: Facebook Parenting for the Troubled Teen. Right there you can imagine that there is more to this story, and its not a good a story. The father is clearly sick and tired of his daughter and her actions. It can be surmised from the very scant evidence that he is not too pleased with his daughters friends. All of this is something that parents deal with on a daily, week, sometimes hourly basis. There is no house, no parent, no family...read the whole post  here

Readings  (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Mark 1:40-45 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: 'If you want to' he said 'you can cure me.' Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. 'Of course I want to!' he said. 'Be cured!' And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured. Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, 'Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.' The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived. Even so, people from all around would come to him. An Soiscéal Marcas 1:40-45 (G...

The young man was showing his friend something on his cell phone. "What are you looking at?" I asked him. "It's my brother. A picture of my brother learning to walk," he told me, looking up with a big smile.   Read more here....

Talking with my sister-in-law, a maternity ward nurse, the other day about the new Health and Human Services mandate (HHS), I was curious about how things are going since she works at a Catholic hospital.  She told me her hospital is totally orthodox and perform no procedures that would hurt/prevent/end life at all.  There is a place across the street patients go to have their tubes tied after delivering their decidedly last child, but no pills, procedures are done in the hospital.  I was happy to hear that and she also said the doctors she works for would not want to be part of the other industry.  She knows fellow nurses that went over to the state hospital looking for more money and opportunities and came back saying that "they couldn't do what was required of them there."  There, they do all procedures, no questions asked.  They told her that women (her words "rich bitches") would come in there for abortions because t...

Church debate: Who'd be a bishop? - UK Politics - UK - The Independent the post I wanted to post, has been lost due to computer problems so as an interesting look at our Anglican bretherens problems I recomend the above article!

Ministry has grown exponentially since 1967. 'As long as we have poor to feed, we will need deacons,' says Chicago official. By Jim Graves The Church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council this year — and the 45th anniversary of the restoration of the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church. Pope Paul VI released an apostolic letter, Sacrum Diaconatus Ordinem in 1967, after a recommendation made by the bishops of the Council. The permanent diaconate has since had a major impact on the Church in dioceses around the world, as the number of deacons has steadily grown. Also, as time passes, Church leadership is able to reflect on the proper role of the deacon and help the laity come to a proper understanding of it. The diaconate has its roots in the very early Church. The Book of Acts relates that the first seven deacons, “filled with the Spirit and wisdom,” were ordained by the apostles to assist them in performing corporal works of mercy ...

Click here to sign and tell the Administration know that this mandate cannot stand. The present Administration, through the Health and Human Services Department, is mandating that all employer healthcare insurance plans provide coverage for procedures which violate the beliefs of the Catholic Church, and Catholic institutions. Basically, the new rules require the Catholic Church, and the institutions operating faithfully under the aegis of the Church, to provide coverage for contraceptive drugs and procedures. This requirement violates the beliefs of the Church. Never before has the United States Government deigned to represent "transcendental truth" on matters of conscience for any religion within these United States. That in itself is unprecedented, which is also why it is unconstitutional. ]

View from the Domestic Church: Meeting Jesus at the "Well" of Prayer

http://www.theholyrosary.org/maryundoerknots for anyone saying the Novena with me for their own intentions here is the link to the site for the last three days. I have already found help and comfort in Our Lady undoer of knots, I pray that you will too.

Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots - Day 6 1. Make the sign of the cross 2. Say the Act of Contrition. Ask pardon for your sins and make a firm promise not to commit them again. my God I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell. But most of all, because I offended you, oh my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots - Day 6 1. Make the sign of the cross 3. Say the first 3 decades of the Rosary. 4. Make the meditation of the day (to be posted each day) 5. Say the last 2 decades of the rosary 6. Finish with the Prayer to Our Lady the Undoer of Knots Meditation for Day 6 Queen of Mercy, I entrust to you this knot in my life...and I ask you to give me a heart that is patient until you undo it. Teach me to persevere in the living word of Jesus, in the Euch...

I've become fascinated with a blog called "One for the Journey," written by a woman named Carrie who lives and works at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, at the bottom of the world. Her writing is detailed and clear. I feel like I am right there with her as she stands in awe of the landscape and also knits to pass time. Her photographs are spectacular. I learned from Carrie's blog the other day that Antarctica includes a statue of our Blessed Mother, called "Our Lady of the Snows," A.K.A. "Roll Cage Mary."  It is a memorial to a man who died when his bulldozer fell through the ice. In 1995, the statue was restored by a group of Carmelite nuns from Christchurch, New Zealand. Read more here

The Association of Catholic Women is now on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/CathWom

Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots - Day 5 1. Make the sign of the cross 2. Say the Act of Contrition. Ask pardon for your sins and make a firm promise not to commit them again. 3. Say the first 3 decades of the Rosary. 4. Make the meditation of the day (to be posted each day) 5. Say the last 2 decades of the rosary 6. Finish with the Prayer to Our Lady the Undoer of Knots Meditation for Day 5 Mother, Undoer of Knots, generous and compassionate, I come to You today to once again entrust this knot...in my life to you and to ask the divine wisdom to undo, under the light of the Holy Spirit, this snarl of problems. No one ever saw you angry; to the contrary, your words were so charged with sweetness that the Holy Spirit was manifested on your lips. Take away from me the bitterness, anger and hatred which this knot has caused me. Give me, o dearest Mother, some of the sweetness and wisdom that is all silently reflected in your heart. And just as you were present at Pentecost, ask Jesus to...

Last night, as I sat in bed with my MacBook, logging end-of-quarter grades for my students, our 12 year old came into our bedroom and asked if I could look something up for him for Chemistry homework. At his request, I typed in "why is iron found in the earth's crust?" Here is what we discovered. "Every iron atom in existence, anywhere in the universe, was formed in the cataclysmic death of a supernova star." Read more here

A few days ago a friend asked me to rebut this argument that she received in an e-mail loop discussion.  - I was happy to comply!  The comments in yellow are from a member of the loop who supports the Obama administration mandates.   My reply follows. While I respect your right to have an opinion, belief and even a faith with regard to your religious beliefs - I think it is important to remember that this mandate, by the Health and Human Services Department, does absolutely nothing to force you or any other religious person to do anything against their will - to themselves. What it does do is guarantee that people who CHOOSE to use such medications, whether for birth control, at the advice of their medical doctor or in the event of a rape etc. will have the same access - independent of whether their community is served by a Catholic hospital or a public hospital. It makes sure that Catholic's have the choice to access such services through their employer"s health insu...

Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots - Day 4 1. Make the sign of the cross Oh my God I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell. But most of all, because I offended you, oh my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen 3. Say the first 3 decades of the Rosary. 4. Make the meditation of the day (to be posted each day) 5. Say the last 2 decades of the rosary 6. Finish with the Prayer to Our Lady the Undoer of Knots Meditation for Day 4 Dearest Holy Mother, you are generous with all who seek you, have mercy on me. I entrust into your hands this knot which robs the peace of my heart, paralyzes my soul and keeps me from going to my Lord and serving Him with my life. Undo this knot in my love...., O mother, and ask Jesus to heal my paralytic faith which gets down hearted with the stones on the r...

St Francis at Prayer , Murillo, painted 1645 -50 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Gospel Mark 1:29-39 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon's mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped, her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was. In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there...

By  Mark Shea A bishop gives the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to an autistic child at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Feb. 11, 2008. CNS photo We Sheas tend toward the hefty end of the spectrum. Some of that is genetics. Some of it is how the family tends to relate to food and (fails) to govern its appetites. Sin has a generational aspect to it. And sin is, among other things, enslaving (as anybody struggling with addiction will tell you). That’s why, after nearly fifty years of grappling with my renegade appetites and watching my weight balloon into dangerous obesity, I finally (after my priest suggested it) asked for the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick a few years ago. The result was uncanny. Quite simply, my appetite for sweets simply died and my appetite for other foods became, for the first time in my life, manageable. It doesn’t mean I didn’t still have a long struggle ahead of me. But suddenly the strugg...

1. Make the sign of the cross 2. Say the Act of Contrition. Ask pardon for your sins and make a firm promise not to commit them again. Oh my God I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell. But most of all, because I offended you, oh my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen 3. Say the first 3 decades of the Rosary. 4. Make the meditation of the day (to be posted each day) 5. Say the last 2 decades of the rosary 6. Finish with the Prayer to Our Lady the Undoer of Knots Meditation for Day 3 Meditating Mother, Queen of heaven, in whose hands the treasures of the King are found, turn your merciful eyes upon me today. I entrust into your holy hands this knot in my life...and allthe rancor and resentment it has caused in me. I ask Your forgiveness, God teh Father, for my sin. Help me now t...

I am quite sure you are all well aware by now... SGK has ceased to provide grants to Planned Parenthood. They are quite simply put, under attack! Please, now is the time to show them your support.  We do not want them to go back on their RIGHT Decision. For more on this, please click here . You can simply go to their FB Page and let them know that you Support them 100%; or, if you have the means, Support them Financially. God Bless You in †JMJ†

Everywhere I have gone, all the Blogs that I have the opportunity to visit, the social-networking sites, everywhere...it is quite rampant... We need Jobs! I have come across this Prayer to St. Joseph, whom among other things is the Patron Saint for...you guessed it, Work.  He's not St. Joseph the Worker for Nuthin'! 9 Days.   A Simple Novena.  I Pray you also find your Vocation, not just a Job... God Love You ♥   Powerful Novena to Saint Joseph (Over 1900 years old) O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong,  so prompt before the Throne of God,  I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession  and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings  through Jesus Christ, Our Lord;  so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power  I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I neve...

Today while praying day 2 of this blessed Novena to Our Lady I am concentrating on the knots of life that involve my relationship's with other family members. Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots - Day 2 1. Make the sign of the cross 2. Say the Act of Contrition. Ask pardon for your sins and make a firm promise not to commit them again. 3. Say the first 3 decades of the Rosary. 4. Make the meditation of the day (to be posted each day) 5. Say the last 2 decades of the rosary 6. Finish with the Prayer to Our Lady the Undoer of Knots Meditation for Day 2 Mary, Beloved Mother, channel of all grace, I return to You today my heart, recognizing that I am a sinner in need of your help. Many times I lose the graces you grant me because of my sins of egoism, pride, rancor and my lack of generosity and humility. I turn to You today, Mary, Undoer of knots, for You to ask your Son Jesus to grant me a pure, divested, humble and trusting heart. I will live today practicing these virtues and of...