Association Of Catholic Bloggers

The Year 2015 is the anniversary of what was perhaps the greatest of the reforming councils. In the same year that Magna Carta was set to reform the political and social institutions in England, the Fourth Lateran Council was set to reform the political, social and spiritual institutions in the Catholic Church. Its unprecedented success was due to the new mendicant orders – the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Carmelites and the Austin Friars, led by saints like St Francis of Assisi, St Dominic, St Anthony of Padua, St, Thomas Aquinas, St Angela of Foligno and so many others. They all inspired the clergy and laity alike to turn back to prayer to enable the Holy Spirit to work through them to return Christendom to the simple Christian spirituality that had once inspired and then transformed a pagan empire into a Christian Empire a thousand years before. Back to prayer was the message that they all both preached and practised so successfully. So that their example should inspire us to

Wishing a Blessed Christmas to all my readers

Would my Christmas Baby always think that his birthday is special or would he feel cheated? Finding out our baby was due on Christmas Day thrilled me beyond measure, but being due on Christmas Day and actually having a  baby on Christmas Day are two different things, and I couldn't help but think, " Really, who has a Baby on Christmas? Certainly, I couldn't be lucky enough!"   However, Christmas morning rolled around, and it became obvious that this would in fact be the big day. The cramps came closer together; the pain became more intense, and I knew we had to go.  At the hospital, we were greeted by a Jewish doctor wearing antlers and a Rudolf nose.  To read the rest, please go to Single Mom Smiling. Thank you for joining me. I wish you a  Very Merry Christmas and, if your birthday also happens to fall on or near Christmas Day, a very  H a p p y  B i r t h d a y !   to you as well! God Bless...

“Be still, and know that I am God!      I am exalted among the nations,      I am exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 Encounter the silence, The silence becomes a prayer. Focus on God, and God alone. In the silence,  fill your heart  with God who lives. Find Him in the quiet of the day and the dark, sacred night. Let Him fill your soul with His wondrous Love. He speaks in the silence. Listen. He speaks to your heart. Listen. His love is a prayer, a gift to you. Encounter the silence. Read More at::  His Unending Love

FATHER FRANCIS MAPLE PLEASE CLICK HERE

  One of my favorite lines from the hymn "O Holy Night" is "the thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices..." After all the cookies are eaten, and gifts are unwrapped, and the memories of the festive celebrations are images on our photos and in our minds, what remains is the hope that is at the heart of our Christmas celebrations. Read more reflections on "The Thrill of Hope"...  

Kepler spotted its first planet since mission planners found a new way to hold the robot observatory steady, earlier this year. Scientists at the Nordic Optical Telescope didn't discover 55 Cancri e: but they're the first to observe the super-Earth from Earth's surface. The planet is too hot for life: but 55 Cancri f is another matter. I'll get back to that. Other scientists are fine-tuning how we can search for life in the universe.... ...Before getting to 55 Cancri e and the search for life in the universe, I'll be rambling on about billions of planets, Genesis, and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Feel free to skip ahead to Planet-Spotting: Nordic Optical Telescope's 'First.' Or take a coffee break, go for a walk: whatever you feel like.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Every Catholic Priest that walks the Earth had a mark placed on him at his conception for the Priesthood.   This is a gift by God as a reflection for what God did for Mary in her womb, because every Priest is her son.  The Priest is not immaculate, but only marked as one chosen for the Priesthood.  This is not a guarantee that he will become a Priest, it is up to God whether or not he is called later.  I am sure that there are a few Priests walking the earth that were not called, although they are very few.  But the Priest, whether called or not will always carry this mark as being chosen to the Priesthood from conception..... To Read More... CLICK HERE!

Be an  everyday evangelizer!   Share the real reason for the season with these free creations.  No matter  whaat your profession is... blogger, secretary, warehouse worker or retired.... use these free images  to share your faith.  Twelve are sized for use as cover images on your facebook page. They could also be used as headers on a blog.    Here are two of the twelve... I have also created companion images sized for instagram  sharing or other social media purposes. To see all  twelve images, please visit me on my Blog - EmbeddedFaith , or on Cyndi  Canva . Wishing you a most blessed Christmas.  

1) Father, I love You… 2) Jesus, Thank You… 3) Sweet Lord, Teach me… 4) Holy Spirit, Inspire me… 5) God, Hear me… 6) Lord, I know You know this… 7) When will things change, Lord? 8) We Praise You… 9) I am nothing.  You are my all! 10) Inspire me, Lord, Read more at:: His Unending Love

I discovered Advent is a special time for pregnant women when two of my pregnancies were during this season. I really did identify with the pregnant Mary. For one thing I was relieved I did not go to the hospital, huge, uncomfortable and ready to deliver on the back of a donkey! I try to be grateful for big mercies. One Advent baby was born on Christmas Eve and the second, my youngest child, on Jan. 7, still in the Christmas season. We had just moved to our new farm with a larger house since I was expecting our ninth child. The oldest children attended a small Catholic school with 10 grades from junior kindergarten to grade 8. One day in December, the  priest led an Advent reflection in the gym and asked the children, “Who is waiting for  the birth of a new brother or sister this Advent?” Five hands went up. “Oh, my isn’t this wonderful”, the priest exclaimed, “So many of you are joining in with Mary, waiting for the birth of a baby!” Then a voice yelled out, “No Father

The Dream of St Joseph ,  Georges De La Tour,  c.1640  Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, Gospel for 18 Dec:  Matthew 1:18-24 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.  But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to  take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy  Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’  All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:   ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,      and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’  When Joseph awo

St Nicholas Resuscitates the Children , Bon Boullogne,  Musée Ingres, Montauban,France[ Web Gallery of Art ] A priest-friend in Canada expressed his thoughts about the present and coming liturgical seasons in a recent email:  It’s Advent again. It’s too bad that the beauty of Advent is lost in the Christmas hype. Sometimes I think that we should give Christmas back to the pagans (from whom we hijacked it) and join the Oriental Churches in celebrating the birth of Jesus on January 6. I'm not quite sure that it would be practical to attempt that, though the Church should consider restoring the Epiphany as a mandatory holyday of obligation throughout the Church. It is such on the universal calendar of the Church but the reality is that in so many countries the bishops have opted for a Sunday celebration of the feast, thereby, I think, diminishing its importance.  Full post  here .  

I've never written a letter to Santa before.  This is my first one. You can read it at Being Catholic ... Really .

First, thank you to all who are praying. I cannot believe the outpouring of love that my middle of the night heart cry has received. God bless you all. I wrote this after my father died. God has always made His presence known during the hardest times. Yesterday, as I was getting back into my car after dropping my two oldest at a friend's home, I found a penny outside my car door that wasn't there when I had gotten out. It reminded me once more of this story, and I had to share. Pennies from Heaven The day my father died was a warm and sunny late spring day.  I awoke to the phone ringing over and over with my cell phone signaling text messages simultaneously.  With my heart and soul I knew there was a problem.  When I finally was awake enough to answer the phone, my sister calmly recounted the events of the early hours and pleaded with me sincerely, but sternly, to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  I at first thought of taking a shower and making

There's a new item on the blogroll : Catholic Bloggers Network Catholic bloggers, making a difference on the World Wide Web I added " Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch " to this year's Catholic Bloggers Advent Linkup. Their 2014 Catholic Bloggers Blitz is another good idea: but I don't remember participating. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Continuing our focus on Mary this Advent, on this, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I’m writing a bit about her story. This should be of interest to all because under this title, the Blessed Mother is the patroness of the Americas, both north and south. In addition, she is relevant today when abortion is an acceptable practice, for Mary appeared to Juan Diego as a pregnant Aztec woman. click to continue

I have a couple of posts that I am writing, and I apologize that it's been a few days since my last post, but I have a favor to ask. My mom's health is failing. After an almost six and a half year long goodbye, it seems that her time really is getting short. Brain cancer always wins in the end. There are so many emotions right now. I pray for a swift and easy death, but it is hard to wish her gone. However, she is suffering so, and it is selfish to want that to continue for the sake of continuing. Source God has been filling my heart and mind with memories of my mom. Read more at Veils and Vocations , and please pray and share.

Children are hungry for affirmation. Children are desperate for love, for family, for an understanding of their place in the world. Children who lack these things grow up hating themselves and wanting to disappear, or forcing others to pay attention to their outrageous displays of addiction or terror. The truth about Christmas provides all the affirmation we need: the only reason we exist is because our God created us out of love; and when we forgot this, God proved his love by becoming one of us. Relentless headlines tell us about school shootings, suicides, rampant drug use, epidemic STDs, teenagers joining terrorist groups. . . . This is not God's plan for us or for our children. And we don't begin to address the crisis by telling children how great they are. We free our children by showing them how great God is. Read more at Praying with Grace .

Tacy Williams Beck is a wife and mother living in  Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is a recent convert to the Catholic Church (Easter 2011), and credits St. Therese of Lisieux and Thomas Merton as being most influential in her conversion.  In addition to reading, sewing, and baking,and she and her husband Stephen love learning more about their Catholic faith everyday. They have 3 girls, aged 6,4, and 2, and one boy age 1.  Tacy also writes about their journey as parents and converts; she writes at  tacywilliamsbeck.com  and  realhousekeeping.com . Thank you for reading!

An interview with Connie Rossini, author of Trusting God with St. Thérèse . Connie gives practical advice for overcoming fears and frustrations that hamper our relationship with God. I asked her about her father-daughter relationship as compared to that of Louis Martin and his daughter St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Nancy: Thérèse was blessed with parents who were “more worthy of heaven than of earth.” Thérèse had a special relationship with her father, who called her, “my Queen.” She formed her image of God from her father who never denied her love, affection and care. How did your father-daughter relationship compare to this? Connie: In some ways, my relationship with my father when I was growing up was miles apart from the relationship between Thérèse and Louis. I am very quiet and reserved. As a child, I was also timid. My dad, in contrast, was outgoing and frank. He was also the primary disciplinarian. My mom often said, "Wait till your dad gets home!" I grew n

It is easy to get caught up in the seasonal frenzy and forget that Christ is at the center of Christmas; so here are ten great ways to put Christ back into Christmas! Purchase cards that say “Merry Christmas” as part of the message; don’t settle for “Happy Holiday” cards! And if it has been a while since you’ve sent Christmas cards, make this the year you start again. Christmas cards with a personal note are a great way to put Christ back into Christmas. Lots of people have service jobs that we often take for granted. Decide which person (or people) you would like to notice at Christmastime and purchase some small gift. Maybe purchase a set of pretty, padded hangers for the school bus driver or a gift card for a coffee shop for the mail carrier. Make sure a Christmas card is included with the gift! This year make sure you have a nativity set for your most used room in the house. The crèche doesn’t have to be large or expensive. A small, inexpensive one put on a pedestal serves

  For some of us, the activities of Advent and Christmas can feel like an intrusion. Day to day life is more or less put on hold by an urgent need to shop and wrap and plan. Chairs and tables are displaced by, of all things, a tree in the middle of our house. There is no time to do ordinary things, as everyday life is seriously disrupted for weeks on end.  It can seem like a major interruption.    A few years ago, the truth of it hit me.  This is what Christmas has been since the instant of the Incarnation: an interruption.  Please stay with me here, because our first reaction to the word “interruption” could be negative.  But interruptions are often quite positive, and this Interruption was the most positive of them all.   Think of it.  Mary was living a quiet, hidden life.  She was betrothed.  Then one day an angel appeared to her, and with that Holy Interruption Mary’s life was changed forever, as was Joseph’s, as was yours, as was mine. As we know, there was a B

Like I said last week, 'tiz the season to be frazzled . It's also a time of year when folks get together with family, including folks like Yogi Yorgesson's "goofy relations:" " ...After dinner my Aunt and my wife's Uncle Louie Get into an argument; they're both awful screwy Then all my wife's family say Louie is right And my goofy relations, they yoin in the fight. Back in the corner the radio is playing And over the racket Gabriel Heater is saying 'Peace on earth everybody and good will toward men' And yust at that moment someone slugs Uncle Ben.... " (" I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas ," via eLyrics.net) Oddly enough, December is generally a month with the fewest suicides each year in America. (" Holiday Suicides: Fact or Myth? ," Injury Prevention & Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (December 31, 2013)) Digging a little deeper, I noticed that those 'December suicides' sta

St John the Baptist , Donatello, 1438 Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice [ 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   John 1:6-8, 19-28   ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”   And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.”   Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. Wh

If you ever dreamed of a Catholic magazine which would capture your children’s interest immediately yet hold it as they delved deeper, look no further than  St. Mary’s Messenger.   This attractive magazine, for 7-12-year-olds, entertains as it deepens faith at the same time. Everything from the colour scheme, the layout and quality of images to the fascinating interactive fun pages tell me that professional staff, who also understand children, put this publication together.   The editors and writers must be parents and/or teachers because they  know what appeals to real kids. Kids can smell a phony, pious publication a mile away, but the tone of  St. Mary’s Messenger  is direct and unpretentious with a  vibrant spirituality that connects with real kids. continue reading

St. Lucy by Francesco del Cossa National Gallery of Art Washington D.C.  History Saint Lucy’s name means “light” and she wanted to serve Jesus and bring His light into the world. However, her mom, who was not a Christian, wanted her to get married to a certain man. Some legends say that Lucy prayed God would cure her mother of a sickness she had for a long time, and when He did, her mother believed, too. But the man Lucy was supposed to marry got angry and turned her into the government for being a Christian. When the soldiers came to arrest her, they thought they’d just pick her up and carry her away, but God made her very, very heavy so they couldn’t.  Activity Even though Lucy lived in Syracuse, the people of Sweden have adopted Saint Lucy – or Saint Lucia as they call her – for their own. Every year on December 13, girls dress up like Saint Lucy in white robes with a red sash and wear wreaths  with white candles on their heads. Then they bring breakfast rolls and coff

The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete Sunday takes its name from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon at Mass which proclaims: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice!" which reads in Latin as "Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete." (Sounds so cool in Latin doesn't it?) Click here to read 7 reasons why I love Gaudete Sunday...

I do not know how I would cope with my life if I were not Catholic. I can easily tell you that I would not cope well. Years of living beforehand would bear that out. Here are some differences in how I get through tough times today vs. during my "heretical" years.  (1) My emotions do not control my decisions as much Free will has to do with making decisions without being driven by emotions. I am making more solid, logical and clear choices now than I ever have before. During my "heretical years," I believed that free will had to do with extricating myself from the oppression of moral obligations in order to be free to follow my feelings. How did that work out for me? Hmm.. I'm writing this... so... (2) I take care to have selfless motives.  When I pursue being of the greatest service to God above the motives for comfort, public opinion or material things, each decision I make has meaning. When I work to make my life a gift to God rather than a gif