Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Patience in an up-tempo world – what a contradiction! The technology advances of the 20 th century created an expectation for obtaining things NOW. With that, the virtue of patience seems to have fallen by the wayside. Does anyone even remember what it was like to be patient? Remember when you had to wait for the new school year to start to get some new clothes and shoes? Or do you remember waiting until your birthday to get that toy you really wanted? Or best yet, do you remember in the “olden” days when you actually waited until you saved… Read more...

Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970) A Prophet for our Time O Jesus, I Surrender Myself to You On November 19, 1970 Don (Fr) Dolindo Ruotolo died at the age of 88.  Padre Pio once said of this priest from Naples, Italy, "The whole of paradise is in your soul".  His name "Dolindo" means "Pain" and his life was rich with this pain.  As a child, a teenager, a seminarian and a priest, he experienced humiliation which was the realization of the prophetic words of a bishop who said, "You will be a martyr, but in your heart, not with your blood." In his profound humility, he was able to hear the words of God. Read More at:: Prayerfully Yours

Every now and then, we are given those moments where we glimpse an aspect of ourselves embodied distinctively in the rather small bodies of our children. We are reckoned with the fact that for better or worse, they have assumed a bit of our personality, abilities, perspective or approach to life. Today, I stood in wonder and amazement, as I held the pages of my ten year old Thomas’ personal poetry anthology in my own hands. Amidst the collection of poems centered on the theme of buildings was this one which caught me completely by surprise and left me speechless. Read More..

On June 10th, the Pope’s Wednesday general audience continued his catecheses on the family, focusing on the theme of sickness and suffering. Man experiences his own fragility primarily in the family, first as a child and, then, as an elderly person.While family sickness presents obvious challenges, it can also be a source of quiet strength and deepening faith. Pope Francis stresses that we must ” educate children as little ones to solidarity in the time of sickness because, - See more at: http://www.catholiclane.com/front-row-with-francis-how-families-deal-with-illness /#sthash.p4SFT70X.dp u f

Due to the fact that it took me three months before I could set up a time with a friend and my husband to record the talk, we only had time that evening for one take.  Please keep that in mind and try to be kind in your comments and feedback.   I promise I open my eyes and my heart for this talk.  It's also a good reminder of how God is still in the business of miracles, one including reconciling with my dad.  

On June 21 (through July 4) begins the third annual  Fortnight for Freedom .  This year's theme is the Freedom to Bear Witness. Please read the rest of the article at Being Catholic ... Really .

Fear has no place in the heart, because it doesn’t come from God. Fear is used by the devil to keep us from doing God’s will. The devil will attempt to make us doubt our abilities, especially the ability to be courageous. How do we effectively shut the devil out and listen only to God? How do we become courageous?We start with these five steps: Pray Ask the Lord to make His presence known to you in your heart; so that you know He is always with you, and will never leave you. “ Fear not, I am with… Read more...

As a Mathematician I have a great hunger for knowledge.  I seek knowledge in Mathematics like a bulldog would, I dig in, latch on, and don't let go until I have what I want.  Because this is the method I have used to acquire knowledge, it was no surprise that I would employ these same techniques when it came to seeking after God.     It is written,  "there is no one who seeks God" , well I did.   I went after God, and sought Him diligently  and by God's grace I will tell what I found.  ..... TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

If you could, Would you? If you could be told the date, time, place and method of your death, would you want to know? Would you want to know if you would face death alone or be held in the warm embrace of your family? Would this knowledge impact your life?  Would you seek to change?  Would you look for God or live with abandonment, not caring what you did, only seeking worldly pleasures before you died? If you knew that, as you walked out the door that morning,  you would never return home again, would you walk out that door?  If you knew that tomorrow you would die, what would you do? Other than this moment, this second, we are not guaranteed another moment of life.  Do you praise God and thank Him for His great gift  of life?  As I have aged, I have come to realize what an amazing gift life is.  I have been given so many chances to right the wrongs.  Each day gives me that gift.  Each day I am granted the opportunity ...

A cloistered heart accepts God’s grace to love Jesus Christ in the midst of a world that does not love Him, to embrace His will in a world which does not embrace it. Thus the cloistered heart becomes a place of refuge not only for us, but for Christ Himself. To create such a refuge is a primary part of the cloistered heart’s apostolate.        © 1996 Nancy Shuman   thecloisteredheart.org     

Folks have looked up and been impressed for a long time: " 1 Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. " ( Deuteronomy 10:14 ) " The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft. " ( Psalms 19:2 ) That galaxy is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy . Back when I was in high school, a fair number of books I read called it the "Great Andromeda Nebula." More up-to-date books occasionally called it an "island universe." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Children are open to the Spirit in a simple and natural way; I cannot impose adult spirituality on little children because then I am not working in sync with what the Spirit of God is doing in their souls. “Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Children are like sponges; they absorb values, attitudes, culture and spirituality simply through osmosis. However, it goes deeper than that. Children’s spirituality is not simply taught, it rises from within as they listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in their own hearts. Often what came out of our children’s mouths surprised and startled us. Yet both my husband and I were often aware of the deep spirituality that flowed from our children to us as well as from us as parents to our offspring. continue

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Heart of Jesus is found the love of God, our God, Who gave us His Divine Son as expiation for our sins. God loved His children so much, yet, the Heart of Jesus continues to be descecrated and treated with irreverence. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is contained in the Eucharist. How many times have we received His Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity without respect, with irreverence, with distraction? Read more at:: Prayerfully Yours

A Grove of Cedars of Lebanon  [ W ikipedia ] On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar (Ezekiel 17:23 -  First Reading ). Gospel  Mark 4:26-34  ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Editio n Jesus said to the crowds:  “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,   and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how.   The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.   But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it?   It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth;   yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of...

Korea's Team Kaist's DRC-Hubo humanoid robot walked through DARPA's 2015 robot competition: one of three to complete every task on the course without falling over. Meanwhile, Toshiba's (somewhat) lifelike ChihiraAico robot demonstrated 'her' voice in a Las Vegas trade show. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

After moving to the Ottawa Valley with our first child, my new obstetrician was a brilliant, strong, feminist. Although she did have tropical fish and a parrot, she did not have any children of her own; I was an enigma to her as she was to me.   In her office, successful professional women waited for gynecological care and women in their late thirties or early forties, pregnant their first child. Then, I walked through her door for my first visit, pregnant with one toddler on my hip and by my last visit with three or four other children clustered around me.   Enshrined on my doctor’s desk and encased in glass were birth control devices that glared at me every time I sat across from her. After one visit, my obstetrician said, in what I hope was a teasing tone, “Would you quit bringing your beautiful children to my office. Someone always wants a  reversal  (from tubal ligation) after you leave ”. continue

When I was in college I actually spent time discerning the religious life. I visited several convents and even spent 10 days during Lent, leading up to Easter with the  Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr, St. George .  That time with the Franciscan sisters was one of the most powerful spiritual encounters with the Lord I have ever had. The Lord was very tangible there and it seemed like he was physically walking around the convent.  Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns>

As a Youth Minister, I have often tried to explain the gift of the Holy Spirit that is known as Wonder and Awe to teenagers preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation. Also known as  Fear of the Lord,   Wonder and Awe is hard to define.  For me, "Wonder and Awe" seems almost the polar opposite of "Fear", so I tend to leave that part out of my description.  Through the years, the talk has evolved from one that has focused primarily on the beauty of creation ( Awe ) to that of rollercoasters ( Fear ) to trying to explain just how it is that Jesus makes bread and wine into  himself, (Wonder and Awe)  to the very fact that He even chose to create  me  at all ( Wonder ). It wasn't until I picked up a copy of James Martin SJ's  book  Jesus,   and read  the chapter  Storm  that I began to grasp the meaning where  Fear of the Lord  and  Wonder and Awe  actually come from... http://ww...

Who better to write about a time-travelling priest than a priest? And who better to write about the strange and supernatural than a priest whose doctoral dissertation was entitled   How Catholic exorcists distinguish between demon possession and mental disorders ? The Father Capranica Mysteries: Stories of the Strange andSupernatural  by Father Mike Driscoll is the newest title at Bezalel Books—and one we are quite excited to offer! Always looking for a great fiction book that can also educate, Driscoll’s book hits the mark on all fronts. It engages, entertains and educates. Even if you aren’t drawn to the strange and supernatural—but especially is you are—Driscoll deftly weaves these elements into 10 short stories that will draw you in to learn more, all the while resolving the strange and supernatural in a faith-based and satisfying way. The Father Capranica Mysteries is a great read and we’re honored to offer it in  paperback  and  e-book ...

My little book ‘How to Pray’ had been commissioned by a Carmelite publishing house in Prague, as part of a pocket book series concentrating on different aspects of spirituality? I was delighted when it won the prize for the best spiritual book of 2004, and was then translated into twelve foreign languages. When I went to Prague to receive it I was asked to give a lecture on prayer. I was more than half way through it when I was interrupted by a rather angry looking parish priest. He was angry because there had been no mention of the Mass, It was difficult for me to answer, because he did not understand English, so I asked the interpreter to read out the words of the great Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner, who I had quoted at the beginning of the book. The words were these: - ‘The Mass should so form us that the whole of our lives become the Mass, the place where we continually offer ourselves to the Father’. This quotation not only summed what my little book had been written to achieve,...

Be Not Afraid! Have Courage! Not so easy? You ask, “Why should I be the one who acts so courageous? Look around! You don’t see anyone else stepping up to the plate!” Hmm…need I say more? If no one acted courageously, and set the example for others to follow, we would all be swallowed up in fear – and fear comes from the devil. When you lack courage and you are aware of what makes you afraid, it is incumbent upon you to face those fears. For me, I am afraid to take risks for fear of failure. If I... Read more...

Since we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) on Sunday, let's think about the Eucharist. What ever gave Jesus the idea of having bread become him so that we could consume him? Talk about crazy love. Although many faith traditions consider Jesus' words, "This is my body" a figure of speech, we Catholics take it literally. After all, when Jesus multiplied a mere five loaves of bread to fill the stomachs of thousands of people, he flatly declared, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" (John 6:54). His Jewish followers, who even drained blood from their meat, were horrified at this seeming cannibalism. They turned around and left, but Jesus didn't call them back, saying, "Wait a minute. I don't really mean it." In the sacred host and sacred wine, Jesus is truly present as the risen Lord, his glorified body. It is a supernatural mystery. Click to...

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Driving Home from Work. Suddenly I had such a feeling of appreciation of all the times that I had been protected by my Guardian Angel and Saint Michael the Archangel.  I thought I would give thanks to God.  Me:  "Z, my Angel, I know how God has allowed you to protect me in the past when I have gone to battle for souls that are lost, and I thank God and you for this gift.  For  Z, you know I will go to battle again soon, as God wills it." Z: "I will be there."  Me: "I know, and I appreciate that." Z:  "It is not by your appreciation that I serve."  TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE! 

© Ron Chapple Stock/Getty Images It was 3:07 on a glorious afternoon in late May. I was sitting in my car with the power turned off and the windows wide open. The baby was dozing in her car seat while we waited in the car line for the school bell to ring, signifying the end of another busy school year and the beginning of sweet, sweet summer. Read my unique tip for enjoying summer with your children at Praying with Grace !

Courage cannot be denied! Think about that for a moment. Other people can deny you love, joy and peace, but no one can take courage away from you. That is because courage is found only from within. Solely by the grace of God, you have courage when you need it. Courage of Martyrs/Persecuted Christians When I think of courageous people, I first think of martyrs; from the earliest Christians, like the Apostles, to the persecuted Christians of today. They all have one thing in common, the persecutors robbed them of their physical freedom and took their lives because they were... Read more...  

DynamicCatholic.com's  comparison of my spiritual life as a house caught my attention.  Let me answer the questions. You can read the rest of the article at Being Catholic ... Really.

As Catholics, we are often leery of personal revelation because we are afraid of being deceived but, really, do we trust more in the power of God or the devil? Of course, we should be cautious but what are we so worried about?  The Church protects us with the gift of confession, the mystical tradition of the Church, spiritual direction and encourages us to study the bible.  All theses tools act as personal sign posts and safeguards. Like all  Christians, Catholics  have received the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth and to recognize the lies of the devil. continue reading

Do you ever have a moment when your camel's back is broken by a little, tiny straw? Recently, I had a day where I remembered  the post I wrote about anger,  and how much it impacted me. Let me share. I have to tell you honestly that this story almost hurts to tell, because it's vulnerable, for sure,  but...  it is a story  worth sharing,  because it was a teachable moment for me. And it made me think about that anger thing again a lot. For about 24 hours in a row, or so. I had a moment with my husband one night last week. We were talking about my daughter’s year, and how I felt like every time the instructions came for her homework, I didn’t understand one piece of it- a piece that I felt ended up being very, very important. It had to do with one of the subjects my daughter struggles a little in.  I was telling my husband that even though I attended the orientation at the beginning of the year, I felt there was no instruction or preparation f...

I talked about Sauk Centre's Corpus Christi procession last year : and, in another post, background on why this is a special day and what that in the procession is. I put links to that one at the end of this post. (Before Mass, at Our Lady of Angels church. The monstrance is there on the altar, between the candelabras, with its back open.)... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .