Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Have you ever wondered how anyone can be a pacifist during a time of war?  Are you interested in Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement?  What about capitalism?  Is it working for you?  What is personalism?  Today I "dive into the weeds" with Amanda Daloisio, one of the managing editors of the original Catholic Worker newspaper, begun in 1933.  I welcome your thoughts and comments.  Enjoy the video!  It can be found on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/BpV4prKB58k Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ reflectionsinfaith/

  Check out this link to learn about my upcoming video! This is one you won't want to miss!  https://youtu.be/roBQ3dysSqQ  Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith    

  My husband and I had an evening to ourselves so we decided to have dinner in a quaint, nearby town. Afterward, we took a walk and enjoyed the bright lights already lit for Christmas. We walked past a kid of about 12 years old sitting on a bench. He asked me if we would like to hear Jingle Bells for a dollar. I politely declined and we kept on walking. My first thought was how enterprising this young man was. As we walked on, I wondered if maybe he had an amazing voice, because I couldn't imagine anyone offering to do that if they didn't. Maybe we really missed out on something, I don't know. Later, as I was thinking about it, I was saddened a little by the exchange. I'm not sure why, but I guess the idea of paying to hear a Christmas song didn't seem quite right. Every year when Christmas arrives before Thanksgiving, I have resisted it. It's just for stores to make more money. It's just to give people longer to buy more of what they don't need...

Looks like word is getting around, among historians at any rate, that the "Dark Ages" weren't an abyss of superstition and ignorance. I see that as good news, and recommend reading the rest of Meg Leja's Smithsonian Magazine article. I've highlighted parts of this excerpt, and talked (briefly, for me) about the medical angle of post-Roman Europe under Respecting Ancient Authorities: Above and Beyond the Call of Reason .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (The Medieval roots of modern medicine: excerpt from a Smithsonian Magazine article, how I see monastic medicine and the Renaissance.)

  I was listening to Bishop Robert Barron's Classic Sunday Sermon, "You Must Rethink Your Spiritual Life," where he reminds us that we do not have to go looking for God: "He isn't playing hard to get, staying at a distance. He's hovering right over our hearts." When I was working and people would come to the Church sensing they were missing something and inquiring about becoming Catholic, I would always point out to them that although it seems that they are the ones initiating their search for God, it is actually God who brought them to the church. This is along the lines of what Bishop Barron was saying, except, in his video he goes on to encourage us to put aside all that is in the way of our letting God into our lives. The image he used was for us to imagine God knocking on our door, but because of all of the stuff (our preoccupations, distractions, desire for wealth, power and honor) that we have settled around the door, we cannot get it open to let...

105 years ago, a bunch of VIPs signed off on stopping the debacle we call World War I. The November 11, 1918, armistice was a very big deal at the time; and still is. Although for different reasons. Here in the United states, we called November 11 Armistice Day until 1954. Then it was re-named Veterans Day. It's related to Remembrance/Poppy Day and Volkstrauertag. 1 Veterans Day was and is a time to remember and honor all who have served in my country's armed forces. That strikes me as a good idea.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (This is a day when we honor those who have served in the armed forces. I look at current events, why armed force can be necessary, and a Pogo comic strip.)

  I was driving home on a dark, cloudy day and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen cued up in my song list. How depressing. Together with the clouds, I had this sense of sadness, which actually only lasted until the end of the song, thank goodness. Words (and music) can be so powerful. I decided to look up the meaning of the song and I read everything from the desire to let it vaguely stand so that everyone could personalize their own interpretation, to a self-revealing expression of Freddie Mercury's struggles with his sexuality. To me, his personal struggle makes a lot of sense, as it suggests that he is killing his old self and realizes how painful it is going to be for his mom. That he has, indeed, "gone and thrown it all away." Many of us really have no idea the personal struggles people carry within them. And, if we do, all too often we have no idea how to help. I know this may be an oversimplification, but, if you have no idea how to help someone in pain, the one thing...