Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I've been reading this inspiring book about one woman's journey away from lesbianism. Jeanette Howard, author also has another book "Into the Promised Land" - Beyond the Lesbian Struggle. I find with EIGHT daughters & through engaging with many of their friends that the struggle with same sex attraction is widespread. The "gay scene" is very "fashionable" & even sought after. I would like to discuss this subject in more depth when I get chance & full internet access which we are still waiting for.

I posted this on my own blog a few days ago. My usual readers found it powerful. I have to be honest~ this is one of those posts that felt like it wrote itself so all the credit goes to the Holy Spirit. It must have been something He wanted said. I thought I would share it here with all of you. God Is the Lord The fear of the Lord is honor, and glory, and gladness, and a crown of joy.    The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give joy, and gladness, and length of days.    With him that feareth the Lord, it shall go well in the latter end, and in the day of his death he shall be blessed.     The love of God is honorable wisdom.    And they to whom she shall show herself love her by the sight, and by the knowledge of her great works.  ~Sirach 1:11~15 My morning prayer and meditation today was focused on Fear of the Lord, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I began meditating and reflecting on this gift after reading what  Fr.Alfred Delp  had to say about it. The h

  By Allison Salerno "Mom. Stop blaring your music. I'm trying to read."  So said our 11-year-old yesterday as he lay on the comfy blue couch, reading, and I sat in the nearby armchair, listening on my macbook to my new favorite music: Iron and Wine. His sassy comment was its own kind of music. If you know our son in real life, you know what a triumph this comment is. You see, our son struggles with a language-based learning disability. When he was four, his speech was unintelligible, even to me, his stay-at-home mom. The only person in the world who could understand L. was his older brother, who for years served as a translator for him to the rest of the world.

I had one of those lovely moments of insight and grace yesterday afternoon, which was sorely needed after the second night's disturbed sleep in a row I have been waking up feeling horribly anxious and panicky over Mum moving, and feeling I can't cope, and we haven't got enough time to get things ready! I never feel like this in the day and can always successfully deal with any anxiety very quickly! But at 3.30 in the morning, it is an entirely different experience. I feel overwhelmed, and scared and very anxious. I know all the techniques, and what works for me, but it doesn't seem to work in the middle of the night! I pray, I hand it over to God, I invite the presence of the Holy Spirit into the situation, but my mind keeps returning to whatever is bothering me. I know what the Psalmist meant when he wrote of "the terrors of the night"! In the end, all that really seems to help is to get up, make a cup of tea, sit in the garden (yes, in the we

A criticism has been made that this blog cannot use the name "Catholic" without permission. This is nonsense. This is a blog for Catholic women (and Catholic "others"). No Catholic woman needs special permission to call herself a Catholic, and Canon Law allows us to meet in association without asking permission from the Bishop. The specific permission referred to is for associations which want to identify themselves publicly as Catholic associations or groups - such as a possible new religious orders or an association that may, by its title, be assumed to belong to the institutional Church. Can I not begin a blog for "Catholic priests"? Must I ask permission from my bishop for that? Nonsense. This criticism is based on a false and overly-severe reading of Canon Law. No permission is required for this blog.

By Allison Salerno Last night, when I walked into a house with our teen in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York City, I saw something I've never witnessed: a living room with 30, no maybe 40 happy teenagers, playing guitars and singing. This was a 17th birthday party for a young man in GS (Gioventù Studentesca), the youth group of CL (Communion and Liberation. ) The happy birthday boy was at the electric piano, with his father by his side on the guitar. Where does all this beauty come from? To me, it is a sign of the Holy Spirit moving among us.

Every time that mankind comes up with something positive a negative comes out of the woodwork.I think we are all familiar with the great good the Internet has brought to so many, but sadly the opposite can also be seen so often to rear it's ugly head. With Internet activity as well as the blessing of worldwide communication and friendship has come an ability to the narrow minded and perverse to spread gossip and falsehoods.all the more harmful as the Internet can be such an intimate space in the way it becomes an extentsion of our selves and our homes. The blogg sphere has coined a name for these kind of people who inhabit the internet seemingly with spite and jealousy as their motives though often they start out seemingly as friends. How like the playground bully they become! Setting up their gang, and seeking to sow discord ,often these folk hide their identity,sadly this blogg and some of it's contributors have for some reason become the target for one of these trolls. How

  The Sower , Jean-François Millet, painted 1850 Readings (New American Bible version, used in the Philippines and the USA) Gospel: Matthew 13:1-23 or 13:1-9 (Jerusalem Bible version, used in Australia, England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland)  Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables. He said, 'Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has e

Jackie we can carry on as we are all owners of the blogg with equal Ability to post and edit. Let us carry on in all good faith and humility asking Jesus,Mary and Joseph to aid us.

BBC News - Swallows hatch in Pembrokeshire kitchen lucky lady.

Fiftysomething: !Coming Out : "Well I have decided to go public! I started wearing a scarf at mass on occasions and now I will be wearing a veil at every mass I go to, ..."

This is a photo of my late mother, Audrey, and my sister on our last visit to Lourdes. When my mother died (April 10, 2010), after the initial shock and a brief period of awful grief, I received a wonderful grace which meant that the worst aspects of grief were simply overtaken by immense gratitude and a great sense of peace. It is not just an emotional thing - it has lasted until now and has brought with it a deeper appreciation of the gift of motherhood - a gift of huge and unique importance for the world and the Church. One of the touching things that brought this home was a card we found in my mother's prayer books which has a picture of the Visitation on one side and a special request to Our Lady to look after a mother's children on the other. In that prayer there is a space where a mother might write the names of her children. Of course, there we are, the three of us. Two other things happened which were obviously a preparation for her death. On my last anniversary of ord

Sadly one of our blog authors has been removed from posting on this Guild due to mentioning the ACWB. Apparently a woman objected & was of the opinion that the ACWB was set up in opposition to this guild. I can catagorically state that the ACWB was something I have long been planning. I love many of the American forums on true Catholic feminity & womanhood & a lot of British women are superb inspiration as Catholic women, mothers, grandmothers etc. Perhaps the ACWB differs also in not discussing Liturgical issues & preferences. We don't have stipulations as to what kind of Catholic/Christian women can join.The forum is proving enormously successful. Quite a few of our blog authors appear regularly on EWTN. We have 62 followers & 36 authors. We discuss our faith, families, difficulties etc & provide support. we are blessed in having 3 priest authors who provide much spiritual inspiration. I would like to invite any women who write for the Guild to join us in

Les is actually in surgery today! Many thanks for the prayers.

heart speaks unto heart: Six teenagers in the house! : "Well I'm pretty used to having SIX teens in the house. I have to say some of my easiest times were when I had six children under six! There..."

Our 14-year-old son returned from a vacation with the youth group of Communion and Liberation this week, eager to buy a copy of the latest translation of Giacomo Leopardi's "Canti" as well as a good translation of Fyodor Doystoevsky's "Crime and Punishment." His emerging interest in fine literature is yet another reason my husband and I are so grateful for CL, a lay ecclesiastical movement within the Catholic Church. Our son is learning that faith is a living entity and that the beauty expressed by poets, and musicians is one way we can gaze upon the Infinite. My conversation with him also is a reminder we parents have an obligation to continue to nurture our children's souls as they navigate adolescence. Here is what Leopardi, a poet, essayist and philosopher of the early 19th century, has to say about the Infinite: Read more here...

To have known joy means you must have experienced despair, to recognise the light you must have passed through darkness. Life can be a bit hard sometimes, after great happiness periods of bleakness and sadness. well lets say its a bit like that for me just now. I have had some wonderful blessings recently, but just now I am beset my doubt, debt and despair.  My financial situation was the same last month but it wasn't so much of a burden. my physical health has not really changed but when I am down it feels much worse, My family situation is no different really but now its problems seem harder and more insoluble. My prayer life seems barren and stilted. What do I do? I ignore my doubts, I thrust them aside and bury them. My pain is a new pain an ache in a different place how do I cope with this challenge? I try to keep moving and doing something as long as I can, the pain is not less but I can ignore it while hands and eyes and brain are busy. How can I pray? I look at M

SOLT News: Press Release Concerning Fr John Corapi from SOLT ... : "July 5, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE From: Rev. Gerard Sheehan, SOLT Regional Priest Servant Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Ro..."

Those of us Catholics who go to Church, and maybe read a little Scripture are familiar with these words: ask and you shall receive. (If you're old school, you may prefer this one: ask and ye shall receive. It means the exact same thing, it just sounds more days-of-yore) Back in my youth group/young adult group days, when I spent a great deal of time in prayer, and thinking about prayer, and talking about prayer, and asking questions about prayer, I was told again and again that it is good to just talk to God... lay it all out there, to not be afraid to ask for what is needed, even wanted - to even 'lay a fleece before the Lord' and challenge Him to come through in some specific way. Did you just gasp? I'm pretty sure I heard a gasp. I'm not disputing the merit of honesty in your relationship with God - on the contrary, anything less than utter honesty with God is like Number Five Nephew hiding his face behind his hands and thinking I can't see him. God already