Association Of Catholic Bloggers

It's going to be just me and the my husband for real after this week is over. My youngest is packing up as I write. He's got music blaring from his room and boxes everywhere, just like at my mom's house. We've sifted through all manor of memories as he's emptied the closet's and drawers for the first time in years. From old stuffed animals he couldn't part with when he was three to the keys to his first car...we've had some good laughs. But today's weather is a real reflection on my heart. We're in the rainy season here in Florida and it's the time of year when a storm can make it look and sound like the end of the world. It's morning, but dark enough to be evening. The sun is somewhere behind the clouds, but the brightest light comes unexpectedly with a flash of lightening. If your lucky the power stays on through it all as the rain falls like sheets from the heavens. My husband says I should be happy. The children's enthusiasm to

The Prophet Isaiah , Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, painted 1726-29 (see first reading) Readings   (New American Bible, used in the Philippines and the USA) Gospel Matthew 15:21-28 (Jerusalem Bible, used in Australia, England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland). Jesus left Genenesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’. But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs’. She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table’. Then Jesus answered

   In my experience I have found that if you gather a 100 "normal everyday" Catholics and ask them if they know anything of spiritual direction or what a spiritual directors does you will get, on a good day, maybe 2, 3, raising their hands.  This is quite sad because Spiritual Direction is one of the Church's most supportive ministry and for mothers it can do quite a lot to renew, recharge and rejuvenate her over tired spirit. This is something very close to my heart because as a Catholic Mom I know how important it is for me to have support for my spiritual nature.  It is something I have spent my life receiving and giving.   My journey toward my calling begins as a Social Worker for the Catholic Social Service organization here in Lansing.  I was employed as a social worker who worked closely with families who were involved with the Family Courts.  These family were trapped in circles of abuse and domestic violence; the work was difficult and very rarely was there a s

Gracious God, We pray for peace in our communities this day. We commit to you all who work for peace and an end to tensions, And those who work to uphold law and justice. We pray for an end to fear, For comfort and support to those who suffer. For calm in our streets and cities, That people may go about their lives in safety and peace. In your mercy, hear our prayers, now and always. Amen

(copied from comment on my own blog ' fiftysomething ' a post from Lindsay Lindsay  email me the address is on sidebar here and I would be happy to add you as a contributer to ACWB  diddleymaz ) ........... Lindsay said... Would it be possible to post the following on the ACWB. I am a silver surfer and do not know how to embed a photo, perhaps of Wesley or his Rosary but I think it would be of interest to people. John Wesley ........... Non-Catholics and the Rosary I read "many good Catholics don't use the rosary at all. On the other hand, many non-Catholics find the rosary very helpful. John Wesley prayed the rosary every day, as do many Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists today. The rosary is simply a devotional aid to prayer that many people find helpful. - Chapter Eight, "All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed," p. 222, More Christianity, © 2002, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing." John Wesley's rosary can be seen in Cambridge and on the

Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and His knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak He makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. ~Isaiah 40: 28-31 In a post I wrote elsewhere, I used the word 'just' as in 'do enough to just get by'. It's a little word with a lot of influence. 'Just' gives permission for mediocrity, doing as little as possible. 'Just' is wimp of a word, but it can be dangerous, because it can seduce us into being comfortably numb. Isaiah 40 encourages us to seek the Lord, and promises us that despite our hardships, He will give us strength not 'just' to survive, but to run and to fly. Som

Just in case any readers are new here I should like to summarise our agenda. We are a loose group with equal rights to all members, you don't have to be a woman ,we are honoured to have Priests who post regularly. You don't have to  be a Catholic either, as long as you are interested in exploring what faiths and denominations have in common. We avoid confrontational  situations and devices seeking to share only support and love, that doesn't mean a post cant be thought provoking and challenging ,(unpleasant and personally insulting comments will not be allowed) So if you seek prayers, fellowship and support whatever your life is like please join in, you are welcome. My email is on the sidebar by default, and if a change is asked for I shall be only too happy to step aside . Diddleymaz

St Patrick the Pilgrim by Ken Thompson, 2002 The statue is located close to the mainland pier of the ferries to Station Island, Lough Derg, where St Patrick's Purgatory is. Thanks to English blogger Fr Ray Blake for drawing the Novena for the Church in Ireland to my attention. He in turn found the novena at Protect the Pope . Just now I have discovered that it originated on Facebook . The Church in Ireland, meaning all its members, needs prayers very badly. May I invite you to join in this novena which ends on the Solemnity of the Assumption, known in Irish Gaelic as Lá Fhéile Mhuire Mhóir , the Great Feast Day of Mary. The photo above was taken at the point where pilgrims take a boat on Lough Derg to go to St Patrick's Purgatory. I must confess that I've never been there. A priest who spent some summers working there was Fr Ragheed Ganni (20 January 1972 - 3 June 2007), the Iraqi priest who was murdered along with three subdeacons just after celebrating Mass on Pente

My sons and I returned home the other night from a long, wonderful day trip to New York State to see my parents, my brother and his family. My husband and I settled in to watch a movie: "A Tale of Two Cities," a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production from 1935. The film, an adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale, is the story of men and women who become caught up in the bloody aftermath of the French Revolution. If you are expecting instant payback for your time, this is not the movie for you. The film builds its characters and its suspenseful plot methodically. Be patient. By the end of the movie, I promise you will be on the edge of your sofas. The movie's sensibility is profoundly Christian and seeks to answer the question: What is one's purpose in life? Read more here.

The generous Christian king who prayed all night CatholicHerald.co.uk one of the founding Saints of the English Church when it was reborn in the Anglo-Saxon era.

It is said that Christ left the sand dollar as a symbol to help the evangelists teach the faith. The five holes commemorate the five wounds of Christ, while at the center on one side blooms the Easter Lily, and at the lily’s heart is the Star of Bethlehem . The Christmas poinsettia is etched on the other side, a reminder of Christ’s birth. According to this legend, if you break the centre, five white doves will be released to spread goodwill and peace. It wasn’t long enough. My vacation, I mean. It’s the only time I gave myself permission to ….STOP….thinking, worrying, rehearsing, perplexing about the moment to moment grind of life. I took an assignment with me: All the books I wanted to catch up on reading, but never had enough time. They sat, by the nightstand—just like they do at home, but in this, their rest was purposeful. This had a message for me. What is it about the sea that captivates me so? It’s beauty? Yes, but the mountains cry out the Majesty of the Creator and I love the

   Come Jesus says, ‘Come, through all the turmoil, the storms which threaten to engulf me. He calls out to me. He wants to pull me towards him. Jesus is present in the storms of my life. He is in the boat with me. He says, ‘Trust me!’ He is also saying, ‘I need you. We’re a balancing act, dancing together! I need you to believe in me. I need you to be me on earth. You need my power and love to grow and reveal me to your brothers and sisters. When you don’t trust, you sink! You are swallowed up in life’s sorrows. You block my power to work through you’. The painting and reflection above are by Sr Maria Forrestal, an Irish Franciscan Missionary of Mary who has worked in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic for many years. Among other things, Sister Maria maintains the excellent website of the Catholic Church in the Faroes .    Readings (New American Bible, used in the Philippines and the USA).   Gospel (Matthew 14:22-33; Jerusalem Bible, used in Australia, England & Wa

The Beautiful Gate: Children and Mass - A View from the Other Side of ... : "Earlier today I read a post which spoke about distractions at Mass along with a few other issues. Nothing wrong with this post - I understoo..." I originally meant to post this link to my own blog, but the Association name came up in the right hand bar and before I knew it, I'd pressed post or whatever the word says that sends. Anyway, I raced to edit or delete and then remembered a lot of Mom's read and post here, so they maybe would have a view point worth sharing as there is a lot of noise being made on blogger at the moment about the noise being made by babies and small children in Mass. I am sure people will want to express their experiences, and hopes and sadnesses in this area, so I have decided to leave the link up. Mary is a very lovely girl and her words often bring light in the dark areas of my life.

I worry over how much time I spend writing and reading in the blogosphere. This morning in the mailbox came a thank-you letter that brought me to tears of joy and made me realize the time I spend is not wasted. Jamie and Kim Arpin-Ricci thanked me for standing beside them during their adoption journey and shared pictures of their new family. I never have met any of these people face to face. I have never even spoken with them on the phone. And yet, because of this new and crazy place called the blogosphere, I have been able to pray for them. Read more here.

These two things have been on my mind a lot lately, so I thought I’d thrash them out here. I looked up the words in the dictionary and have plumped for these two definitions: Fulfilment : a feeling of satisfaction at having achieved your desires Sacrifice : To forfeit (one thing) for another thing considered to be of greater value. If I think of our modern, everyday society, everything seems to be geared to the former, rather than the latter. Self-fulfilment is big business, and we are encouraged from very early on to strive to achieve our desires and ambitions, to be successful. When the word sacrifice is used in this context, it can be negative. How many times do we read of people sacrificing family time in order to pursue a successful career... Read more here

François-Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán Tomorrow is the feast of St John Mary Vianney, patron of priests. More than ever today we need holy priests. We priests need your prayers. One of the great priests of our time was François-Xavier Cardinal Nguyên Van Thuán  (1928-2002). Fr Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly  I am conscious of the Church in Vietnam in a personal way because I am giving a weekly class to the eleven aspirants of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family here in Bacolod City. The group includes six young women from Vietnam, the first to enter the congregation. The Church in Vietnam has suffered greatly in modern times and harrassment is not yet absent, as the story of Fr Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly , 64, shows. The Martyrs of Vietnam , celebrated by the Church on 24 November . In the May-June 2006 issue of Misyon , which I edit on behalf of the Columbans in the Philippines, I published an article by the Cardinal. Misyon was then a printed magazine. We are gradually p

I came into the house Sunday afternoon after digging in the garden and my husband had the movie "Marty" on the TV. I'd never seen it before, but he's seen it dozens of times. I sat down and watched with him. This gem tells a simple story about regular people. A 34-year-old bachelor named Marty Pilletti is hounded by his friends, his family, even the customers in the butcher shop where he works in the Bronx about why he is still single. It won the 1955 Academy Award for Best Picture and the Palme d'Or at Cannes. It's not that Marty doesn't want to marry. But Marty, who lives with his widowed Italian mother, has had no luck even in dating.   Read more here.

The Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son, Christ our Lord; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen. O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It's such a good feeling to be satisfied. To know that you are full up (with well-being, not necessarily food), not missing a thing and quite content, is very pleasant, and really, quite a peaceful feeling. To be satisfied is quite a trick, in part because through the powerful influence of advertising we're supposed to keep buying, to keep wanting, to always be needing the latest thing. Products have built-in obsolescence; clothing, for instance, since the inception of moveable type and the advent of printed news has become 'fashion' with 'seasons' which have an increasingly short shelf-life. There is a general mindset in our society to be always striving for more: bigger house, better car, clearer skin, promotion, and so on. Perhaps that mindset is part of our genetic code, but now that we're not striving for survival, we're striving for excess (often mistaken to be success) To be satisfied is to be free. When you are not under the influence of the litt

And the Rock Was Christ My family is entering another chapter in our life. It’s time to sell my mom’s house and move her into a condo. It’s a rite of passage in Florida and one I hoped we wouldn’t have to do. I think she’ll be happier. Financially it’s a good move; she’ll be closer to my sister and I …. but it’s the house that holds the last memories of my father and it’s where 28 years ago my mother catered our wedding reception. All evening a good friend played for the guests in our living room on my childhood baby grand piano. In the entrance of the house my mother still has a vase of artificial roses designed by the florist that survived all the weathering of our years together. They stand like a testament to the grace of God that that house was built on the Rock of Christ and that’s the reason we all still stand. The foyer with the gray slate is perhaps my personal reminder of how long of a journey it’s been, and how much I treasure the memories that house has guarded for so many