Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Fr William Doyle SJ 3 March 1873 - 16 August 1917  This account of Father Willie Doyle's death in Ypres/Ieper, Belgium, while serving as a chaplain in the British Army during The Great War is from Father William Doyle S.J. by Professor Alfred O'Rahilly and taken from the blog Remembering Father William Doyle SJ . Fr Doyle was from Dalkey, County Dublin. Fr. Doyle had been engaged from early morning in the front line, cheering and consoling his men, and attending to the many wounded. Soon after 3 p.m. he made his way back to the Regimental Aid Post which was in charge of a Corporal Raitt, the doctor having gone back to the rear some hours before. Whilst here word came in that an officer of the Dublins had been badly hit, and was lying out in an exposed position. Fr. Doyle at once decided to go out to him, and left the Aid Post with his runner, Private Mclnespie, and a Lieutenant Grant. Some twenty minutes later, at about a quarter to four, Mclnespie staggered into the Aid P

These are the logos being used by the delegates from the Philippines at World Youth Day, which begins today in Madrid. 'Pinoy' is a term that Filipinos use for themselves and has no negative connotations whatever. President Benigno C. Aquino III, whose nickname is 'Noynoy', is universally referred to in the Philippines as 'P-Noy'.  The Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Philippines set up at website for World Youth Day 2011, wydpinoy.com .  Bishop Joel Z. Baylon of Legazpi is Chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth. His talk above is almost totally in Tagalog. The promo video below shows the essence of WYD - a pilgrimage of prayer, repentance, celebration of our Catholic faith. It is an occasion when young people can show their pride in their national and cultural identity while discovering their deepest identity as beloved sons and daughters of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and therefore of one another.  More here .

Take the echoes of my heart, Lord the words I cannot speak, the dreams I've long let go of ~ the ones that are yet to be. Teach me again- to listen for Your whisper, to thank You in.... the interlude, to trust Your melodic composition, to give You the tears the world cannot comfort. And to keep singing the anthem of the ages; From the rising of the sun to it's setting, May the name of the Lord be praised. +PAX from my blog post

The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of His Body. CCC 974 For this great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I was drawn to reread portions of The Reed of God, by Caryll Houselander. This book has been instrumental in deepening my love for Our Lady. There used to be a stout wall between me and her, constructed of my inability to appreciate her humility and generosity. The Mary I thought I knew was cool and aloof and far too perfect to be appealing. Houselander, with all the gentleness, acceptance, and humility she ascribes to Mary, took me by the hand and ushered me into the Madonna’s presence. She taught me to see the generosity of Mary in action and in spirit, and was able to show me how to imitate it... more importantly, she inspired me to desir

 I found this video on CathNews (Australia). It is a production of the Vocation Centre  of the Archdiocese of Sydney. CathNews showed the video in the context of World Youth Day, which begins tomorrow in Madrid. At the end of the video Father Michael tells us that his uncle once asked him if the priesthood was as good as he thought if would be. He answered, 'No. It's much better!' That would echo my own experience of nearly 44 years. (It gave me a bit of a shock to see that Father Mark's parents are probably younger than I am!) Being a priest has brought unexpected graces and experiences. One I never imagined during my seminary years was giving a bride away. Yet this has been something I've done three times for young women whose fathers had died. Two of them had never known their fathers, each of whom had died in an accident when his daughter was still an infant. I once fulfilled a similar role in the case of a young woman making her first religious professio

Fiftysomething: Mother : "How much of our adult self to we owe to our mothers? Very much ,I think, our mother may not have been the main carer for us when we were gro..."

But he did not say a word in answer to her. – Matthew 15:23 Silence. I sometimes get the same answer from Jesus when I pray. No answer. No response. Nothing. Just silence. I have always heard that God answers prayers in one of three ways - Yes, No and Maybe. Maybe? Is that what silence means? Or is God just trying to get my attention? The longer God is silent, the more choices I seem to have in how I respond. I can give up. I can surrender. I can persist. I can fall to my knees and beg. I can fall to my knees with my face in the dirt and I can beg for crumbs. Or I can be open to the possibility that God is calling me to a deeper level of faith. I do not believe that God ever ignores us. God may be silent. He may give me an answer I do not like. But He loves me and He knows my heart. And He knows what I need … even when I don’t know. So sometimes we will persist and question and beg for crumbs if we feel we must. But may we always believe and know in our hearts - God hears our every wor

Below I have pasted a link to a lovely hymn to Our Lady on YouTube, because today the church celebrates the Feast Of The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary . To non Catholic or Orthodox, this is a strange unknown celebration for they do not have the wonderful tradition stretching back to the days of Mary and the Apostles that as her life drew to an end she fell asleep on earth and was carried bodily up into Heaven. There to be with Her Son and  to be  crowned Queen of Heaven and  she is working constantly at the bidding of God to bring us, Her children to the Father through Her Son. Is it really true? we do not doubt it! for nearly two thousand years the memory was passed down through the generations and then Pope Pious XII proclaimed it an infallible doctrine of the Church. We know that on the last day we shall be raised "in our flesh" and see God, and to illustrate ,and foretell this wonderful and terrifying event, Mary followed her resurrected Son bodily into the n

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Thom Rainer  of Life Way has identified five major trends in the faith life of America, are we ready for them? 1. Our nation will see the emergence of the largest generational mission field in more than a century.   This means that a large  proportion  of our children: those born between 1980 and 2000, will likely not be Christian.  How we will respond to this?  Our children want a faith that speaks to them, that is encouraging, gives them hope, relates to them in the here and now.  They do not feel the Church is doing enough for them.  Our children are not rejecting our faith they are rejecting the way the Church has ignored them.  Which leads directly to the next major trend. 2. The dominant attitude of this huge generation toward Christianity will be largely indifferent.    I am a huge social media fan and I remember a  colleague  of mine from the Diocese of Lansing say: "We have to be willing to present material to everyone in ways they can related to.  That means havin

Assumption Mary, women so strong, vessel of Gods loving word Whose spirit rejoiced as Gabriel’s message was heard Your life reflected hope, it was filled with trustfulness Led by the voice of your Son you embraced holiness Blest with a joyful heart yet you accepted sorrow too At the foot of the cross, strong faith remained with you You held the lifeless Word of God in a loving embrace As tears of sadness streamed down your mourning face Faithful you remained, strengthening those around you Surrendered to God’s will, you did all he asked you to do As your days on earth came to a close, God blessed you No sting of death would touch you, at life’s evening dew Frail woman, falling asleep, so gently her breaths cease She knew no corruption of ravaging decay, only peace She entered heaven’s home, redeemed flesh and blood Our goal on earth is to follow her by living as we should Mother of God, our hope, our refuge, our guiding star Help us to reach heaven too, so we can be where you are Fr

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