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Archbishop Longley Recalls Heroism of English Martyrs during Harvington Pilgrimage Mass Peter Jennings.co.uk

    By Allison Salerno   Yesterday morning my family attended the bar mitvah of a neighborhood boy we have known since he was a baby. I never had attended a Conservative Jewish Shabbat morning service, much less a bar mitvah. It was exquisite, reverent and beautiful. (The sanctuary is pictured above) I wiped tears from my eyes as I considered the overwhelming faith and courage of Jews through the centuries of persecution that enabled this boy to encounter this moment. I also meditated on the links between my Catholic faith and Judaism as I listened to the prayers of the worshipers. As the Catechism teaches us: When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People, "the first to hear the Word of God."  I always have been taught that Judaism is the root of the tree of our faith. And that without that root, our faith would not have flowered. For the most part, this insight has remai

Well it is the ACWB! I'm still 40 something on 18th September! Well..OK..just about..ie 49! & I have a middle-aged spread! There are different pictures of tummies with suggestions. I think my best bet might be to stop stuffing my face & exercise! Any tips ladies..or gents? lol How to tame your tum: Is yours a spare tyre or a stress bulge? Finding out your tummy type is the key to getting a perfect midriff By   DAILY MAIL REPORTER For many women, getting bikini ready means tackling one dreaded area in particular — our tummies. Most of us still think the best way to achieve a washboard stomach is by doing hundreds of sit-ups. Not so, says A-list trainer and body guru James Duigan. Read more:   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2007052/How-tame-tum-Is-spare-tyre-stress-bulge.html#ixzz1Wuwn8neF

Today’s saint was born in Rome and studied law before entering into public service and becoming the city’s prefect in 572. Two years later he became a monk and converted his own house into a monastery. But a life of prayer away from the activities of the world was not God’s will for him. In 579 the pope sent him as his personal representative to the Eastern Emperor in Constantinople. Seven years later he was called back to be the papal advisor and when Pope Pelagius II died, Gregory was elected to succeed him on this day in 590. Thus began the great work that earned for him the title “Great.” He wrote many theological and pastoral books and sent missionaries to the people of a distant island now known as England. He promoted a form of Church music which bears his name—Gregorian Chant. He took upon himself responsibility for the safety of Rome and helped protect it from barbarian invaders. Let us ask St. Gregory to pray with us for our current Pope and his intentions as we reflect on

Prayer of the Penitent Monks , Alessandro Magnasco (1667 – 1749) Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Matthew 18:15-20 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England @ Wales, Ireland, Scotland). Jesus said to his disciples: 'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, is between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector. 'I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven. 'I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where t

This afternoon I headed to a Target discount store with L., our 11-year-old, to pick up some khakis, dress shirts and ties for the boys to wear at a bar mitvah we are attending tomorrow. Imagine our surprise when, halfway through the visit, most of the lights in the store went out. It turns out that Milltown, NJ has been without power since Hurricane Irene. The store never closed, but has been operating with generators ever since. It is slowly trying to ease its way onto the small town's tenuous power grid. Today, managers shut off all but one generator while we were shopping there. Last week, Hurricane Irene brought tragedies to hundreds of thousands of families: death, the destruction of homes and communities and livelihoods. My inconvenient shopping trip has led me to thinking that the rest of us, those who suffered slightly flooded basements, the temporary loss of electricity or phone service, need to quit complaining. We are, after all more than the sum of our m

This afternoon in the tea aisle at an HMart, I spotted an old colleague from behind, wearing his yamulke. I called him by name "Isaac?" (not his real name) He turned around and we smiled at one another and chatted for several minutes. He said he was looking for a certain kind of tea, but he only knew its name in Korean. I found a Korean-speaking employee for him and we figured out it was barley tea he was looking for. I hadn't seen Isaac, a married father of three, in months. We stopped working together years ago. In March, he was charged with sexually assaulting two teenaged girls. Read more...

Women have a gift for hospitality. We have a knack for making our homes welcoming; we pay attention to the little details that make for comfort. We are interested in people, and our instinct is to care for them. An illustration of the last point can be found in the gospel of Luke, "Jesus entered the house of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with Him about her. He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them." (Lk. 4: 38,39) She was a Jewish mama. There were people in her home and they needed feeding, of course she got up immediately! In Matthew 25, the parable of the talents reminds us that God does not like stinginess. He does not want us to hoard what we have in the hope that at the end of all things He Who Has Most, Wins. In fact, the opposite it true: it is when we give away what we have been given, that we receive more. How can we give away our talent of h

"I shall put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers" (Gn 3, 15) Janet Smith (Professor of Moral Philosophy) Articles by Dr. Janet Smith on topics ranging from   Abortion, Bioethics, Feminism & Women and the Family to Moral Philosophy   and an exhaustive defense of Humanae Vitae, etc.,.    ( read on... ) Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later   ( read on... ) Contraception: Why Not? ( read on... ) Natural Family Planning and Self-Mastery ( read on... ) The Christian View of Sex: A Time for Apologetics, not Apologies ( read on... ) Language of the Body ( read on... ) Premarital Sex ( read on... ) He Taught Us Who We Are ( read on... )   Dianne Irving (Professor of Philosophy and Medical Ethics) Lifeissues.net has published a large number of articles by Dr. Irving on the Development of the Embryo, Cloning,   the Nature of Bioethics, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, In Vitro Fertilization,   the Role of Ethics in Science, etc.,.   ( rea

One of our blog authors Genevieve Kineke writes wonderfully at link below: The Lost Essence of Femininity

Ave Cor Maria.. The ACWB now has 36 blog authors who all have full admin access. We began May 12th 2011 & have had 318 posts on topics such as: Adoption; Assumption; abortion; bible; Billings ovulation method; Bishops/Priests; Catholic homeschooling; Catholic parenting; youth; Catholic retreats; Catholic devotions; dementia; pregnancy; childbirth; period problems; miscarriage/stillbirth; grief; spritual direction; Saints/Blesseds .... The posts have been very inspiring & uplifting touching on very difficult subjects that affect us in our daily lives. We welcome other women..married, single, widowed in order to support each other in a true Catholic feminity based on the full magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church. We have priest bloggers who post which is incredibly helpful. Any other Rev Frs are welcome to post. Often times the Frs have talked about their own mothers & their influence on them & other topics which are helpful for us mothers of sons p

On this last day of the month, let us pray one last time for this month’s papal intentions. May young people find the treasure of their lives in Christ and be rooted and built up in him. May the Christians of the West rediscover the freshness and enthusiasm of their faith. The reflection is from Pope Benedict’s Message for World Youth Day. In the history of the Church, the saints and the martyrs have always drawn from the glorious Cross of Christ the strength to be faithful to God even to the point of offering their own lives. In faith they found the strength to overcome their weaknesses and to prevail over every adversity. Indeed, as the Apostle John says, “Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 Jn 5:5). The victory born of faith is that of love. There have been, and still are, many Christians who are living witnesses of the power of faith that is expressed in charity. They have been peacemakers, promoters of justice and workers f

St. Jeanne Jugan

 Pope Benedict celebrating Mass ad orientem in the Sistine Chapel on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2008 when he baptised 13 children. In this post I don't wish to enter the area of controversy. I'm simply sharing some experiences and thoughts . A very irritating experience I have here in the Philippines occasionally is when I am invited to celebrate Mass on some special occasion such as a recollection day for students. Usually there is a commentator. I would love to see this role abolished, since it serves no useful purpose. Many parishes here still have someone telling them when to sit, stand or kneel, which is not the business of the commentator at all. The General Instruction of the Roman Mass No 105 b) clearly describes the commentator's job: The commentator, who provides the faithful, when appropriate , with brief explanations and commentaries with the purpose of introducing them to the celebration and preparing them to understand it better. The commentato

“ Natural family planning ? What’s that? And does it really work?” These are probably some of the most common reactions or statements we get when people ask us how we spaced our two kids (Tim is turning 5 in October and Rysse just turned 2 last July). Those who are already in the know though can testify that NFP is the best way to go when it comes to family planning. Our kids are products of NFP, just like Umbert. ;-) What is natural family planning (NFP)? Wikipedia defines  NFP  in the following way: Natural family planning   (NFP) is a term referring to the  family planning  methods approved by the  Roman Catholic Church . In accordance with the Church's requirements for  sexual behavior  in keeping with its philosophy of the dignity of the human person, NFP excludes the use of other methods of  birth control . *To read the full article, please go to Philstar.com's unBLOGGED section by clicking  here .

Sir Thomas More , Hans Holbein the Younger, painted 1527 Readings (New American Bible, used in the Philippines and USA). Gospel Matthew 16:21-27 (Jerusalem Bible, used in Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotlanc)  Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. 'Heaven preserve you, Lord;' he said 'this must not happen to you'. But he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God's way but man's.' Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will

St Monica, Luis Tristán de Escamilla 1616 I posted the following two years ago on Bangor to Bobbio  and thought it might be of interest to the Catholic Women Bloggers this year on the feast of St Monica: The second reading in the Office of Readings for the feast of St Monica (332-387) always brings a smile to my face and leads me to ask, ‘Was St Monica an “Irish mother”?’ St Augustine’s brother had said to their mother when she was dying that it might be better if she died in her homeland in north Africa, rather than in Italy. The extract from St Augustine’s Confessions goes on: But as she heard this she looked at me and said: ‘See the way he talks’. And then she said to us both: ‘Lay this body where it may be. Let no care of it disturb you: this only I ask of you that you should remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be’. The latter part of the last quotation appears on innumerable memorial cards and I don’t know of a better request for prayers for the dead. But i

I spent the good part of an hour yesterday afternoon standing in a lobster shack. Outside it was pouring. As I waited for the skies to clear, I chatted with a woman whose given name is Storme. Each summer after lobster season ends, Storme and her partner transform this shack (on the right in the photo) on the New Brunswick coast into a shop, where they sell their photographs, pottery and paintings. Transform is a nice way to put it: the women have to scour the shack of the stench of lobster, haddock and mussels so summer tourists see only a cute gift shop. It is hard, smelly work. My husband and I like to vacation like this, nice and slow. We love to take in the local flavors, learning a little about another corner of the world. This summer, we are spending time in a town called St. Martins, population 386. Read more here...

At Adoration yesterday, deep in thought with Christ, I noticed a gleaming shine in two places in my sight.  One was the monstrance, where the Holy Eucharist was displayed; the other was on my own hand. My wedding band seemed to match the golden monstrance made to enhance and protect Christ's body in the humble form of bread. When the monstrance is displayed on the Altar it represents something very special, it is the throne of Christ during Adoration.  It is the symbol of Christ's love and redeeming care for us. Time spent in Adoration to Christ has proven time and time again to be beneficial in strengthening the love and hope of the believer.  During Adoration, we reach out to God, trusting Him, loving Him, and letting Him know this with our time and heart. My wedding band is displayed on my hand to represent something very special.  It is a symbol of the unending love and devotion I have for my husband.  Time spent with my husband proves time and time again to be beneficia

I recently read an article titled “ The Teaching of the Catholic Church on Home Schooling – Parents for Eternal Life ” by Jesuit priest Fr. John Hardon, and the following paragraph really struck me: “...what they (children) mainly need is to know why God made them; why they are on earth at all; why they are in this world; that  they are here in this life in order to prepare and train themselves for the world to come . In a word,  children are to be taught that their short stay here in time is only a preparation for the world that will never end . They are to be trained for heaven.” Our kids need to be “trained for heaven”?! What a big responsibility we parents have then! In fact, Fr. Hardon goes on to say: “The Church teaches that, ‘Under God, parents are the  first in time, first in authority, first in responsibility, first in supernatural ability, and first in dignity  to  educate their children for eternal life .’” “... believing Catholic parents ...must be convinced that

' For many years I've had some involvement with persons with disabilities. Last Sunday I officiated at a wedding for two Deaf people. I regularly celebrate Sunday Mass in Sign Language. I'm not very good in that language and find conversations difficult, since I'm poor at reading signs. I've asked a number of experienced interpreters and their experience has been similar to mine. When you are learning a spoken language you reach a point when you can understand far more than you can express. With Sign Language it is the opposite. I've also been on the fringes of Faith and Life for many years. It is a movement, born from a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1871, that is made up of 'communities made up of persons with an intellectual disability, their families and friends, particularly young friends, who meet together on a regular basis in a Christian spirit, to share friendship, pray together, fiesta and celebrate life'. San José Foundation More here .