Association Of Catholic Bloggers

“ 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 .  

My possessions have been whittled down to books, clothes, movies and paper records of the past. I do have a few other things as well, but much of it is in boxes down in the basement. Most of the time I don't even think of it (that stuff), but sometimes I do miss it. And sometimes I just misplace it. I have lately gone looking for this or that, and have been unable to unearth either of them (this or that) which has left me feeling rather shiftless, rootless, dispossessed and transient. This strikes me as a rather extreme reaction to what is merely a simplification of my life, a reduction in my belongings. When I don't imagine myself a sad and stuff-less waif, I do have a sense of freedom and unknown possibility. I'm not weighed down by a household and its attendant bits and pieces, and can conceivably pick up sticks at a moment's notice for parts and adventures unknown. While I am grateful for that freedom, my perverse human nature sometimes rails against the fact t

Last year I decided this needed to go: It's pretty, I know. But this beauty has an evil side; it has mad thorns that will rip your flesh with one wrong move. It grows like wildfire and you can't kill it. What began as a small potted gift from a friend had turned into a fiend that was destroying my fence, yard and innocent flowers. My husband doesn't let me use electrical tools in the garden because...well, because I've given him good reason not to. So-- I have been relegated to do whatever I'd like in the garden as long as I don't sever electrical wires or send myself to the emergency room. Every summer in the unrelenting Florida heat, I'd trim it back in tiny increments, but the more I trimmed the faster and thicker it grew... until it took over half of the backyard fence. It was so intricately entwined and out of control that as I stood with my clippers in hand I was at a loss for where to begin. One thing about me ... If I have enough determination to beg

The Church celebrates the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary today, that time after her Assumption when she was crowned Queen of Heaven. I find this memorial to be a beautiful reminder that Mary not only reigns in heaven, but we should allow her to do so in our hearts and lives as well. Her greatest desire is to bring us to Jesus; it is often said she is the shortest and surest way to Him. Mary, if we go to her, will obtain every grace we need. As our Queen and our Mother she looks upon us with the greatest love. I sometimes forget this. As those who follow my Daughter of the King blog know, I sometimes struggle in my relationship with Mary; I find it hard to relate to her, but I still pray to her and ask her to increase my devotion to her. Jesus gave us an invaluable gift when He gave us His own Mother as he was dying on the cross. As Fr. Joseph Homick relates in his book on Mary, A Place Prepared by God , a book I strongly recommend, Mary has protected us from more than we may e

Its almost a year since we were able to welcome Pope Benedict to the UK and once again this dear man,  at an age when most would be staying at home and just pottering about a bit, is greeting tens of thousands at World Youth Day in Spain. The readings this week so well expounded by Father Sean on the post before this one, is the great and wonderful passage were Simon answers "You are the Christ!" and Jesus gives him his new name and his commission as first Pope. Peter didn't know he was being made Pope then, the position only came into being after Jesus had ascended but from this point on Jesus had given him his job, his role to guide the Church on earth until death. It is a role. a job greater than any one man, it has survived being held by men who were not worthy of it and yet the line back to Peter is unbroken and when the simple man puts on his garments of authority he IS Peter, the Rock, what a rock, what a church! When Holy Father Pope Benedict came to London he too

Baldacchino , St Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Gian Lorezo Bernini, 1624 Readings (New American Bible, used in the Philippines and the USA).  Gospel Matthew 16:13-20 (Jerusalem Bible, used in Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland). When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets'. 'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ,' he said 'the Son of the living God'. Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever

Sorry to have been so quiet, but I'm not long back from holiday in Berlin. And then I went to the loo in the night on Sunday and broke my toe! There is a cabinet in our bathroom which we brought over from Mum's, and it's in the way between the loo and the door. Not ideal, but it's the first time I've gone to the loo without putting a light on! Smack, I kicked it with some force. The pain didn't hit me immediately ~ I didn't even yell, so I just got back into bed, but then it really started to hurt, so I rubbed it, like you do, and the pain was unbearable, and I had this huge wave of nausea. So I turned on the light and had a look to see my toe (the one next to my little toe) was sticking out sideways...so I put it back straight, and heard a horrible click and felt it crunch. That was it then...I hopped back to the loo to be sick, groaning loud enough to wake my husband up who came running in to see what on earth was the matter. It took me a while

St. John Eudes, 1601 - 1680 Salutation to the Glory of Mary by St. John Eudes Hail Mary! Daughter of God the Father, Hail Mary! Mother of God the Son, Hail Mary! Spouse of God the Holy Ghost, Hail Mary! Temple of the Most Blessed Trinity, Hail Mary! Celestial Rose of the ineffable love of God. Hail Mary! Virgin pure and humble, of whom the King of Heaven willed to be born and with thy milk to be nourished. Hail Mary! Virgin of virgins, Hail Mary! Queen of Martyrs, whose soul a sword transfixed, Hail Mary! Lady most Blessed! unto whom all power in Heaven and earth is given, Hail Mary! my Queen and my Mother! my Life, my Sweetness, and my Hope, Hail Mary! Mother most Amiable, Hail Mary! Mother most Admirable, Hail Mary! Mother of Divine Love, Hail Mary! Immaculate; Conceived without sin! Hail Mary! Full of Grace! the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women! And blessed is the Fruit of thy womb,

Well ladies I thought I'd make my comeback post interesting! I have 8 daughters & you would think I should be expert on women's problems! However.. I haven't personally suffered from painful monthlys but several of  my daughters have a terrible time. The doctors always try & prescribe the pill, which obviously is not something we would like. Have any of you any tips? Perhaps about natural remedies that could be used. Two of the girls have been up at night with severe pains... as an interim resort perhaps the Rev Frs can pray for us women & count their blessings! lol

Today I have had it!  ( Original Posting on Spiritual Lives Of Women)       My Beloved Twitter-verse has always had those of a political mind set, but today the negativity, the lack of faith; not only in the goodness of man, but in the Greatest of God, just left me heart sick. I felt as if God was whispering in my ear: "Time to do it, time to do it." But do what? Then it hit me! I asked some of my twitter-pals if they would like to start making the society we would like to see on Twitter, and well also our little corners of the world; they said yes. Of course it all made sense, God's calling me to action my own "Get up, Jesus is calling you.” Mark 10:49 moment. I am making the pledge today: Lord, I pledge to start to help bring your Kindom to earth by being more positive, living more lovingly, treating all with respect, and most of all...being more positive in all I say and do. I pledge to release from my life all those who are negative. I pledge to read

On August 15, we celebrated  the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . It was a day for us Catholics to remember how our dear Mother played a significant role in the life of Jesus, and indirectly, in the lives of each of us today. The Gospel on that day spoke about the Annunciation, and these words really struck me:   “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  Luke 1:42 When Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, said this to her, she must have felt such joy. She was actually so moved that she broke out into song – what is known today as  the Canticle of Mary . Mama Mary had no idea then just how deeply her heart would be “pierced by a sword.” (Luke 2:35) She probably did not have any inkling as to what that verse meant too, when the prophet Simeon said it during  the Presentation of Jesus  at the temple. Indeed, nothing could probably have prepared her for this: (*the song in the video is a Filipino composition and is about how great a mother