Association Of Catholic Bloggers

In ‘A Landscape with dragons’, Michael O’Brien writes about children knowing whether something (or someone) is good or bad. Their little souls are still sensitive, whereas we adults have taught ourselves to disregard that awareness. Perhaps the world or our busyness drowns out the voice of our guardian angel who is prompting us to steer clear of a certain person, to turn off a particular movie, or to not try to drive home in a heavy snow storm. O`Brien advises parents to not scoff when children talk about monsters under the bed, because doing so teaches them to distrust their own discernment. Good discernment is so important in living a Godly life. Just as our conscience must be formed, our morality developed, our code of ethics established, so our ability to discern needs to grow in strength and maturity. That discernment is a gift we all have, men and women both. There is a lot of emphasis on `women`s intuition` but men have it, too. The inherent differences between me

Tonight the program is airing in the UK and hopefully we'll get to see it online here in the U.S. From The Anchoress: Speaking of encouraging our children to serve the church, the BBC is looking at the slow but steadily-increasing numbers of young women investigating the consecrated life: Catherine describes herself as “a girly girl” who loves to be pampered. She has also wanted to be a nun since she was four years old. Like many of her contemporaries, the 25-year-old has spent the last few years travelling, partying and studying for a degree in languages at King’s College in London. She also worked as a model, but for her it was an unfulfilling experience and left her thinking again about devoting her life to God. “I went to castings, they always wanted me to do catwalk shows,” she says. “I remember after my first professional paid show, going home and feeling really empty. Feeling like ‘is that it’? ‘That’s not great as I thought it would be’. “I love people and I

Please visit the new Tea at Trianon Forum . It will be a place to discuss the same topics we discuss on my blog, but in more detail. Anyone can join. On the forum people will be able to introduce topics for discussion. Comments will be posted immediately, without having to wait for me to moderate them. Members will be able to post links and pictures and make block quotes, which is so much easier for trying to get one's point across. There are three main rules: 1. Be polite. 2. Be polite. 3. Be polite. The forum is for ladies and gentlemen. If you are not a lady or a gentleman then it is not the forum for you. Courtesy must be observed at all times. Members are asked to refrain from personal attacks, sarcasm, slanderous remarks about ANYONE and general snarkiness. While questions and inquiries are welcome, any attacks upon the Catholic Church or the Pope will be deleted immediately. We also ask that our guests stay on topic. Off topic comments will be subjec

 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav

From the blog of my friend Dr Gerard Nadal,   Coming Home  Note: It’s been two weeks like no other. Yesterday we had the funeral mass and burial of Jon in Warwick, NY. We also had the memorial for Kortney and Sophy in Virginia. Today, on the Lord’s Day, we rest. Tomorrow, all will return to our lives and a new normal, a phase of healing and living the rest of our lives marked indelibly by the searing events of the past two weeks. As we keep the  Blythe, Gordon , and  Scharfenberger  families in our prayers.  Here’s Deacon Kandra: By a happy coincidence, this gospel touches on a theme that was so vital to Pope John Paul. In the parable, a tree is given one more chance to bring forth good fruit. The gardener gives it that chance; he offers it the gift of mercy. John Paul, you’ll remember, was beatified on the Feast of Divine Mercy. In fact, the opening prayer for this mass begins, “Oh God, who are rich in mercy…” My take on loss and bearing good fruit Today we bid farewell to Sr J

Review of John Paul II; The Man, The Pope, and His Message By Alberto Michelini Leticia Velasquez Catholic Media Review. Volume 8 I Am Your Voice: The Pope on Human Rights Catholics have long enjoyed the work of papal videographer, Alberto Michelini. Now under a special arrangement with the Vatican , what was formerly available on video has been converted to a four DVD set containing five hours of dramatic documentary footage, organized by topic into ten 30 minute films. Each film focuses on a different aspect of the pontificate of Blessed John Paul; including youth, children, the poor, the family, Marian devotion, historic events, a day in the papal apartments, and the working world. The series is available in English, French, and Spanish.   The companion website wwwjohpaulseries.com for this DVD set has free downloads of companion discussion guides for leaders and participants for each volume with tools for group discussion. This makes this series an ideal tool for teachers to use i

Here is a prayer by Henri Nouwen.  It speaks deeply to me because, much as I’d like to deny it, most often I do stand before God with clenched fists. Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists! Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to? Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands? Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own, but what you want to give me. And what you want to give me is love, unconditional, everlasting love. Amen.

Deep in the night, while most of us are asleep in our beds, the mother of a teenager I know begins her 10-hour shift stocking shelves at a discount store. She starts at 2 a.m. At noon, while many of us are taking a lunch break, she is leaving work and driving to other people's homes to make extra money cleaning them. She's usually asleep when daughter returns home from high school. The daughter has about three hours between returning home from school and heading to a store, where she works four hours every weeknight. Her father's workday begins at 7:30 a.m. and he is home by 6 - after she has left for her job. Her older sister, with whom she shares a bedroom in the family's apartment, works 40 hours a week at the same discount store as the mom and takes one class a semester at a community college. The family rarely is awake at the same time, and seldom eats meals together. Read more here....

I wasn't familiar with the movement called Rachel's Challenge until recently, when the public high school where I work sponsored a speaker from the nonprofit organization. The father of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine High School shootings on April 20, 1999, started the group to promote his late daughter's two-page Code of Ethics, which she wrote a month before her murder. The code challenges people to be kind. Priest friends and psychologists have told me that the death of one's child is a loss that is impossible to "get over." It is hard to consider how Rachel Scott's father feels, knowing his 17-year-old daughter was gunned down for no reason except she was sitting outside eating lunch in the sunshine with friends. Read more here...

A beautiful reminder for us today... Find more reflections and tips for enriching your faith over at www.trulyrichmom.com :-) For a peek at a Catholic Filipino homeschooling family's life, click  here .

Apologies! I keep pressing share on blogger intending for it to go on my blog & it ends up on ACWB!.. I have to check the box more carefully. Sorry about the nuisance because some topics aren't really for the ACWB. Anyway..while I'm on! The posts on here are very inspiring..anyone who hasn't posted for a while..cmon!! God bless Jackie

My blogging friend, Judy, has an inspiring blog, A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings . Join her every Wednesday in giving thanks for the many blessings we receive from God. Write a list of 5 blessings and then link to Judy's blog. Thanks, Judy, for helping me keep an "attitude of gratitude!" :) I am thankful for:  1. We have had so much rain this week. More rain than I can remember in a long time. However, I made it safely home from work, driving through flooded streets and low visibility. And there is something comforting about sitting in my chair at home, listening to the rain falling outside my window. Very cozy. 2. The blogging world. My blogging friends. Some new friends I have "met" recently. Sharing our faith. Supporting each other. And giving thanks! 3. I had some quiet time to pray last weekend. Time to pray and read and write. A peaceful time to treasure. 4. There are a lot of devotionals to choose from these days, including some for the Nook

I was inspired by the post about "hairy men in tank tops" to say a few words about one of my heroes - Onslow from the BBC TV comedy show, "Keeping up Appearances" I like Onslow because even though he usually appears as a "slouch" - a real couch potato if ever there was one - and has, apparently, no sartorial ability to speak of, he has an uncanny ability to see through falsehood, hypocrisy and fudge (not the edible kind!). He likes beer but is never inebriated. He like watching the "telly" but doesn't take much notice of what is on, he rarely if ever panics and never swears (his usual negative comment is, "Ah! Nice!"). I regard myself as an unofficial member of the equally unofficial Onslow Appreciation Society. if he came to my church he would undoubtedly offend people by his lack of any proper dress code, and I would suggest that he wore a suit. Knowing Onlsow I know he would agree because, deep down, he respects other people, esp