Association Of Catholic Bloggers

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

Just have to laugh at this, right?  I mean what man in his right mind would show up to Mass in a tank top?   But what if we totally relaxed the dress code or basically took the "Hey, at least he came!" attitude that has become the norm in American parishes?  Do you think we would find a hairy guy in a tank top standing next to us in the near future?  I think so!  So, what do we do about this situation?   Well, awhile back I talked about how respect is shown in how you dress with the example our daughter's volleyball coach, who always wore a suit jacket and tie to the games.  Yes, he looked handsome and well dressed, but you knew he took his job seriously.  Getting paid for doing a job should be respected with hard work and an outward display of some interest and he did that in his attire.  Attending these games, I was always proud of our new school...yes, one man, one team, representing the entire school! Sadly, our young coach's wife found a better position north a

By Allison Salerno   Given that my husband is a major movie buff and has shown me so many wonderful classic films, it surprised me he's never seen Vittorio De Sica's neorealist masterpiece, The Bicycle Thief.   I'd never seen it either. So Saturday night, we sat down with a good friend in our family room to watch this masterpiece on cable TV. Even if you have seen this film before, rent it. Given the perilous state of the American economy, the film speaks to our hearts now as never before. The movie's setting is post World War II Rome, when Italy was poor and politically unstable. The plot concerns a young father, Antonio, who is struggling against every odd to support his small family. Bruno, his 7-year-old son, accompanies him throughout most of the story and so we see the father's pain through the child's eyes. The theme: the price we pay for what matters most. The story begins as Antonio lands a day job putting up movie poste