Association Of Catholic Bloggers

A couple weeks ago, Pat Archbold started a discussion on boys and "cursing" at the National Catholic Register . I was late in reading the post, but thought that, as a mother of 4 boys, I should address this issue. I firmly believe that the double standard between boys and girls on moral issues has got to go. Some commenters denied that cursing was a sin. Others said it should be expected of boys until they are civilized by their future wives.  Let's look at this issue rationally, instead of just emotionally. What do the Bible and the Catechism say? What is the example of Christ? Why is this issue important? Read the entire post

I'm going to go ahead and review Mary DeTourris Poust's latest book, Cravings: A Catholic Wrestles with Food, Self-Image and God, without having finished it. This is a wonderful book. This a book on the relationship of spirituality to food and the first, its publishers say, written from a Catholic perspective. Keep Reading...

The word Neshanic comes from the Algonquin language and  means "double stream."  Keep Reading...

Married Catholics today need help and they aren't getting it, which is why I started the Can We Cana? blog in December 2012.  Can We Cana? is meant to be a community of faithful Catholics supporting other faithful Catholics in their vocation of marriage.  I invite anyone who's interested to join in and contribute their questions and their advice. The blog offers marriage preparation tips in its Pre-Cana Posts, practical advice on marriage and family in its Post-Cana Posts, and invitations to meditation and prayer in its Pray-Cana Posts. My husband Manny and daughter Lelia designed the logo, since I have no artistic talent whatsoever and couldn't design a stick figure. Manny first came up with a few different ideas. One was interlocking marriage rings with the Scriptural quote, "Do whatever he tells you." Many people would recognize these words as what Our Blessed Mother said to the servants at the wedding of Cana directly before Jesus performed the miracle

The Chaste Womb of Mary Becomes Heaven All things on earth exult with joy, praise echoes from the stars, and songs follow one after the other before the nuptial chamber of the Virgin. This Virgin, who carries the Word in her womb, has become the Gate of Heaven. She who gave God to the world, has opened Heaven for us. Such a happy girl, completely free from Eve's law is she; conceiving without a man and delivering her Child without a cry. The noble womb of Mary carried within it the Redemption of the world. We glory in having been redeemed by the One who lifted the yoke of sin from us. The Son of the Father fills her with Himself; the Holy Spirit covers her with His shadow. In this way the chaste womb of the Holy Virgin is transformed into Heaven. St Peter Damian Hymn 44 for the Annunciation, PL 145, 933 CD May God bless you!

My husband and I have been scraping the bottom of the financial barrel lately. It couldn't have happened at a better time. Lent is about sacrifices, after all, isn't it? Some sacrifices are voluntary, but some are imposed from the outside. Cheerfully accepting the sacrifices we haven't asked for is as valuable as imposing mortifications of our own choosing. Cheerful acceptance, of course, is easier said than done. More...

“ I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. ” Khalil Gibran The Cross Weight bore down Almost unbearable Joy and sadness combined  “For now you shall know in part Then you shall know in full.” Almost consumed by the Spirit Such ecstasy Tears and sweat mingling The intense pain and all-pervading joy The suffering and the hope Slowly He gives Himself up To higher things Blood trickles down His companions, one with him His Mother bereft As a sword pierces her soul John takes her head and lays it on his breast In comfort They cut him down and Wrap him in clean cloths Like He was a baby In a manger

Catholics divide prayer into 2 broad categories – vocal and mental. Vocal prayer includes prayers written for recitation. Mental prayer is prayer in one’s own words. St. Teresa of Avila wrote, “Mental prayer, in my view, is nothing but friendly intercourse, and frequent solitary converse, with Him Who we know loves us." St. Thérèse of Lisieux likewise wrote, “With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy." Catholics are generally comfortable with vocal prayer, but mental prayer can leave us at a loss. How can you spend 20 minutes or more in prayer without a pre-written text? How can you keep your prayer from becoming mere rambling? Read to learn a suggested form of mental prayer.

The sea is often used as a metaphor in poetry such as a metaphor for life. "I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;” (John Masefield) (Sea Fever by John Masefield (1878-1967) “In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans, in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence.”   Kahil Gibran, The Prophet, Penguin Books The Sea The poets mused at the sea today With the glorious sea and sky Saw some ships that were bobbing there As the seagulls they breezed by We stayed awhile on the golden sands And watched the children play We took some time to reflect and stand On a chocolate-box sunny day We waved goodbye with the rising moon Turned from the spumy foam The time had come and gone too soon As we headed back for home Joanna Bennett

Grace comes in unexpected places. After work today, I went to the nail salon for a pedicure. A group of ladies, older and Jewish and lifelong friends, were there. The owner of the salon is a Korean woman, married for years and a devout Catholic. Her husband of many years works with her. They never had children. And so this story begins. Keep Reading....

Lent and the Eucharist It’s Lent and time to take into consideration what we can do to strengthen our relationship with God and grow more deeply in our faith.   Lord only knows how badly our world needs stronger faithful people! Big changes are on the horizon for Mother Church with a new Pope to be elected soon and the present aging Pope to step back into the recesses of the Vatican. What better way to do that than adding extra time with the sacraments of confession and Eucharist?   Christ gave Himself to us totally and completely, even to the humiliating and horrid death on the cross. During this time of Lent, we can find time in our busy schedules to give a part of us to Him, yes?   Let us examine the sacrament of Christ’s Passion: The Eucharist is food for the journey And as they were eating, He took bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them saying, 'Take; this is my body.'(Mark 14:22)  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to th

  Matt Swaim's  Prayer in the Digital Age has some solid advice for users of digital media who want to improve their spiritual lives. At the same time, it gives a conflicting message about the importance of setting time aside daily to devote to mental prayer. Due to this significant shortcoming, I give the book 3 stars. Read the entire review .

  Photo of Holcomb, Kansas courtesy of  incoldbloodtrumancapote.blogspot.com I decided to read Truman Capote's 1966 book  "In Cold Blood" because I have become intrigued by his close friend, Nelle Harper Lee. Lee wrote the luminous novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," which I teach every year to high school freshmen and her character Dill Harris is modeled on her childhood friend, Truman Capote. Lee, now 86 and living a private life in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, never has published another book. I wanted to know her better and I figured I might find traces of her in Capote's nonfiction novel.  I haven't researched how much of her fingerprints are on this book of richly drawn characters, real people whose presence has remained with me days after finishing this book. Keep Reading...

I gave up processed food for Lent. If I want to eat bread before Easter, I have to bake it. Except, of course, on Sundays, which being Sundays, do not count as part of Lent. After 11 a.m. Mass with my son we headed next door to the Barnes and Noble because he said he needed a new sweatshirt. As I was walking over I thought: Oh! It's Sunday! I can have something sweet with my iced soy latte. The Rutgers B&N has a Starbucks inside. In line at the cafe, I spied blueberry scones. And ordered one. And sat down to sip my latte and eat my Sunday scone. It looked nothing like the scone depicted on the corporate website. Keep Reading...

In our prayer God gives us usually only three answers when we pray. 1.  Yes  - your prayer is answered. 2.  No.  - your prayer is refused by God.  Don't loose heart - this is not a bad thing - this is a good thing!  A no from God is a time to reflect on what you were asking for, if it was asked in the right heart.  Was it a selfish desire? If you have asked in the right mindset then know that this is your personal lesson that the will and justice of God, for the will of God and the justice of God is always perfect.  You may even never know why the answer is no.  But if you go forth and submit to the will of God then you usually find the answer for the "No" was because if He had said yes it would have diminished or cancelled a grace or gift He wished to give you later.   3.  Not yet.   God's timing is not our timing and we have to understand this, we will wait patiently for what He said He will do, we may even have to wait our lives for it, but tru

My friend Melissa drove me to Staten Island tonight so we could attend an inspiring talk about St. Rita of Cascia at a parish called Saint Rita Church.  Call it food for our Lenten journeys. The speaker was Father Michael Di Gregorio, O.S.A., who grew up in the parish and graduated from its grammar school. He is an Augustinian priest who now serves as vicar general of the Augustinian order in Rome. He also is the author of a biography of Saint Rita called The Precious Pearl: The Story of Saint Rita of Cascia.  "We think of a saint as someone who is out of this world." he told the audience of about 70 in the church sanctuary. "But a saint is someone who is attuned to the Voice that speaks within and who tries to respond openly and honestly. " Saint Rita, he said. "had her feet on the ground." Keep Reading...

Archbishop J. Michael Miller identified 5 marks of a Catholic school. Click here to see what they are and discuss how your school--at home or otherwise--measures up.