Association Of Catholic Bloggers

What I know:: God is with me.  He knows and He understands my pain.  When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane He asked His Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.”  Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.” Luke 2: 42-43                         Jesus suffered.  He felt the excruciating pain of separation from His Father during His agony.  In His anguish, as Jesus prayed, His sweat became  “great drops of blood.”  The Precious Blood of Jesus was spilled in the garden as the weight of sin grew heavy on His back.  His Precious Blood spilled, not in a small quantity, but in “great drops.” Jesus knows my pain.  Read More At:: His Unending Love

Fill me, O God. Let all that I do be to Your glory. Let all that I say be filled Your gentleness. Let my hands be used to reach out in kindness. {Read more here}

Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna of Iraq issues a challenge to all Catholics. Will you spend 30 minutes before the Blessed Sacrament Tuesday, August 26 at 11 AM (EST)? You can see the video of the bishop's challenge by going to Being Catholic ... Really .

When I found this article  Five ways to pray outdoors , it reminded me how much I love to be outside, but it also made me think about the tools I need to enhance my prayer life. You can read the rest here at Being Catholic ... Really .

Throughout history, women and girls have kept their heads covered to protect them from the weather but also to show honor to God.  A girl's long, beautiful hair is like a princess' crown.  It crowns her with glory and makes her special.  God designed every girl to be one of His most beautiful creatures.  When a girl covers her hair it does not make her less beautiful, it makes her more special.  She is showing that she is special and God's princess, but also set apart for God.   source Mary, Our Blessed Mother, has always appeared with her head covered.  She is the most beloved and special of any woman to ever have lived or that ever will live.  Her veil is a symbol of her fiat, her saying the most precious "yes" to God.  Mary said yes not just to being Jesus' mother, but to serving God always in every way.  She gave her whole self to God for His Plan, that is why she is most blessed. Read more at Veils and Vocations

I Choose You. Every Monday, I post a reflection on the previous day's Gospel reading often seeing ways those readings speak directly to those suffering from marital difficulties, abandonment, divorce, abuse, or similar tragedies. I believe God has given me a gift in the way I see things through my experiences and in His  power to overcome them. But today, I struggle with the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 16 13-20 is something I've thought about many times over the years and still have few answers for so I'm looking for help from my readers. Perhaps my lack of understanding here is God's way of keeping me humble, of showing me I don't have all the answers, or perhaps it is His way to keep me hungry for Him, to seek more of what flesh and blood cannot reveal but what only my Heavenly Father can reveal. My question is this: When Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ, as the Son of the living God, Jesus said to Peter, For flesh and bl

What is “inner child healing?” Does everyone have an “inner child” that needs to be healed? Isn’t the idea of an “inner child” the by-product of new-age thinking or 60s hippie mumbo-jumbo—or just an entertaining Hallmark movie of the week? The fact is, the concept of “inner child healing” is sound—even Scripturally based—and, in many instances, a necessary step to the wholeness that everyone desires. Very few adults reach adulthood without trauma, tragedy, or some sort of emotional damage that makes a very real difference in how they function in the world. These experiences affect how they interact, express and interpret things, and make decisions. For some the “baggage” of childhood is light and has few ill effects; but, mostly it is a burden that many carry and need to learn how to let go. Enter “inner child healing.” Inner child healing is the release of the past’s hold on your present life—it is the reconciliation of the little, wounded child and the adul

Hi folks, I'm back blogging: at  http://www.jackieparkes.com/ Jackie Parkes: “ But you,” he said “ who do you say I am? “ : “ But you,” he said “ who do you say I am? “  (Mt 16 : 13-20) When I used to teach RE I used to ask the pupils who or what ...

James Foley is dead: the photojournalist, not the movie director . If someone had paid the $132,000,000 USD that ISIS apparently wanted, he might be alive. Or maybe not: there's a reason for United States policy about not paying ransom. Folks who engage in kidnapping or terrorism have to have flexible ethics: I'll get back to that. I learned that James Foley was Catholic from post by Rebecca Hamilton , on Google Plus — indirectly. For a while, I thought I'd be writing about the Rosary, prayer, and family. Then I ran into this... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I love reading books about Catholic spirituality and every once in a while I'll come across one that stands out from the rest. Trusting God with St. Therese by Connie Rossini is THE best book I've read all year and the one that has been most helpful to me spiritually. Which is saying a lot since I've felt somewhat "stuck" spiritually these past few years. Well, this book "unstuck" me. It helped me examine my level of trust in the Lord and I soon realized that I didn't trust the Lord as much as I thought I did. This book has helped me immensely in this area. Over the past year I had been questioning the Lord as to why it seemed as if I was not making much progress in my spiritual life and I feel that Connie's book was an answer to prayer for me. She asked me to be a beta reader for Trusting God with St. Therese so I was able to really immerse myself deeply into the book and  I can't get over how greatly it has enriched my spiritual lif

I was raised, in Catholic school, on stories of martyrs. Those gilded, shimmering beings who (I just knew) had floated through their lives on a plane above the rest of us, smiling at their hangmen and singing for joy in prison cells. It did not occur to me that the wounds of such heroes might actually hurt. Nor that anyone called to such glory would not feel instantly glorious. Oh no. I was sure these shining ones were granted special dispensations from pain. I even brought them, sometimes, into my young world of pretend.  Crossing arms across my chest, gazing wistfully at the sky with head tilted back, I glided across my front yard confident that I looked exactly like the painting on a holy card. 'Goodbye world... so long, family.... farewell, neighbors playing cowboys....  I bequeath to you the cars in my sandbox and my swing hung on a tree and even my black cocker spaniel.  As for me, I'm off to dance amid the flames.....'   (continue here...)

Sometimes, when the road becomes rough and what lies ahead is a mystery. When all seems lost and the storm batters from all sides. These words are heard in the quiet of your heart::   Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but He said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”  So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  2 Corinthians 12: 8-9  Read More at::  His Unending Love

Saint Peter, El Greco,1610-13 Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial, Spain [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel   Matthew 16:13-20  (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, Canada)  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”   And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”   He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”   Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,   the Son of the living God.”   continue gospel reading> Pope Francis in Korea , 13-18 August 2014 [ Wikipedia ] In his  homily on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June 2013 , Pope Francis said:  I would like to offer three thoughts on the

Before we discuss St. Therese of Lisieux’s teaching on Purgatory, I want to put that teaching into context. Her teaching is daring. Some of the nuns she lived with in the Carmelite monastery were scandalized by it, thinking it presumptuous. The last thing St. Therese (or I) would want is for people to interpret her teaching in such a way that they thought they could be spiritually lax and still go straight to Heaven. So, As you read about her teaching, keep these things in mind: Therese is a doctor of the Church. The Church has only 35 doctors, four of them women. Now, being a doctor of the Church doesn’t mean she was infallible. But it does mean that the Church especially recommends her spirituality for Christians in any age. Therese is the Doctor of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood, and her teaching on Purgatory was part of that Little Way. St. Therese was completely orthodox . This follows from #1. What she taught about Purgatory must never be taken to

1,024 little robots got together at Harvard, making the letter "K" and drawing a star. What they do doesn't look as sophisticated as many marching band halftime formations — but it's a good start on collective artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Harvard and MIT's angular automatons don't do much except fold themselves into crablike shapes, and scuttle away: today.... ...I'm not troubled that we make increasingly lifelike imitations of living creatures. Somehow, I don't think the Almighty is going to be offended by cuckoo clocks or robot dogs playing soccer. Tightly-would folks of a grimly pious bent might have qualms about mechanical birds, music boxes, and other frivolities. I'm convinced that gloominess is not next to Godliness, and that's another topic. Besides, many automata help make this a safer world for humans.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

No more striving. Become HIS child . Carl Heinrich Bloch1834 – 1890 No more work. Strong words, Commands actually. The words reverberate in my mind Over and over, Like a mantra. A Divine mantra. A Holy reminder to let God work in my core self, Unhindered by my meddling. This work of transforming Is a Holy work I just get in the way READ MORE>

The world is not a horrible place, but I can understand why  some people might thinks so . The news has been awful lately.  The execution of  James Foley  and the killing of  Michael Brown  in Ferguson fills every newscast 24/7. You can read the rest at Being Catholic ... Really .

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9 How do we deal with the violence, war, and conflicts that we face in our world today?  How can we serve as true peacemakers in our 21st century culture? St. Bernard of Clairvaux , a Cistercian abbot, a contemplative, theologian, and mystic of the twelfth century is an excellent example for us to follow. Due to the numerous schisms which had arisen in the Church during his age, he traveled extensively throughout Europe, restoring peace and unity. Not only did he deal with divisions in the Church, but he also mediated in secular disputes and was sought out as an adviser and an arbitrator by the ruling powers of his era. What was his secret for restoring peace and unity to a troubled world? He was merely a modest monk with no worldly power or possessions. What made him so influential and valuable to others was the fact that he was a man of heroic virtue. Which virtues made him effective as a peac

Fresh out of medical school, Dr. Michael Norman answered a 2-line ad for a part-time job three days a week in a medical clinic to supplement his fledging private chiropractic practice in Carrollton. He managed all the medical clients and paperwork and his two bosses handled the office management and business accounts. After less than two years this young husband and father received a subpoena to testify in a civil lawsuit brought by an insurance company against the two owners who were Taiwanese and Russian. Michael soon discovered their connection with the Russian Mafia. Shockingly, the network of multinational and multimillion dollar illegal businesses of check cashing, money laundering, staged auto accidents and insurance fraud involved hundreds of lawyers, businessmen and criminals. Michael’s signature was not only on all the medical documents but appeared on corporate documents as part owner. He obediently testified against his employers at the deposition with the insurance

On the feast of the Assumption, the Gospel was the Visitation. I thought it fitting to share the reflection I wrote for our SND Associates this year: Imagine suddenly becoming pregnant with the Messiah, the Savior of the World. What would you do afterwards? Any ordinary woman would probably seal herself in the house, taking Click to continue

Awesome, awesome book! When I received this book from the publisher, it was in a format that I could only read on my computer. Honestly, I blew off reading it for a month because the last thing I wanted to do was read a book on my computer. Three hundred pages? Staring at a computer screen? Please! Once I started, however, I had a hard time stopping. The writing was entertaining and engaging. I was easily able to read all 334 pages on my computer, and thankfully, you won’t have to. To read more of the review, including an unfortunate warning for Catholic readers, visit True Dignity of Women .

Don't let doubt about who you are or who you were meant to be keep you locked up. Sunday's Gospel from the Book of Matthew always bothered me. Here you have a woman begging the Lord for help, begging, not for herself, but for the healing of her daughter. And you have the Lord Jesus ignoring her and then brushing her off with this: I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I have read this passage many times and thought, "How hurtful that must have been. How much courage must this woman have had to go to Jesus through the crowd of those so unlike her, those who knew, knew, they were better than her, those who knew they were better because Jesus had even said He had come for them - not for dogs as herself." And then I'd always wonder with pain in my heart, "Why would Jesus, who is the One who should have understood her pain, brush her off so badly?" And then that negativity she must have felt from all those pressing in

Since my children's school only assigned a grand total of eighteen books for my six kids to read over the summer, I decided to add a few more unassigned kids' books to my reading list this summer. Hah! If your local school is like ours and your kids need to read 25 books each just to complete the school year requirements, either of these two choices would be great picks. 1. Saint Nicholas and the Mouse of Myra, by Jay Stoeckl. This graphic novel is the sequel to Saint Francis and Brother Duck , which I reviewed last year . I enjoyed Stoeckl's second book even more than his first, perhaps because our family loves St. Nick so much . Read more here...

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Nothing is worse than Christians who takes themselves too seriously. Humour levels our egos and puts everything back into the right perspective. We are invited to live as free as children, filled with the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. A sense of humour is our safe-guard against pride. read more>

 The final stage in the mystic way is usually called the Transforming Union or the Mystical Marriage . Now it doesn’t suddenly begin because God does something other than what he’s been doing all along – it begins because what he’s been doing all along finally destroys everything in us that’s been keeping him out. Many years ago I met a very holy Cistercian monk in his eighties. He told me that for over twenty years he had undergone a profound purification in the Dark Night . It was while he was ill in the Monastic Infirmary that suddenly all the darkness disappeared and he felt himself completely enveloped by the love of God and this experience never left him.  ....read on...

At the heart of my blogging is the hope to inspire others to pursue the religious life.  I prayed and thought deeply for years about joining a religious order and living the consecrated life.  In fact, for 95% of our engagement, my husband and I spent time considering and praying for vocations. We both felt that we might have been called for religious vocations and did not want to marry until we were sure that marriage and children was our God ordained vocation.  I have children that I want to lead deeper to the faith, but also that I want to open up the door to possibly serve as a priest, nun, deacon, etc.  It has been difficult to find any resources to help in teaching about the vast opportunities for girls in vocations.  I began Veils and Vocations as a means to explore that very topic and bring the resources I did find to other mothers, like me, who were searching for them. Enter the Imagine Sisters Movement ...read more at Veils and Vocations .

This is a short post but a little epiphany that came to me the other day and I wanted to share.  At a recent homeschooling conference, I had to bail a friend out because the vendor selling the books she needed would not take cash.  That's right, they would take checks, credit, debit, anything but cash.  It is very curious, however, I have realized more and more how we have gotten away from the use of cash.  I am trying very hard to move in the opposite direction.  We do have credit cards and debit cards, although we have never carried a balance. {Actually, to be honest, I did carry a balance once because I wasn't being frugal and attentive and figured I will just take a couple of months to pay.  I learned very quickly how much more it costs to do that and never did again!}  However, since I have moved from working part-time to being home ful-time, I am trying harder to save a bit of money and manage my money better because there is signifcantly less of it.  It

Very few people know about St. Jane Valois. She was a deformed and sickly young daughter of King Louis XI of France. The Catholic Church has given her February 4 th  as a feast day and many turn to her intercession when in a difficult, loveless marriage for she was in an arranged marriage that was without love and still she prayed for her husband for decades. She is just one of the many interesting saints in the Catholic Church. The following excerpts are taken, with permission, from the daily devotional  Tending the Temple  by Kevin Vost, Peggy Bowes, and Shane Kapler. Kevin, Peggy and Shane are regular guests on such popular shows as Sonrise Morning Show on EWTN among others where they talk about health and fitness, Catholic style. read full article here

Old St. Pat's  is the ninth church in my series "Touring Chicago's beautiful churches."  My husband and I haven't been to this church in nearly 30 years.  We remembered it as dark and green.  What we found was a transformation to a beautiful pastel luminescence. My husband and I attended the 12:10 PM Mass on August 15 for the Feast of the Assumption.  The church was filled and the congregation sang enthusiastically. Please continue to read the rest at Being Catholic ... Really .

Over these last weeks, I am appreciating more than ever the Refuge we have available to us in this torn, aching, wounded world.  If we don't realize that parts of our planet are in great distress just now, we have been living under a rock. And whether or not we know of the distress around , we may be sure of this:  we can live on and under and within THE Rock.  Jesus is our Rock, our Refuge.  He is our Hiding Place, our fortress, our one true cloister. I see the truth of this when I consider so many saints gone before us... martyrs who much preferred death to the possibility of turning away from Christ.  What grace they received - exactly when they needed it.   This gives me hope..... Consider St. Ignatius of Antioch, as he was on his way to be fed to lions.  "Leave me to the beasts," he wrote, "that through them I may be accounted worthy of God...." (more)

Robin Williams was a few months older than I am when he died. That photo is from 1979, when he was becoming famous for his role in " Mork & Mindy ." I admire Williams' work, regret his addiction to cocaine and alcohol, and am sorry that he is dead. He was a remarkably talented actor and comedian. Sadly, he apparently decided to hang himself. We can't be sure, but it's likely that suffering from depression had something to do with his death. Celebrity deaths get heavy media coverage: so when yet another movie star dies from suicide, drug overdose, or some other avoidable cause, it can seem that fame leads to self-destruction. Although famous folks from Hannibal to Margaux Hemmingway killed themselves, I think it's prudent to remember that many high-profile folks didn't: like Lauren Bacall and Bob Hope . I'll be writing mostly about life, depression, death, and why I haven't killed myself. You'll find links to articles about Rob

How do we perceive the Divine and communicate with God as beings who possess both physical and spiritual senses? Some ascetics might try to starve their physical senses to sharpen their inner senses, but such a notion seems to me to be contrary to Catholic wisdom and practice. The Catholic Church  repudiates Gnosticism, realizing that believers come to a fuller sense of Christ through the totality of their human person. The first time I walked into a Catholic Church as a child, I was hit by a sense of a Holy Presence.  Overwhelmed by awe, I tip-toed  around this foreign Church. The whole atmosphere seemed exotic, with dim, soft lighting coming through gorgeous stained glass windows and a few votive candles. Incense assaulted my nostrils, countless paintings and statues begged for my visual attention and the holy water   in the font  felt  holy. This encounter was an experience of both sensory and spiritual overload, a profound experience of the Holy.  God touched that little

I am writing this post for my friend Mary.  After a week of disheartening news cycles and personal frustrations, I rode home from Mary's last night thankful for my Godly friend but also a little distracted, until one of my favorite verses came to mind.  St Paul wrote, "In the end only these three things remain faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love!" (1 Corinthians 13:13) Here are my reflections on that verse in 7 quick takes. 1  St Paul was absolutely right, when all is said and done, when you have been stripped of every earthly good and pleasure, there are only three things left: faith, hope, and love.  Most certainly, love is the greatest, for without love there is no faith, without faith there is no hope.   Everything you need and the sum total of what can never be lost starts and ends with love. Read more at Veils and Vocations

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Pat Gohn, cancer survivor, celebrates womanhood by exploring a woman’s dignity, gifts and mission with exciting, personal stories. Discovering the gift of her womanhood brought her into a deeper relationship with God, her husband, family, and, to her surprise, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her formation in life and the faith revolved around music. Garage band guitar music.   When she gave her heart to Jesus Christ at a retreat, she realized God was inviting her to use her guitar playing and writing gifts for his purposes. In three words: Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious, she helps us discover who we are and what gifts we have that reflect our innate and eternal beauty. Blessed is a sublime dignity we did not earn. “God configures us to be like Christ, the beloved Son. We are beloved daughters not only like Jesus in identity, but also in action. We are called to behave like him, too. Like spiritual DNA, grace enables us to forgive, to reconcile, to heal, and ultimately love like J

IBM's neurosynaptic cores may not show up in home computers for years. Their circuits emulate a brain's neural circuits: and require an entirely new sort of software. Retinal implants are another matter. Thanks to new tech, several folks who would have been blind can see: a little.... ..."Metropolis," Tsukumogami, and the Roomba Revolution that Wasn't The inventor Rotwang in Fritz Lang's " Metropolis " is more 'evil wizard' than 'mad scientist:' my opinion. It's still a good movie: but not, I think, a particularly realistic look at what we'll see in 2026. Rotwang's maschinenmensch looked more like the human she was built to impersonate after a high-tech makeover, but even without upholstery she was remarkably — human.... But so far, artificial intelligence has been quite obviously "artificial:" and emphatically not up to the task of leading a Roomba revolution. More at A Catholic Citizen in America

This hanging was done for today's feast day - the Assumption of the Virgin.  It often requires a bit of explanation. You see Christ there behind the body of Mary holding what looks to be a baby - that represents Mary's soul.  It's an interesting sort of reversal in imagery since there are so many of Mary holding the infant Christ child. Above the whole scene is the assumption of the body of Mary being taken to heaven.  I knew a Protestant minister who said that he believed in the bodily assumption of the virgin, because who knows WHAT people would do in the way of tests and such if her body were found.   People sometimes ask who the man is over on the right side hunched over.  That's Paul, and in traditional icons of this piece he is usually there in a posture of grieving.

Christ and the Canaanite Woman , c.1500, Juan de Flandes Palacio Real, Madrid                            [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel   Matthew 15:21-28  ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada)  Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.    Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”     But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”     He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”     But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”     He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs