Association Of Catholic Bloggers

The Year 2015 is the anniversary of what was perhaps the greatest of the reforming councils. In the same year that Magna Carta was set to reform the political and social institutions in England, the Fourth Lateran Council was set to reform the political, social and spiritual institutions in the Catholic Church. Its unprecedented success was due to the new mendicant orders – the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Carmelites and the Austin Friars, led by saints like St Francis of Assisi, St Dominic, St Anthony of Padua, St, Thomas Aquinas, St Angela of Foligno and so many others. They all inspired the clergy and laity alike to turn back to prayer to enable the Holy Spirit to work through them to return Christendom to the simple Christian spirituality that had once inspired and then transformed a pagan empire into a Christian Empire a thousand years before. Back to prayer was the message that they all both preached and practised so successfully. So that their example should inspire us to

Wishing a Blessed Christmas to all my readers

Would my Christmas Baby always think that his birthday is special or would he feel cheated? Finding out our baby was due on Christmas Day thrilled me beyond measure, but being due on Christmas Day and actually having a  baby on Christmas Day are two different things, and I couldn't help but think, " Really, who has a Baby on Christmas? Certainly, I couldn't be lucky enough!"   However, Christmas morning rolled around, and it became obvious that this would in fact be the big day. The cramps came closer together; the pain became more intense, and I knew we had to go.  At the hospital, we were greeted by a Jewish doctor wearing antlers and a Rudolf nose.  To read the rest, please go to Single Mom Smiling. Thank you for joining me. I wish you a  Very Merry Christmas and, if your birthday also happens to fall on or near Christmas Day, a very  H a p p y  B i r t h d a y !   to you as well! God Bless...

“Be still, and know that I am God!      I am exalted among the nations,      I am exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 Encounter the silence, The silence becomes a prayer. Focus on God, and God alone. In the silence,  fill your heart  with God who lives. Find Him in the quiet of the day and the dark, sacred night. Let Him fill your soul with His wondrous Love. He speaks in the silence. Listen. He speaks to your heart. Listen. His love is a prayer, a gift to you. Encounter the silence. Read More at::  His Unending Love

FATHER FRANCIS MAPLE PLEASE CLICK HERE

  One of my favorite lines from the hymn "O Holy Night" is "the thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices..." After all the cookies are eaten, and gifts are unwrapped, and the memories of the festive celebrations are images on our photos and in our minds, what remains is the hope that is at the heart of our Christmas celebrations. Read more reflections on "The Thrill of Hope"...  

Kepler spotted its first planet since mission planners found a new way to hold the robot observatory steady, earlier this year. Scientists at the Nordic Optical Telescope didn't discover 55 Cancri e: but they're the first to observe the super-Earth from Earth's surface. The planet is too hot for life: but 55 Cancri f is another matter. I'll get back to that. Other scientists are fine-tuning how we can search for life in the universe.... ...Before getting to 55 Cancri e and the search for life in the universe, I'll be rambling on about billions of planets, Genesis, and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Feel free to skip ahead to Planet-Spotting: Nordic Optical Telescope's 'First.' Or take a coffee break, go for a walk: whatever you feel like.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Every Catholic Priest that walks the Earth had a mark placed on him at his conception for the Priesthood.   This is a gift by God as a reflection for what God did for Mary in her womb, because every Priest is her son.  The Priest is not immaculate, but only marked as one chosen for the Priesthood.  This is not a guarantee that he will become a Priest, it is up to God whether or not he is called later.  I am sure that there are a few Priests walking the earth that were not called, although they are very few.  But the Priest, whether called or not will always carry this mark as being chosen to the Priesthood from conception..... To Read More... CLICK HERE!

Be an  everyday evangelizer!   Share the real reason for the season with these free creations.  No matter  whaat your profession is... blogger, secretary, warehouse worker or retired.... use these free images  to share your faith.  Twelve are sized for use as cover images on your facebook page. They could also be used as headers on a blog.    Here are two of the twelve... I have also created companion images sized for instagram  sharing or other social media purposes. To see all  twelve images, please visit me on my Blog - EmbeddedFaith , or on Cyndi  Canva . Wishing you a most blessed Christmas.  

1) Father, I love You… 2) Jesus, Thank You… 3) Sweet Lord, Teach me… 4) Holy Spirit, Inspire me… 5) God, Hear me… 6) Lord, I know You know this… 7) When will things change, Lord? 8) We Praise You… 9) I am nothing.  You are my all! 10) Inspire me, Lord, Read more at:: His Unending Love

I discovered Advent is a special time for pregnant women when two of my pregnancies were during this season. I really did identify with the pregnant Mary. For one thing I was relieved I did not go to the hospital, huge, uncomfortable and ready to deliver on the back of a donkey! I try to be grateful for big mercies. One Advent baby was born on Christmas Eve and the second, my youngest child, on Jan. 7, still in the Christmas season. We had just moved to our new farm with a larger house since I was expecting our ninth child. The oldest children attended a small Catholic school with 10 grades from junior kindergarten to grade 8. One day in December, the  priest led an Advent reflection in the gym and asked the children, “Who is waiting for  the birth of a new brother or sister this Advent?” Five hands went up. “Oh, my isn’t this wonderful”, the priest exclaimed, “So many of you are joining in with Mary, waiting for the birth of a baby!” Then a voice yelled out, “No Father

The Dream of St Joseph ,  Georges De La Tour,  c.1640  Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, Gospel for 18 Dec:  Matthew 1:18-24 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.  But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to  take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy  Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’  All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:   ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,      and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’  When Joseph awo

St Nicholas Resuscitates the Children , Bon Boullogne,  Musée Ingres, Montauban,France[ Web Gallery of Art ] A priest-friend in Canada expressed his thoughts about the present and coming liturgical seasons in a recent email:  It’s Advent again. It’s too bad that the beauty of Advent is lost in the Christmas hype. Sometimes I think that we should give Christmas back to the pagans (from whom we hijacked it) and join the Oriental Churches in celebrating the birth of Jesus on January 6. I'm not quite sure that it would be practical to attempt that, though the Church should consider restoring the Epiphany as a mandatory holyday of obligation throughout the Church. It is such on the universal calendar of the Church but the reality is that in so many countries the bishops have opted for a Sunday celebration of the feast, thereby, I think, diminishing its importance.  Full post  here .  

I've never written a letter to Santa before.  This is my first one. You can read it at Being Catholic ... Really .

First, thank you to all who are praying. I cannot believe the outpouring of love that my middle of the night heart cry has received. God bless you all. I wrote this after my father died. God has always made His presence known during the hardest times. Yesterday, as I was getting back into my car after dropping my two oldest at a friend's home, I found a penny outside my car door that wasn't there when I had gotten out. It reminded me once more of this story, and I had to share. Pennies from Heaven The day my father died was a warm and sunny late spring day.  I awoke to the phone ringing over and over with my cell phone signaling text messages simultaneously.  With my heart and soul I knew there was a problem.  When I finally was awake enough to answer the phone, my sister calmly recounted the events of the early hours and pleaded with me sincerely, but sternly, to get to the hospital as soon as possible.  I at first thought of taking a shower and making

There's a new item on the blogroll : Catholic Bloggers Network Catholic bloggers, making a difference on the World Wide Web I added " Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch " to this year's Catholic Bloggers Advent Linkup. Their 2014 Catholic Bloggers Blitz is another good idea: but I don't remember participating. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Continuing our focus on Mary this Advent, on this, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I’m writing a bit about her story. This should be of interest to all because under this title, the Blessed Mother is the patroness of the Americas, both north and south. In addition, she is relevant today when abortion is an acceptable practice, for Mary appeared to Juan Diego as a pregnant Aztec woman. click to continue

I have a couple of posts that I am writing, and I apologize that it's been a few days since my last post, but I have a favor to ask. My mom's health is failing. After an almost six and a half year long goodbye, it seems that her time really is getting short. Brain cancer always wins in the end. There are so many emotions right now. I pray for a swift and easy death, but it is hard to wish her gone. However, she is suffering so, and it is selfish to want that to continue for the sake of continuing. Source God has been filling my heart and mind with memories of my mom. Read more at Veils and Vocations , and please pray and share.

Children are hungry for affirmation. Children are desperate for love, for family, for an understanding of their place in the world. Children who lack these things grow up hating themselves and wanting to disappear, or forcing others to pay attention to their outrageous displays of addiction or terror. The truth about Christmas provides all the affirmation we need: the only reason we exist is because our God created us out of love; and when we forgot this, God proved his love by becoming one of us. Relentless headlines tell us about school shootings, suicides, rampant drug use, epidemic STDs, teenagers joining terrorist groups. . . . This is not God's plan for us or for our children. And we don't begin to address the crisis by telling children how great they are. We free our children by showing them how great God is. Read more at Praying with Grace .