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By Laura Durant Jesus desires we give ourselves to Him completely, without reserve. In every moment, every situation, in every interaction, in every decision, renouncing our every desire, so He can fill us completely with His desires. This prayer was written in a response to the great love He has for us and how He desires we have recourse to Him in everything, with a desire to devote ourselves more completely to Him in each moment we live and breathe, with anticipation of our final resting place with Him for eternity. In English: Prayer Surrendering All to Jesus and His Most Sacred Heart In Spanish:  Oración Para Entregar Todo a Jesús y Su Corazón Más Sagrado

The Last Judgement, Michelangelo [ 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 25:31-46 ( NRSV,CatholicEd ) Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of

" Scientists thought ‘Oumuamua was a comet when they spotted it last month. "Follow-up observations showed it was more like an asteroid: and going too fast to be from the solar system. "‘Oumuamua is from interstellar space. It's the first object of its kind we've seen. "What scientists are learning about ‘Oumuamua tells us a bit about other planetary systems, and raises intriguing new questions...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

("A Holiday Haven," another installment in a tale of two turkeys.) If you are in or from the United States, I hope you are having a good Thanksgiving Day. If not, I trust that you're having a good November 24th. Some folks write sober monographs for this holiday, thoroughly discussing the myriad reasons we have for being thankful. Others present schmaltzy pieces on the same topic: about as deep as a rain puddle.... More, but not much more, at A Catholic Citizen in America .

  Cada año, en estas fechas, el mundo se avoca a promover el fin de la violencia hacia la mujer que tanto daño ha provocado a generaciones enteras de mujeres en el mundo. Los años recorridos con el impulso de la equidad de género del feminismo parecían dar alivio a la mujer en estas últimas décadas al dar una mayor “igualdad” con el hombre. Pero los últimos estudios han encontrado síntomas de un   fondo agresivo que no ha cambiado con las políticas progresistas de esta ideología y que, además ha resurgido en formas inesperadas. Tal es el caso de la mayor violencia doméstica que sufren las mujeres de algunos países del primer mundo, campeones en los niveles de equidad de género. Así es, sorprendentemente   en los países donde   el “progreso laicista” ha “liberado” a las personas de la esclavitud de la espiritualidad cristiana para lograr prósperas naciones estructuralmente laicas, las mujeres son objeto de una mayor violencia intima por parte de sus parejas.

It's the morning before Thanksgiving, and I was unprepared for the single parent melancholy that hit me the second I woke up. This evening, my boys will go with their father. I will pick them up tomorrow afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner with my family so I know I am luckier than many single parents. That does not make it much less difficult or any less unfair that my children and I have to sacrifice because of choices my ex-husband made single handedly. It doesn't make it any less unfair that our happiness is continually sacrificed for his. I felt myself sinking into a bad case of the: I'll-Nevers... I wrote this piece in 2011, but it still applies today. Divorce has no earthly end, but there are always reasons to be thankful! To read about what goes through the mind of a single mom in this holiday season, please join me at SingleMomSmiling.com God Bless & Happy Thanksgiving!  Kerri Lynn

I can’t believe that another holiday season is upon us! This year just zoomed past me. Yet, I have much to be thankful for this year. On this eve of Thanksgiving, I give thanks for: Each of you, for your support and friendship. May God bless every one of you. My loving husband of 38+ years. May we have many more together. Good health for both my husband and me. We had a health scare earlier this year, but God is good, and all is well. May we all continue to be in good health. The opportunity to serve as RCIA Coordinator for my parish. What a blessing to be able to share the faith with people who really want to have a close relationship with Jesus. We have seven women going through the program, with the hope of entering into full communion with the Catholic Church at Easter. Please keep them, and me, in your prayers. A roof over my head, clothes on my back, shoes on my feet, and food on my table. God provides! Sometimes, I don’t know how He does it, but He does it! Give Th

In the apoc ryphal Infancy Narrative of James, Mary’s parents,  Joachim and Anne,  had been childless but received a heavenly message- they would have a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter, they brought her, when still a child, to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God. Tradition held that she was to remain there to be educated in preparation for her role as Mother of God. most of the paintings capture a sense of Mary’s purity, of course, but also a combination of youth, vulnerability and her core strength at the all at the same time. continue

After months of hearing nothing but praise for the new female-driven superhero movie Wonder Woman , it's now out on DVD so I finally saw it. Needless to say, I went into it with pretty high hopes, given the massive praise I'd seen. My verdict: The praise was mostly well-founded. Mostly. Because it is quite good, and definitely filling a very real gap in female-driven content. And yet, it still wasn't as mind-blowingly amazing as I might have hoped... Continue Reading

Welcome Friend, 2 - Major Events to talk about with you today that changed the entire world: Birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Going to keep this short, because there are many things I could write about Jesus. Read more

Sunday, November 19, 2017 A Very Merry Advent {Shopping Guide} So, wait?! I can't start celebrating Christmas right now? ....Well, I guess I'll twiddle my thumbs. No! >>Don't Jump The Gun.<< Some people have all their bases covered, even an  Advent playlist  (!!!). But what if you're a newbie to the Advent game? It starts in two weeks!  What is needed? In honor of the fact that I'm going out of town, today is a special post! Here are 20 things to kick off your Advent celebration and observation.   and.... joke time. Stephen: Why does Sufjan sound so sad when he says "Rejoice"? Me: He's happy, but he's expectant.  #laughcry read the rest here

In Julia ‘s Gifts , Ellen Gable whisks us away to war-torn France, circa 1917-1918. The setting: World War I. The main character: Miss Julia Murphy. In this tightly woven love story, we see Julia Murphy exhibit many virtuous qualities; generosity of spirit, compassion, and most importantly, self-giving love. This tale sends us on a romantic adventure in search of Julia Murphy’s beloved; only Julia has no idea who her beloved might be! At the age of 17, she began setting aside Christmas presents for her future beloved, with the hopes of one day gifting these presents to him. At the age of 21, the war in Europe was waging, and the American Red Cross was looking for volunteers. Julia and her friend, Ann, thought it a great idea to volunteer and go overseas to give aid and comfort to injured soldiers. As Julia prepared to embark for the journey to Europe, she brought very few personal possessions with her. She did, however, bring the box of four precious gifts she had amassed over the

After St Francis  received the Stigmata he travelled all the way back to Assisi on a donkey for he could not walk. Nor could he see or hear much, because he was filled with such sublime joy that most of the time he was lost in ecstasy. But on his return he was filled with a new lease of life that enabled him to set off on brief missionary journeys in the surrounding countryside. It was the last flare of a flame that was about to peter out. Soon the first part of his prayer was about to be answered, as serious sickness enabled him to experience something of the sufferings that Brother Jesus had to endure on the cross. Yet, it was when he was at his lowest ebb, living in a mud hut outside San Damiano and pestered by a plague of mice that he wrote his beautiful poem in praise of Brother Sun. It was the first great poetic work to be written in the Italian language. Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honour, and all blessing. To you,

Whether you call it mental illness, lunacy, or insanity, being crazy isn't fun. It's not a lifestyle choice either. Not for most. Certainly not in my case. I'll get back to that.... ...Somewhere along the line "mental hygiene" got repackaged as "mental health." I think it wasn't just a new coat of paint on old ideas. We were learning more about how minds work, and sometimes don't. We were also learning what we can do: and what we shouldn't.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Some scientists say there'll be more carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere this year. They may be right. I think the information's interesting, and may be meaningful. But I'm pretty sure this isn't a portent of doom. Neither is a new and more detailed map of Antarctica's bedrock temperatures. I'll be talking about that, the Halley VI base getting back in operation: and why I think we should keep learning about how Earth's climate works. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Woman Sewing, Van Gogh [ Web Gallery of Art ] She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. (Proverbs 31:13, First Reading) Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel Matthew 25:14-30 [Shorter form, 14-15, 19-21] ( NRSV, Anglicised CatholicEd .)  Jesus told his disciples this parable: ‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. [The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.] After a long time the master of those slaves c

I have been reading  The Autobiography of Malcolm X  and I am very impressed with the man. I was interested in reading it after someone mentioned how reading changed his life (I am all about promoting literacy and education.) I learned a lot about how things were during his life and also how things got to be the way they are now. It seems to me that a lot has improved since his time, but a lot is still very much the same. His message to his black brothers was for them to love and respect themselves, do for themselves, and demand justice for themselves–this is hard for me to disagree with. Malcolm is still thought of today as a divisive and angry figure, unlike the inclusive and inspiring Martin Luther King, but there are many things we can learn from the life of Malcolm X. 1. Through self-discipline, Malcolm found freedom. While in prison, his family was trying to get him to follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad–they started by telling him to give up pork and cigarettes and th

(From Getty Images, via BBC News, used w/o permission.) ("Police say a number of students had to be medically evacuated from the school" (BBC News)) I hadn't planned on writing about murder and getting a grip this week. Or next. But another multiple murder is international news.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Do you know “Debbie Downer?” She’s that person that always has something to gripe about. You never see her in a good mood. She is too busy feeling sorry for herself to ever say “thank you” for anything. Debbie doesn’t have many friends, and maybe that’s because ungratefulness is ugly. We tend to steer away from the Debbie Downers of the world, because as human beings we are drawn to the good, and virtuous qualities, we see in others. Innately, we like to be around positive people, because they lift our spirits. If you are a Debbie Downer, or know someone who has negative traits (and don’t we all know someone who has those traits?), then consider the need for a mind shift. Changing the Heart from Ungratefulness to One of Gratitude I think we could all call ourselves Debbie Downers from time to time, especially when... Read more...  

It  is  difficult to be a woman today, especially a Christian woman. It’s no wonder Catholics are confused about who they are. The Church boldly declares feminine traits are part of a woman’s core identity, deeply rooted in their souls, not just apparent in their physical appearance. Saint John Paul II, in his letter  On the Dignity and Vocation of Women , explains God created women to be different but equal to men as complementary partners, be it as married or religious/consecrated or single women. Our contemporary culture opposes this view as misogynistic. Some feminists promote the idea that women are born as blank slates with exactly the same traits as men, dismissing femininity as simply learned behaviour. If this were not confusing enough, society now toys with the idea of a blending of genders. We have somehow lost the truth about how great being a woman actually is. continue