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Image by 472301 (2016) via Pixabay , CCO Public Domain Hello, Carol D'Annunzio here. I have been a long-time reader of the Association of Catholic Bloggers and very happy to have the opportunity to share my thoughts and posts with all of you here. About me: I am married for almost 15 years to a wonderful, truck-driving guy named Michael and we hail from New Jersey. Together we have an almost 13 year old whom I homeschool and an adorable rescued Dachshund-Chihuahua named Nugget. I am passionate about my faith and writing and love being able to combine the two on my blog, Simple Catholic Living . I look forward to connecting with some one you. God bless.

From February 15-19, my Christian novel Amaranth will be free on Amazon Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/Amaranth-J-Avila-ebook/dp/B00WSCJT64 About the story: Would you take an elixir that made you perpetually young and physically immortal? What if the price for it was your eternal soul? Billionaire Desmond Sceller acquires such a wonder drug. But when eighty-year-old Marie Long is rejuvenated by it against her will, she quickly discovers unending beauty and youth is not the paradise it seems. Sceller, however, intends on using the elixir to entice all mankind into submitting to his tyrannical control. When Marie and her grandson Peter unearth this evil scheme, they soon discover that only an extraordinary sacrifice on their part can free humanity from Sceller’s nefarious plan. For ages 13 and up. During this promotional offer, my other Christian novels— Rain from Heaven, Nearer the Dawn, and Cherish —will also be just 99 ¢ each on Kindle with all net pro

As you watch a program about the millions and millions of galaxies that lie beyond our own, or when you are adrift in the daze before falling asleep, you might wonder, “How did everything begin?” The answer is, “No one knows.” This lack of knowledge, however, does not stop creative human beings from proposing theories. Currently I’m working on a book that had me investigating how people explain the existence of the universe. Now at the outset of this post, since it is Valentine’s Day, I state the Christian position: All of creation is a tremendous act of love from God, who is best defined as love. It is an overflowing of his divine love. God fashioned us, his children, in his likeness and created the world as our home. Just how God did this remains a mystery, since no one was present to make a video of it.  Click to continue

Wow! Ash Wednesday & Valentine’s Day on the same day! Hearts and Ashes in one fell swoop! Today is the day when we show our love for our spouses and loved ones, with valentines. It is also a day that we show our love for Christ, with ashes on our foreheads; marking ourselves as belonging to Christ. Today, we can consider the ashes on our foreheads as our own personal valentine to God, acknowledging Christ’s sacrifice on the cross because of His love for us. Talk about bittersweet days! No hearts filled with assorted chocolates this year! Considering that Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence, there is no going out to dinner tonight either. Yet, the love of Christ is ever-present on this day, and we soak it up. I’ll give up a candy heart, and a steak dinner, knowing that Jesus loves me. There is no better Valentine than that! My fasting and abstinence is a small sacrifice of self-giving love back to Jesus for His sacrifice on the Cross. Read more...

Three Questions "Three things are necessary for man's salvation," said Thomas Aquinas, "to know what he ought to believe, to know what he ought to desire, and to know what he ought to do." In this three part series, during Lent, I am going to take apart this quote from Aquinas. In this quote, he begs the question.... actually three questions. What do you  believe ? What do you  desire ? What do you  do ? These are the three essential questions for faith and for salvation.  Aquinas said it: it must be true!  :0) This year during the season of Lent, this will be the focus of my conversations. I am going to start that conversation here, with part one on my blog! Let's Talk About Lent And before we get into that question, I want to discuss Lent for just a minute.  I remember in years past, I heard about a girl who was going to give up creamer in her coffee for Lent. However, it was too tough for her, but she still wanted to honor God by doing some kind of sacr

Almighty God,  you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you; so lead us by your Spirit that in this life we may live to your glory and in the life to come enjoy you forever;-  St. Augustine Over the years, I have attended many retreats and masses, followed by healing prayer led by Fr. Albert MacPherson. For over 30 years, Father Albert MacPherson O.S.A. has traveled the globe on a healing mission. He takes his special healing ministry to parishes and provides parish communities with healing Masses and retreats. One mass I attended a few years ago was especially memorable. After mass, dressed in a black cassock, using holy water, blessed salt, holy oil and  traditional prayers of the Church,  Father simply blesses the people with God performing wonderful miracles in his wake. continue reading

I must start this post by telling you that I have been a friend and fan of Tony Agnesi for approximately four years now. Several years ago, as a fledgling Catholic blogger, I reached out to him, seeking advice. You see, Tony has an awesome blog over at tonyagnesi.com , where he blogs about virtue as well. Where I write more from a theological/academic point of view on virtue, Tony writes from experience. I once asked him, “How do you come up with such great stories? You are quite creative!” His reply, “Those things really happened to me!” God uses Tony, daily, to reach out to the less fortunate; to witness to the faith; and to use his gift for storytelling to reach the hearts of many. In A Storytellers Guide to a Grace Filled Life , we see Tony Agnesi at work in God’s Garden of life. A Storytellers Guide to a Grace Filled Life … captures the best of Tony Agnesi’s stories aimed at showing you how to find God’s Grace in your own life. As a master storyteller, Agnesi shares with u

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Lent is fast approaching. How I see it and what I do is up to me. Ash Wednesday is next week, so I don't have much time to decide. Christians, Catholic and otherwise, in my culture generally change what we eat for this season. I'm a Catholic, so I've got rules. But not all that many. Mostly they're guidelines. I put a link to my territory's rules about diet under ' Fast & Abstinence ' near the end of this post.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

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I have worked with Pete Socks online for years.  Pete is an example of someone who volunteered to serve the Church by writing articles on his blog and for online Catholic sites without pay for years till God opened the door to a full-time paying job creating  Catholic podcasts and helping manage BreadBox Media. He is a humble guy, was a manager at a factory, and a happily married father of five who converted to the Catholic faith in 1996. After a few years, he found himself simply going through the motions, just trudging to weekly Mass.  God had other plans, though. Pete experienced a reconversion when he stumbled on a book by Father Larry Richards and then attended one of his conferences. It was a turning point. Pete had discovered the key to reviving his lackluster faith in books; he began reading voraciously, a book a week, to nourish his spirit. In 2012, he decided to start a self-hosted blog writing book reviews, writing a review each week. continue reading

Scientists figure a comet started breaking up about 12,800 years back. Nothing unusual there. Many comets break up while they're this close to our sun. This time Earth got in the way before the fragments spread out much. Fire rained from the sky, consuming forest and meadow alike. Sounds a bit like Genesis 19:1 , now that I think of it. Except we didn't start building cities until a few millennia later. Or maybe we haven't found our first cities yet. And that's another topic or two.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Christ as Saviour, El Greco [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel Mark 1:40-45 (NRSV, Anglicised Catholic Edition) A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter. Dr Carlo Urbani - (1956 - 2004)

Last week the kids and I met Tom at the church for an event. Fifteen minutes before we had to leave a neighbor kid came to the door. It was her birthday so she brought everyone cupcakes. She left and my kids were scarfing down the chocolate cupcakes before we had to leave. Thick globs of chocolate icing ended up on my new rug. We were supposed to leave the house by this time but instead I was frantically scrubbing my rug trying to get the stains out. In the hectic chaos, I guess I forgot to lock the front door.   Continue Reading@ Beautifulthorns>

Can you believe it? Lent is only one week away! We’ve barely left the Christmas season, and we are about to walk the journey, with Christ, to Calvary. Are you prepared to enter the Lenten season? Are you ready to make the most of it? Things You Can Do to Make Your Lent Fruitful Prayer : Make a point to set aside a few minutes each day to pray. If you have enough time to say a full Rosary, great! But, sometimes, the day gets away from us. So, a vow to say a single Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be is a commitment I think we all could easily make. Prayer is talking with God. He wants to hear from you! Fasting : At a minimum, make the effort to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. By fasting, I mean a reduced breakfast and lunch, and a full dinner. No desserts! If you can do this on a set day of the week, once weekly during Lent, all the better! Fasting helps us to understand that without God, we are nothing. It is God who provides for us: our homes, our jobs, our food, ever

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Are you weary of snow, slush, and black ice? Are you tired of putting on layers of clothing to protect against the cold? Take heart! Spring is March 20—only a few weeks away. Then it will be time for spring cleaning, when we move the sofa and wash the windows. We are quickly approaching Lent, which is called the springtime of the soul. It’s a time to do some serious spiritual cleaning.The undertaking will not be difficult because we have a willing partner. The Gospel recounts that once a leper said to Jesus, “If you wish, you can make me clean,” and he heard, “I do wish it.” And at Jesus’ touch, the man’s body marred with ugly sores became as good as new. We too can appeal to Jesus to help renew us, and we can be confident that he will respond eagerly. Click to continue

I grew frustrated with quotes from the saints paired with pictures of gloomy saints with their eyes rolled back in their heads. Even worse, are insipid flowers surrounding profound spiritual insights. So, using the free site Pixter, I searched for great Catholic art, sharp, colourful graphics and paired them with some of my favourite……  Continue reading

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Lorenzo Ghiberti [ Web Gallery of Art ] The first reading in tomorrow's Mass, Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, is 1 Kings 10:1-10 . It tells of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon. Sheba is believed to have been located in modern-day Yemen. When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, (fame due to the name of the Lord), she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. When the queen of Sheba had observed all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his valets, and his burnt-offerings that

In today’s Gospel reading from Mark 6:53-56, we hear of Christ giving His healing touch to so many people. More than that though, we learn of the faith of the people who believed that “ they might touch only the tassel on his cloak ” (Matt 6:56) and be healed. And yes, merely touching the tassel of his cloak was sufficient. Fast forward 2,000 years. Do you believe today, that Jesus can heal you? Do you believe in His power? I do! Jesus Christ Responds to Prayer Recently, my sister, a paraplegic, entered the hospital, with medical concerns. Many people said many prayers for her healing. The doctors were concerned because after two tries at some tests, the results were inclusive. Her situation required consultation with experts, to obtain a proper diagnosis. For a few weeks, (over the Christmas holidays), we all held our breath, and said many prayers. Then... Read more... 

Dicen que "Las palabras se las lleva el viento" pero también "que lo escrito, escrito queda Pues bien nos impulsa a escribir este artículo la idea esperanzadora de que alguien que tiene decidido a abortar recapacite y no lo haga. Es un crimen que siempre va acompañado del castigo del remordimiento que quemará su conciencia hasta el final de sus días.  Tengo en mis manos un escrito sobre este tema que se debe al cardenal Wyszhinski, que fue Primado de Polonia y que ya hace años se dio a conocer.  Así escribió el cardenal Wyszhinski : " 5 de OCTUBRE: Hoy comienza mi vida. Mis padres todavía lo ignoran. Soy tan pequeña como una semilla de manzana, pero ya tengo mi vida. Y yo voy a se una niña. Tendré los cabellos rubios y los ojos azules. Todo está dispuesto por anticipado, incluso me gustarán las flores.

Today's tech and social norms aren't what they were in my youth. It's exciting. Or bewildering. Or unstable. Or dynamic. or any of a myriad other options. Change happens, even if I don't approve. What matters is making good choices. More about that later. These are the 'Good Old Days' I'll indulge in nostalgia. Occasionally. Parts of my past are nice places to visit. But I wouldn't like living there. Taking a stroll down memory lane lets me see the best times places, people and experiences. It's a 'best-of' selection. But I certainly don't yearn for the days before social media, smart appliances, and online search software. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

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Folks in the United Kingdom may be changing their rules for wood and coal fires. Or maybe not. It depends on whether their rules match Europe's. Volkswagen paid researchers to mistreat monkeys and people. Or maybe not. We know the research happened. It's complicated, a bunch of folks are upset, and I'll get back to that. Fireplaces, outdoor grills, and coal-burning furnaces aren't basically bad. Neither is learning how stuff in the air affects animals. And us. But having smoky fires upwind of our neighbors isn't a good idea. Neither is mistreating critters. Or people. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

After a few decades of dry spiritual exercises, Catholics either become just like the Pharisees who thought they were holy because they acted and looked holy on the outside or if they are honest with themselves, they become so frustrated they lose hope, believing communion with God is only for ancient saints or a few chosen ones. Most settle for a man-made spirituality when God offers all intimate communion with Him. The truth is a vibrant, joyful relationship with Christ is simply the normal Christian life when we learn how to surrender to God and let go of control. For years, I did not understand the subtle difference between authentic and man-made spirituality.  It is not an easy distinction to make; most of us remain in delusion until a spiritual director can shake some sense into us. For myself, I tried to force God to relate to me on my own terms. Since God refused to be manipulated, the harder I tried to grow closer to Him, the more I hit a wall. The experience often broug

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Christ Raises the Daughter of Jairus- Friedrich Overbeck [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel Mark 1:29-39 ( NRSV, Anglicised Catholic Edition ) As soon as they left the synagogue, Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he p

I have a great deal of personal experience when it comes to bullying. You see, I was bullied for eight consecutive years, while attending a Catholic grade school. There were only 38 children in my class, so I was an easy target. Because of my physical deformity of clubbed feet, I wore braces on my legs. This set me apart from the others, making me the “outcast.” (The photo to the left was taken in 1962, at age 5). After what I experienced, it is amazing that I am still alive to tell my story today. Bullying Has No Grace The ugliness of the constant and consistent verbal abuse, demeaning my dignity and self-worth, proves to me that bullying has no grace. Bullying is an evil act. My bullies constantly referred to me as “metal legs,” “cootie bug,” – you get the picture. Their derisive behavior played havoc on my self-worth, leaving me changed, and not for the better. They scarred my psyche. The Lingering Effects of Bullying As I progressed through high school and college, I a

These days I am busy preparing to give a three-day parish mission on our Blessed Mother entitled "Mary Calls Us to Lent." My aim is twofold: 1) to convince the parishioners to pray to Mary as their God-given loving mother and powerful intercessor and 2) to inspire them to imitate her as the first and best Christian. Because my mind is focused on the Mother of God today, this post includes an excerpt from my new book Heart to Heart with Mary: A Yearly Devotional . It is the reading for Wednesday, January 31. The realistic statue of Mary on the cover is in our chapel at the provincial center. I love how she looks—not like a distant goddess but like a simple, approachable woman, someone you can converse with and pour out your heart. Click to continue