Association Of Catholic Bloggers

In 1968 Bishop Casey of Brentwood  appointed me director of his retreat and conference centre at Chingford in North London. The centre, otherwise known as Walsingham House, was owned and staffed by Dominican sisters. My  tenure lasted from 1969–1981. All the courses for priests and religious were aimed at spreading the New Biblical Theology that had such an influence on the Second Vatican Council. Sadly, I could not find anyone to give lectures on prayer so I gave them myself .     read on .....

Today marks the fifth anniversary of my blog! Time has flown by. Over the past five years, I shined a spotlight on why we should embrace virtue. Vice and virtue oppose each other, and when we turn away from sin, we draw closer to virtue. In turn, virtue draws us closer to God. To me, that’s a mighty good reason for embracing virtue, as I would like to grow closer to God. I’ve seen the blog morph over the years, by adding some posts on spirituality. Sharing information about the saints, and how they embodied virtue, brought forth a sense of spirituality to the blog posts. This spirituality only enhanced the emphasis on embracing virtue. As we continued this journey, together, I began to review good books written by Catholic authors. Many of these books either directly dealt with virtue and spirituality or had characters who espoused virtue worth modeling. Read more...

Apparently our brains have more than one track. Maybe as you're praying the rosary, you're planning what you'll have for dinner and before you know it, you've prayed the closing prayer. Maybe you're reading a prayer, like the Divine Office, and your eyes are following the words, but when you're finished, you don't know what you've said to God because you were dwelling on a problem. During prayer, stray thoughts can pester us like gnats. Buddhists refer to "monkey minds," that is, just as monkeys leap from tree to tree, our brains leap from one thought to another. How helpful it would be if we were rapt in ecstasy as some saints were! Praying would be much easier. Many suggestions are given to combat distractions:  focus on a candle, play music, look at a religious picture, weave them into your prayer. However, I've found one ploy to be 100% effective. When I was writing a religion series, my meditation time was usually invaded by thought

Want to feel free? As light as a feather? Then consider performing random acts of kindness. When we perform good acts, we feel energized, happy and blessed. We feel light as a feather! This week, we celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week. Yet, kind acts shouldn’t occur only during this week. Kindness has no restrictions. If we just open our eyes, or read our Facebook news feed, we see countless acts of kindness expressed toward others. It’s time to get off the sidelines and get in the game of performing acts of kindness. It’s easy! Here’s just a few suggestions, of which I am sure that you will come up with many more: Say some prayers for all those who are sick and/or in need. Visit the elderly and give them your full attention. Actively listen to them talk. Offer to babysit, for free, so that a relative or friend can have a respite. Smile at strangers, as you walk down the street, and see what happens in return. Be Christ-like in all that you do. See Why Kindness Has No R

Wow. That quote says it all, doesn't it? St. Paul told the Corinthians to not just look at today, but look ahead to eternal life; to PLAN for eternal life. I am amazed at how words written so long ago still speak to us today in the 21st century. As I listened to this scripture reading, I kept thinking " Memento Mori "..."Remember your death". We have no idea when our lives on this earth will end so we must prepare for it with every waking breath. St. Paul urged them to be ready and to not procrastinate...just as he's telling us today.     CLICK HERE TO READ MORE..

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If I had not been working for several organisations in the USA for the past six years I might have thought Archbishop Vigano's letters referred to in the Catholic media, as way over the top, but they are not. The central  point that he was making about a powerful homosexual clique in Rome and in the USA having such influence was confirmed by Cardinal Muller. It was in an interview that he gave to EWTN the biggest Catholic television station in the world, that has its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.      read on..............

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of the partisanship that pervades the halls of the U.S. Government, as well as society in general. Rather than sticking to the prescribed partisan “talking points” of divisiveness, we need to find solutions that positively impact the American majority. Who cares if a good idea comes from a Democrat or a Republican, if the idea is a good one? Finding solutions can be accomplished, if we, and our lawmakers, would act as follows: Collaborate ! Truly listen to each other and seek the best ideas to solve problems, regardless of the point of origin. Compromise ! God never said that he would give us everything that we want. So, why do we and our lawmakers think it should be that way? We need to learn how to compromise, where both sides believe needs get met for the benefit of the common good. Collegiality ! We need to see each other as human beings, friends, and fellow children of God. Our Lord meant for us to live in community with each other; t

Today is February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. There are 69 approved miracles of physical healing that occurred at Lourdes, France. (About 7,000 have been submitted.) But perhaps there are many more miracles of spiritual healing resulting from Mary's visit to Earth back in 1858. I'm willing to bet that almost every family has at least one member who is in need of a miracle, physical or spiritual. We can help heal these sick people by enlisting Mary's aid. After all, she has been declared our mother by the Church and by Jesus himself. She is the one who prompted Jesus' first public miracle when the wine had run out at Cana—and at a time when he wasn't inclined to do so! This Jewish mother has clout with her Son. Here is today's reflection from my book "Heart to Heart with Mary," which you might find meaningful right now: Praying for Sinners    Click to continue

Women today are confused about who they are called to be. If we feel called to be full-time mothers, society seems to dismiss us as vintage models, out of step with the modern feminist agenda. I know I often felt embarrassed because I did not have a  real  job as I mothered nine kids. Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) had a lot to say about the nature of women. She was a Jewish German philosopher who converted to Catholicism, became a Discalced Carmelite nun, and died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Initially, she struggled intellectually with the whole idea that women were different than men. In the end, instead of denying her gender, she looked to her body as the image of her soul. Katharina Westerhorstmann discusses Stein’s view of women in  On the Nature and Vocation of Women: Edith Stein’s Concept against the Background of a Radically Deconstructive Position . continue

Christ Pantocrator,  Cefalù Cathedral , Italy   [ Web Gallery of Art ] ' Pantocrator ' may be translated as 'Almighty' or 'All-powerful'. Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Luke 6:17, 20-26 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)      Jesus came down with the twelve and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor,      for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,      for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now,      for you will laugh. ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of t

LA FAMILIA CON HIJOS NATURALES, HIJOS DEL AMOR, HIJOS QUE SE ENGENDRAN CON BESOS Y CARICIAS Y YA NACIDOS SON LO MÁS SAGRADO Y LO MÁS AMADO… YA NOS SE LLEVA, YA ESTÁN FUERA DE LO NUEVO Y LO MONDERNO O POR LO MENOS VA DISMINUYENDO POR ESTA CORRIENTE DONDE SE PREFIERE HACER UNA GESTACIÓN SUBRAGADA QUE ES LA PRACTICA POR LA QUE UNA MUJER GESTA UN HIJO PARA OTRA PERSONA O PAREJA.   leer más...

We live in such a divisive society, here in the United States, and around the world. Satan is hard at work pitting us against each other. He wants us to forget that we all come from the same Supreme Being. As adults, why is it so easy for us to quickly notice the differences of others, rather than common ground? We weren’t like that as children. When we were young, we simply played with anyone who would play with us. We found common ground in the love of “play,” in toys shared, and in having fun together. We need to find that goodness, once again – this time as adults. Finding goodness in a divisive society can be a challenge, but only if we let it. It all starts with our own attitude. Do we trust others, until they prove themselves untrustworthy, or is it the other way around? For example: Do others need to “prove themselves” in your eyes before you will trust them? If so, then you are looking for the “difference.” Do you follow the golden rule and treat others as you would li

Photo courtesy of Pexels It's getting harder and harder to  decide what to pick for my Lenten Devotional Journal.  Who's with me? There are so many to choose from and not enough time to do it all. How do you decide? For me, there's the huge issue of "FOMO" (Fear of Missing Out); I see some that look really great on social media and I want to get them all. Unfortunately, Lent is only 40 days; last year it seemed to fly by. I wasn't ready for it to end because I enjoyed my Lenten journey. Just a few short years ago I had trouble finding a Catholic Journal. There were plenty of Protestant Journals but none that were specific for Catholics. I think the first one I found was from  Blessed is  She . Now it seems like I get an offer for a different one every other day. Oh, sure, you can do your own journal by reading the Daily Mass Readings and writing down your thoughts (which is basically what I've started doing) but to me, Lent is different. I want a litt

Miraculous Draught of Fishes , Raphael  [ 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   Luke 5:1-11 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition)      Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God,  he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’  Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down t