Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Kindness is sorely lacking these days. Why are we so mean to each other? Whether it is on social media, in the news, or face-to-face, we see meanness everywhere. What does meanness do for the human psyche? Nothing good, whether you are the deliverer or the receiver! The deliverer of the meanness comes across as angry, hate-filled, resentful and/or vindictive. The recipient is humiliated and abused. Meanness serves no good purpose. The human person was created with a yearning for happiness.  The source of all happiness is God. Therefore, the human person yearns for God. So, how does anyone think that the way to happiness is via a snarky comment on Facebook or Twitter, or a jab at another in an op-ed piece, or an outright slander against another person? Folks, we are better than this! Find Kindness Today Remember the old saying, “What goes around comes around?” Well, if you do not want a snarky comment hurled your way, be kind with your comments on social media. If you do not w

Nancy H. C. Ward's " Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story " has been in print and available on Amazon.com since April, 2019. Back cover blurbs include Lisa Hendey's "an enjoyable template for the challenge of evangelization" and Gary Zimak's "a book that needed to be written." "Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story" is a big deal for me, too. It's the first time I've had a byline in print since I wrote articles for the Red River Valley Historical Society's Heritage Press. That was in the 1970s. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

PRAYER? WHAT PRAYER DOES GOD REALLY WANT? CLICK HERE

Madeleine's pet gecko! To motherhood belongs the distinguished commodity: our own special toolbox of learned skills, the intelligent planning, and the intuitive wisdom gained and increased with each passing year of motherhood tucked under our belt.  With this process of mother-becoming, an old self is shed like the skin of my daughter Madeleine's gecko.  The old skin (in my own sad case) is, sadly, the selfish hoarder (granted, who was but a young girl), ultimately a person in denial about her own self-worth, and she casts that insecurity onto her friends and spouse and other family members like a crystal reflecting a prism.  When the child bursts upon the scene, her heart explodes with a wild-animal kind of love.  The passive aggressive, the petty, the thief of joy-- her selfish insecure moth-like insect transforms.  A mother is like a gecko with a fresh new skin, or in my case, a mother butterfly with her own little swarm of caterpillars. Every mother has her own bigge

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Respondiendo al llamado del Papa Francisco para establecer metodos de proteccion a los menores en los diferentes ambitos dentro de la Iglesia Catolica, la Conferncia del Episcopado Mexicano CEM  ha establecido un plan de trabajo con base en las siguientes acciones, las cuales están divididas en 5 objetivos concretos:   1) diagnóstico   2) prevención 3) justicia y respuesta 4) apoyo a víctimas          5) promover el respeto por la ley  Aqui ponemos la liga al documento completo por considerarlo de alta importancia , para su lectura completa y en contexto. Comunicado completo CEM 2019

Fear does NOT come from God. Let’s make that clear, right up front. “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7). When we become afraid of something, it is because we lack trust in God; we feel alone and on our own. Throughout the Bible, God assures us that we need not be afraid. We can find courage in God’s own words and promises: Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice  (Is 41:10). Find Courage to Face Fear When we find the courage to face fear, we can act upon our beliefs, regardless of persecution or criticism, because we know the Truth (God). We find that courage, by placing our trust in God. We, then, align our wills with God’s Will, with the goal of adhering to God’s Will in all things. God doesn’t want us to worry, or fear. So, we need to leave our worries and fears at the foot of His altar. In the Gospel of Matthe

WHAT WOULD THE TRADE UNIONS SAY ABOUT JESUS? CLICK HERE

Dirt, grass and wheat? Yes, that’s the topic of today’s episode of Cassidy Comments !  I hope you will join me as I pull together our deck-building project and the Gospel of John! What are the special ingredients it takes for us to grow and mature? Are we supposed to hate our life? How in the world did our deck get built 7 ½ inches off square? Tune in to find out the answers to all of these questions! Don’t forget to join me at janetcassidy.blogspot.com to read my columns and share your comments too! Have a blessed day in God’s Word! Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.blogspot.com johnseven38@yahoo.com

Syro-Malabar Catholic Wedding  [ Wikipedia ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Luke 13:22-30 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)     Jesus [  went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.  Someone asked him, ‘Lord, will only a few be saved?’ He said to them,  ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.  When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, “Lord, open to us”, then in reply he will say to you, “I do not know where you come from.”    Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.”    But he will say, “I do not know where you come from; go away

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, we hear the story about the rich young man. It starts with the rich young man asking Jesus, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” (Matt 19:16) Jesus quips in reply, “Why do you ask me about the good?” (Matt 19:17) What are we to make of this quip of Jesus? Especially when Jesus follows up with, “There is only One who is good.” (Matt 19: 17). It’s almost as if Jesus is telling the rich young man, “Don’t ask me, because only God is good.” Is Jesus saying that only the Father is good, and that He is not? On the contrary! This is a glint of insight into the mystery of the Trinity, where One God consists of Three Persons. It is true that only God is all good. For the rest of us, we all have flaws, except for Jesus. He is perfect in both His Divine and human natures. Jesus is good, because Jesus is God. The Rich Young Man Just Doesn’t Get It So, what does it take to be good? Jesus tells us to follow the Ten Commandments, and beyond tha

IS ANYONE LISTENING? OR AM I TALKING TO MYSELF? CLICK HERE AND TELL ME

Although we do not like to admit it, even to ourselves, we still believe that prayer happens suddenly, or never happens at all. We kid ourselves that saints are born or created by an arbitrary decision of God who every now and then suddenly decides to top up humanity’s quota. This is a comforting idea that we harbour at the back of our minds because it absolves us from any serious effort to live in union with God.  read on....

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Kolbe, a 20 th  century Franciscan monk. He died in the Auschwitz concentration camp, in Poland, during World War II. In true Christian fashion, he laid down his life for another person, by volunteering to take the place of another man. This one action shows fortitude, courage, bravery, and self-giving love in a truly Christ-like manner. Who among us could say that we would have the strength of faith to do the same? At the time of his death, he was only 47 years old. But what he accomplished, in such a short life, is forever memorable. Maximillian Kolbe’s Love for the Immaculate Conception As a young boy, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, appeared to Maximillian Kolbe and offered him a choice between two crowns; one white, for perseverance in piety, and the other red, for martyrdom. Maximillian bravely replied ... Read more...

Prophet Jeremiah Byzantine Mosaic Artist  [ Web Gallery of Art ] So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud  ( Jeremiah 38:6 , First Reading). Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Luke 12:49-53 ( New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition, Canada)     Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on, five in one household will be divided, three agai