Association Of Catholic Bloggers

  Expressing greediness, at the expense of others, is a lonely existence. All you care about is how much money you have, or how you can get more. You erroneously think that money can take the place of love to fill the gaping hole in your heart. You spend too much energy looking in the wrong place. And it does not make you look good. Why? Because greediness is an insidious, unsightly trait. So, rather than living a life filled with greed, become gracious. Become Gracious To move from a life of greediness to a life of graciousness, the first step is to acknowledge that you cannot achieve happiness with money. In 1959, Frederick Herzberg proposed his Theory of Motivation, stating that money is a satisfier, but not a motivator. It is the desire for money that is the motivator, but the actual money, itself, once received, quickly loses its power over the human psyche. A greedy person is infatuated with the desire for more money. A greedy person will never have enough money. And money cannot

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      Una reflexión indispensable en esta "Nueva Realidad" de mucha higiene, protección y desinfección para cuidar nuestras vidas y las de los demás. Y es que en la Vida Interior , que es la Vida de nuestra alma, sucede lo mismo. Para proteger nuetra alma y vida interior hay que aprender a vivir en la Nueva Realidad Interior. Y el peso de la pandemia nos hace también buscar esa fuerza interior que en pasado ha detenido calamidades y pestes, para pedir a Dios el fin de la del COVID 19.  Por P. Daniel Heenan. 

    ON THE RADIO FEATURING FATHER FRANCIS MAPLE CLICK HERE

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    Recently our piano started getting a buzz in a few of its keys.   Time to call the piano tuner! In the past (pre-electronic tuning), whenever the tuner came to the house, the process was—by necessity—quite an assault on the ears. Bang, bang, bang.   On it would go for about an hour.   The house was filled with so much noise I could hardly here myself think!   But, thankfully, when the tuner was finished, the noise was always replaced by sweet music! I’ve been accused over the years of having a house that is too quiet.   Our television is in the basement, which means our main living space upstairs has very little, if any, noise going on around us.   I know that some people would say they cannot stand the quiet.   They need background noise in order to function.   They say that silence is deafening. But for me, the opposite is true.   It can be hard for me to have a conversation if a television is blaring in the background.   When I work, I’m a huge fan of silence.   I don’

The Canaanite Woman Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry [ Wikipedia ] The Solemnity of the Assumption, 15 August, is a Holy Day of Obligation in Aotearoa New Zealand, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland, USA. However, this year it is not a Holy Day of Obligation in the USA. In Aotearoa New Zealand, in England & Wales and in Scotland when 15 August falls on Saturday or Monday the Assumption is celebrated on Sunday, this year 16 August. Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Matthew 15:21-28 ( English Standard Version Anglicised) Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.    Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’  But he did not answer her at all. And his dis

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  Do you know anyone who thinks we are not a divided country? Whether it be based upon political, moral, or religious beliefs, we seem to be a society in disagreement. It is as if everyone walks around with blinders on, refusing to see anyone else’s opinion as valid. With that discounting of another’s opinion, we express disrespect. Well folks, it is time to dispel disrespect. Time to Dispel Disrespect I recently had a Facebook exchange with some people who did not like my post on  Freedom Comes with Responsibility . In that post, I expressed that we all have the freedom to use our intellect and reason and make decisions. I used the wearing of masks to combat the coronavirus as an example. Well, did I get an earful, from those who elect to not wear masks! Now, I could have gotten into an argument with these folks, furthering the division between us. Why? Because, in this post, I recommended wearing masks. When we choose to argue, for the sake of arguing, then ultimately, we risk showin

                                                      After 38 years of marriage, I have noticed that somewhere along the way I started speaking in terms of we, as if we share one thought or make one decision. Let me explain. Awhile back when I was talking to my husband about something ordinary—saving coupons—I caught myself saying, “Are we saving coupons for this store?   We don’t like them, do we ?” I spoke as if we were so unified that we shared one thought, as if we think with one mind.   I’m not sure when that started because I just noticed it the other day. Now don’t get me wrong, we do often think alike, but we have plenty of separate ideas as well.   While we don’t always speak as if our brains are completely fused, I did have to laugh when I realized what I did. The thing about the covenant of marriage is that it does take two people and God to make them one—and they do, indeed, create a unique union. Not necessarily in the way I’ve described above—when makin

Last Tuesday, August 4, 2020, something exploded in Beirut. It was around 6:00 p.m., Beirut time, 15:00 UTC. By Wednesday afternoon, I'd read that the blast killed at least 100 folks and hurt some 4,000. Upwards of 100 people were missing. My guess was that the body count would increase. I was right about that, sadly. By Monday, August 10, the acknowledged death toll had passed 200. I don't know how likely it is that search and rescue teams will find more survivors. Some of the good news is that there were search and rescue teams. And that many folks in Beirut "...rushed to the blast location ... to offer support and assistance...." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

  Do you ever feel like your fears have the upper hand? Do you wish that you could approach life differently, where your fears take a back seat and you excel at achieving your dreams? If so, then it is time to wrestle fear with Fortitude! Wrestle Fear with Fortitude To get the upper hand on our fears, we need to embrace the virtue of Fortitude, a gift of the Holy Spirit. Fortitude is there for the asking and the Holy Spirit is ready to give it to you. The  Catechism of the Catholic Church  defines Fortitude as ensuring “ firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. ”  1  This virtue enables us to conquer fear, with grace and strength. We will never have enough courage and bravery to tackle our fears if we first... Read more... 

                                                    weightplan.com Yesterday we went out to the cemetery to pull crabgrass and put new seed on my mom’s grave.   She died last September and we continue to address the mess. Because her grave and my dad’s are both on a hill, we are constantly in a battle to prevent water trenching its way across the soil when we get rain,   and getting a decent grass covering. Fingers crossed our latest attempt will be successful; the cemetery’s attempt at seeding appears to have been unsuccessful. As we know, in order for any seed to grow, it takes a lot of care during the initial days of planting.   Sunshine and water are essential because the seed must break open in order to grow.   It must die in order to produce. Jesus understood this well.   In fact, we find him talking about it in the Gospel of John (Chapter 12, verse 24).   Why?   Because he knew that in order to give us new life, he would need to go through the whole dying process him