Association Of Catholic Bloggers

  People who act selfishly do so because something is lacking in their life. There is a neediness to compensate for lack of self-esteem, money, prestige, and/or security. A selfish person looks out for himself, at the expense of others. By their actions alone, one can see that selfishness is unfulfilling. Selfishness is Unfulfilling For example: When a person must be seen as #1, the best at what they do, it is usually because of low self-esteem. Even when they receive praise for their work, it rings hollow due to disbelief. Because of the low self-esteem, the selfish person finds it difficult in sharing credit with teammates, resulting in the perennial jockeying for first place among one’s peers, even at the expense of the efforts of others. A selfish and greedy person can never have enough money. The fear of being poor is intolerable. So, the selfish person climbs over others to get what they want. Yet, once they get more money, the need to obtain even more money surfaces. A vicious c

  Do you know enough to speak up about Jesus? If you are not a student of theology nor particularly knowledgeable about matters of the faith, and no wiser than the ordinary person in religious matters, what are you going to say to someone who uses scripture to defend their point?   It can be hard for us ordinary people if we have no “weapons” in our arsenal to defeat a strong debater.   But the point isn’t to get into a debate or win a war of words. If you have a sense that you can do little more than go silent when you find yourself in a religious conversation, don’t worry, you actually do have what you need. Take a close look at this reading from the Book of Micah (5:1-4): The LORD says: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Poor little Bethlehem.   Nowhere near as strong as those clans of Judah.   You’re just so seemingly insignificant. But wait!   What is that you

Have you ever felt drawn to a petty person? I seriously doubt it. Why? Because pettiness is unattractive. Pettiness makes a person look small. Classic example: The Church lady who gripes and complains about the most trivial of matters. You never hear a kind word from her mouth, and you cannot wait to get away from her. Petty people usually act that way to make themselves feel superior; as if their way of doing something would have been the better approach. There is an emptiness within a petty person that only God can heal. Pettiness is Unattractive When someone feels so compelled to knock down the efforts of others, or to demean others, to build up themselves in comparison to others, we should feel pity for that person. The need for Christ’s healing is great, for the hole in that person’s heart and soul is great. I do not think anyone chooses to be petty, as it is an outcome of deeper fears and desires. Those fears and longings need to be addressed first, so that the healing can begin.

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 Hi everyone! I have changed my email subscription feed, which means if you originally signed up to receive my blog posts in your inbox, you no longer receive them. I don't want that to happen! So, I would like to invite you to return to my blog at janetcassidy.blogspot.com and enter your email in the subscriber box.  Notice that the list is now powered by Feedio.  I just made the change yesterday, so if you tried to subscribe earlier in the week, it wouldn't have worked. Feedio will send you an email that you just need to click to respond and you will be all set! If you have any trouble with this, please let me know.  Whenever I post a blog, they respond immediately by sending it to you. I hope you will continue to subscribe and thank you in advance for staying with me! If you have never subscribed to my blog before, I hope you will do so now.  You don't want to miss a posting do you? God bless,   Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.blogspot.com jmctm2@gmail.com

  I passed a colleague in the hall one day at a conference that leaned towards charismatic discussions.  A person who is charismatic in the Catholic Church is one who feels a call to a particular way of life which involves prayer and, perhaps, a healing ministry, prophecy and so forth. I asked my highly-spirited colleague if he was a charismatic.  He said, "Well, no, not in the way you are thinking." What did he mean? He explained that although he is not involved in the charismatic fold of the church, he was charismatic in that he followed and was moved by the Holy Spirit.  I immediately understood his distinction and appreciated his awareness that each one of us is "charismatic" in that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit at our baptism and we are unified with the Holy Spirit, who is one in the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). If you, too, are not technically charismatic, you may have some doubt about it.  You may be confused by the idea of people

  Are you a word person?   Do you love learning new words and their definitions? I sure do. Recently, I came across the word peroration in a footnote for a passage I was reading in 1 Corinthians (4:6-21) in the New Testament in the bible. Here’s the definition, and in case you are wondering, it’s a noun: “The concluding part of a speech, typically intended to inspire enthusiasm in the audience.” Paul was using an “emotionally charged peroration” to address the problem of divisions within the community (more about that later.) I never realized there was a name for a speech’s concluding crescendo that was designed to get us all fired up. I’ll bet all of the great speakers use a peroration to light up their audience.   I would do that, too, except I will never be able to remember the word. It’s true. That’s my only problem.   Well, maybe not my only problem, but definitely a frustrating one. How am I supposed to remember the great words I learn and use them when it is a

I think impatience must be at an all-time high for just about everyone these days, as we deal with the impacts of the coronavirus. How soon will we have a vaccine? How long before we can resume our lives as we once remembered them? Will life ever be “normal” again?  These questions are valid, and everyone wants the answers to them. But impatience solves nothing! We need to give the scientists the time needed to develop an efficacious vaccine. Otherwise, we will be back in the boat we are in now. Impatience Solves Nothing The only thing that impatience does is make us unhappy. So, right there that should tell us all that impatience does not come from God, because God is all good. He only wants us to be happy. Impatience is the work of the devil, trying to convince us that if we yell and whine louder, that somehow our desired results will come sooner. What folly! Patience, on the other hand, enables a person to endure elongated suffering with a graceful heart, all while maintaining one’s

    My husband told me about a couple of baby birds that were trying to make their way up our maple tree.   They would get part way up—one farther than the other—and then fall back down to the base of the tree.   It was so sad. Then the next day when I got home from work, he told me one of them made it almost all the way up to the first branch, but he didn’t see the other one at all.   It’s like a daily drama for us! The little birds that will one day be yellow finches were determined to make it up that tree.   We would find them clinging to the bark with all their might.   As is God’s plan for nature, they were hard to see on the bark because their feather pattern was camouflaging them. I was thinking about these birds and their great effort.   Their work was painfully slow and in their world, I’m sure the span they had to traverse up that tree, vast. We watched those little birds clinging to the tree whenever they had to rest, their little beating hearts and breathless bod

  We experience much division and disagreement in society today. The resulting intolerance is the work of the devil. He relishes in sowing division, because through this division, we collapse as a society. And Satan’s goal is to destroy us all. We see the intolerance in the political, religious, and racial arguments on the internet, television, and in the public square. Everyone chooses a camp and settles in, disregarding anything stated by anyone from the other camp. Here is my problem: I am a pro-life Democrat who believes in racial equality, as well as marriage between a man and a woman. So, I do not fit into any single political camp! I could say, I am divided within myself! Why? Because I espouse following God’s moral laws. No political camp, regardless of the issue, aligns totally with God’s moral laws. Even some religious camps do not always see things as God sees them. Why? Because we are all sinners. Intolerance is Intolerable I go back 30+ years to the Rodney King quote, “Can

  I was sitting on the step of our deck the other day just getting some fresh air.   An ant was scurrying around where I was sitting, so I brushed him off into the grass. A minute later, looking down, I saw what I assumed to be the ant I brushed away, working his way through the grass.   I started wondering, “Is this the same ant?   Will he try to work his way back to the step?   Are ants that aware of their surroundings?   Do they even have eyes, or just feelers?” Yes, that’s the way my brain works.   So, as I am sure you are already aware, I had to look up ants on the Internet.   I swear there is not a rabbit hole I won’t go down. So let’s get this out of the way.   My question about whether they have eyes is not as stupid as you might have thought.   Some don’t, but most do.   But the dumbest question I found online that I thought surely topped my eyes question, was this: “Do ants count their steps?” Huh? (I’ll bet you are picturing an ant with a tiny fit bit on its leg

  When the gospels give a parable, sometimes it is helpful to look beyond the individual(s) involved and step back to see what we can learn from the situation. Like in today’s parable about the ten virgins in the 25 th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. A parable is basically a story with a message.   In today’s parable we get a very important warning that we do not want to miss. Here it is: Be prepared.   The kingdom of heaven is open for us now, but some day it will not be. Yikes!   That’s a dose of good news/bad news! The reality is—and this should be of no surprise to any of us—someday our earthly life will end.   Maybe you believe in the kingdom of God, maybe you don’t.   Regardless what you believe , the facts don’t change.   It exists. The situation the virgins find themselves in is a perfect example of how our choices on earth can affect our opportunity to enjoy eternal life, in heaven, with God. Through this parable, here’s what scripture tells us the kingdom