Association Of Catholic Bloggers

  We visited an Air Zoo recently, and it was phenomenal. In case you don't know, an air zoo is a huge Smithsonian-type place with tons of old airplanes and even some NASA stuff. We really enjoyed it, but I suppose in different ways. My husband stood and listened to a docent talk about engines and propellers; I am more of the "Isn't that a pretty yellow color on that plane?" kind of person. All of us were amazed at the size and power on display at the exhibit, and we did enjoy the historical content offered. The day before we were walking a trail at a nature center. As we were leaving, a Porsche pulled in next to us. I'm about as good with cars as I am with planes. "What's that red thing on the wheel?" I asked my husband, who explained it to me. It's kind of like religion. There is a lot more than what meets the eye, and unless you take the time to learn more about it, you don't really know anything other than what you guess it is about,

    Today I'm publishing a very short audio reflection about the importance of giving your testimony about your faith in Christ.  Especially for parents, this reflection is a good reminder of the importance of passing on the faith to your children, and what you can do to help them. Using the Gospel of John, Chapter 4, The Samaritan Woman (at the well), we can learn about what made a difference to the townspeople she spoke to. Here is the link to today's audio reflection: https://janetcassidy.blubrry.net/2024/03/03/for-parents-woman-at-the-well/ Don't forget to check out my other social media, including my recent interview with Deacon Art Miller on Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail.   Here is a direct link to Part 2 of this interview:  https://youtu.be/_IACHopqBoI Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.com https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy            

  Are you angry at someone or something? Why? Is it righteous anger or are you just being your usual self? Is it ever right to be angry? Read more HERE .

"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one." (Gerald R. Massie, photographer, following the crash-landing of his B-17 (1944) ( from " Stayin alive — 16 favorite aviation quotes ", Dan Littmann, Air Facts (August 25, 2016) ) So far, this has been a good year for Lunar exploration. Both JAXA's SLIM and Intuitive Machines' Odysseus made good landings. Not perfect: and that's what I'll be talking about this week. Tipped, Tilted and Maybe Tripped: But Successful! The IM-1 Odysseus Mission: a "Spicy" Experience and Serendipity Odysseus: On Target and "Still Kicking" First Successful Commercial Flight, Farthest South Landing SLIM: Another Good Lunar Landing NASA News Conference: In Case You're Interested More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Two successful Lunar landings: SLIM and Odyssey. First successful commercial flight to the Moon, scouting for south polar Lunar base.)

Christ Cleansing the Temple Luca Giordano [ Web Gallery of Art ] And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple  (John 2:15; Gospel). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   John 2:13-25  ( English Standard Version Anglicised, India) The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things

I am excited to share with you, Part 2 of my conversation with Deacon Arthur Miller! Following up on our previous discussion about Emmett Till and the significance of his murder to the Civil Rights Movement, we now go in-depth and discuss Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." I hope you find it as thought-provoking as I have. Deacon Art's insights shed so much light on Dr. King's convictions about just and unjust laws and his determination to stand up for what is right. This letter is worth a good study! Here is the link to our conversation, on my YouTube Channel. I hope you will share it with others as well. I welcome your comments. https://youtu.be/_IACHopqBoI Have a blessed Lent! Janet Cassidy janetcassidy.com https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith

    I find myself waiting on God--alot. I wait for him to show me the direction in which he wants me to go.   I wait on him for a clear sign. If you find yourself in a holding pattern, I would suggest you make the most of it.  Perhaps God is pruning your patience.  Maybe he is trying to get you to listen more closely.  Maybe he is trying to tell you that you are right where you need to be. Reading the tea leaves can be hard, but rather than trying to read them, it is more helpful to listen.  That can be the most important activity you need to be doing sometimes. If God wants us to move, he will let us know.  More often than not, we get in too much of a hurry, looking for the next thing, or what's around the corner. I had a Religious Ed. Director make an observation about me that I have found useful over the years.  We were doing a program that I thought needed to be changed.  She said, "Janet, every time we offer this, it is to new people.  I think you get bored

  Often our Faith presents us with difficult questions. Perhaps we just ignore them, or put them at the back of our mind to be dealt with at a later date, or never. Let us face up to some of them right now. CLICK HERE

  There has been a lot of news lately about the Alabama's Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children. As I write this, out of fear of retribution, clinics are discontinuing in vitro fertilization (IVF) at all stages, en masse, in Alabama. This is affecting women who have been preparing for IVF or who already have frozen embryos.  Will individuals and institutions be held responsible for taking a life, if the process ends up having embryos discarded, since it has been determined they are children?  That question is paralyzing those holding the embryos in abeyance, and the parents wanting to start or complete the process.   (To read the strange story about the couples who started it all, go to: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/the-alabama-supreme-courts-ruling-on-frozen-embryos ) We need to be sensitive to their situation, as these families are in great pain over the decision they made to embrace IVF. Unfortunately, our culture ignored the slippery slope that IVF c

      We went away for the weekend and attended a Catholic Church unfamiliar to us. We were greeted at the door by a super-friendly Deacon who was opening up for confession. He was wonderful. He stood and chatted about sports with our son and encouraged us to make his church our "home away from home." I couldn't miss what an authentic, natural, evangelizing spirit he had. He was so joyful and attentive, even though I knew he had things to do at that moment.  He never made us feel that we were delaying him. Unfortunately, the Mass we attended felt quite the opposite of joyful. It was celebrated quasi-Latin. Now my intention is NOT to denounce anyone's freedom to worship that way, but it seems this church was trying to combine two ways of worship.  It was a Mass struggling to find itself. I say quasi-Latin, because the Priest's back was to the congregation, the Deacon lifted his chasuble during the consecration, there was a communion rail, and, o

A musician who's also a scientist found music in TRAPPIST-1 data. Meanwhile, 3D models help folks 'see' galaxies: and I found a Lenten connection in all that. Sonification and Switching Senses for Science TRAPPIST-1: A Planetary System With Resonance and Rhythm Scientific Sonification and the Cocktail Party Effect Tactile Perception: Making Mental Maps With 3D Models A Grain and Galaxies: Comparing the Incomparable More at A Catholic Citizen in America . Switching senses for science: sonification, 3D models of astronomical images, the cocktail party effect, and mental maps. And, briefly, a Lenten connection.

  The Transfiguration Blessed Fra Angelico [ Web Gallery of Art ] Fra Angelico  (c.1395 - 18 February 1455) was an Italian Dominican friar. He was beatified by Pope St John Paul 11 on 3 October 1992 and his feast day is observed on 18 February. Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Mark 9:2-10  ( English Standard Version Anglicised, India) After six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,   and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.   And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.   And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”   For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.   And a cloud over

  Click on this link to watch Part 1 of my conversation with Deacon Art Miller!     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5lOZ4M1JxE  Today we talk about Emmett Till and Deacon Art's family connection.  Learn about what happened to Emmett and the key decision his mother made that empowered the Civil Rights Movement. Part 2 will be coming soon! Janet Cassidy j anetcassidy.com https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy      

  After reading an article about a couple whose 15 month old daughter died from a terminal disease, I can't resist clarifying a few things. You see, although it seems like a sweet idea--they had their daughter's ashes made into pretty, white stones--it's just not okay, on several levels. To honor the dead, we need to bury them (or their ashes in an urn) in a sacred, permanent place. They should not be stored at home. If anyone wishes to keep some of the ashes, they need to go to an ecclesial authority of the Church, who can evaluate the request. This is both "canonical and pastoral." Cremains are not to be scattered, spread under a tree, made into jewelry (or stones), put in a shotgun shell for your next turkey hunt, inserted in a coral reef, or shot into space (examples from cnn.com). Why? What's all the fuss about? Honor and respect for the human body. The cremains need to be carefully identified so that the name of the deceased is not forgotten. They m

    Photo Credit CBS News                             My husband sent me a LINK about an article he read that I find quite disturbing ("Church without God: How secular congregations fill a need for some nonreligious Americans" by Jacqui Frost). Apparently, these "secular" churches are set up to imitate religious churches, except for their lack of a belief in God. They seem to be a sort of mishmash of beliefs (from those that share a desire for rituals using drugs, to ways to freeze yourself.) Those, in particular, are rather far out. My concern is that secular (atheist) "churches" might draw others away from God. At a basic level, we should just call them social groups, except, as I said, they try to imitate real churches by providing "secular ceremonies for major life transitions, like births, funerals and weddings." Of course, they have no history, per se. No solid foundation. No grounding other than self-affirmations and a shared belief