Association Of Catholic Bloggers

The Grace-filled Tuesdays Book Club met today over at my flagship blog, String of Pearls. We talked about my second YA Catholic novel, Erin's Ring , recipient of two book awards from the Catholic Press Association. If you haven't read Erin's Ring yet and would like to do so, you might be interested to know that I'm hosting a giveaway. I'm giving away five free promo copies of Erin's Ring , with the winners to be announced on Nov. 1.   If you'd like to find out how to enter, head on over to String of Pearls for more information.

It is not always easy to forgive injuries, because we’re human and pain hurts! Yet, we are called by Christ to forgive in the same manner that He taught the Apostles to forgive when He taught them the Our Father: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt 6:13). To forgive then requires us to extend mercy and compassion. How so? Let’s use an example: A family crisis occurs. Tensions are high. A close relative makes a comment that cuts you to your core, causing you great emotional pain. It’s the type of comment that could result in the two of you never speaking to each other again, or at least not for several years. Anyone else ever experience this situation? I know that I can speak from experience: It happened to me. I couldn’t bring myself to be in the same room with this relative for about two years. Unable to forgive, I hurt deeply. Read more...

REFLECTIONS AND PRAYERS FOR THOSE SPECIAL TIMES OF NEED CLICK HERE

What You Want Has Its Price. And The Price of Such of a  Tremendous  Good  As That  Is  FAITH. "People are told 'Believe,' and they want to see..." –St. Augustine >> Click Here to Read More at: The Way To Nourish For Life >>

En este siglo XXI donde el libertinaje absoluto de la persona se ha vuelto el bastión de la cultura global, permanece la interrogante de si esta independencia de cualquier estructura social la llevará a la felicidad que todo ser humano ansía. Durante décadas a algunas de estas “estructuras sociales” se les ha tachado de obsoletas, como la familia y el matrimonio. A los que han tratado de defenderlas, como la fe católica, se les ha etiquetado de intransigentes. Pero últimamente a su voz se han unido, finalmente, las voces de muchas otras denominaciones espirituales que ven en esta defensa una prioridad urgente, ante los sufrimientos y problemas sociales que su degradación han traído.

Her birth is a cause for great joy as it is considered the “dawn of our salvation” Pope Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, 1972. to see more images and quotes

  from The Cloistered Heart

Airliners were flown into New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon 15 years ago today, killing nearly 3,000 folks whose chief offense had been living in an American city and going to work Tuesday morning. The 19 immediately responsible died with their victims. They were waging Osama bin Laden's religious war against the United States. Osama bin Laden is dead now, and so are a great many others: perpetrators and victims; Christians, Muslims, and folks who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. On top of that, about 1,800,000 folks were stopped last year, while trying to get into Europe. Some may have had ulterior motives; but most were trying to stay alive, fleeing because their former homes had become a war zone. It's the biggest problem of that sort Europe's had since the 1940s. Quite a few folks are upset: partly because most of the refugees hadn't had opportunities to fill out all their paperwork before entering Europe. More at A

As the Morning Rising: I Am the Gold : I am the gold someone else wishes they had - My gifts, my senses, My health is wealth beyond measure. Lead me Lord, along the ri...

DO YOU ALWAYS FORGIVE? READILY? WITHOUT BEARING A GRUDGE OR THOUGHTS OF REVENGE? REALLY? ARE THERE TIMES WHEN ... YOU CANNOT FORGIVE. CLICK HERE ... PLEASE

As the Morning Rising: Labour : Detail in stained glass in Holy Family Church Belfast Labour Stone walls make up the physical house of God When other landmarks t...

(from The Breadbox Letters)

Scientists spotted Philae, the European Space Agency's spacecraft that crash-landed on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014: which will help them make sense of data sent back while the probe still functioned. Other scientists think they’ve worked out where carbon near Earth's surface came from, and the Juno orbiter has been sending pictures of the giant planet. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Return of the Prodigal Son , Rembrandt, c.166 Gospel Luke 15:1-32 (or 1-10) ( NRSV, Catholic ) Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds

Birth of the Virgin ,  Orsola Maddalena Caccia , c.1635 Pinacoteca Malaspina, Pavia The glory of the Virgin was all within For a long time I have wondered and been at a loss to understand why the evangelists should have spoken at such length about John the Baptist and the apostles, and yet told us so little about the Virgin Mary, who in life and distinction excels them all. Being at a loss, as I say, to understand this, all I can think is that it pleased the Holy Spirit that it should be so. It was by the providence of the Holy Spisit that the evangelists kept silent, because the glory of the Virgin, as we read in the psalms, was all within, and could more truly be thought of than described. The most important fact of her life, that Jesus was born of her, is enough to tell her whole story. What more do you want to know? What further inquire would you make concerning the Virgin? It is enough for you that she is the Mother of God. What beauty, I as you, what virtue, what perfec

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As the Morning Rising: Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Msry : Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary It's a girl! Joachim hurried home His face bright with joy All the neighbours gathering W...

We humans love heroes—people who excel in sports like the Olympians, music like rock stars, politics like senators and presidential candidates, acting like movie stars, and in other endeavors. We not only look up to them, but they serve as models for us. They inspire us to be better. How disappointing and depressing it is to discover that our idols have flaws and sometimes even serious faults. The news is glutted with stories of famous people who acted infamously today and in the past. So how do we deal with these sad turns of events? For one thing, we shouldn't be surprised. There is a saying that idols have clay feet. This adage is derived from an Old Testament story of the king of Babylon's dream in which a statue of gold, silver, bronze, and iron had feet of clay. The prophet Daniel said that the dream symbolized that the powerful nation would be destroyed. We are all children of Adam, who, according to Genesis, was created out of clay. We are all prone to s

I recently attended the National Marketing Network Trade Show / Catholic Writers Guild Conference in Chicago this summer. At the tradeshow/conference, we Guild members got to meet many authors and receive free autographed books! I had a great time. Yet, the most memorable moment for me occurred as I traversed through the Trade Show booths.  I came across a table with a certain children’s book on it: Journey to the Cross . I said to myself, “ Hey, that’s the book that won in my category at the National Indie Excellence Awards contest this year! ” Okay, now I must see what’s so special about this book that it beat out my own book in the contest (mine was named a finalist). What occurred next was beyond awesome. I stepped up to the table... Read more...

Lord give us a sense of humour and a creative intelligence to meet the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of our children Even when all the kids were still little, I decided to share the magic of a newborn with them. It was one of the best decisions I ever made to enable mutual respect and love to flourish in our family.  However, at the time I was forced to literally watch the clock to ensure everyone would get a chance to hold their new sibling . It seems to me that the children bonded to each other because even our toddlers were given the privilege of holding the baby. With excitement twinkling in their eyes, barely containing their joy long enough to sit still while I propped up one of their little arms with a pillow, they looked extremely proud and pleased as they too held the baby. continue

Today is a glorious day because Teresa of Calcutta is officially a saint, having been canonized yesterday! She died 19 years ago today at the age of 87. How fitting that such a short time passed from her death to her canonization; for she was truly holy and faithful. Her joyful spirit and love for Christ and his mother, Mary radiated from her at all times. Her determination to keep Christ at the forefront of her life, even when darkness and struggles surrounded her, is a testament to her faith. Always putting others first, her humility became her hallmark. Beloved by Catholics and admired greatly by non-Catholic Christians, Teresa of Calcutta was a true witness for Christ. Yesterday, Pope Francis... Read more...

Mother Teresa with Fr Michael Mohally                                     Yesterday, 4 September, Pope Francis canonised St Teresa of Kolkata (Calcuttat). Today is her feast day, the anniversary of her death in 1997. My Columban classmate and close friend, Fr Michael Mohally from the city of Cork, Ireland, wrote the article below for the September-October 2003 issue of   MISYON , the Columban magazine in the Philippines of which I have been editor for 14 years now. We have re-published it in the current September-October issue of the magazine, now known as   MISYONonline.com . Fr Michael is based in Manila. Towards the end of   his homily   at the canonisation Mass Pope Francis made an off-the-cuff comment about what we should call the new saint and figured that everyone would still refer to her as' Mother Teresa'. Very few Catholics would know who St Pius of Pietrelcina is but they would know who 'Padre Pio' is. And in Chile  San Alberto Hurtado SJ   is still

  This year, the United States of North America chooses a new President, that is, not only the head of his Government and nation, but one of the world leaders with more influence over the fate of humanity. Within an electoral bipartisan democratic system as the American, the political parties and its principles had been, until recently, clearly defined and differential in conservative party and liberal party. But in recent decades the differences on the principles of these parties have been disappearing, especially in the area of human and social well being, leaving voters with more of the same. This problem is   becoming critical for Catholic and Christian citizens in general. Aalthough they constitute the majority of the population in that country,   they are facing   the dilemma of whom to vote for   without letting down their Christian principles, because almost none of them are reflected in much of what the candidates propose. (1)

As the Morning Rising: St Teresa of Calcutta pray for us. : “I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta) Photo courte...

(from The Cloistered Heart)

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-control.   2 Timothy 1: 7 Reflection by Malcolm Davies : When I was  younger I worked in a team in the public service who were all young men and we decided to have a team lunch. Some of the  men wanted to go to a “topless” lunch place. I said I would not be going as it was disrespectful to women. One of them replied that women were part of creation and therefore what was I worried about. There was a lot of tension between some of the men and myself. I agreed that  women were part of creation and therefore should be honoured and respected and that for that reason I would not be going with them...read on: http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

Mother Teresa of Kolkata /Calcutta gets canonized today. Here's how she described herself: "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus." (" Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), ," vatican.va ) She established the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and died in 1997, but the Missionaries of Charity are still around: giving “ wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor ." Their facilities don't look much like Mayo Clinic here in Minnesota, or Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand; and that's another topic. One of these days I'll probably ramble on about Saints, miracles, and canonization. But today I'll say that a Saint is someone recognized by the Church as someone who practiced heroic virtue and is currently dead, and leave it at that. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 828 , and s

Last weekend I experienced the  gift  of an Ignatian silent directed retreat at Campion Retreat House in Weston, MA . Just the thought of an unhurried, unscheduled day and release of self-imposed expectations was enough to fill my heart with joy. Teeming with insights and brimming with grace, my soul longed to soak up every moment and respond in gratitude. Reciprocity The word  gift  used here is a very full word as it implies not only what is received by the retreatant but what each person brings to the retreat as well.It is a  reciprocal   relationship, for truly you are only able to receive when you are willing to offer and surrender all. Read More..

As the Morning Rising: Sparrows : Sparrows Out of the corner of my good eye I saw a shape drop swiftly to the ground Imagining a leaf or cone I was surpri...

ARE YOU IN PAIN RIGHT NOW? DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS? LET US PRAY FOR THEM - HERE

St Paul in Prison , Rembrandt, 1627 Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart Gospel Luke 14:14:25-33 ( NRSV, Catholic Ed , Canada) Now large crowds were traveling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegati

Looking for extraterrestrial life is still a science in search of a subject, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to argue that there couldn’t be critters out there. Today I’ll be talking about the search for life in the universe, a possibly-habitable planet circling the next star over, and a planet that couldn’t possibly be habitable. Make that not habitable by life as we know it. Life using fluorine and carbon as we do hydrogen and carbon, with sulfur as a water-substitute — is a topic for another post.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

When we change ourselves, our mates change. When we quit controlling and demanding change, our better half is free to change. There is nothing more damaging to a marriage than when one partner is a self-righteous, suffering Catholic martyr.  Christ is powerless in the face of such pride; He is free to heal when both the good and bad looking partners when they come before Him with a humble and contrite heart. continue reading

  (from The Breadbox Letters)

 The lastest on my blog, about a memory from Kindergarten. I spent a semester in a public school kindergarten. Back then we not only prayed before we had our snack of milk and graham crackers (“God is great, God is good, and so we bless Him for this food”) but we had a nap during class time. This entailed lying down on floor mats. My teacher, who happened to have somewhere procured a magic wand, came up with the unusual idea of a “Nap Fairy.” continue

According to the Gospels, Jesus was aware of the horrible way his life would end on earth. This might have put a pall on his thirty-three years. He could have spent each day dreading his future. Maybe that is why there is no record of Jesus laughing or even smiling. But when you think about it, Jesus had wonderful experiences that he wouldn’t have had being God alone. He knew the tender love of a mother and the care of a hardworking father. As a lad, he had the joy of racing the other boys in Nazareth and wrestling with them. He had the opportunity to share meals with others and to experience the fellowship of good friends. Because he had five senses, he felt the wind blowing through his hair and the warm sun on his back. He smelled his mother’s freshly baked bread and tasted it. He had the satisfaction of creating things out of wood, singing psalms, and teaching others face to face.  Click to Continue

Do you remember, as a child, those last lazy days of August, soaking up the last bit of summer before the new school year would start? You made every attempt to get that last bit of fun in before your days filled with school work. Preparing for the New School Year Over Labor Day weekend you shopped for new clothes and new supplies. I remember taking brown grocery bags and cutting them up to make book covers for my books. That was back in the day when, as children, we had actual hardcover text books, that our parents paid for and we could keep! (I went to Catholic grade school). Palpable hope exuded in the atmosphere... Read more...

I am super excited to be apart of this project! I love the fact that our company seeks out work with other charitable organizations and institutions. On Oct. 8th we will be hosting a Fall Family Fest in Penns Grove, NJ! I can't wait and I really am excited that if we are successful we will be able to make a difference (even if its small), for the River Walk and surrounding community. If you know an organization or institution that would be fairly local and would like to help out, please feel free to contact me. I am the event manager. All of the information is available on the website.  We I choose to come back to the church and give myself to charity, I never realized how much I would be doing and the impact that those small things make in a community. I am proud to be a part of this and happy to share with you, please feel free to contact me if your are interested in helping out with the event and you are in the area.  Check out out at  http://www.riverwalkjunction.com/h

Dancing demands a freed person, one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers. I praise the dance. O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you.                 Saint Augustine Is joy at the heart of your life in Christ? Many Catholics feel beleaguered as they struggle to stand up for the truth in an increasingly hostile environment. Of course, it is easy to become so busy addressing serious moral and religious issues that our spirituality is relegated to Sunday Mass and a few Hail Marys rattled off on the run.  However, if we are determined to be effective agents of change in society, we must make time to learn how to live in, with, and through Christ. Only when we are filled with the power of Holy Spirit, we will witness effectively with joy, with a dance in our step. The average Catholic probably thinks sanctity is for a select few and certainly does not associate play with holiness continue reading 

One of my greatest attributes is to not only be acutely aware of my many deficiencies; but also very willing to own up to them.  The one deficiency that I regret the most - and try the hardest to overcome is my lack of hospitality and thoughtfulness.  Though, probably a more fair assessment would be my lack of follow through! I often think of the nice or caring things I could do to help others - however, for a myriad of reasons (none of them good); my follow-through statistics are very low.   At first this behavior came from self-preservation and lack of instruction; but as an adult with fully formed conscience it is not longer acceptable behavior.   AWARENESS IS NOT HALF THE BATTLE While I would love to say, that once I realized the necessity of a life in Christ to include reaching out to others my behavior changed - I can not.  I still every day have to resist my self-absorbed ways.  In all too painful ways the Lord has allowed me to feel the DEEP regret of not acting on an inspir