Category: Uncategorized

Blessed is She …Daily Devotions!

Posted: by Monica McConkey

Check out Blessed is She for a free subscription service for thoughtful and inspiring (and Catholic!) Daily Devotions! The daily Mass readings are embedded in the email, along with inspiring, encouraging, Faith-filled reflections we can all relate to!

You will recognize some of the writers! I’m not sure if any of them are members of the Catholic Bloggers Network…but I hope they are someday!

Go sign up here…for Blessed is She Daily Devotions: Daily Grace for Pondering Hearts
You will be glad that you did!

“We can love completely—even without complete understanding…”

Posted: by Melanie Jean Juneau
God understands completely; HE will be the bridge between our heart and those who need our love.

We do not fully grasp what is best for our husbands, children or parents. Often our way of loving misses their hearts completely. Some people crave touch, others need to hear love articulated. Still others think talk is cheap and anyone can hug but only feel love when it is put in action or they receive gifts. Even understanding the four languages of love does not make us much more effective because relationships cannot be explained in neat, tidy boxes. Life is messy. Life is a conundrum.  
Thank goodness that God is in control and we are not. read more>

Melanie Jean Juneau is wife and mother of nine children. The very existence of a joyful mother of nine children seems to confound people. Her writing is humorous and heart warming; thoughtful and thought provoking with a strong current of spirituality running through it. Part of her call and her witness is to write the truth about children, family, marriage and the sacredness of life.She blogs at joy of nine9 and mother of nine9

Link up to the NEW Catholic Bloggers Community Blog Call!

Posted: by Monica McConkey

Welcome to the NEW Catholic Bloggers Network Community! You will notice we have been renovating our website with a new look and exciting features to help us encourage one another and promote our Catholic Blogs!

Why are we REBUILDING our Catholic Bloggers Network Community?

Glad you asked!
You will notice that we have almost 700 Catholic Blogs linked up on our original Community Blogroll! We opened the Catholic Bloggers Network FOUR years ago…and a lot can change in our blogging worlds in FOUR years!

Some of us have changed our blog names or addresses, narrowed our Catholic niche or moved on to other venues!

We’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to our NEW Catholic Bloggers Community Blog Call!
You will want to add your blog SOON…for MAXIMUM visibility and promotion!

Don’t forget to click around on our NEW site, add your September posts to the Monthly Link Up Blitz and apply to be featured in our upcoming Catholic Bloggers Spotlight!

We’re glad you’re here!

Read, set…LINK UP your CATHOLIC BLOG here:


Calling All Prayer Warriors: We Need Your Help – We Need Your Support – We Need Your Blogs!

Posted: by Catholic Bloggers Network
Friends, a plea….
A plea for help, for prayers and for financial support for a dear family 
who has struggled mightily and now,
They Really Need Us.

You know Mary Lenaburg, of
Of course you do!
We’ve been treated to her honesty, her candor,
her beautiful words.
We’ve been blessed with a
glimpse into her family.
We’ve been humbled and inspired by the  grace with which they’ve cared
for their lovely daughter, Courtney.
When one reads Mary’s blog, one is wrapped in
her  honesty, in the bringing – to – life of her blog title.
The Lenaburgs are indeed perseverant about their 
 love for each other and the  care and dignity  
 bestowed upon their beautiful Courtney.

Mary’s family has had a hard road, a road which is about to get harder.
Warriors, we need to fight the good fight and 
 cover the Lenaburgs in prayer.
Storming-heaven-prayer.
AND, if there’s something tangible you feel able
 to offer, please consider clicking to
the gofundme page that 
 we, here at The Catholic Bloggers Network , set up.
THANK YOU!

If you are a blogger, please know that 
we need help spreading this word.
 In the spirit of utilizing our blogs as instruments of communication to not only evangelize, but spread the generosity and beauty of our Catholic faith, we really need MANY  to join a huge promotional effort.
On the CBN Facebook page,  we are now a group of over 1,000 members!!  We’d like to to have as many bloggers ] as possible spreading the word about the  gofundme acct that’s been set up for the Lenaburg  family. 
Here’s what you awesome bloggers  can do:
1. Please mention our gofundme account in an upcoming blog post
The link to the account page, again, is right here.
2. Please include a link to Mary’s blog, which is AWESOME and which will introduce readers who do not know her, to her family.  Here’s Mary’s  blog….. Passionate Perserverance

3. Pray, pray pray pray.
The following  Catholic bloggers have  shared, encouraged and spread the word~~
Please go read Tracy‘s, Laura‘s  and Emily‘s posts.
You’ll be moved.

AND our fund is doing beautifully thanks to their efforts!!


Let’s spread the word far, wide and fast.
You. Are. The. Best.

And hey, remember what Pope Francis said about
 the internet being used as a force for good?????

 The Internet, in particular, offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity. 
This is something truly good, a gift from God. —
Pope Francis


There ya go.
Papa has spoken.
As for me, I can say it’s an honor 
to heed his words along with you good people.


Thank you!
Until next time,
~Chris, 

 Campfires and Cleats


Should we sit quietly during prayer?

Posted: by Jennifer Lawrence
A Hermit Praying in the Ruins of a Roman Temple by Hubert Robert

Last week I wrote about St. Teresa’s of Avila’s method of mental prayer.
Today I want to discuss misunderstandings about prayer from a different
angle. Since we desire contemplation, should we sit still in prayer and
wait for it? Should we try to make it happen by quieting our minds?
Like last Friday’s post, this series speaks to the differences between
Carmelite teaching and Centering Prayer, yoga, and other types of
meditation influenced by eastern religions.

Some people falsely
equate silence with supernatural (infused) contemplation. They read
about the need for interior silence in prayer, and they mistakenly think
that if they sit quietly, God will necessarily bestow contemplation
upon them. They equate the peace they find in silence to communion with
God.

The Vatican has cautioned us about certain methods of prayer
In 1989, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI), as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation. Here is what the document says about silence:

Similar
methods of meditation, on the other hand, including those which have
their starting-point in the words and deeds of Jesus, try as far as
possible to put aside everything that is worldly, sense perceptible or
conceptually limited. It is thus an attempt to ascend to or immerse
oneself in the sphere of the divine, which, as such, is neither
terrestrial, sense-perceptible nor capable of conceptualization.” (11)

Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.

Have we got your attention yet…over at the NEW Catholic Bloggers Network?

Posted: by Monica McConkey

Has our WHOLE NEW LOOK at the Catholic Bloggers Network got your attention? We have lots of exciting news to come…including awesome new features and opportunities for Catholic Bloggers, new and inventive ways to promote YOUR Catholic Blog and a new venue to gather a wonderful community of Catholic Blogger friends! Skip around our site…

make sure that your blog is linked up on our Catholic Blogroll (we’ve been doing some weeding…check and make sure that your current Catholic blog is linked properly!)
confirm your interest in being an Official Contributor by filling out the NEW Catholic Bloggers Contributor Form
click out our TOPIC badges…for posts written just for you! We have the Archives linked to these categories: Readings and Reflections, Catechism and Apologetics, Homeschooling, Liturgical Calendar, Catholic Family Journal and Catholic Product Reviews.
Look forward to the Catholic Bloggers Spotlight feature…that we hope will return soon! (Looking for a Catholic Blogger who likes to interview Catholic Bloggers)
Watch for the NEW Bulletin Board to post requests and offers for TECH help, Guest Posts and important Events (like our current Plea: Support the Lenaburgs!)
Continue to share your BEST Catholic posts at the Monthly Link Up Blitz! September is up and running… LINK your posts; DISCOVER and COMMENT on awesome posts;  SHARE inspiring posts
and since we have combined 4 Contributor blogs into the main Catholic Bloggers Network blog: please make sure that you are subscribed by your favorite feed…or by email!

Can we make it any easier?

Email:

Watch for additional UPDATES…in fact, you may receive an INFO email about all the changes, in the next day or two.  We will also be posting on Facebook through our
Catholic Bloggers Facebook Group
and Catholic Bloggers Facebook Page.

Please COMMENT, so that we know you’re still out there blogging!

Please share the Catholic Bloggers Network with friends and family in your social network.

Thanks and God bless!

Monica, Chris and Jennifer
Admins of the NEW Catholic Bloggers Network!

Did Teresa of Avila teach Centering Prayer?

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network
St. Teresa’s Transverberation by Joefa de Obidos (Wikimedia Commons)

Last winter on social media, I came across another Catholic author who was promoting yoga. Not as an exercise program, but for spiritual growth. I was shocked. I asked her why she wasn’t promoting prayer instead. She answered, “Meditation is prayer!”

Nope.

Two months ago, my brother forwarded an email from a colleague, asking about Centering Prayer. A friend was pushing it relentlessly. I looked at the website of the Catholic group that promotes Centering Prayer and found this in the FAQs:
This form of prayer was first practiced and taught by the Desert Fathers of Egypt … the Carmelites St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Therese of Lisieux…
Nonsense.

The other day a new reader asked in the comments about meditating on Sacred Scripture. “Is this the same as the method of Fr. John Main, who has adapted an Eastern mantra method for Christian meditation?”

Uh-uh.

I have written a little on this topic before, but I think it’s time to revisit it. Let’s start with Teresa of Avila.

Continue reading at Connie’s blog Contemplative Homeschool.

How to suffer like a Christan

Posted: by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

Tragic Situations

Suffering. Ever since the Fall of Adam, it’s an unavoidable part of life. We suffer daily in little ways. The alarm clock rings too early. We spill coffee all over our work clothes. The kids are disobedient. We get stuck in traffic. These little things are a reminder that all is not right with the world. Something is out of whack. We have lost the close connection with God we were meant to have.

When we face small trials, we have an opportunity to grow in trust and love.  We can offer our disappointments and dislikes to God in love, asking Him to use them to bring others to Him. We can say, “Jesus, I trust in you,” praying that He helps us to accept His sovereignty over our day. Because after all, we were never meant to be in charge of our life. These gentle reminders of that fact can help us reorient ourselves towards God. (As an aside, I am experiencing a little annoyance right now from my kids. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to put into practice what I am preaching!)
 What about tragedies?Every day on FaceBook, someone asks me for prayers. Sometimes, a loved one is seriously ill. Other times, a FaceBook friend faces clinical depression. Prayers for difficult pregnancies and comfort while burying infants or dealing with miscarriage are common.

How should a Christian face tragic suffering?

 Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.