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My favorite books on St. Therese

Posted:January 7, 2014February 18, 2015 by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

Writing Trusting God with St. Therese, I have purchased or checked out from the library several book about the saint that I had not read before. I have also revisited some old favorites. There are countless books about Therese, but not all are of the same quality or focus. Here are some of my favorites, in brief. Throughout this year, I hope to give you more detailed critiques of them and others.

I Believe in LoveI Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux by Fr. Jean C. J. d’Elbee is by far my favorite book on Therese. In fact, it’s one of my favorite books of all time. I have given this book away twice before. I just received it for Christmas for the third time and am rereading it.

The point that struck me most on my last reading was that we shouldn’t say, “I’m striving to love God.” Instead, we should simply say, “I love God.” Love is a matter of the will. If we truly will to love, we achieve love.

Read the rest of the list at Contemplative Homeshcool.

NEW Catholic Bloggers Link-Up Blitz for 2014!

Posted:January 6, 2014February 18, 2015 by Monica McConkey

https://catholicbloggersnetwork.com/p/2014-link-up-blitz.html

Join us for the 2014 Catholic Bloggers Monthly Link-Up Blitz!

NEW 4-in1 format, NEW RULES, NEW posts,

NEW BIG CLICKS AWARDS!

Final Big Clicks Winners for 2013

Posted:January 6, 2014February 18, 2015 by Monica McConkey

Announcing the Big Clicks Catholic Bloggers
for DECEMBER 2013,

In the category of…

Readings and Reflections,
the Big Clicks Catholic Bloggers are:

In Him we Live and Move and Have our Being for the post Find Your Own Calcutta …and
Leaven for the Loaf for the post Hello Advent, I’ve missed you.

Catechism and Apologetics,
the Big Clicks Catholic Blogger is

Childrens Rosary for the post Signal Graces

Liturgical Calendar Crafts and Homeschooling,

the Big Clicks Catholic Blogger is:

Catholic Fit Mom for Life for the post on Let Nothing Discourage You

Catholic Family Journal and Random Ramblings,

the Big Clicks Catholic Blogger is

The Cloistered Heart for the post The Advent Window

Spread the word!! Let your friends know about these popular posts on the Catholic Bloggers Network
and help promote Catholic Bloggers!

The new Catholic Bloggers Link-Up Blitz will look different for 2014!

Make sure that you add your posts and visit often!!
You can also always revisit our Archives!

…You could also sign up to our Catholic Bloggers Mailing List to receive the INFREQUENT Catholic Bloggers Network News Flash for current events, link-ups and features at Catholic Bloggers Network.

There is STILL TIME to join the MEET and GREET
Catholic Bloggers Directory!
Fill out the MEET and GREET form before we finish compiling it…for awesome promotion of your Catholic blog and media links!

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Monica is a wife, Mom of 5+ kids, a designer, an architecture school survivor, an author and a crafter who thinks it’s cool to be Catholic! Check out the Arma Dei Shoppe for solid Catholic, fun teaching tools and gifts to celebrate and teach the Catholic Faith and subscribe to Equipping Catholic Families for family-building and Faith-centered crafts!

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A Gospel Reflection

Posted:January 5, 2014February 18, 2015 by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

Today’s Gospel: John 1:35-42

It is amazing, really, that John’s disciples simply hear their teacher announce that Jesus is “the Lamb of God” and they follow Him, without question, without speaking a word. They are on a journey, so they do not cling to John possessively but let go to continue their search for God. These men are hungry for God and they are open, recognizing the light when they see it.

These former followers of John cannot even answer Jesus when He asks them, “What do you seek?” They probably don’t have a clue what they are really seeking: they simply know in their deepest selves that He is who John says He is—the Lamb of God—and that is enough for them. They are seekers of the truth. Yet they cannot articulate that fact, so instead they answer with another mundane question, “Where are you staying?” Even that question is not answered because Jesus basically says, “Well, if you trust me, if you want to follow me and learn from me as my disciple, come, and you will see.”

Andrew, of the two former disciples of John, fetches his brother Simon, not to see the Lamb of God, as John calls Jesus, but to come and see the Messiah, the Christ. The man who will be called Cephas, Peter, the man who becomes the rock, the first pope, this man comes because his brother trusted his inner heart, saw, heard and had the courage to act when he knew he had encountered the truth.

PONDER:

Have you ever had a defining moment when you knew, without a doubt, that it was God calling you to drop everything and step out to follow His leading?

PRAY:

Oh Lord, open my eyes and open my ears to hear and recognize each truth as You show it to me. Give me the humility to let go of former things and follow you without fear into the unknown, deeper into a more intimate union with You.

http://melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com/2014/01/04/a-gospel-reflection-for-sabbath-moments/

Forgiveness and the word "As"

Posted:January 5, 2014February 18, 2015 by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

Forgiveness and the Lord’s Prayer

Of course, I could have written the title of this post the other way, but forgiveness seems to be the main lesson God is trying to get through my thick, red-haired head these days.

Without any kind of a prayer life, how can we accomplish the least of the tasks in our daily lives, much less forgiveness of another. Reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer, I am completely in awe at how perfectly the words are, I know, consider the author. Jesus taught the apostles this prayer which covers all bases in a very short and simple way. But it also puts us to task in a very blunt and severe way in the forgiveness department; He will forgive us, AS we forgive others around us…ouch!

“As”
Now, we all remember the Clinton days when he fought the infidelity accusations with an idiotic argument on the meaning of the word “is”. He wanted to escape the reality of his marital sinfulness with a present/past tense wording. How truly petty and evil could you get? A lie is a lie and the truth is the truth…past, present, or in the future. His intentions, responsibility, and actions were the true evidence of the sin he committed and continued to commit in his lies to his family, himself, and the entire world! No single word, in his case, could ever clear him of his mortal sin.

OK, so on to the word “as” in the prayer of our Lord: “and forgive us our trespasses, AS we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Now, has a single word ever struck such a difficult…near impossible note? Our God and Creator forgives us AS only He can in His inconceivable nature, but we must follow His lead with each other. Forgiving each other is the charitable thing to do in all cases of human interaction…AS our heavenly father offers the forgiveness to us. In some cases, this is easy to offer and feel good about; has there been a time or a case that this is true? It truly feels good to let these feelings go and clear the slate for a new beginning. But there are those certain instances that forgiveness is much more trying. Forgiveness is not an emotion, it is a gift and a decision made each and every day to forgive and let go of anger, disappointment, and resentment. If extended, and received, it is a blessings AS we know it in God’s loving forgiveness.

Jesus intentionally made this little, tiny word carry a heavy responsibility to the world. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2842 talks about how it “is not unique in Jesus’ teaching: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”; “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful”; “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (Mt 5:48; Lk6:36;Jn13:34)

Love thy neighbor AS thyself, treat your brother AS you would be treated, we can’t ignore this word…really. How can we ask for forgiveness if we are unable to forgive another? How can we ask for something we are unwilling to give? How can ignore our heavenly Father’s request? It’s not a suggestion, it’s not a favor, it’s not something intended to be selective either. God wants us to do as He asks all the time!

A new year a fast approaching, and though I am not a resolution maker, I am going to work on being a better forgiver-er in 2014 with lots of prayer and conversations with our Lord along the way.

How about you?

Top 10 tips for your spiritual life from 2013

Posted:December 28, 2013February 18, 2015 by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

The Virgin Mary Reading by Walters. Here are the posts
from 2013 she might recommend to you.

‘Tis the season for reviewing the old year. How did you advance towards God this year? Do you remember those blog posts that really struck you at the time, or have you forgotten them? Here are some reminders of how you can grow closer to Christ, taken from my blog posts over the past year.

1. Read the Gospels
If you want to advance towards God, you must learn to love Him. Read what He revealed about Himself. Need more motivation to read Scripture?
Here are 10 Reasons Catholics should read the Bible.

2. Stop making excuses for missing prayer
You’re not going to grow closer to Christ if you aren’t willing to make sacrifices to spend time with Him.
Read 7 Ways to make time for prayer.

3. Ponder God’s Word in your heart
This follows from #s 1 and 2. It’s a particularly Carmelite way of honoring Mary.
See Mary pondered all these things–do you?

4. Choose to become a saint
St. Thomas Aquinas told his sister that the way to become a saint is to will it.
See the details: Can you become a saint by sheer will power?

Read the rest of the list at Contemplative Homeschool.

NEW! Blog in a Blink: Best 13 of ’13 LINK-UP!

Posted:December 27, 2013February 18, 2015 by Monica McConkey

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your participation in the Keep Christ in Christmas Link-up back
in early December with the optional Follow Frenzy.

I’m working on a low-maintenance link-up
party called Blog in a Blink: Best 13 of
’13 (for
December 30-January 1!)

I tried a similar link-up a couple months
ago, but it didn’t get a lot of publicity or attention:

Blog in a Blink

THIS link-up will be VERY LOW MAINTENANCE!

Please share this button!

Just collect your favorite or most popular
posts from your blog in 2013, make a collage of images if you can and be ready
to post on December 30 or 31.

Add the html code (below) to the bottom of
your post and voila! …the entire
collection of posts will appear at the bottom of your post!

If you want to mention Equipping Catholic Families
in thanks for setting this up…that would be much appreciated.

Please spread the word to your Catholic Blogger friends!

Fill up the sign-up
form…only if you want a reminder before December 30.

Here is the code (the link-up opens on
December 30 until January 1)

<!– start InLinkz
script –>

document.write(‘<script
type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=354669&’
+ new Date().getTime() + ‘”></script>’);

</script>

<!– end InLinkz
script –>

Thanks and God bless you this Christmas
Season…and happy 2014!

Monica

Give God your widow's mite

Posted:December 17, 2013February 18, 2015 by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network

File:Brooklyn Museum - The Widow's Mite (Le denier de la veuve) - James Tissot.jpg

The Widow’s Mite by Tissot (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

I was thinking recently about St. Therese and Judgment Day. Therese wanted to stand before God with “empty hands.” As part of her plan to trust in God rather than in her merits, she chose to give away all her spiritual goods. She offered them to God, not for herself, but for others. She left herself spiritually poor and naked. Then she was able to focus, not on her acts of virtue and self-denial, but on the merits of Jesus. She believed that, seeing her with no works on which to be judged, God would apply Jesus’ works to her account. Thus, her confidence was in Jesus alone.

Following St. Therese, when I make a sacrifice, accept the trials and disappointments of my day, or act virtuously, I picture myself handing a plain brown box to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is my gift for the Infant Jesus. Mary takes the package and wraps it splendidly with her love and virtues. Then she passes it on to her Son, and He distributes it as He sees fit.

Read the rest at Contemplative Homeschool.

How to pray throughout the day

Posted:December 10, 2013February 18, 2015 by Monica @ Catholic Bloggers Network


The Angelus by Millet. In past centuries, Church bells rang three times day to signal everyone should stop what they were doing and pray.

St. Paul urges us to “pray constantly” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). But what does this mean? How can we practice it? When we reach a high state of the spiritual life, we will be in constant communion with God (see, I am assuming we are all going to make it that far). But in the meantime, we can form habits that help us pray throughout the day.

When two people fall in love, they want to spend as much time together as they can. Not only do they go out on a date very evening, they also contact each other during the day. When I was younger, we would call each other or send emails. Today, couples might text each other. Just to hear the other person’s voice or read his words of love would keep the smile on the loved-one’s face for hours.

We need the same kind of contact with God. Our “date” with God is our daily time set aside for nothing but prayer. But we should also talk to God throughout the day. At first, this might be difficult. It might even seem strange until we have formed the habit. We should remember that our little ways of connecting with God are acts of love.

Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.