Association Of Catholic Bloggers

I was getting ready to talk about 1 Kings 4 - 8 and John 6:41 - 51 , two of today's Bible readings, when I read about Niloy Neel: (From Facebook, via BBC News, used w/o permission.) (" Niloy Neel was an atheist from a Hindu background " (BBC News))... Niloy Neel's killers probably thought they were committing an execution, not a murder. Either way, Niloy Neel is dead: and quite a few other folks in Bangladesh are in serious danger. At first glance, this looks like something that doesn't matter to me. I'm not an atheist; my life hasn't been threatened; and I live in central North America: a long way from Bangladesh. But "atheist" bloggers in Bangladesh are human, I'm Catholic: so I must care about them, and everyone else.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

About 150 people stopped living on April 2, 2015, in Kenya: Thursday of last week. They were killed at Garissa University College . Quite a few folks are upset about this.That's reasonable. (From AP, via Al Jazeera, used w/o permission) (" Several ceremonies to mourn the victims have been held in Nairobi " Al Jazeera)... ...The body count would have been higher, but the killers were very careful about choosing their victims. After collecting about 700 students, they only killed those who said they are Christians. Don't expect a rant about those [hated group] who always commit [atrocity of the day]. I think that's as foolish as making excuses for members of [approved group] who behave badly.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

James Foley is dead: the photojournalist, not the movie director . If someone had paid the $132,000,000 USD that ISIS apparently wanted, he might be alive. Or maybe not: there's a reason for United States policy about not paying ransom. Folks who engage in kidnapping or terrorism have to have flexible ethics: I'll get back to that. I learned that James Foley was Catholic from post by Rebecca Hamilton , on Google Plus — indirectly. For a while, I thought I'd be writing about the Rosary, prayer, and family. Then I ran into this... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Family of St. Thomas More by Rowland (Wikipedia). Here are 10 activities you can do as a family to support religious freedom and true marriage in the two weeks between June 21 and July 4. You can do all these even in a diocese with no scheduled events. 1. Pray the family Rosary. Pray the Luminous Mysteries together for the recognition of marriage as one man and one woman. Pray the glorious mysteries for the protection of our God-given right to religious freedom. 2. Make an extra visit to the Adoration chapel. This is a great opportunity to introduce your children to Eucharistic Adoration, or bring them back if they haven’t gone for a long time. Make this a special trip for the intentions of the Fortnight for Freedom. Don’t worry if you can only stay ten minutes with all the little ones. 3. Watch and discuss A Man for All Seasons. June 22 is the feast of Saints Thomas More and John Fischer (also Corpus Christi this year). Learn about the saint who died for

(From Hel-hama, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.) ( Kingdom of the Avars , and surrounding lands: 814.) A dozen centuries back, a warlord brought order and a measure of stability to lands from Vasdomia to Chrobatia, and from the Kingdom of the Lombards to Jutland. For the first time since Rome's empire had dissolved, lands from the Mediterranean to the North sea had some hope of peace and stability. We call this leader Charles the Great. Charlemagne is also known as Karl der Große, Carolus, and Karolus Magnus. Charlemagne has been mythologized as a shining light of civilization, and a demonic slayer of 'true' Europeans. There's a very slight element of truth to both images. Scholarship, arts, architecture, and literature, flourished during Charlemagne's reign. On the other hand, he gave those he conquered a choice: say that they were Christian, or die. Some of my wife's relatives may have been among those who chose to die, rather than give u