Adoration Resources

I was just writing a little piece for my parish on Eucharistic Adoration and found a nice resource I wanted to share with you.

The Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association has compiled an impressive map and listings of places in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico which offer times of Eucharistic Adoration. As their name indicates, they offer a number of resources on the topic as well, including an option to download their listing onto your mobile device to more easily find a chapel while you're traveling.

Obviously, I can't vouch for their accuracy (so you may want to call to confirm details if you're traveling a while to get to one of these chapels), but I did check the ones I personally know of and they were all accurate and included mapquest links to show the way.

What a very nice resource, and thank you to those who have made it possible!

Uniting the Faith with Daily Life

In this week's Lesson Plan feature in the Catholic Spirit (diocesan paper of St. Paul/Minneapolis) Maria Wiering has a great article on simple ways you can work to build a Catholic culture in your family.

Do you go to Mass on Sunday, but feel like Monday — and Tuesday, Wednesday and the rest — are detached from what you experience at church? For many Catholics, it’s a challenge to unite faith and the normal tasks of daily life. There’s something about a meeting at the office, or washing dishes, or shopping for groceries that seems very ordinary and outside of God’s interest in our lives.

Yet, St. Ignatius of Loyola preached that it is possible to find God in all things. With this in mind, it doesn’t hurt to add a few things in your day that are specifically about reminding yourself that what you have on Sunday should be part of every day.

I've listed the basics below so you can grade yourself, but go to her article for the details of each. There are simple ideas and some that will require a little more commitment. Almost all will work with family members of every age and there are definitely some you can try today.

1. ___Feast on feasts
2. ___Talk about the readings at Sunday brunch
3. ___Say your bedtime prayers
4. ___Learn about each day's saint
5. ___Follow the liturgical seasons
6. ___Greet the day
7. ___Pray the Rosary
8. ___Hang your crucifixes
9. ___Attend a funeral
10. ___Have your home blessed
11. ___Make a pilgrimage
12. ___Recite the Angelus
13. ___Bless your door
14. ___Thank your priest
15. ___Pray before car rides
16. ___Attend religious ed.
17. ___Give something up
18. ___Mail a holy card
19. ___Read a book
20. ___Open your Bible
21. ___Attend a daily Mass
22. ___Look at art
23. ___Eat together
24. ___Pray for the Pope's intentions
25. ___Pray for the Pope
26. ___Volunteer for a cause
27. ___Talk about God
28. ___Memorize a psalm
29. ___Visit an empty church
30. ___List your prayers
31. ___Plant a garden
32. ___Be grateful
33. ___Light a candle
34. ___Try adoration
35. ___Leave out your nativity set
36. ___Make a confession
37. ___Schedule that retreat

And this is my prayer: that your live may increase

ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception,

to discern what is of value, so that you may be

pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

filled with the fruit of righteousness

that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

~Philippians 1: 9-11

A Valentine's Day Challenge

We Church Ladies tend to be big fans of the Corporal Works of Mercy (go figure). Personally, I like them so much that I'll sometimes expand the list a little. After reading this challenge, I'm tempted to add "Send Valentines to the lonely" to my canon of tasks. Go read the post, and I guarantee someone will spring to mind immediately. Dash off a little heartfelt note - along with, if appropriate, some chocolate - and brighten someone's day.

A surprise from Church Ladies Down Under!

Your blog hostesses received a surprise in the mail yesterday from our Australian counterparts: a package containing bottles of Golden Syrup (you're right, ladies, we hadn't seen that before),

and a cookbook from the Country Women's Association of Australia,

containing such delightful-sounding recipes as "Puffaloonies", and several ingredients with strange names that we had to google (they turned out to be pretty common things like golden raisins and peppers).


The card enclosed with the package said (in part), "N.B. pages 170 & 172 for ANZAC biscuits, originally invented to sustain the soldiers of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps." Naturally, that was the first recipe we tried, with delightful results.


Many thanks to you, Rosalind and Lucy, for your wonderful gift! It is much appreciated, and we'll be drinking a cup of tea to your health and saying a rosary for your intentions!