Blogging Around: The "I need to be getting ready to leave town but HAD to tell you about these" Edition

The Catholic Heart

... the heart of the Catholic Faith is unlike anything I’ve seen before, and it’s beautiful. What I mean is that the deep root of Catholicism is surrender to Christ. We are called to deny our selves, take up our cross, and follow Christ. (Matt 16:24,25) Seeking to be our own master is at the heart of our separation from God, and at the heart of reuniting us to Him is rejecting our own desires, submitting to God’s plan, and accepting His way for us in Christ. We are even called to submit to those in authority over us here on Earth, regardless of their behavior. ...

... Also, like in no other faith, Catholics can accept struggles along the way because they put value in it! Every thing is offered to the Lord, so that we may be united to Christ in our suffering, and so become co-heirs and share in His glory. There is merit in our actions, value in our suffering, and reward for faithfulness ...

This was something that I realized too, once I integrated Catholic theology into my daily life. It gives peace in a way that is difficult to explain. Read it all at Almost There which is written by a really-close-to-converting Protestant. Take a look around at her other posts. There's a lot of good stuff there.

Remember That Famous Picture of the Baby Reaching Out of the Womb?
Read about that boy 10 years later.

Conservative Catholicism and Liberal Islam
Mrs. Darwin ponders ecumenism in a way that we don't usually encounter. Though, being Mrs. Darwin, you can count on it being fair, honest, and smart.

Wisdom From the Saints
The Anchoress had a terrific post up on saint books (most of which I have also read and can heartily endorse as well). She follows this up with some good words for us to consider from saints, which I believe came from Bert Ghezzi's Voices of the Saints (I'm a sucker for Ghezzi's books ... they're all good). Here are a few words from one of my personal faves:

Sometimes listening to people becomes monotonous and extremely boring, till one is nearly collapsing; but in such cases it helps to remember that even when Jesus was about to fall the third time, he patiently consoled the women-folk and children of his persecutors, making no exceptions. How can we ever be as grateful as we ought for such a vocation?

– Ven. Solanus Casey (1870-1957)