Hope you had a Blessed Feast of the Ascension!!
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday. ✝️ 🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Life was a maelstrom for my family in 2014….
and it’s trending that way in 2024.
Ten years ago my family dealt with my son getting abused at daycare, a miscarriage, and the first of four ear surgeries for our daughter.
This year opened with my wife hurting her knee and ankle.
Then my daughter had to go to the ER a couple times in addition to a hospital stay for GI issues.
And on top of it she has her fourth ear surgery in February.
Our vehicle had to be repaired while we had these medical issues going on.
But 2014 prepared me for a year like 2024.
It taught me that God is with you even if you don’t feel His Presence.
All things work for the good. Yes, even the horrific and confusing suffering you endure.
I started my freelance writing journey 10 years ago as a means to deal with the grief of losing my unborn child.
Mettle. Persistence. Call it what you will.
God gave me fortitude to continue when I wanted to give up all hope.
He has opened up so many doors with my writing work.
God is good all the time.
And that’s it’s okay to laugh and be joyful in the midst of struggle.
I wish I knew this fully in 2014.
I know this now in 2024 and if you are struggling with doubt, grief, suffering in your faith life please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Share your intentions in the comments section or email me at chicoine.matt@live.com how I may pray for you. 🙏
Hope you had a Blessed Sixth Sunday of Easter!!
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday. ✝️ 🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
I never even heard of Saint Athanasius during my formative years in Catholic education. Now he’s my favorite Catholic saint! I first learned of Athanasius when I was taking a Master’s course on the Trinity. With today being the feast day of St. Athanasius I want to share three key things about his life that make him my favorite saint of all-time!
Born in 296 A.D, Athanasius grew up in arguably the most chaotic time for the Catholic Church. A sinister heresy known as Arianism infested the 4th century Church. This heresy asserted that Jesus was not the Son of God, but simply the highest creation created by God to carry out His works. Arianism rejected the dogma of the Incarnation. St. Athanasius championed truth with his role in the 1st Ecumenical Council at Nicea. Here the Nicene Creed proclaimed the belief in the Trinity officially laid out in a dogmatic decree. Without God working through the person of Athanasius, Christianity may have suffered greatly from Arianism. We proclaim with St. Athanasius,
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Along with fighting Arianism doctrinally, Athanasius as bishop of Alexandria shepherded his diocese toward truth. He talked the talk and walked the walk. Often at odds with the secular leaders of his day, Athanasius was exiled five times by various emperors including Constantine’s son Emperor Constantius II. Athanasius even lived with monks during one of his banishments— for six years!
The exile of Athanasius didn’t stop his supporters. His holy witness galvanized the faithful to push for his continual return despite his many exiles. I have great respect for anyone who witnesses the truth despite such threats.
The last reason that St. Athanasius is my favorite saint is his promotion of sanctity. Besides championing orthodoxy at the Council of Nicaea, Athanasius is maybe most well-known for his support of asceticism. Athanasius wrote Life of St. Antony—which became a best-seller in his time—and helped spread the acetic movement throughout the Church. I was drawn to the witness of St. Antony’s life of holiness when I read his biography by St. Athanasius. I am grateful for this gift!
Saint Athanasius pray for us!
I hope to make up for my early years without knowledge of St. Athanasius—nicknamed the “Pillar of Orthodoxy”—by spreading his story in as many ways possible. I will be sure to write more about him in the future. If you have time today, please think about reading the divine office today for his feast day and thank God for Athanasius’ gift of courage in standing up for truth and for having such a cool name to say as well. May God continue to grant us courage in promoting the truth of the Gospel!
Sometimes, I have felt trapped in terms of my thoughts and what I want to write or say. I go through periods as a writer where I want to write something really profound and amazing. I have these ambitions to write, and I just don’t know exactly how to start. Simliarly to when you’re learning to walk, you have to put one foot forward and then the next after that. You’re going to fall, and you’re not going to have the perfect introduction at times. It’s not going to be super inspiring or as exciting as what you normally write. But the key is to start and to just go from somewhere.
I don’t like how I’m writing this post right now. I don’t know exactly where it’s leading me, and I’m just kind of rambling at this point. Sometimes, to unclog a brain blockage or a creativity block, that’s what you have to do. You just have to start somewhere and dig. Dig and keep digging, finding any glimpse of sunlight.
Imagine if you’re in a cave and it collapsed on you. There’s a lot of rubble in front of the entrance. The initial thought is panic. You are paralyzed, you can’t act at all, and you’re surprised. You think, “How am I going to get out of this cave? There is no way out. It’s blocked. We don’t have any shovels or pickaxes to dig ourselves out.” Start with the smallest piece of rubble and clear that out. Then work your way up to the middle pieces and eventually look for things in your area to help leverage against those larger boulders.
That could be anything. If there’s someone else in the cave that’s stuck with you, work together to find a way. Sometimes it’s not going to be apparent at all what you need to do or where your tools are going to be. What helps me, I’ve found, with writing when I feel caved in or have a creativity cave-in, is just to start and to continue to write. There’s freedom in allowing your mind to just wander and take it where it will. Then you can have some progress.
Now, sometimes there’s going to be an abrupt ending to your writing. It might just stop.
Stop. No really, stop doubting your ability. When you’re experiencing a “creativity cave-in” the only wrong way to write is to not start.