The Catholic Carnival 202

This is my first time hosting the Catholic Carnival so please be patient with me and I apologize for anything I may have messed up. What a wonderful experience to host this event. I was so blessed to be able to read all of the great submissions and I have found many bloggers I'll be following in the future.

Well, without further ado, here's the Carnival in Real Life Rosary fashion.

I was truly touched by Kate's post When a Mother's Love Isn't Enough. As a father I know that I cannot protect my kids from every suffering. Kate reminds us to imitate Mary at the foot of the Cross.

Christine will get you to think about the role(s) you play in life with her examination of one of my favorite movies, It's a Wonderful Life. No, you're not George or Mr. Potter in this post, but I would guess that we can all relate. Are you Complicit?

Domestic Vocation, in her Obligatory Advent Post, also takes a look at It's a Wonderful Life and helps us to see that how we live is what is important and not what we have.

Now that you have had time to reflect, I would like to invite you to take a look at Making a Good Confession from Lectio from a monastery chapel. Here you'll find all the information you need to give Christ a clean heart rather than a nasty stable this Christmas.

I never thought I'd see the day when Barb would post lyrics from The Rolling Stones but she makes a good point in her post We Never Get The Advent We're Hoping For. "Thank the Lord!", says I.

Matthew at A Catholic Life gives us a one stop location for all of your Advent and Christmas needs with his post - Advent and Christmas Compilation.

Seth tells us of the need for more "real" Santa's. Check it out and don't forget to click on the "real story" in his post Happy St. Nicholas Day.

50 Days After reminds us to Keep Mass in Christmas, yes, you read that right. I know it is my first time hosting but it's right. Go on, click on it, you'll see!

At Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering, Sarah gives us her review of Anne Rice's spiritual memoir - Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession. She also asked me to post a note about another event at Behold Your Mother. I said "yes" because I like Sarah and Mary, win-win. Do you have a special devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe? Then why not join us as we honor her in this month's Mary Moments Carnival? Information in the post.

Do you like the Nutcracker? I do. I have seen the ballet about 4 times in my life and hope to take my kids. Homeschool Goodies makes that trip with the kids a bit easier by providing some links to help prepare them because the Nutcracker is a classic Christmas tale that can be enjoyed by all ages.

Acid42 is the Soft Asian Enemy writes - Going to office last week, I was surrounded by 5 youths who demanded all my money. And i didn't have any. But the Lord works in mysterious ways. Instead of coming to harm, I was given a dollar. Go on, read it all, you won't be disappointed!

Kevin from the Heart, Mind, and Strength Weblog gives us a great reflection on the Mass readings for the Second Sunday of Advent and God's Patience.

Mostly Prayers gives us another completely different reflection on the Sunday readings with Embraced by God this 2nd Sunday of Advent.

Joe gives us a look at the readings for this past Sunday and how they teach us to prepare for Christ - an important lesson in this hectic time of year! Check out How to Prepare for Christ.

Now it's time to prepare for the Third Sunday of Advent and Bob at Prepare for Mass gives us a truly unique way to do so.

What gift can you give Jesus this Christmas? Give Him your hands, feet, and heart in the pro-life cause because the unborn truly are the "least of my brothers." Looking for some simple, easy ways to be pro-life and encourage others to be pro-life? Check out Five Alive - Pro-life Activism from Aggie Catholics.

Island Breezes reminds us of the most important part of the pro-life movement with and excellent post Relying on God.

We all walk by taking one step at a time. Really, that's the only way it works. Adoro te Devote encourages us to adopt that idea in our spiritual life by focusing on The One-Virtue Challenge. It's so hard to work on only ONE virtue when we're lacking in so many...but it makes perfect theological sense.

Visits to Candyland is a very interesting blog and for those of you who enjoy apologetics I suggest you check it out. This latest post deals with Candy on end times and other stuff.

When you live down town, expect the unexpected. Warren, a not quite homeless man teaches me some lessons about God and once again I find light in the dark places. Check out The Warren Chronicle 1.1 by Owen at Luminous Miseries

And finally, we learn that the winner of the contest for the last Catholic Carnival is....well, it wasn't my contest so - RAnn announces the winner of last week's contest! Thanks for the contest.

Thanks for reading and posting and for letting me hosting, sorry for mistakes, typos, and such. If I do it again, I'll do better, much. Have a great Advent, Christmas, and all and for checking out the Catholic Carnival!