PathToHoliness

Opus Dei has a YouTube channel now.

The Opus Dei Office of Information has created the Saint Josemaría channel to make the founder’s life and teachings better known.

It offers many hours of videos of Saint Josemaría Escrivá. People from all over the world have the opportunity to listen to someone who is now in heaven speaking on about God.

Here’s an example of one of the videos already posted. This one is about The Way.

During one of our regular Mid-Missouri Circle mtgs. for cooperators of Opus Dei I showed them some of what you can do on an iPhone such as tweet a photo.

A circle meeting is a nice opportunity to get together for a scripture reading, mediation supplied by someone from the Wespine Study Center in St. Louis, examination of conscience and just to get caught up on the activities of each other and Opus Dei.

While attending a conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico this past week I was able to attend Mass at Iglesia María Reina de la Paz.

This church is located right next to the airport runways which can be very distracting when planes are landing and taking off. One whole wall of the church is made of folding glass panels so they can be opened up. They were while I was there since the weather was so nice.

Rosemary Keenan writes in the UK Times Online:

What sets Opus Dei apart from the fickleness of the world is the ‘unity of life’ that members try to lead. “This is the real you, the person you are behind closed doors,” I often say to my children, “not the public image you portray when you’re outside with your friends.”

Likewise, living ‘unity of life’ is the essence of being a member of Opus Dei and why I love it so much. “May your behaviour and your conversation be such that everyone who sees or hears you can say: This man reads the life of Jesus Christ,” writes St Josemaria in “The Way” – which just about sums it up. Living unity of life means remembering to be thankful for every minute of each day whatever the set-backs, instead of partitioning the day into times to please God and reserving the rest for ourselves. It’s about avoiding the stumbling block of becoming a “Sunday Catholic” who steps out of church feeling elated only to go weak with impatience at the sight of the car being blocked in or your husband blaming you for something that has gone wrong.

Read the whole article!

In case you missed them. Here’s the first Focus on the Family that aired during the Super Bowl pre-game show – very classy:

And here is the ad that aired during the first quarter of the game. LOL, think N.O.W. will start complaining that the ad promotes violence against women? Well done!:

Both ads are also available on the Focus on the Family website, which features a more in-depth interview with Tim’s parents Bob and Pam and their choice for life.

You can read my final thoughts on the “controversial” commercial over at Reflections of a Paralytic.

The Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarría, has announce a Marian year in Opus Dei to give thanks to God for showing Saint Josemaría, 80 years ago, that this path towards sanctity is also meant for women. St. Josemaría was very devoted to our Blessed Mother which is one of many things that has drawn me to him and The Work. Here are excerpts from his announcement letter:

My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me!

As in 2008, when we commemorated the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the Work, it has seemed to me that the best way to channel our thanksgiving is to stay very close to our Lady during these months. Therefore it gives me great joy to convoke a new Marian year in Opus Dei, from the upcoming 14th of February to the same date in 2011. During these months, let us strive to honor our Mother more and better, above all by putting great care into the prayer and contemplation of the Holy Rosary, and spreading this devotion among our families and friends. And let us give express thanks to God for the work of the women who look after the material care of the centers of the Prelature, which contributes so decisively to maintaining and improving the environment of a home that God infused into the Work, when he inspired it in our Father in 1928.

This is the Chapel at Chicago Midway Airport in Concourse C. I was sitting in Concourse A yesterday with a long wait for my flight when I heard an announcement for Mass. That pretty much answered my question about what to do with my time.

I headed right on over and got there a little early. The priest was there waiting too and was very happy to hear Confession. So I got two sacraments!

The Mass was very nice and we had quite a few people show up. Most large airports have some type of ministry like this and I’ve been able to take advantage of them at various times. It is a wonderful work and I pray they are able to continue it.

While waiting for my car to get an oil change I thought Id comment on the news. First off is the Presidents budget which is in the trillions and they claim it reduces domestic spending. Right.

Then I just saw a story about a reality tv star saying shes a born again virgin. Okay. So supposedly shes 45 and hasnt had sex in a year and a half. This is really more information than I can imagine anyone caring about. Wish she had a faith base message to go along with her story but I didnt hear one.

Then Fox just had a story about a woman wanting to get married so she can get health insurance. Apparently shes pleading for someone to marry her.

All I can say is that the news is really a sad thing these days. And I didnt mention the outrageous Grammy outfits or the aetheists outraged over a Mother Theresa stamp!

St. Joseph’s Downtown San Antonio was the church I got to attend away from home last week. It’s just a block from the Marriott’s Rivercenter and Riverwalk. I was there for the Cattle Industry Convention. We had almost 6,000 people involved in raising cattle and producing beef there.

This is the view before noon Mass when they had the Blessed Sacrament out for adoration.

The church was founded in 1868 and can be found at 623 East Commerce Street, San Antonio, TX 78205-2693.

This morning after Mass we had a table set up with brochures and signup sheets for the 40 Days For Life campaign. The next campaign is coming up soon.

From February 17 through March 28, teams in 156 cities from coast to coast in the United States – plus four Canadian provinces and three Australian states – will take part in this mission.

The 40-day campaign tracks Biblical history, where God used 40-day periods to transform individuals, communities … and the entire world. From Noah in the flood to Moses on the mountain to the disciples after Christ’s resurrection, it is clear that God sees the transformative value of His people accepting and meeting a 40-day challenge.

I couldn’t end today without doing a post about today’s March For Life in Washington, DC. I’ve seen just snippets of the tv coverage.

For people who couldn’t be there an alternative to the EWTN coverage was the Virtual March for Life. Interesting way to use the web.

I did see a story on Fox News tonight but would describe the mainstream media coverage of this big event as slim to none for the most part.

Know who is credited with starting the March? How about Nellie Gray?

You can see tweets on Twitter about the event today using Twitter Search.

In his critique of Bill Maher’s 2008 unintelligent, anti-God documentary Religulous, Fr. Robert Barron beautifully describes what it really means to have faith:

I was working all last week at a convention in Orlando, FL and only got bits and pieces of information on the devastation from the earthquake in Haiti. The more I learn the more my heart goes out to the people there and those who want to help. A lot of groups are asking for money right now but I would be very careful who you give money to. I feel most confident giving it to the Catholic Church relief services and this weekend the Bishops are asking for donations to the effort. Here’s a video clip from New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan about the situation and a copy of the letter sent to all Bishops from the USCCB. You can make a donation to Catholic Relief Services here.

Your Eminence/Excellency:

Our Church mourns the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that ravaged Haiti on January 12, 2010 has already claimed thousands of lives including the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. It has destroyed countless homes, churches, seminaries, schools, and other buildings and has left millions without the most basic necessities of life. Our faith compels us to pray for and reach out to our brothers and sisters in their time of suffering.

Read the rest of this post…

If you have not taken action to contact your elected leaders in the House and Senate about proposed health care reform then please do so immediately. There are a lot of back door deals being made but the Senate version with its provisions for abortion funding are the most heinous aspect of this terrible piece of legislation.

If you’re not sure how to go about contacting your legislators the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops makes it easy with an online form that takes the work out of it. I used it this morning to notify me leaders of my opposition to what they’re doing and I urge you to do the same.

Opus Dei has a new video out which features young people from various countries speaking about how they have found happiness in living their Christian faith.