PathToHoliness

Happy St. Vincent, Deacon & Martyr, memorial day.

Sadly, today is also the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. St. Vincent, please intercede for us!

There are estimates that 55 million babies have been killed by abortion during this time. That’s an unfathomable number that I can’t wrap my mind around. Abortion takes an innocent life, a human life. It doesn’t make the news. But a few people killed in a war zone will. I weep for them too. I always wonder how we as a society can allow this to continue.

To help visualize this huge number Oregon Right to Life has posted a video on YouTube that tries to help.

Since abortion was legalized in 1973 by the Roe v. Wade decision, over 55 million developing babies have died through abortion. Fifty-five million is a big number and hard to visualize.

To commemorate the lives that were lost, one million deaths are remembered at the tolling of each bell and states begin to disappear to represent the numbers of children who have disappeared.


There is so much that has been written on this subject that I don’t know what to add. I spent two years working with the Vitae Caring Foundation which did ground breaking research into the emotional reasons why a woman would have an abortion. I spoke to groups all over the country and am glad to have had that opportunity. As the founder of Vitae once told me, “It will drive you crazy if you dwell on it.” It, being abortion in this country. So many human lives taken away from us. It is enough to drive you crazy. But we can pray harder and not be afraid to speak out in support of unborn babies. I pledge to do so.

We are in the Year of Faith as declared by Pope Benedict. To celebrate it in the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese our Bishop Parkes is holding a day to Celebrate Faith 2013: Encountering Christ. Everyone is invited. Find out all about it here.

Here’s a description of the logo for the Year of Faith.

The logo is composed of a square, bordered field on which a boat, symbolizing the Church, is represented as sailing on a graphically minimal representation of waves. The main mast of the boat is a cross from which sails are displayed in the form of dynamic signs which compose the trigram of Christ (IHS). The background to the sails is a sun which, associated with the trigram, refers also to the Eucharist.

If you have been watching college football bowl games you probably saw Coach Lou Holtz urging Catholics to come home. I think it’s a great ad and hope it will make all Catholics think about their faith.

They say football is like a religion for some die hard fans, that’s why Catholics Come Home® plans to air a new national television commercial during college football bowl week, and ending with the BCS National Championship (Notre Dame vs. Alabama), Jan. 7, 2013.

Catholics Come Home® Founder and President Tom Peterson says, “Faith is not a spectator’s sport; it must be lived…it’s interactive!” This is why his non-profit is trying a new play with the goal of winning loyal fans for Jesus and the Church.

Coach Holtz from Catholics Come Home on Vimeo.

Happy New Year. It’s that time to think about resolutions. Do you have any? Do you keep them? Perhaps a good resolution would be to keep your resolutions! Here’s one used in a Happy New Year from the St. Josemaria Institute.

“Form the resolution to set the world ablaze — you can —loving with a pure heart, and making all mankind happy by bringing them really closer to God.” St. Josemaria Escriva The Forge, 916

Sounds like a good resolution to me. How can we do it? How about practicing our Catholic faith “in the world,” meaning in our regular daily life. We’re not Sunday Catholics are we? We don’t practice our faith by just going to Mass once a week right? If so, then it’s time to take your faith seriously. It’s what should guide you and all your decisions.

I’ve been seeing more and more people I’m connected with socially (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) posting all kinds of “spiritual” quotes that are very nice sounding ideas about serenity, peace, happiness, etc. None of them mention God, religion or any kind of faith. I don’t see how it’s possible to ignore God and His son Jesus who came down to be born of a woman for our salvation. Most of these nice sounding quotes are from spiritual gurus of different types that don’t profess any belief in God. What they preach is all about what you do yourself, as if we can do anything by ourselves without God. Right?

Here’s a video showing St. Josemaria with some young people who brought him a figure of the Christ Child. He talks to them and blesses them with it. One of the things I’ve always loved about St. Josemaria is how he likes to put himself in the scenes from the gospels. Are we putting ourselves in the scene with the manger and the newborn child today?

From Christ is Passing By, 36:

“…a child is born in Bethlehem.”
When the fullness of time comes, no philosophical genius, no Plato or Socrates appears to fulfill the mission of redemption. Nor does a powerful conqueror, another Alexander, take over the earth.

St. Josemaria Escriva

The title of this book by Pope Benedict XVI, The Joy of Knowing Christ: Meditations on the Gospels, is a wonderful phrase to describe the the feeling that comes from a faith in which you “know Him,” the son of God. It is my first reading of our Pope’s writings and I’m finding him very easy to read and understand.

It is my new spiritual reading as suggested by my new spiritual director. I haven’t mentioned Fr. Joseph Callipare, Vicar of Deacon Formation and Permanent Deacons, Diocese of Pensacola/Tallahassee, before. With this year’s move to Florida from Missouri it has meant many changes and one of the most important ones for me is good spiritual direction. I have only been meeting with Fr. Callipare for a couple months but am very happy and blessed to have found him.

In my experience of having regular spiritual direction there is no question in my mind that it is a benefit of extreme value to living a holy life in the middle of the world. Having someone who gets to know you personally and whom you receive the sacrament of Confession from on a frequent basis really helps keep you on track, especially is they are firm with you. The help keep you focused on your faith. That’s something we need much more of in today’s society!

Our bishop, Most Rev. Gregory L. Parkes, is a very tall man! I got the chance to meet him on Friday night at the conclusion of a triduum for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at St. Mary Catholic Church. Bishop Parkes was installed as the Fifth Bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee on June 5, 2012.

The feast day we celebrated on Saturday has held a special meaning to me since it was the conclusion of the first time I made my total consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary, according to St. Louis de Montfort. It is a most excellent devotion which I have practiced every year since. In 34 days it’s almost like a kind of personal retreat since it includes daily meditations and prayers. I highly recommend it.

Hello from Savannah, GA. I’ve been behind on posting from different cities and churches.

Today I got to attend Mass at Most Blessed Sacrament in Savannah, GA. The convention I’m attending actually had a late start planned. I wish more would do this.

Attending Mass is the highlight and most important part of my day and is a real Path to Holiness. I highly recommend it.

Another point from The Way by St. Josemaria Escriva is this one in the first chapter.

One of the points that struck me when I first read this was “bearing and conversation.” This said to me that living out my faith does not mean putting on a robe and sandals or having a large cross hanging from my neck. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with that. However, most of us living in the world and not in an order don’t need to dress out of the ordinary. Some people need to wear a uniform for work for example. By ordinary I do not mean like a lot of the inappropriate clothing that is so common today.

No, we need to wear our faith by our actions, by the words we use. Can you imagine if no one used profanity, shared pornographic images or jokes or talked bad about someone else? What if everyone did their job without complaining? What if we helped each other instead of thinking only of ourselves and ignoring those around us in need? It would be a very different world.

We’re called to this and even if no one else lives their faith, we should. People will notice. They may make fun of us. But we’ll make them think and we’ll be an example for them.

I admit it’s not always easy. A very simple but tough thing for me was getting in the habit of making a sign of the cross and saying a blessing at a public meal, either by myself in an airport or at a convention banquet. I have had strangers come up to me and thank me for doing it though. Talk about some positive affirmation. Let’s all give it a try.

I’ve been trying for years to figure out what my “voice” is on Path to Holiness. My first reason for creating it was to help promote the spirituality of Opus Dei which has had such a profound impact on my life. I still want to do that but I also want to do more than that. So here’s my first shot at a way I might use this mechanism to accomplish what I feel called to do.

This is a part of the first point in The Way, by St. Josemaria Escriva. You can find his and his books are not expensive .

When I first read The Way and especially this first point, I mediated on it and what it meant to me. I realized that it’s not enough to just say my prayers and go to Mass. I am called to do more. Not to do miraculous things, no. But to change my life so that just my example will have a positive impact on everyone I meet. I need to not just have my faith but I must live it and that means getting off my butt and doing something even if it’s just some little thing no one but God will know about.

I don’t know about you but I believe in the spiritual life. Our thoughts and actions have an impact on it. We can’t say that our actions don’t have an impact on others. Of course they do. A positive or negative thing I do impacts everyone.

So, here’s my start. I’ll write as often as I can and I welcome your feedback and comments.

I’m a day late but still wanted to say Happy Feast Day to Blessed Pope John Paul II.

I had the opportunity of a lifetime, in my opinion, to meet the Holy Father along with my family at the Vatican and will never forget it. He is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met and I credit him for helping me change my life. I know he did for many, many others.

So I look forward to many more feast days IL Papa!

I hope to be able to take some photos of the cross on Pensacola Beach where the first Mass was held in what is now the USA! This one was taken by my wife Cindy at sunset a couple days ago.

The 10-foot, cast concrete cross on Pensacola Beach commemorates the first Christian mass held in the United States. The Knights of Columbus first placed it on the north side of Fort Pickens Road in 1959 as part of the Quadra centennial celebration of Don Tristan de Luna’s landing in Pensacola, establishing America’s first European settlement. Some time later, the cross was moved to its current home on the south side of Fort Pickens Road.

The Cross has stood firm through many bouts with Mother Nature, including most recently Hurricane Ivan, which flattened most gulf-front dunes for several miles east and west. So far, there is no scientific explanation as to why the dune and the cross have been spared so many times. According to several residents, the answer will never come from science but instead can be found from within.

Here’s a photo inside of St. Eric’s Cathedral (or the Katolska Domkyrkan) in Stockholm, Sweden. I attended Mass there two weeks ago on a business trip to the annual International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Congress. I actually attended a Saturday evening Mass which was in English. They did not follow the new Mass prayers but it was very nice anyway.

This summer has been a non-stop back to back business travel adventure that started with our move to Florida from Missouri. Finally getting a break and none too soon IMO. Hopefully I can get back on a schedule to do some posts here. When you blog for a living on about 10 different ones it’s a little difficult to spend all the time and attention you’d like to your own very personal one.

Maybe I’ll find the time to write some of my thoughts on the extreme amount of political correctness BS that is permeating the media and social media these days as we get closer to the next Presidential election. It’s kind of at a fever pitch don’t you think?

Just in case you don’t have the St.

Josemaria App on your smart phone, here’s a chance to win a free one.

Thanks to EB Solutions, app developer, the St. Josemaria Institute is offering all of our subscribers the chance to win the highly-rated St. Josemaria App.

The deadline to enter to win is September 16, 2012. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. The winners will be announced on September 23, 2012.

Let’s celebrate another venerable man, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo. He was the first Prelate of Opus Dei and a close friend of founder St. Josemaría Escrivá. Pope Benedict has signed a decree that recognizes his “heroic virtues.” According to Rome Reports:

This step is actually key, as his beatification process goes further. It means, that Benedict XVI recognizes that “Don Alvaro” exemplified Christian virtues in his life.

Now, those working on his cause for beatification, must present a documented miracle to the Vatican. If it’s approved by experts, theologians and of course the Pope, his beatification could follow. Alvaro del Portillo was born in Madrid, Spain in 1914. His mother was Mexican, his father was Spanish. He studied Civil Engineering, Philosophy and Theology.