PathToHoliness

Last week I attended the annual meeting of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ). This meeting brings in people from all over the world for farm tours, presentations from government/agribusiness/farm group representatives and professional improvement sessions on topics like writing, photography, etc. I’ve been attending these for a number of years including in countries like Switzerland, Norway and Japan. It’s fascinating to get to know and communicate with people from different cultures.

It’s also an eye opener. Let’s take as an example a man from Denmark who approached me and after a brief exchange of greetings said, “The problem with your country is you don’t pay enough in taxes.” Really? I told him he was out of his mind. He got a little agitated and said “My son was able to go to college for the equivalent of about $800 this year. That’s why our system is so much better than yours.” He wouldn’t even consider a difference of opinion. Keep in mind that this guy is a journalist. He’s writing the “news.” Wonder from what viewpoint he writes about for things like government policy . . . I don’t know about you but I consider his policy views extremely liberal and polar opposite of mine. I tried explaining how high our taxes are but he refused to believe me. When I asked him if he’d like to pay more taxes back home he started to get even more indignant. So I found an excuse to move on away from him.

Let’s contrast that with another anecdote. We visited a dairy farm owned and run by a family of Amish descent. Our tour guide pointed out a school owned and run by the local Amish community as we approached the farm. He told us that the Amish school their own children and don’t accept any government funding for it. If they go to a doctor or hospital they pay the health care system back even though they pay their taxes. They don’t want and refuse to accept government assistance! I think these folks are proving we don’t have to have the government take care of us.

These stories made me think about how much our society in the good old USA has moved to a government dependent one. Although, I know many people who are fed up with this mentality. Every “crisis” (I hate that word) can be solved by just spending more money, at least according to every tv news story I see where they show talking heads calling for more and more spending. I wonder how we can keep allowing this to happen. Is it going to require a public revolt to change things? How about we just vote for a new batch of politicians and hold them to their word? Naw. That would never work.

Today a lot of you are remembering the horrors that happened in the United States ten years ago. You probably remember where you were. I was attending Husker Harvest Days, a farm show, in Nebraska. I learned about it along with a crowd gathered around a small tv in one of the tent exhibits. Today I pray for peace in our world. I got a Twitter reply from a friend who pointed out “the key is to pray for personal peace first then to move it further afield. So many people don’t know what personal peace is.” Good point.

Earlier today our Holy Father raised an appeal to world leaders to always reject violence as a solution to problems:

“Today, our thoughts also go to September 11 ten years ago. In entrusting the victims of the terrorist attacks on that day and their families to the Lord of Life, I invite the leaders of nations and men of good will to always refuse violence as the solution to problems, to resist the temptation toward hatred and to work in society, inspired by the principles of solidarity, justice and peace”.

I’m seeing lots of remembrances on Facebook and Twitter today. I am also making a concerted effort to stay away from the 24/7 news coverage. I’ve seen tv network ads encouraging you to “immerse yourself in 9/11.” Why would I want to do that? Unfortunately that’s network news today. Trying to capitalize on your emotions. Unfortunately that kind of immersion leads to depression, IMO. So I would encourage you to take the news in moderation and spend that other time in prayer and personal peace.

Hello from Canada. I’m participating in an agricultural communicators conference this week. We’re starting out in Guelph, Ontario and will be touring later in the week and winding up in Niagra Falls before heading home.

I was very blessed to attend Mass this weekend at St. John the Baptist Church in Guelph. Here’s a photo prior to Mass. We heard from a Comboni Missionaries priest. Very fascinating work that he’s involved in with people in Africa.

I’ve mentioned Scepter Publishers before and want to direct your attention back to them since they’ve got a growing number of books now available as e-books.

This means they are available in the Amazon Kindle store, Barnes & Noble Nook store and iBooks. You can’t go wrong picking a title from Scepter Publishers. So if you’re looking for some good spiritual reading and want to do it on your favorite device then check it out. I’m currently reading, “The Virtues of Holiness: The Basics of Spiritual Struggle.”

This is a picture inside the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, TN. It is one of the places I was last week. This summer has been one of the busiest in terms of travel that I can remember.

This week Cindy and I will be on the road together at the annual Farm Progress Show. It’s going to mean long days out at the show since you have to get in before the crowd and the lines start.

This week you get a picture of a church I did not attend. Instead, this is St. Therese Church, Wrightsville Beach, NC, where my wife Cindy went to Mass. She sent me the photo.

I was in Sturgis, SD, staying in an RV at the Buffalo Chip Campground for a couple days work at the annual motorcycle rally. It really is not a pleasant place to be in a lot of ways. But if you’re a motorcycle fan then you’ll never see more of them all at once in a small area.

Summer travel for work has been at a hot pace lately and so has the weather. One of the places I’ve been to in the last couple weeks was New Orleans. This is the Cathedral-Basilica St. Louis King of France New Orleans. That’s a long name!

Few cities in the world are so identified by a building as is New Orleans. The city is instantly recognized by our cathedral and its position overlooking Jackson Square. The Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France is the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the United States. As the caretakers of the Historic place of worship, we constantly battle the elements and the aging of the Cathedral with ongoing conservation and restoration.

The church sits right on the edge of the famous french quarter where there is a lot of partying. For those of us who have to visit for work it offers a kind of retreat from the activity that’s going on at a frantic pace every day and night.

I’m doing a lot of summer highway miles. Last week that included staying in Pontiac, IL for a couple nights for a farm tour I was working on. We visited farms that are taking part in a project to manage nutrients on their crops in order to make sure they are doing all they can to take care of the environment.

While I was in Pontiac I got to attend weekday Mass at St. Mary’s. The church is downtown and easy to find and had early morning Mass on Thursday and Friday which was perfect for my schedule. I’ll be in Nebraska and back to Illinois this week. It’s always an adventure to see where my faith takes me!

Cindy and I are thinking of going to our local Independence Day activities this evening that includes the Little River Band playing on the Missouri Capitol steps before the fireworks. That’s a great way to celebrate. But so is attending Mass!

This is a photo from our morning Mass at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. Our new Associate Pastor, Fr. Nicholas Reed, celebrated. I would give up a hundred fireworks displays and free concerts to go to just one Mass as a way to celebrate this day.

I hope everyone has a very safe and blessed celebration wherever you are.

Our Holy Father has made headlines with one tweet. And one that’s not even on his own personal Twitter account. He doesn’t have one. He did it on an iPad using the Vatican’s Twitter account. His post says, “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” If you haven’t checked out the new Vatican website you need to. It is much improved.

Last weekend I was working at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 race once again. Although it was a Saturday night race we had a Mass in the afternoon. Like last year, the Mass was held in the press conference room of the media center at Iowa Speedway.

Special thanks to the IndyCar Ministry for making this possible at race tracks everywhere.

IndyCar Ministry is a 501c3 not-for-profit, non-denominational organization, which was developed to help the racing community. We exist because of the donations we receive from the racing community and great partners that join with us to reach out to the people that are part of this great sport. Our financial records are available for review by contacting our office. We desire to be good stewards of the blessings we are given.

What does praying really mean? This short video clip is a new addition to the St. Josemaria Escriva YouTube channel. In it a young woman talks about what she has learned about praying from St. Josemaria. It is becoming friends with Christ. In The Way, St. Josmaria says, “Prayer is the foundation of the spiritual edifice.”

If you don’t know how to pray then he recommends, “Put yourself in the presence of God, and once you have said, “Lord, I don’t know how to pray!” rest assured that you have begun to do so.” This is advice that I love because it is so simple and easy to understand. But it means taking time for prayer, something that has to be a priority of our day no matter what is going on in our life.

June 26th, the anniversary of Saint Josemaría’s death in 1975, is now his feast day. Masses will be celebrated in many cities around the U.S. You can find a list of them here. Here’s the invite from St. Louis. Unfortunately I’ll be in Iowa and won’t be able to attend.

I’ve been tweeting notes from my retreat and thought I’d share some of them to date in case you missed them:

• “Is my prayer a heart to heart conversation with God?”
• “Read the Bible like it’s an email from God. Download it with prayer.”
• “I communicate with God the Father by meditating on the life of Christ.”
• “If my work is making demands that keep me from my daily devotions then I need to make a change.”
• “Our earthly experiences pass and are gone. Only Christ lasts forever. Are we prepared for death?”
• “Contemplate the reality of death & judgement. Fear not loving enough, not divine retribution, although it is real.”
• “The real poor, the real poverty is lack of love of God. What is the meaning of the hope within you?”
• “We are in armageddon. It’s spiritual warfare. Millions of unborn being killed, human engineering, etc.”
• “Announce the resurrection by who you are rather than what you say.”
• “Jesus shows us Joseph. A son reflects the father.”
• “Hey guys, what is it that your wife dislikes about you? Is she right?”
• “Repentance is the spring board for complete change.”
• “A mediocre Catholic cannot convince anyone that a life of Christ is more fulfilling than a life of sensual pleasure.”
• “Christ wants you to be an apostle. That’s what it means to be Catholic.”
• “Start by invoking the Holy Spirit. His job is to lead us to Jesus and to become like Jesus.”
• “The retreat is a time to pray, to communicate personally with God. If we don’t, we’ve wasted our time.”

One of the first priests of Opus Dei may someday soon be declared a saint in the Catholic Church.

The cause of canonization of Fr. José Luis Muzquiz, was officially opened in the Archdiocese of Boston on June 2. Father Joseph, as he was always known in the United States, was one of the first three priests ordained for Opus Dei in 1944. At the request of St. Josemaría, he came to the United States in 1949 to begin Opus Dei’s work in this country.

For biographical information about Father Joseph a good source is the recent book by John Coverdale, Putting Down Roots: Fr. Joseph Muzquiz and the Growth of Opus Dei (available here).

Here is what his prayer card says:

The Servant of God, Father Joseph Muzquiz
Prayer for Private Devotion

God, you helped your servant Joseph work with generosity and simplicity. He spread the message of sanctity in secular life to many people, teaching them to find joy and peace in their daily life. Help me to seek first the kingdom of God, by sanctifying my everyday work and dedicating myself generously to the salvation of souls. Glorify your servant Joseph, and through his intercession, grant me the favor I ask of you.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.