PathToHoliness

As I have often found to be the case, my guardian angel led me to Mass today. Usually when I’m in a place I don’t know and I’m about to give up finding a church, it’s then that I suddenly come across it.

Today that’s in Utrecht, Netherlands where I’m attending a dairy conference that starts tomorrow. I had some free time before my first dinner this evening so I got some very approximate directions to a church. It turned out to be St. Augustine’s and I arrived while Mass was in progress which started at 12:30pm.

As I was leaving I met one of the priests who celebrated Mass. He pointed me toward the St. Catherine’s Cathedral which proved to be a really nice walk along the riverwalk that goes through town. I first stopped at St. Martin’s Cathedral (or Dom Church) thinking I was there but it turned out to be the original Catholic cathedral which was taken over by protestants.

I like to find a statue or image of our Blessed Mother in each country I visit so I was looking for a gift shop. At St. Catherine’s I was directed back to St. Martin’s where they have a nice little shop. Interestingly, since it is now protestant they had quite a few images and statues of Mary and I purchased one. They also sell rosaries and holy water founts. I guess they get a lot of Catholic visitors.

So, it has been another interesting day and another opportunity to visit our Lord in His Blessed Sacrament!

Cindy adds: Reminds me of a Dan Fogelberg song “Netherlands”

Off in the Netherlands
I heard a sound
Like the beating of heavenly wings
And deep in my brain
I can hear a refrain
Of my soul as she rises and sings
Anthems to glory and
Anthems to love and
Hymns filled with early delight
Like the songs that the darkness
Composes to worship the light.

The latest in an ongoing series from Opus Dei about the life of Mary was just published on their website.

Life of Mary (V): The Annunciation

The fifth reflection on our Lady’s life during this Marian Year in Opus Dei. This month we consider the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary, and Christ’s entry into the world.

On Father’s Day I really enjoyed myself working at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton, IA. Of course I missed being with my family but I did get home at a reasonable time in the evening.

Once again IRL Ministry took care of us spiritually. Fr. Phil DeRea celebrated Mass in the Driver’s Mtg. Room at the Media Center. One of the drivers, Helio Castroneves, attended along with team members, media and other people involved in race day activities.

As a special treat, Fr. DeRea brought a number of rosaries to give away. He was in Rome on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and had them blessed by Pope Benedict. I was lucky to receive one.

After Mass I spoke with Fr. DeRea. He says that Father’s Day is an emotional day, especially when you think of the wonderful memories of our fathers. He calls IRL Ministry a “Parish on wheels.” He, along with another minister, provide Mass and church services at races around the country. He also performs other services like weddings and baptisms. He says IRL Ministry has permission from the Vatican through Pastoral Care For People On The Move.

You can listen to my interview with Fr. DeRea here: Fr. DeRea Interview

IRL 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.

I uploaded quite a few photos from the race which you can find here: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album.

Well it’s not quite Father’s Day but I thought I’d make sure I mentioned it.

This father will be doing some “work” at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on Sunday. Fortunately, IRL Ministry makes sure we’ll have a Mass here in the Driver’s Room at 10:30am. I’ll be there since I’ve got to attend a photographer’s mtg. at 8am.

So, I’ll get more active after this weekend. I’ve been road blogging most of the last 2 weeks (7 events, 7 cities, 7 states). You can check out my photos from this event here: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

Thanks to Chelsea for the heads up about the new iPhone 4 and especially the Facetime application. Apple has been pretty good about keeping apps out of their store that contain pornographic content. But keep in mind that it does have a full web browser.

Apple has a very cute, family centered ad for its new iPhone, complete with a pregnant woman sharing her baby’s ultrasound image with her husband serving overseas. Click the screen shot above to watch.

Speaking of Apple, check out the Pampers “Hello Baby” iPad app if you haven’t seen it already:

The next couple of days I’ll be in Atlanta but this morning I got to attend Mass at St. Pius X in Conyers, GA with my parents. It was a beautiful Mass with a young priest on his first assignment. Here’s the welcome message from the Pastor.

Dear Friend,

Father John C. Kieran, Pastor

I came across the iPadre iPhone app while looking into the 3rd Annual Catholic New Media Celebration. So let’s make this the next iPhone app to bring to your attention.

First check out iPadre Catholic Podcasting with Fr. Jay Finelli.

Father Jay Finelli is a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence in the state of Rhode Island. He began building web pages in 1995 and started podcasting in September of 2005. This is a great new means of evangelization. Pope John Paul II said that we are in need of a new evangelization. Podcasting is a small part of this new work of evangelization. All of us need to do our part in spreading the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He’s got a blog along with other information on his website. I’ll be subscribing to some of his feeds and will let you know what I think when I get time. Feel free to leave your comment if you’re already a subscriber.

The 3rd Annual Catholic New Media Celebration will be held near Boston, Massachusetts on August 7, 2010.

The Catholic New Media Celebration (CNMC) is an international conference which focuses on evangelization of the Roman Catholic faith using new media. It is a day to Learn, Share, and Explore how New Media can help the Catholic Church in the New Evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II.

* To support and enhance evangelization through the use of New Media
* To provide information and support for New Media Producers
* To foster community among producers and consumers of Catholic New Media

Register here. Look at the program here.

There is a growing number of good Catholic apps for the iPhone and now the iPad. I’ll try to point you to them as I find them. I’ve already done posts on iBreviary, iRosary, Vatican News and the St. Josemaria app.

Today let’s look at iPieta. This is a very comprehensive app with versions for both the iPhone and iPad containing writings on Catholic teaching, Catholic calendar and a long list of prayers. You have to do a little work but you can go to their website and download audio files of many of the prayers, import into your iTunes and then it becomes available in the app so you can play them. They have asimilar but different App in Spanish which is iPieta Español.

CONTENT:

• Bibles: Douay-Rheims, Clementine Vulgate (Catholic and public domain; note that Psalms are numbered slightly differently than some modern Bibles).
• Baltimore Catechisms #1-3; the Cat. of Christian Doctrine, the Roman Catechism, and the Cat. of St. Thomas Aq
• Both the Ordinary (Novus Ordo) and Extraordinary (Tridentine) Calendars with access to the day’s Gospel and Reading(s) from the D-R & Vulgate.
• Numerous devotions including a version of the Little Office of Our Lady, the 33-Day Total Consecration Preparation, Novenas to the Holy Spirit and to the Divine Mercy, St. Alphonsus Stations of the Cross, and the St. Bridget 1-Year and 12-Year Prayers.
• Spiritual writings by St. Louis Marie de Montfort, St. Teresa of Jesus, St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena, the Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas, the Imitation of Christ, Intro to Devout LIfe (St. Francis deS) , St. Jean-Marie Vianney, Treatise on Purgatory (St. Catherine of G), Spiritual Exercises (St. Ignatius), Sinners Guide, Haydock Biblical Commentary, Catena Aurea (St Thomas Aq). The Summa (except for the Supplement) is also in Latin.
• Papal Encyclicals
• Ecumenical Council Documents
• Scriptural passages for the Holy Rosary
• Examination of Conscience
• Saint Notes (incomplete / in progress)
• Bookmarks

My wife and I did a pilgrimage today to the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church in Laurie, MO. It is a beautiful day for a drive and the Shrine is in great shape. There is a Mother’s Wall on which you can have your Mother’s name inscribed and they will be included in the prayers said for all Mothers. Both of our Mother’s names are on the wall.

It is my understanding that during this month of Mary a plenary indulgence can be gained by saying 5 decades of the rosary on the way, 5 decades while at the shrine and 5 decades on the way home. So that’s how we spent part of our day today. I will try to find a source to point you to for this indulgence and add it later.

A magnificent Shrine dedicated to Mary, Mother of the Church features an awe inspiring fourteen foot stainless steel sculpture of Mary, which stands in a natural amphitheatre surrounded by beautiful fountains.

In 2003, the Shrine became a National Shrine, making this the sixteenth Nation Shrine in the United States, and the only recognized National Shrine in Missouri.

Last week I was on the road again. While in St. Louis I attended Mass at St. Ann in Normandy, MO which is a south side suburb. They’ve got a great website. Pastor Fr. William Kempf has his own blog called “Pastor’s Pen.”

It all started with the kindness of a woman, who like the widow in the gospel, was so incredibly generous with what God had given to her. In 1854, the widow Ann Lucas-Hunt donated the land along with a monetary donation to the Jesuit Order “to establish a church and see to the education of the children” in her beloved Normandy, Missouri. The Jesuits then tasked Fr. Peter DeSmet with the project of establishing St. Ann church. In him we know a parish founded with a missionary spirit. St. Ann was his ‘home’ when his feet were not on the road proclaiming the good news to the Native American Indians. Our first pastor, Fr. Adrian Van Hulst, would make the journey from the Jesuit provincial house at the corner of Lindell Boulevard and Grand Avenue by horse and carriage. It was said that he was so punctual that farmers could set their watches by his approach. In him, we see the virtue of a steadfast, faithful presence.

It’s a challenge to find time to write here when I am on the road live blogging events for my company. During the week I had several inspirations for posts that I have now forgotten. Hopefully I’ll come up with them this weekend.

However, a couple of things come to mind. Several people I’ve spoken with this week have expressed feelings of despair, hopelessness and doubt over what they see as a world out of control. They see and hear so much alarmist information that they feel on edge emotionally all the time. I think they may be bordering on depression as a result.

I understand why and how they can have those feelings. Let’s take abortion as just one example. If you really stop and think hard about how many babies are killed just in the United States each day it will drive you crazy. Especially when you consider how little you can do about it. But I’ve learned that you cant give in to these feelings of hopelessness. That’s what our faith is for, and not just my Catholic faith.

I just got back home from an agricultural animal health conference. There were people there despairing over the impact from animal rights wacko groups like the Humane Society of the United States. In case you think they are an animal welfare group that supports animal shelters, think again. They’re a huge scam operation of militant vegans. You can find out all you need to know about them at HumaneWatch.org. Don’t support them. Support your local animal shelter instead!

Okay, back to the subject. New digital media tools are allowing all of us as individuals to have a voice in the world. That’s why our Holy Father has urged priests and the laity to use them to evangelize the faith. At the same time they’re being used by anarchists, terrorists and to promote promiscuity and pornography. But I think we can let ourselves get overwhelmed by the messages and lose our peace.

Let’s step back. Take time to meditate in a quiet place. For me, daily Mass is a great way to put all that behind me and put myself in the presence of God who loves me and will always protect me. I get a fresh perspective and then go back to my work knowing that I will not allow the forces of evil in our society to discourage me and that I can make a positive impact for true change, not the kind touted in Washington, DC these days.

Consider this. If you courageously speak up when you need to for what is right, correct people you come in contact personally when they’re wrong and set a good personal example by your own conduct, you will be a force for change. I like to think that if I save one baby from being killed in my whole life that I will have made an accomplishment of immeasurable value. If I convert one person, if I bring one person back to the faith, if I change one mind for the good, I have done what God wants and I have something to be proud of. I don’t care if I ever know who I impacted. Maybe I will after I die. I don’t know but God does.

That gives me a real sense of peace even in light of the terrible things that are happening in our society and around the world today.

My Knights of Columbus Council 12992 met last night. It was very gratifying to see our Grand Knight pull out his rosary before we got started and lead us.

This is the month to especially honor our Lady and she means a lot to members of the Knights. When we become members we receive a rosary like the one in his hands in the photo. All Knights are encouraged to use their rosary daily, especially during this month.

At the evening of recollection I attended this week I had a chance to talk with Fr. Jay Alvarez, Wespine Study Center, who conducted our meditation talks. I didn’t know he has a YouTube Channel.

Here’s one of his videos which is a “Music video about two early Christians, Junia and her brother Marcus, around year 140 AD, in Rome. Based on the books of Michael E. Giesler. Video, Music and lyrics by Jay Alvarez.” I think he’s taking the Holy Father’s call to use the digital media to evangelize to heart!

May is the month dedicated to Mary. Pope Paul VI said the following about it in his encyclical, Mense Maio.

. . . a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. Our heart rejoices at the thought of the moving tribute of faith and love which will soon be paid to the Queen of Heaven in every corner of the earth. For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.

For spiritual reading during this month a great book to consider is “True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin” by St. Louis de Montfort. You can find a pdf of it on the Montfort Missionaries website or buy it on Amazon. I also found it in the Amazon Kindle e-books and loaded it on my iPad.