PathToHoliness

It is great seeing our Holy Father embrace digital media and the internet as mechanisms to witness to our faith and evangelize the message of Jesus Christ. According to a note in my latest Vatican Information Service update, Pope Benedict spoke to a conference on, “Digital Witnesses. Faces and languages in the multi-media age”. The congress was organized by the Italian Episcopal Conference, the president of which is Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa. Here’s what he said.

“The time in which we are living is seeing an enormous expansion of the frontiers of communication”, said the Pope. “The Internet is by nature open, tendentiously egalitarian and pluralist, but at the same time it also represents a new gulf. Indeed, we talk of the ‘digital divide’, which separates the included from the excluded, and this must be added to other separations which already divide nations, both from one another and within themselves”.

Benedict XVI also noted “the dangers of conformity and control, of intellectual and moral relativism, which are already evident in the diminution of the spirit of criticism, in the truth reduced to an interplay of opinions, in the many forms of degradation and humiliation of individual intimacy. We are witnessing a ‘pollution of the spirit which clouds our faces and makes them less prone to smile’.

Read the rest of this post…

There are a lot of people upset about either having a national day of prayer or a judge’s ruling that there shouldn’t be a national day of prayer. I don’t really understand either side. Every day should be a day of prayer. If you don’t want to pray then don’t. If you want to pray, then pray.

Unfortunately there are people who want to use the law to enforce their own views on everyone else. I’m only guessing that the idea for a national day of prayer came out of the fact that prayer has been so suppressed in our society. We’re a country founded on Christian principles and our Constitution was meant to protect people’s right to pray. Instead certain people have interpreted it incorrectly for their own ends which apparently includes removing prayer from society.

I think it is unconscionable to tell kids they can’t pray on a football field before a game for example. And although having a prayer breakfast or service in a state capitol or out nation’s capitol doesn’t excite me I see no reason for there not to be one.

Prayer is vital to a healthy spiritual life regardless what faith you have. Of course there are a few people who claim to be atheist but I agree with a statement I heard Archbishop Fulton Sheen make once that you have to believe in God to deny Him. People who claim they don’t believe in God often have a substitute like the devil or “mankind” and studies find that many of them actually do pray. Interesting. Probably a lot of them just don’t want to have to follow rules and make the claim as a way to justify their selfishness. There is a very small percentage of people who claim atheism anyway. I guess they’re just very vocal though.

I know I’ve posted a picture of the Redemptorist church in Kansas City, MO before but it is one of my favorites. This week my wife Cindy and I were in town to exhibit our company, ZimmComm New Media, at an annual convention. We attended Mass here.

Welcome to the website of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church � affectionately known throughout the area simply as �Redemptorist Church.�

Redemptorist Parish also sponsors the Redemptorist Social Services Center, one of the largest food pantries in Jackson County.

“If you really stop and think about all the children that have been killed by abortion it will make you crazy.” That’s a quote I’ll never forget from a pro-life leader I worked with years ago. It’s true. It is hard to imagine how many babies have never been born and how many are killed every day, primarily for “convenience.” Have you ever sat down and meditated on this? Ask yourself what it means for all of us. I know all the abortion supporter’s arguments about a woman’s right to choose but the consequences of contraception and abortion go way beyond that.

We’re all tied together spiritually which is why something as gravely wrong as abortion affects us all. It’s pretty easy to understand how an abortion can have an immediate affect on the family members of the woman having the abortion and the man/father of the baby. It shouldn’t be hard therefore to see a connection to all of us. And if you factor in how many millions of babies that have been killed in just the last 30 years there is an extreme amount of impact on all of us. None of it is positive.

This has been on my mind after reading an on a website that was supposedly written by a woman about having an abortion. She didn’t like it but had it done because she decided she wasn’t ready to be a mother. Her casual attitude about having innocuous sex after an involuntary sexual hiatus was disturbing enough. What really got me though was the comments written in about how brave and courageous she was. I don’t know about you but I would be very skeptical of anything that’s written anonymously on the internet. But if it was a truthful story it is as disturbing as many of the comments that people wrote on the site.

The man who shared the quote I opened with agreed with me that we can’t let the thought of how many babies have been killed by abortion discourage us or keep us from doing what we can to encourage a culture of life. I really believe we need to encourage people to return to God who is the only source of answers on this and any other issue. The removal of faith from our society is more at the core of why abortion was ever legalized and why it has grown so tremendously in just a few decades than that all of the sudden a woman’s right to choose became necessary. I have known a number of women who have had one or more abortions. I don’t personally know what went through their mind at the time of the abortion but I do know they regret it. I will continue to pray for a culture of life, for all who have made this choice and the souls of the babies who have never been born.

This is St. Joseph Church in Salisbury, MO. I had forgotten all about the photos I took there last month until I was cleaning up my memory cards.

This is the home of Fr. Bill Korte, Pastor and my spiritual director. Salisbury is pretty far removed from the hustle and bustle of big city life. I think I envy that country lifestyle a little bit.

Most months Fr. Korte comes to Jefferson City to provide spiritual direction to myself and some other folks. But every once in a while I need to drive up there to see him. One thing I can tell you is that in your plan of life you need regular direction from a good priest. I come away with some new insight, thoughts, resolutions every time. I highly recommend it.

It looks like the Shrine of the Holy Innocents is open. While I was searching for information about Divine Mercy Sunday I came across this announcement from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception who manage the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, MA. The property where it sits is called Eden Hill.

The new shrine is contained within the lower level of the Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine � known best as the location of the Sacred Liturgy during Divine Mercy Sunday and other special events. The new shrine, said Fr. Anthony, is like “the womb” of the outdoor shrine.

A life-size statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe had just been installed days prior. Upon the wall were colorful glass tiles, which will soon contain a growing list of etched names memorializing children who died from abortion, through miscarriage, who were stillborn, or who died from any cause at a young age.

The Vatican Information Service now has its own blog. You can subscribe to the blog with this RSS feed url.

As of the morning of Friday 9 April the Vatican Information Service (VIS), apart from its daily news bulletin, now has its own blog which includes news items from the last few years in Spanish, English, French and Italian. The blog also allows access to the Vatican’s Twitter account and YouTube portal.

Follow VIS on Twitter or visit their YouTube Channel.

The Knights of Columbus is urging all Knights to say a novena in support of our Pope Benedict. You can learn more about it on the national Knights website.

All Knights of Columbus are encouraged to join in a special novena for Pope Benedict XVI, beginning Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11, and concluding Monday, April 19, the fifth anniversary of the Holy Father�s election in 2005.

We pray for the pope and for his pastoral mission, asking God to protect, strengthen and uplift our beloved Holy Father at this time of considerable challenge.

This is the image and prayer from the prayer card they have created (pdf).

PRAYER FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI

Lord, source of eternal life and truth, give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit of courage and right judgment, a spirit of knowledge and love. By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care, may he, as successor to the Apostle Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your Church into a sacrament of unity, love and peace for all the world. Amen.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday and a time for celebration and to perform acts of mercy. Our parish will have a holy hour this afternoon. If you aren’t familiar with Divine Mercy prayers you can find the daily chaplet and the novena on any of several websites. Here are a couple of links for you: Chaplet (daily) and Novena. To get a full understanding of Divine Mercy I would encourage you to read the “Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul.” You can also find the Vatican’s Decree on Divine Mercy here. The image here is one created by Sister Faustina and that we venerate in our celebration today.

Here is a description of why today is called Divine Mercy Sunday taken from DivineMercySunday.com.

During the Mass of canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II proclaimed: “It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” The readings on that Sunday are always about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins.

The words of Our Lord in the diary are very clear, He said, “I want the image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. By means of the Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it.” (Diary 341, 570) The Image should be placed in the church so that everyone can see it, perhaps in the sanctuary area and at all the masses on that day so that everyone may venerate and know about it.

I’m a member of the Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe Knights of Columbus Council 12992. Each year we hold a benefit barbeque to raise money to support pro life causes. Except for a little bit of wind we had a beautiful day for it today.

I manage our council website and have an online photo album for council activities which I’ve added a number of photos to from today’s event. We have a great time and meet a lot of wonderful and hungry people. You might just guess what’s for supper in our house tonight!

I don’t know about you but this era of extreme political correctness is really wearing on me. One of my latest retreat notes said, “Satan hides behind politically correct words like diversity, pluralism, choice . . .” Isn’t that the truth? I’d add words like tolerance to the list. People who preach the mantra of tolerance seem to be the most intolerant people themselves. If you don’t agree with them they attack you and if that’s not intolerance I don’t know what is. How about this word to describe them: hypocritical.

Another word I’d add to the list is sustainability. I work in agricultural communications and this has to be one of the most overused and misunderstood words in our vocabulary, along with organic and natural. What does sustainability mean? Ask 10 people (including so called experts) and they’ll give you 10 different answers. It’s a hide behind word for people with a political agenda for the most part. Guess who’s hiding behind it? Answer is found above.

Sadly, these words are not bad in and of themselves but in how they’re being used in our mainstream media and by politicians, lobbyists and people who want to attack Christian values. So, what can be done about it? For starters let’s use these words in a context that’s defined by our religion and faith. Let’s not lash out in anger at those who are misusing them for their own ends but pray for them instead. Do you have any other suggestions? Feel free to comment.

I don’t know if you’re following me on Twitter or not but I’ve been trying to post daily meditation notes from my recent retreat. The photo is a screen shot from my account with this morning’s note.

I’m trying to stay more active here and on Twitter and hope you’ll join in and feel free to reply or comment.

My Twitter image is a photo of my St. Francis of Assisi statue under my deck.

Audio Bibles is a very interesting concept and something being produced by Faith Comes By Hearing. They’re recording the New Testament in many languages and versions since they are an interdenominational organization. A big area for distribution has been Catholic Bibles in Latin America where groups are being formed to listen to the Bible.

The parishes listening through the New Testament are representative of a movement among the Catholic church in Latin America. During 2009, Audio Bibles in seven different languages proclaimed God’s Word in 10 Latin American countries. Demand is so great that plans are underway to send another 3,600 Audio Bibles this year.

The Audio Bibles have been well received. A Guatemalan priest said, “I’ve used Audio Bibles both at the parish and diocese level. People show interest, paying close attention. Above all, the children in the biblical catechism classes concentrate much more on the message. The congregation is motivated and shares what they have heard with their brothers.”

There are a number of rosary apps in iTunes for your iPhone. Chelsea pointed me to the iRosary which I downloaded and installed last night. I will use it when I say my rosary today!

Speaking of saying the rosary, did you know that Real Men Pray The Rosary? They do according to a post on the Wall Street Journal. That led me to the RMPTR site. You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Our goal at RMPTR is to do our part to keep the devotion to praying the Rosary alive and well in our time. In a world filled with fast – paced distractions and ubiquitous technology, we would like to encourage people to unplug from time to time, to share in something that doesn�t need electricity or an LCD screen. Just a clear mind for prayer and meditation on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Perhaps even daily?

This site is an invitation to ALL Christian men and women (the Rosary is not just for Catholics!)to experience the peaceful joy of praying the Rosary. We invite you to share in this journey with our Rosary community.

An AP article has made a major announcement for the people of Los Angeles.

The pope on Tuesday named Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Texas, to take over the Los Angeles archdiocese when its current archbishop retires.

Gomez, 58, is a priest of the conservative Opus Dei order.

It’s nice to see Opus Dei formed priests in positions like this one. We need more of them!