PathToHoliness

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.

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.

If you’re working on developing your interior life then a good book to consider adding to your spiritual reading list is Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe.

I’m working my way through the book now and can tell you that he has really put together some very comforting and sensible thoughts on this topic. We all experience trials and so many times we let it disturb our inner peace. By meditating on sections of this book you will find ways to be more happy in your faith. He lets us discover that there is a place of freedom within us that no one or no circumstances can take away since its source is God.

I hate to even bring this subject up but the hysteria over the myth called global warming really reached a fever pitch with the complete waste of time/money in Copenhagen recently foisted by the United Nations. The problem with this issue is that even though anyone with a brain and common sense who looks into it finds that it’s a myth, we’re still being bombarded by advertising and constant media pressure to “do something.” Hence, the U.S. House climate change bill for example. Fortunately our Senate has put it on a back burner and maybe will just let it die. The legislation is called Cap and Trade and would be a horrendous disaster for our country (like the pending health care legislation that no one wants).

Man made global warming does not exist as far as I can tell. There is huge disagreement in the scientific community on the whole subject of climate change. But we’re still being fed a very inconvenient lie. Why?

Well, I think it’s because global warming is a religion to many activists. This means they are forming their belief via faith and in the process turning a blind eye to fact. But they are really a minority. The masses that show up in polls as supporting the religion of global warming are for the most part very clueless. They hear a few emotional messages and think, “we’ve got to save the planet.” That seems to me to be the height of arrogance. Our time here on Earth has been a little blip on its history. It has managed quite well without us and will continue to regardless of what we do. Many of these activists have a vested interest in creating a public that fear’s for its future. Take Al Gore as probably the biggest example. The reality is that many of these folks are just plain evil and have evil plans. One of the biggest is a guy named Paul Ehrlich. These folks just want to get rid of people and don’t care if it’s done by abortions, forced sterilization or starving people on purpose.

Maybe you’re one of the people who has been mislead by global warming hysteria. Here’s a resource you can check to find out some scientific information on the myths of global warming. Another great source is the Hudson Institute and Dennis Avery. Read his latest column here.

Happy New Year and welcome to a new decade.

It’s that time when a lot of people make resolutions. Resolutions are a very good thing and I highly recommend that you always have some kind of active resolution. It’s also a good thing to review how you’re doing with your resolution. This is very similar to doing a daily examination of conscience. We should all resolve to do our best to live as Christ would like us but no matter how hard we try we aren’t perfect. So taking a short look at how we’re doing helps us keep our goal on the top of our mind and it’s during that examination that we can formulate resolutions to make changes in our behavior or activities if needed.

So, have you made any resoulutions? You don’t need to make many and making just one and working on it might be best. I’m finalizing mine and will write them down and make sure I have a convenient place to review them periodically.

As a University of Florida graduate I was as shocked as anyone to hear about head football coach, Urban Meyer, announcing his resignation yesterday. Now it sounds like he may just be taking a leave of absence. In any case, it sounds like he’s doing it for the right reasons and I’m hoping his players and fans will learn from it. He’s at the top of the game but decided his health and faith were more important than the job. Stress apparently plays a key role in the decision.

I know it’s easy to say that your health and faith are more important than your job but it isn’t easy to actually do something about it. I respect his decision and hope more people will make one like it.

We’re living in a society that seems to place constant pressure on people: to make money, to succeed, to buy things, to look a certain way and on and on and on. The reality is that none of that is as important as your faith and I think taking care of your health goes right along with it. God gives us our life and our health. I look at it as something to take care of as a way to honor Him. I’m also as guilty as anyone for not taking good care of my health and I’ve suffered from stress so I know what this is like.

My wife and I have our own business. We’ve had some good success with it and we’re very grateful for that. This year has been stressful. As we’ve become more successful with the business it has impacted our time and schedules. This summer I had to deal with a major health problem. So, we’ve been talking about it and making decisions based on it. Basically, we started the company to get away from the stress of corporate life. We don’t want to create our own. So, it’s time to look carefully at what we’re doing, how and why.

The new year promises to be a good one and my prayer is that we make good decisions and I pray the same for you and Coach Meyer.

Although a blizzard was forecast, it didn’t happen here and we made it to midnight Mass at the Cathedral. It was a beautiful Mass and best way to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ that I know of.

Of course family is also a very important part of Christmas and our daughters were home to go to Mass with us. After Mass we went up in front of the tabernacle for photos.

Then it was home for unwrapping presents and a very early breakfast before taking a long nap. I’m pretty sure I’ll be taking another one today too.

We all went on a great vacation this past week to Panama City Beach and on the way back visited my brother, Mark’s family. He and his wife have a beautiful baby boy we got to see for the first time. Of course we shot video and pictures like this clip of him with Carly’s iPhone.

So, it’s a beautiful day in mid Missouri. The snow finally got here so we’ve got a white Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and your families.

Hello from Panama City Beach, FL. It’s family vacation time and this morning we attended Mass at St. Bernadette Church. This is a view of the Altar before Mass.

After Mass the day care kids all got up in front of us and said a prayer and sang a song and presented the priest with a nice Christmas present. They were very cute.

I pray that you will all have a wonderful Advent week leading up to the birthday of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.