PathToHoliness

How about an annual retreat to get your spiritual batteries re-charged? I missed attending one last year and really felt it. So I’m determined to make one this year. I’ve already made my reservation at Featherock Conference Center.

Spiritual retreats held at Featherock are opportunities to reflect on the truths about our existence in the presence of God. It is a time to pray, seek advice and return home with renewed vigor and practical resolutions.

Important to me is that the spiritual aspects of the retreat are entrusted to Opus Dei, a personal Prelature of the Catholic Church. I have had to change the dates I can attend but am hoping nothing else will interfere at this point.

There are many retreat opportunities around the country that would be excellent to attend. However, I have found myself attracted to Opus Dei from the beginning of my spiritual conversion. The main reason is its simplicity which is easily summed up in this quote from St. Josemaría, “Human life – your life – and its humdrum, ordinary business, have a meaning which is divine, which belongs to eternity.” So, no matter what kind of work we do or how “high on the ladder” we may be, we are all called to holiness and it is achievable through our faith.

I highly recommend going on a retreat once a year if possible. It can change your life and it will help you gain strength to do what we’re all here for and that is to become saints.

Social media platforms have been an integral part of my business and the work I do since they were started. It was easy to see the potential for communicating on a self-publishing platform. However, it took several years to introduce social media and that potential into the business sector I’m involved in, Agriculture. I remember doing lots of public speaking, presentations, consultations and training for subjects like best practices. There was a lot of skepticism and fear about being “personally” public and not sort of hiding behind a corporate face.

That has all changed. Today there are many, many farmers using these platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more) to tell their story about how they farm, what takes place on their farms, how they are embracing new technology for better efficiency and sustainability. Agribusinesses and member organizations are doing the same.

For some time this seemed to be a pretty good place to be for communicating to an internal and external audience. However, today it has, IMO, become a cesspool of abuse to feed personal egos and attack and destroy those who don’t agree with you.

Here’s an excerpt from Pope Francis’ message on World Communications Day this year that contrasts the good potential with the bad reality.

We need to recognize how social networks, on the one hand, help us to better connect, rediscover, and assist one another, but on the other, lend themselves to the manipulation of personal data, aimed at obtaining political or economic advantages, without due respect for the person and his or her rights. Statistics show that among young people one in four is involved in episodes of cyberbullying.

I have struggled with the distaste of all the negative and hateful information and messages that bombard you if you are frequently checking social media channels, which I have to do to stay current and relevant in my industry. Outlandish lies and “fake news” is pervasive, even within the agricultural and food industry. The worst garbage comes from activists who seem to be acting more out of self gain than actually believing in their mission and goals.

As bad as it is in the online conversation, which is how I’ve described social media from the start, it is still a mechanism for good. I’ve just had to learn to ignore the noise from the people who are abusing the system and other people involved in it. Since I think of it as a conversation I have had to realize that my messages may be falling on deaf ears but that happens even in face to face conversation. I may never know the positive effects of publishing good, helpful content and not giving in to arguments and the bullies.

So, I am going to try to write here more. Besides the extra time it takes I will admit to not wanting to deal with the critics. In meditation I have found that there is no good reason not to make use of social media for a very personal channel to communicate. I hope that I can stick to this resolution.

For anyone who has dealt with depression, either personally or with a loved one, this book is not only incredibly helpful but qualifies as excellent spiritual reading. You don’t have to be a theologian or priest to understand it. I am just finishing it and it has helped me with my own spiritual growth and helped me feel more positive than ever about my faith and the future.

Here is an excerpt from the description of the book.

Countless Christians — including scores of saints — have suffered profound, pervasive sorrow that modern psychiatrists call “depression.” Then, as now, great faith and even fervent spiritual practices have generally failed to ease this wearying desolation of soul.

In these pages, Catholic psychiatrist Aaron Kheriaty reviews the effective ways that have recently been devised to deal with this grave and sometimes deadly affliction — ways that are not only consistent with the teachings of the Church, but even rooted in many of those teachings.

You can find the book on Amazon in either paperback or Kindle versions.

This past Friday evening at St. Michael’s Cemetery in Pensacola, FL our Bishop William Wack provided a homily during an annual ecumenical prayer ceremony attended by 82 people. We had a beautiful sunset and setting on “Priest’s Hill” in the cemetery.

Cindy and I assisted in the setup for the ceremony with the Women’s Sodality at the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel and my Knights of Columbus council. This is what I’d like to be able to do more of. My travel schedule for our business takes me to many interesting places in the U.S. and many other countries but it also makes it difficult to attend church activities and even write here, which is painfully obvious.

This month let’s pray for the faithfully departed and gain a plenary indulgence for them. Here’s more information:

The Church offers an Indulgence for a Cemetery Visit that is available as a partial indulgence all year round, but from November 1 through November 8, this indulgence is plenary. Like the All Souls Day indulgence, it is applicable only to the souls in Purgatory. As a plenary indulgence, it remits all punishment due to sin, which means that simply by performing the requirements of the indulgence, you can obtain the entrance into Heaven of a soul who is currently suffering in Purgatory.

After years of apps for mobile devices I’ve tried many of them that are faith related. I’ve pretty much narrowed them down to just a few.

The screenshot shows one of the newer ones I started using. It is The Examen Prayer by Father Michael Denk. “What’s the one most important prayer we should pray every day? St. Ignatius said you should never omit the Examen Prayer, also known as the Examination of Conscience, from your daily prayer.” It was recommended by my spiritual director and I use it primarily on my iPad and really like the journal feature.

Others include:

• Magnificat
• iBreviary
• RC Calendar

I still use my printed four volume Lituergy of the Hours when I’m home but these apps are what I’ve found to be the most handy while traveling. Most of my spiritual reading is now on my Kindle (app on iPad).

My shoulder surgery recovery is going well enough that I spent a couple hours on the beach doing some fishing. The Gulf waters had some strong breakers and lots of grass but this bluefish found my bait. He became lunch for today.

It’s amazing how tired out you can get doing something like this after major surgery. Besides pain, the hardest part for me is patience and wanting to do more than I should. I can’t deny getting down sometimes when it seems like everything hurts and I can’t do something I want to do. But I am very thankful for all the people who have helped me, starting with the doctors and nurses and all my family.

I keep thanking God for the challenges in my life and all the blessings. Pain is a good thing to offer up and I try to remember to do so.

It is a joyful time in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Pope Francis appointed a new Bishop for us. BTW. His name is pronounced, “Wok.” He presided at Mass last week but we completely missed it. But I’m sure we’ll get to meet him soon. The photo is of him at the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in the heart of downtown Pensacola.

Here is some information from the official press release.

On May 29, 2017, it was announced that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop-elect William A. Wack the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Bishop-elect Wack comes to the diocese from the Diocese of Austin (TX), where he has been pastor of St. Ignatius Martyr Parish.

Bishop Gregory L. Parkes of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, and fifth bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, said, “I share in the joy of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee with the announcement of their new bishop. Bishop-Elect Wack and the diocese will be in my prayers during this time of transition.”

I’m behind on this but better late than never.

For Mother’s Day we went to the beach. Cindy is pictured with our daughters and Caitlin’s babies. The girls all spent the night in a hotel room on the beach and the boys went home.

For this grand daddy it is amazing to see our little babies now having babies and already seeing them grow.

Just over a week ago I had rotator cuff repair surgery. It doesn’t really sound too intimidating until you learn about it and especially those first few days after the surgery. I confess that I was dreading it and scared of it. I had to make a promise to myself to quite Googling every term, medication, outcome, problem.

To start with, it means that I can’t drive for at least six weeks and have to have my arm in a sling night/day. So that means no business travel or the kind of field work I do. Then I have another six weeks before I’m allowed to lift anything with my dominate right arm.

Lots of questions about how this is going to affect my business, how am I going to be one-armed and left handed, will the surgery be successful, etc. were running through my mind constantly.

I was finding it very hard to concentrate on my prayer life and to trust in God that no matter what happens it is His will and He will give me strength to deal with it. So, I’ve made it a part of my meditation each day to just let God help me, provide me with inspiration. Then when this subject came up speaking with my wife and Chelsea, my daughter who was paralyzed in an auto accident 17 years ago. I was complaining about how annoying having my arm strapped to my side was. She casually reminded me that she wore a very restrictive collar around her neck for months after her spinal cord surgery. Wow. Did that ever put things in perspective for me. I almost started crying on the spot out of shame for this trivial little matter that will most likely be very successful for full arm use and within less than that amount of time.

How can I not be thankful to God for this? It happened when I picked up a heavy object and there was a loud (to me) pop and pain in my shoulder. Yep, torn tendon. Not good. But then, maybe it really is. I can thank God for this and offer up my pain united with His on the Cross.

I have still had a few early bouts of what I guess they call situational depression while sitting in a recliner and feeling sorry for myself. Worse, I’ve imagined all the things that can go wrong and started focusing on the challenges my business faces, family relationship problems and more.

It’s pretty easy to become lukewarm with my faith at these times but that does no good. By the end of my first week post-surgery I am feeling a renewed energy and positive outlook for the future. I know my goal on Earth is to become a saint and look at this wonderful opportunity God has given me to work toward that.

I continue to pray that I’m worthy of God’s love, dedicate myself to my prayers and finding ways to help others, by starting with my wonderful wife and business partner. I take her for granted so much. She is the wonderful mother of my children and on this Mother’s Day I want her to feel special, needed, valued and loved. I pray to my Mother Mary to pray for me and for us as we move forward on the path to holiness. Amen.

Yesterday at the Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel in Pensacola, FL we held a ceremony that consisted of Exposition/Adoration, confession, a meditation, both recited and sung chaplets and Benediction. We had four priests available for confession throughout the time and it seemed like we had a lot of people attending.

This was a city wide celebration for all who wanted to, to attend. After confession Cindy and I just spent some quiet time with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament on the Altar.

I was told by one of the priests that we can always use the word mercy in place of love because they have such a close meaning. It made for a nice meditation about how God’s love is so great and how infinite His mercy is.

So, peace be to you during this Easter season.

No Grandpa can keep a smile off his face when he’s holding a little angel. Cove Angel Underwood is Cindy’s and my 3rd grand baby!

She is a joy to hold and I love to hold her. We’ve been blessed that our daughter Caitlin and husband Clint now live here in Pensacola, FL and that Clint is the General Manager of our company. So we get to see the babies. They’re growing so fast.

It’s getting hard to get Cindy to focus on work because she just wants to spend time with her “babies.” Cruz, the oldest is past three years old and is a handful. And Case, the middle boy is kind of like the class clown. Three different personalities and we love them dearly.

Well, you could say that I’ve taken a long sabbatical from writing on my blog! Almost two years. Wow.

But, I think it’s time to get started again. As I sit in a recliner in my home office because I can’t sleep thanks to a shoulder injury from the end of last week I’ve decided that it’s time to get over the procrastination and work on what I’ve wanted this website to be like from the beginning.

I will admit that I’ve had a fear of writing personally on topics that are very important to my faith because of the reaction I might generate. But that is just not acceptable to me any more. I may not be the best writer but I think I have a lot I can offer on the idea of living on a Path To Holiness.

I just recently went on retreat in Georgia conducted by the Magnalia Foundation. During my meditations I had several inspirations that include continuing to publish Path To Holiness. I also had one that addressed a real problem I’m having personally. I missed my retreat last year and was very overdue for the benefits that come with spending uninterrupted time in silent prayer with God.

I think my spiritual batteries have been re-charged and it is time to get back on The Path.

I have been very blessed in my work career to have traveled to places that I would never be able to otherwise. A few weeks ago that place was Turin, Italy. With a group of agricultural journalists from around the world we traveled there courtesy of New Holland tractor company.

I had a free afternoon so I took off to visit the Shroud of Turin while it was on public display. You had to pre-register for a specific time with a ticket to visit but there was no cost. I arrived just before a loud thunderstorm hit the area. A long covered walkway is set up for pilgrims to walk through before entering the Cathedral of Turin which is undergoing some major restoration. We were held in groups and watched a short video description of the shroud in comparison to scripture. Then we were allowed to enter and spend a little while in front of the Shroud in prayer. It’s hard to describe the feelings of seeing what seems very likely to be the actual cloth that Jesus was buried in. Let’s just say that I will never forget it.

After the time we had in Turin we traveled to Milan for the current version of the World’s Fair, Expo Milano 2015.

Last weekend Cindy and I got to visit our two grandsons, Cruz and new one, Case. Of course we loved seeing our daughter and her husband too.

It’s hard to describe how wonderful it is to hold your grandson and to play with him. Cruz walks and although he talks a lot I have no idea what he’s saying yet. Case eats and sleeps a lot still but he’s got big blue eyes and I could stare at him forever. They are awesome reminders of the miracle of life and we can’t wait for our next opportunity to see them which will be when Case gets baptized!

I’ve been meaning to point out the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast. I get an email notification about it and received one this weekend for the latest episode which is a meditation on the Feast of St. Mark. If you would like to know about the life of St. Mark then listen in.

On April 25th we celebrate the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. St. Mark wrote one of the Gospel accounts and was a companion of St. Paul on his first missionary journey. However, in the Acts of the Apostles, we discover that St. Mark abandoned St. Paul, and that St. Paul would not allow St. Mark to accompany him on his second journey.

In this meditation, Fr. Javier del Castillo explores the interesting dynamic between St. Paul and St. Mark, and what we can learn for our own life.