PathToHoliness

A special dinner will be held in St. Louis for anyone who would like to “Find God in Daily Life and Raise Catholic Families.” It will be held on Friday, October 13 in the St.

Charles Convention Center, Plaza Ballroom. Doors will open at 6:30pm with the program beginning at 7pm.

The introduction will be given by Fr. Peter Armenio, Vicar of Opus Dei in the Midwest. The keynote speakers are Dr. Scott Hahn and Kimberly Hahn.

Tickets are $40/person prior to Sept. 15, $50/person after. Reservation deadline is October 6. You can register online at www.beginagainstl.org.

With all the hype over the Da Vinci Code movie I don’t think I need to say anything other than that it’s a good time to learn more about the founder, St. Josemaria Escriva.

I have links in the right sidebar to websites where you can find a lot of truthful information.

Or you can visit these: St. Josemaria Institute, Scepter Publishers

There’s an interesting story on Opus Dei done by Voice of America. It’s video with several streaming or download options. You can find it on this page.

It’s 4 minutes long and is just one of many, many stories being done in advance of the movie release of The DaVinci Code. I haven’t read the book and have no desire to see the movie. But you can’t seem to escape media coverage of both. If you believe the news reports, people are taking a fictional book and believing what’s written in it as fact. That’s hard to believe.

That would be like watching a tv sitcom and believing that the characters are “real life.” Do people actually buy into that? I don’t and frankly don’t waste too much time anymore with tv or novels. I have read a lot of fiction in my day and have never believed the stories portrayed reality. I’m much more apt to believe that the reporters doing all this coverage just want to do a story that casts doubt on Christianity, especially the Catholic Church. I think that the rise in forms of personal social communication like blogging is, in part, because people are fed up with reporters deciding what the news is and using their medium to push their personal viewpoints.

So let’s see what happens when the movie comes out.

I just got back from my annual retreat led by Opus Dei from their Wespine Center in St. Louis.

We were at the Cedar Creek Conference Center. What a beautiful weekend.

I took a few photos which you can see in my Flickr photo album here: Cedar Creek Photos

I had coffee this afternoon with a good friend from St. Louis who was in town. John lives at the Wespine Study Center. I’d point you to their website but they really don’t have one, just a domain with their address on it. Hey guys, I’ll help you set one up.

He said he’d be sending me some ideas for content here. We’ll see what happens. I’ll be going on retreat at the end of March and John will be the “leader.”

On another note, as I was Googling for Opus Dei I noticed a number of stories about the personal prelature and the upcoming release of the movie version of the “Da Vinci Code.” Like this one in the Delaware News Journal. Here’s an excerpt:

But now the low-profile spiritual community is starting a drive to improve its image ahead of a major film based on the book — and that campaign begins at the group’s front door, where a sign invites fans of the Dan Brown novel to learn about “the real Opus Dei.”

“The unfortunate thing is there are going to be tens of millions of people who will read the novel and see the movie and have that be their only exposure to Opus Dei,” said Brian Finnerty, a spokesman for the group. “Because the book is marketed as being in some ways factual, it’s difficult for people to tell where the lines between fact and fiction are.”

I haven’t read the book. Don’t have any interest in doing so. And I certainly don’t want to see the movie. Sorry Tom (Hanks).

The Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Echevarria, wrote a lengthy message to all involved in the work at the beginning of the year. You can find the text of it on the Opus Dei website. I’m focused a lot on my family lately. Probably because of these 17, 19 and 23 year old daughters of mine. That’s why I like the mention on family in his message.

In his last public statement on this subject, near the end of his life, the Holy Father John Paul II recalled that “by contemplating the mystery of God who becomes man and is welcomed into a human family, we can fully understand the value and beauty of the family.” And the Pope continued: “not only is the family at the heart of Christian life; it is also the foundation of social and civic life, and thus constitutes a central chapter in Christian social teaching” (John Paul II, Address to participants in the Assembly of the Forum of Family Associations, December 18, 2004).

I think one of the reasons the Catholic Church and Opus Dei are so persecuted today is because so many reject their faith and in that rejection (and the feelings it generates within them) they have no choice but to lash out against anyone who continues to practice theirs. I keep seeing statements online about the work of Opus Dei that portray it in a negative light. This has been practiced since St. Josemaria started the work so it’s certainly nothing new. The work only encourages us to live out our faith in our ordinary everyday lives as the Prelate says in this passage from his message.

St. Josemaría stressed that “our faith does not ignore anything on this earth that is beautiful, noble and authentically human. It simply teaches us that the rule of our life should not be the selfish pursuit of pleasure, because only sacrifice and self-denial lead to true love. God truly loves us; and now he invites us to love him and others with the truthfulness and authenticity with which he loves” (St. Josemaría, Christ Is Passing By, no. 24). Only with this conviction, brought day after day to one’s personal conduct, to one’s own home, to one’s workplace, etc., can we effectively refute, with the help of grace, erroneous ideas and help those who hold them to return to God.

I sometimes wonder if I’m doing enough or even anything at all in leading others back to God. It’s seems hard enough to live my own life properly in today’s world much less work on helping others. I think the work teaches us that just our “good” example is a way we can accomplish this though.

Here’s to another week coming up when we can try to live that good example.

There’s a new book out on Opus Dei called “Opus Dei: An Objective Look Behind the Myths and Reality of the Most Controversial Force in the Catholic Church”.

You can read what Marc Carroggio, who oversees Opus Dei’s relationship with international journalists in Rome, says about the book on the Opus Dei website.

I’ve long been a comic book fan. I know I have one about John Paul II. I’ve sold off most of them but still have a few boxes of them.

Now there’s a comic book about St. Josemaria Escriva. It’s 1928. On the outskirts of Madrid a group of children are engaged in an lively exchange with a young St. Josemaría as he teaches Catechism. From there a flashback takes the reader to the saint’s childhood. Thus opens “Through the Mountains,” the new biography of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the first one to appear in comic book format.

This biography was printed in Belgium, a country known for a long tradition of high quality comic books. The text was written by Paule Fostroy, with artwork by J. Gillissen and E. Gabriel. The drawings combine simplicity of lines with vivid colors to a quasi photographic effect. The various scenes in Spanish cities and in Rome are recreated with meticulous care.

You can find it at Scepter Publishers.