PathToHoliness

Yesterday’s shootings cause us to pause and think about the fragile gift of life.

We first pray for the victims of that horrible day, including the shooter. It’s a tragedy to see so many lives lost so suddenly. It is hard to make sense out of something so senseless, but we have faith that God is in charge and He will make all things work out for good.

Trust fully in God and have a greater desire each day never to run away from him
~St. Josemaria Escriva

We also thank God for our own lives (yes, it’s ok to do that in these situations) and the lives of our family and friends. Events such as this remind us of our own mortality and where this life is leading us.

We heard in the Gospel on Sunday, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn. 20:29) Indeed, we look at the things that are not seen for those things are eternal (2 Corinth 4:18). And we have faith that the sufferings of the present time are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us (Rom. 8:18).

At least once daily, cast your mind ahead to the moment of death so that you can consider the events of each day in this light. I can assure you that you will have a good experience of the peace this consideration brings.
~St. Josemaria Escriva

May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Today, on Divine Mercy Sunday, we celebrate the deep ocean of love and mercy Jesus has for all mankind from which he forgives even the most hardened sinners.

Eternal Father I offer you the body and blood, soul and divinity of your dearly beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

The new year brings an opportunity to do a little extra self examination and see how you’re doing spiritually. As important as your spiritual life is we sure don’t see or hear much about it do we? Instead we seem to see and hear all about how important our material goods are and how important our retirement plan is. One of the things that attracted me most to Opus Dei is the spiritual formation it offers. Just reading the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva is an enormous help.

One of the things I’m focusing on right now is my plan of life. The founder describes it this way, “Try to commit yourself to a plan of life and to keep to it: a few minutes of mental prayer, Holy Mass — daily, if you can manage it — and frequent Communion; regular recourse to the Holy Sacrament of Forgiveness — even though your conscience does not accuse you of mortal sin; visiting Jesus in the Tabernacle; praying and contemplating the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, and so many other marvellous devotions you know or can learn.

You should not let them become rigid rules, or water‑tight compartments. They should be flexible, to help you on your journey you who live in the middle of the world, with a life of hard professional work and social ties and obligations which you should not neglect, because in them your conversation with God still continues. Your plan of life ought to be like a rubber glove which fits the hand perfectly.” (The Way 77)

I have my own business and travel a lot. This often makes it difficult to fulfill my daily plan, especially attending daily Mass. However, with a concerted effort it can be done. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought I couldn’t make it to Mass in a town or country I’m visiting or how many times I couldn’t find the Church. Usually just when I’m ready to give up I turn a corner and there’s the Church right in front of me.

I really believe that if a day goes by without taking the time to spend in prayer and with our Lord, it’s a lost opportunity. So, that’s part of my new year’s resolution – to re-commit myself to my plan of life.

The travelling statue of Our Lady of Fatima is here in Jefferson City, MO. It arrived at Immaculate Conception Church this afternoon and will be there until tomorrow when it moves on to Our Lady of Lourdes in Columbia, MO.

My wife and I were able to stop for a visit for a little while this afternoon. Kneeling in front of Our Lady really helps bring a sense of peace in this crazy world.

If you ever have a chance to see the statue please take the time to offer some prayers for her intercession.

The mid-Missouri Cooperators of Opus Dei got together yesterday for our monthly Circle meeting. It’s a time to listen to some spiritual reading, a meditation on our faith, conduct an examination of conscience and have time for fellowship.

The presenter for us was Nate Tyson, who is a super-numerary of Opus Dei. To learn what that means and a little more about Opus Dei I interviewed Nate after our meeting. Nate talks about the structure of what we call “The Work,” how people get involved to support the apostalate and how he learned about it personally.

You can listen to my interview with Nate here: Nate Tyson Interview (9 min MP3)

I got to my Knights of Columbus council meeting too late to get inside since they had already started our First Degree exemplification so it gave me a chance to spend a few quiet moments in our Mary grotto.

This is behind the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City, MO and down the hill. It was late afternoon and absolutely beautiful out. I can’t think of a more peaceful way to spend some quiet time than with our Lady!

I’ve been wondering when someone would do this. If you pray morning and evening prayer, you can now subscribe to it with Praystation Portable. A priest reads the prayer and it’s fed out the day before so you can download it to your computer and/or iPod ahead of when you need it.

To subscribe in iTunes or whatever podcatching software you use here’s the url you’ll need: http://feeds.feedburner.com/praystationportable

Here in Jefferson City, MO we’re blessed to have a wonderful group of cloistered Carmelite nuns. They have a recently remodeled public chapel with daily Mass.

It’s a beautiful day in mid-MO. I know the nuns like to garden so I’m betting they’re outside getting started on a new growing season.

They will answer the phone and have a visitors entrance where they can speak with you through a screen. They pray constantly and take prayer requests. If you need prayers you can’t ask for anyone better to help you out.

It’s a very prolife kind of weekend, especially in Washington, DC. My 23 year old daughter is there for the first time. She’s wanted to go for a long time. A group of her college friends from Ave Maria University made the trip from Naples yesterday morning. If you see a group on tv in red sweatshirts it might be them.

There will be a vigil Mass again this year at the Basilica of of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. This picture is from last year’s Mass and can be found on the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops website. The Mass will be this evening at 8pm est. with Cardinal William Keeler celebrating and giving the homily. You can see a pdf file of some of the activies taking place this weekend here.

EWTN will be featuring live coverage beginning tomorrow.

Here’s the prayer for the helpless unborn from EWTN:

Heavenly Father, in Your love for us, protect against the wickedness of the devil, those helpless little ones to whom You have given the gift of life.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.