PathToHoliness

Here’s a phone photo of Fr. Barry Cole and myself during my recent retreat. It was the first time I’ve met Fr. Cole and heard his meditation talks. Like all Opus Dei priests he has a great sense of humor. Thanks to John Lynch, Wespine Study Center, for taking the photo. Fr. Cole works at the Lincoln Green University Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

I got to visit with him before the end of my retreat and asked him to share some thoughts from a point he made in one of his talks. He talked about faith not being a private matter and that really stood out for me. I asked him to expand on that idea and what it means. We also talked about how important it is to study our faith so that we can talk intelligently about it with others.

You can listen to my conversation with Fr. Cole here: Interview with Fr. Barry Cole

My annual retreat is my time to charge my spiritual batteries and by retreat time it always seems as if I especially need that. I’m not sure how many Wespine Center retreats I have attended now but I think it might be about 14 in a row. I’m not sure if this is my last either but so glad I could make it.

This Monday Cindy and I have a closing scheduled on a house in Pensacoala, FL. We’re from Florida and have been wanting to move back to our home state for years. We just decided the time was right. Let me re-phrase that. After much prayer we believe it is not only what we want but what God wants for us at this time. So who knows what my retreat opportunity will be next year. I’ll have to work on that.

I always take notes on retreat and will share one from one of today’s meditations. The priest talked about how people tell him they’re “struggling” with their prayer life. He says he asks them, “Does that mean you’re not praying?” The answer is usually yes. And he tells them, “Then you’re not struggling.” He says it’s better to say that you’re making an “effort” to pray but having difficulty. I just thought that was a great way to look at things since you can apply it to all kinds of situations.

I’ve been tweeting notes from my retreat and thought I’d share some of them to date in case you missed them:

• “Is my prayer a heart to heart conversation with God?”
• “Read the Bible like it’s an email from God. Download it with prayer.”
• “I communicate with God the Father by meditating on the life of Christ.”
• “If my work is making demands that keep me from my daily devotions then I need to make a change.”
• “Our earthly experiences pass and are gone. Only Christ lasts forever. Are we prepared for death?”
• “Contemplate the reality of death & judgement. Fear not loving enough, not divine retribution, although it is real.”
• “The real poor, the real poverty is lack of love of God. What is the meaning of the hope within you?”
• “We are in armageddon. It’s spiritual warfare. Millions of unborn being killed, human engineering, etc.”
• “Announce the resurrection by who you are rather than what you say.”
• “Jesus shows us Joseph. A son reflects the father.”
• “Hey guys, what is it that your wife dislikes about you? Is she right?”
• “Repentance is the spring board for complete change.”
• “A mediocre Catholic cannot convince anyone that a life of Christ is more fulfilling than a life of sensual pleasure.”
• “Christ wants you to be an apostle. That’s what it means to be Catholic.”
• “Start by invoking the Holy Spirit. His job is to lead us to Jesus and to become like Jesus.”
• “The retreat is a time to pray, to communicate personally with God. If we don’t, we’ve wasted our time.”

Well my retreat is over and I’m back home. It was a wonderful experience as usual. The priest giving talks was Fr. Peter Armenio, Vicar of Opus Dei in the midwest U.S. He was a pleasure to speak with and like all priests of Opus Dei I have met, exhibited a joy for life.

This is a phone picture during one of our daily Masses. We put together a homemade chapel in which the talks are held.

At the end of our retreat we have a little get together to learn about the other guys on our silent retreat. I made a suggestion which I will write more about later, that you should use social media as a tool to aid you in your evangelization efforts. That included Facebook and Twitter.

During the coming days I’ll be tweeting some notes from my retreat. Remember you can follow me on @PathToHoliness on Twitter.

It’s time for my annual retreat and I’m ready to go. I don’t know how many years I’ve been attending an annual retreat put on by the Wespine Study Center in St. Louis but it’s a lot. The Opus Dei center supplies a priest who gives a series of talks or meditations over three days. We have Mass and the priest is available for spiritual direction and confession. It’s also a silent retreat. No talking to the other guys. Just listening to the meditations and spending time in prayer and contemplation. I love it.

I call this my time to recharge the spiritual batteries that get a little worn down sometimes in the face of all the world throws at you. It’s good to just get away from it all and do some serious interior examination and make some new resolutions. This year is also special for me because Pope John Paul II will be beatified Sunday while I’m still on retreat. He passed away when I was on retreat and I personally met him years before that. You can bet I’ll be communicating with him in prayer!

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.

Last week I was in Danville, KY for some project work and attended Mass at Saints Peter and Paul Church.

This is a pretty little church in downtown Danville.

This weekend I made my annual retreat which was held at the Sojourn Center in Dittmer, MO. The weather started out sunny and warm but changed to rain and snow. That didn’t dampen our enthusiasm.

The facility is a new one to us who have been making Wespine Study Center retreats for many years. It’s really set up nicely to conduct a retreat with a beautiful little pond and trail around it and through some adjoining woods.

The annual retreat is part of my plan of life and very important to my continued development of my interior life. It’s a time to “recharge the spiritual batteries” and I highly recommend it to everyone.

It’s that time of year to think about your annual retreat. Or your first ever retreat for that matter. With Lent starting this Wednesday perhaps it’s a good time to consider going on retreat to recharge your spiritual batteries. I’ve been attending retreats put on by the Wespine Study Center for over 10 years now and highly recommend them.

Wespine offers weekend retreats for working men seeking to further develop their relationship with God. The schedule includes daily Mass and Gospel reflections by a priest of Opus Dei, with Confession and spiritual direction available throughout the weekend.
Missouri Retreats

The retreats are held during the spring at Sojourn Retreat Center, in Dittmer, Missouri. (Click here for directions). The retreats run from 10:30 a.m. on Friday to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, on these weekends in the spring of 2009:

* March 6-8
* March 27-29
* April 17-19

You can download a registration form with this link.

Every year I go on retreat about this time. It’s lead by the women’s Opus Dei center in St. Louis. I’ve been going for a number of years now and I love them. They’re silent, reflective and much needed. I especially enjoy it when it comes so close to Holy Week. So I will be on retreat starting this evening until Sunday afternoon. Please pray for me! I will be praying for all of my readers!

This looks pretty interesting – the National Catholic Singles Conference. From its website:

The National Catholic Singles Conference (NCSC) was created to give single Catholics the opportunity to meet other like-minded singles and learn more about and share their Faith. Talks by dynamic speakers, time for prayer, and various social opportunities create an intense and inspiring weekend! In 2007 we had over 900 people at our two locations, Chicago and San Diego, combined. Don’t miss out in 2008! Join us in Chicago and San Diego for great speakers, food and fun!

The conference in Chicago is this April 25-27 at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort and the one in San Diego is TBA. The weekend includes workshops involving: How Do I Know What God Wants Me to Do With My Life?, Why Are We Still Single (or Single Again)?, The Real Deal About Men; TBA (to the women), The Biology of the Theology of the Body and Building Strong Ministries. Also available will be the Mass, Praise and Worship, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, confessions and prayer teams, rosary walks and even dance lessons along with a dance on Saturday night.

Believe it or not, I’m actually considering attending. Since I left Ave Maria University and the little Catholic bubble that exists there, I think I might enjoy spending a few days with some like minded people my own age.

You can register here

I still haven’t found my “voice” for this website yet but it’ll come in time.

Today the mid-Missouri Cooperator’s Circle met at my house. It’s always great to not only have a spiritual talk but get together with guys you don’t see very often otherwise.

I found out that the Wespine Study Center Retreats for Men are scheduled for 2006. The dates are:

March 3 – 5
March 31 – April 2
April 21 – 23

You can find out more details by calling the center in Kirkwood, MO at 314-821-1608. I highly recommend an annual retreat like these as part of your plan of life.