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Sanctification in Daily Work
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Annual Spiritual Retreat

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.

Catholics Called to Witness

All Catholics are called to witness. That’s part of being a good Catholic christian. Here’s an organization I just became aware of that takes the call seriously. I like what they’re doing from all I can see on their website. Catholics Called to Witness

Catholics Called to Witness is a faith-based organization dedicated to upholding and promoting the following three non-negotiable principles as stressed by Pope Benedict XVI, while encouraging the Catholic community to participate in the public arena.

I especially like their “Non-Negotiables.”

  • The Right to Life »
  • Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death

  • Sanctity of Marriage »
  • Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family – as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage

  • Parental Rights »
  • The protection of the right of parents to educate their children

Time For Divine Mercy

This is my favorite image of the Divine Mercy. I especially like the line at the bottom, “Jesus I trust in you.” How simple that is to say and how difficult it is sometimes to really feel that trust.

When that happens to me I’m trying to say more often, “Jesus I believe. Help me in my unbelief.”

Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday again. If you need to know how to say the Chaplet or Novena you can find links to them in this post.

Let’s all pray for our Lord’s continuing mercy. I think we need it very much in our country right now.

Evangelizo App

I like an app that does one thing very well. The Evangelizo App fits.

Catholic service: Daily Gospel, the gospel, the readings, the saints, the prayers, in 10 languages : French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, German, Arabic, Italian, Polish, Armenian

You can find it:

iTunes Store

Android Market
Mobile Browser Friendly Version

I’ve got it on my iPhone and Droid Razr.

ALETEIA Christian Social Network

Here’s an example of how social media is being used to help spread the Gospel as called for by Pope Benedict. I found a reference to it in today’s Vatican Information Service email which mentions a conference taking place in Rome titled, “From Parables to Twitter.” Not that sounds interesting all by itself. Here’s what ALETEIA is about:

ALETEIA is the first multi-lingual online community that offers Questions and Answers about the Catholic faith, life and society.

Here you can find answers to the most pressing questions on current events, the Pope, prayer, science, history, etc…

Aleteia is a Rome-based private initiative of lay Catholics who wish to answer Benedict XVI’s appeal to spread the Gospel through new media. To this end, Aleteia cooperates closely with the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.

Follow on Twitter or Facebook.

One Hundred Fifty Three Fish

The Gospel reading for today is Jn 21:1-14. In it there is a very specific mention of 153 fish being caught in a net that did not tear. I’ve always wondered what the meaning of the number of fish is. Today our our Pastor told us what he had found from his own research.

Here’s a segment from the reading:

So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

Apparently at the time of the Gospel what we would now call zoologists had categorized 153 species of fish. Therefore the subjective meaning of the number would be the bringing to Jesus all the people of the world. There is also significance to the fact that the net was not torn, meaning that Jesus’ love is large enough and strong enough to encompass everyone.

I’m sure there are other interpretations of what this number means but it’s the first time I can remember hearing this explanation and it not only makes sense but it really helped bring the meaning of this particular Gospel passage home to me in today’s Mass.

He Has Truly Risen

Happy Easter. Our Lord is risen and we have so much to be thankful for today. One of the first things I think of on Easter is what a priest said on a retreat I attended years ago, that Easter and the risen Lord is the greatest event in the history of the world. Nothing can compare to it. Think about it and you’ll understand why.

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, delivered his urbi et orbi in Rome yesterday. You can find the full text here. However, here are a couple of excerpts.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world!

“Surrexit Christus, spes mea” – “Christ, my hope, has risen” (Easter Sequence).

May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!”

Pope Benedict also had a message for those in strife torn countries like Syria.

May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal victory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process.

We can only hope and pray that peace comes to that region as well as others in Africa and even right here in the United States where we’re seeing a real persecution of the Christian faith.

The Effingham Cross

I thought this picture was very appropriate during the last week of Lent this year. I took it on the way home from Illinois last week. It’s the Effingham Cross which sits right off the highway at the intersection of I-57 and I-70 at Effingham, IL. It’s almost 200 feet tall so it really gets your attention.

The cross is a great symbol for us at this time as we reflect on the pain and suffering that Jesus experienced before being crucified for us. We all have crosses to bear in our lives and rather than let them become stumbling blocks we can turn them into opportunities to grow closer to our Lord. I got that opportunity last week when I crashed off my bicycle on a city road and broke a rib and injured by shoulder. I’m having to do everything with my left arm right now and I’m right handed. It is not fun. But as I was starting to deal with the reality of it I just offered it up to Jesus in union with His suffering and for all who are suffering right now, especially some form of physical discomfort or pain. Yeah, it’s not easy to do. It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself and I catch myself doing that. But I’ve made it part of my daily examination of conscience which reminds me why this is a blessing.

St. Patrick Church Urbana, IL

Last week Cindy and I attended Mass at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Urbana, IL. We got to see a college friend who has just started work in the area. It was great to re-connect after about 31 years! It was also nice to travel together again for work and have the time to weekday Mass.

Have you ever tried going to a weekday Mass? On a regular basis? Think it’s not possible? I thought so until I started doing it. Made it a priority and now if I can’t go I feel like my day is missing something. Something important. Which it surely is. One of the things I found is that I’m more productive in a day when I make it to Mass. Seems counter intuitive but that’s just the way God works.

CatholicConExpo 2012

For those of you who are wondering how you can use social networking and new media as a mechanism to evangelize in today’s digital world, consider an event like the 2012 CatholicConExpo. I’m planning to attend since those dates are open on the calendar right now. Here’s what the event is about.

At the Second Vatican Council, we are taught that Jesus Christ and He alone fully reveals man to himself. Jesus Christ, the Word Made Flesh, is the Perfect Communicator of God, His creation, His plan, and our place in it.

At CatholiCon 2012, we will meet Christ, The Perfect Communicator through the Church’s Liturgy, both Ancient and New, through the teaching of the Catholic Faith in the Theology of Communications Track, through the concrete skills of evangelization in the Content of Communications Track and through the nuts and bolts of making the tech work in the Methods of Communications Track.

The schedule is still being created at this time but you can go ahead and get registered now.

Happy Presidents Day

Happy Presidents Day. I’ve been seeing a lot of “stuff” on tv about this. Mainly because the tv’s are on in front of me when I’m working out at the YMCA. I don’t listen but some of them have captioning so you can get a sense of what’s being said. One item I’ve seen more than once is some pundit exclaiming that religion has no place in government. Well, that’s just plain wrong. Some of our greatest Presidents knew that as you’ll see in this Knights of Columbus video released for today.

Attending Mass in Louisville

Cindy and I got to work together last week in Louisville, KY at the National Farm Machinery Show. It’s a huge indoor farm show at the Kentucky Expo Center.

We attended weekday Mass at St. Agnes Catholic Church. This is a beautiful church that we’ve both been to before when we’ve been in town for the show. This was the first time we got to go together.

We get to work together again this week at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, FL too.

Force of Evil Emerging in Power of Finance & Media

Pope BenedictI wanted to write a post about the lack of respect for each other we see so much in the media and efforts like the mis-guided Occupy Movement. But the Holy Father beat me to the punch and says it so much better than I can. Pope Benedict visited the Major Seminary of Rome for the occasion of the feast of its patroness, Our Lady of Trust. While there he pronounced a “lectio divina” on the passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans in which the Apostle invites the faithful not to conform to this world but to transform themselves and renew their minds in order to discern the will of God, “the good and acceptable and perfect”.

“We can reflect upon the Church today”, he said in his off-the-cuff remarks. “There is much talk about the Church of Rome, many things are said. Let us hope that people also talk about our faith. Let us pray to God that it may be so”.

The Pope then went on to refer to the force of evil which, in today’s world, also emerges “in two great powers which are good and useful in themselves but easily open to abuse: the power of finance and the power of the media. Both are necessary, both are useful, but so subject to misuse that they often go against their true goals”.

Today “we see how the world of finance can dominate mankind. Possession and appearance dominate and enslave the world. … Finance is no longer a tool to promote well being and to support the life of man, but a force that oppresses him, one which almost has to be worshipped”. The Pontiff called on his audience not to conform to this power. “Be non conformists. What counts is not possession but existence”, he said. Christians must not bow to this power, but use it as “as a means, with the freedom of the children of God”.

Turning then to consider the question of public opinion, Benedict XVI highlighted how “we have a great need of information, knowledge about the truth of the world; but there is a power of appearance which in the end counts even more than reality itself”. Appearance “overlies the truth and becomes more important. Man no longer pursues the truth but wants above all to appear”. Here too “there is a Christian non conformism. … We want not appearance but truth, and this will give us true freedom”.

“Christian non conformism redeems us and restores us to truth. Let us pray to the Lord that He may help us to be free in this non conformism, which is not against the world but is authentic love for the world”.

Happy St. Valentine’s Day

Happy St. Valentine’s Day. I was able to attend Mass today at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL. My wife, Cindy, and I are traveling once again for work. She’s attending a client event today, then we head to Louisville, KY for the National Farm Machinery Show. We’ll probably get to have a romantic dinner in the St. Louis airport this afternoon. Doesn’t that sound exciting? But we don’t mind because it’s being with each other that’s important. It’s our 36th St. Valentine’s Day together too.

I love the stories about St. Valentine and the origins of this day. My favorite is one that our Pastor told during Mass yesterday morning back home. Here it is from the History Channel website:

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Spanish Mass at Holy Cross

Last week I attended Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Orlando. I got in just in time for the noon Mass in spanish. It was standing room only. This picture is before it really got crowded. By the time Mass started there were people standing outside who couldn’t get it! It’s not a small church either.

I assume this is a healthy sign. There was a lot more hand clapping, laughing, hand waving and hugging than I care for but I guess that’s the cultural difference between these folks and what I grew up with. The Mass is still the Mass and Jesus is there just the same. I never became fluent in Spanish but that doesn’t mean I didn’t understand what was going on as it relates to the different parts of the Mass and the prayers that were being said.