PathToHoliness

The text from the Pope’s last general audience of the year prompted me to write today. I realize how much I’ve neglected this website and have used the excuse that I am working too hard and don’t have time. The Advent season is supposed to be one of personal reflection and that has allowed me to notice how much more I can be doing to evangelize. That’s actually why I started Path To Holiness in the first place?

Here’s the segment from Pope Benedict’s message that really caught my eye:

“Christmas is the encounter with a new-born baby, wailing in a wretched grotto”, the Holy Father added. “Contemplating Him in this crèche how can we not think of all the children who still today, in many regions of the world, are born amidst such poverty? How can we not think of those newborns who have been rejected, not welcomed, those who do not survive because of a lack of care and attention? How can we not think of the families who desire the joy of a child and do not have this hope fulfilled?”

“Unfortunately, under the drive of a hedonist consumerism, Christmas runs the risk of losing its spiritual meaning, reduced to a mere commercial occasion to buy and exchange gifts. Actually, however, the difficulties, uncertainty, and the economic crisis that many families are living in these months, and which affects all humanity, can truly serve as a stimulus for rediscovering the warmth of the simplicity, friendship, and solidarity that are the typical values of Christmas. Stripped of its materialist and consumerist trappings, Christmas can become the opportunity to welcome, as a personal gift, the message of hope that emanates from the mystery of Christ’s birth”.

Hedonistic consumerism are the words that stood out for me. Our work utilizes computers, cameras, audio and video recorders, iPods, microphones, etc. Many look at them as gadgets. I look at them as cool tools and am blessed to be able to use them to make a good living. However, it’s easy to want the next best thing just for the sake of having it too. Something we all need to be careful about.

As Catholics we must always have a joyful awareness that this life, as beautiful as it may be, is not our ultimate end. Though we fight for truth and freedom in our beloved country, it remains but an earthly dwelling place, a temporary homeland where we must prepare ourselves for the greater Home that awaits us:

I know the country I am living in is not really my true fatherland, and there is another I must long for without ceasing. This is not simply a story invented by someone living in the sad country where I am, but it is a reality, for the King of the Fatherland of the bright sun actually came and lived for thirty-three years in the land of darkness. (Story of a Soul, Manuscript C)

Heaven. Resurrection. Eternal Life. What we believe, what we hope for, is not merely some lofty philosophical ideal or the fantasy of uneducated simpletons. It is truth, Divinely revealed and able to be known through human reason (CCC 156-59.) I love this little dialogue at the end of Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov:

“Karamazov!” cried Kolya, “can it really be true as religion says, that we shall all rise from the dead, and come to life, and see one another again, and everyone, and Ilyushecka?”

“Certainly we shall rise, certainly we shall see and gladly, joyfully tell one another all that has been,” Alyosha relied, half laughing, half in ecstasy.

“Ah, how good that will be!” burst from Kolya.

How good that will be, indeed! As this month for All Souls comes to an end let us pray for all the faithful departed: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Now we begin that great season of hope where we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord when truth and justice will reign for all eternity.

Angelo Porciuncula is a Filipino student at the University of Navarre in Spain. He has set up a great website (EarlyChristians.org) for young people about the life of Jesus Christ’s early followers. There’s an interview with him on the Opus Dei website. Here’s an excerpt:

How did the idea of making a web page about the early Christians come about?

Catholics can consider this web page as a family album. It is designed in such a way that anyone interested can learn about the life of the early Christians and later tell their friends about it. St. Josemaria always encouraged people to imitate the life of the early Christians, who with the example of their ordinary lives were able to change the world. Moreover, we want to echo the catechesis of Pope Benedict, who devotes his Wednesday audiences to the principal figures of early Christianity.

This past week I wound up in Emmetsburg, IA to attend a farm field day. The weather wasn’t very nice but at least it wasn’t snowing, just rain.

I found Holy Family Church and attended Mass on Thursday morning before the event I was in town for got started.

Right nearby to Emmetsburg is West Bend, IA. A number of years ago I was driving by and saw a sign for the Grotto of the Redemption. I visited and spent the night there. Mass that next morning was in the upstairs of the house an elderly priest lived in. I’ll never forget it. I wish I’d had time to stop in for a visit this time but it didn’t work out that way.

Congratulations, Barack Obama. You were not my choice, but you will be my President. My prayers are with you. Good luck and Godspeed.

May the most just, the most lovable, and the most high Will of God be done, be fulfilled, be praised and exalted in all things forever. Amen!

Your slacker blogmaster really needs to get with it here and with election day today I just had to get back on track. It’s an important day in America and I hope everyone will exercise their civic and moral duty.

I attended a Sarah Palin rally here in Missouri yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Estimates are 18,000 at the State Capitol. You can see more pics here.

You’ll get the distinct impression from this post that I support voting McCain-Palin.

You are correct. I see this as a very clear choice. Unfortunately, I have some very liberal friends who I believe have convinced themselves so much that they hate our current President that they’ll vote for anyone without seriously thinking it through. They argue that there’s really not much one man can do so why worry? But then why are they so angry at President Bush? I know. It doesn’t make sense and it’s all based on emotion and not thoughtful and prayerful consideration.

We need to move our country back toward the kind of faith filled values that started it. Our country’s founders weren’t liberal anarchists. They very carefully and prayerfully considered what they were doing and acted accordingly. I thank God they did.

You should know how pro-life Chelsea and I are and I believe that’s enough reason to vote for McCain-Palin. However, there are so many more. I’m a small businessman and there’s no way I could support the policies of the O-man. We’re looking at a socialist who could have full Congressional support. That should be pause for anyone who wants to have a job and opportunities in the future.

Oh and btw. Hank Jr. sang a variation of one of his hits, called “McCain-Palin Tradition.” I think you will enjoy it.

October is the Month of the Holy Rosary. Bishop Finn had an excellent homily on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (Oct. 6.) The Mass was broadcast live on EWTN (video covers the procession through Bishop Finn’s homily):

Or read the homily online. And excerpt:

Hail Mary! We cry out again and again at her invitation. We persevere in trusting prayer – through the rhythms of the rosary – because she is Mother of God and our Mother. She who through the merciful plan of the Eternal Father gave the world its Redeemer wants us to know and love her Son. The mysteries of her life, of Jesus’ life, and of our lives are all intertwined. In the mystery of the Incarnation, Jesus Christ, God made man, unites Himself in some way to every man, and reveals to us who we are, and what is our high calling. (Gaudium et Spes, no. 22)

Mary’s rosary is our picture book of faith, hope, and love. Here in the unfolding images of Christ life: In His joys, through His luminous love, in His sorrows, in His glories; he prepares us for everything that will take place. The will of God is being realized in each event of Christ’s life, in Mary’s life, and in our life. And Mary will help us say “Yes,” and give our free and full assent to His divine plan.

October is also Respect Life Month. Be sure to especially pray the rosary for life this month – and for the election of good pro-life politicians in two weeks!! From Bishop’s homily:

Every day human life is under attack. If it were not enough that our elected leaders and judges too often have failed to stand up for vulnerable pre-born babies, or the disabled or the dying, every election campaign seems to be a referendum on the dignity and value of human life. Candidates who would stand with us valiantly against abortion or assisted suicide are labeled “extreme” and fanatical. Mary, we will not abandon your dear children, but we know that the proponents of these evils will not give up without a fight. Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Life: Win among us the battle we cannot win without your help. Turn back the culture of death in our nation. Save us from the tyranny and deceit of Choice. Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Pray for us sinners.

This week I got to travel to my home town of Sarasota, FL.

I went to daily Mass at St. Martha’s right downtown. You can read a history of the Catholic community and the church on their website. Here’s an excerpt:

The Sarasota mission post of the Tampa Jesuits became a parish when Father Charles L. Elslander, as a young man, said Mass in the little frame church facing east on Adelia Street on October 1, 1927, and the congregation numbered 132.

The little church came to be known as St. Martha’s in honor of the patron saint of Owen Burns’ mother, Martha, who had suggested to her son that he donate the first lot.

St. Martha’s feast day is July 29.

Yesterday was the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. I chose him as my confirmation saint a long, long time ago. The picture is the statue of St. Francis under the deck to my house. I can look out my office door to see him when I need some inspiration.

Here’s some details about him from Wikipedia:

Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Francesco Bernardone; born 1181/1182 – October 3, 1226) was a friar and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans. He is known as the patron saint of animals, the environment and Italy.

Here’s an excerpt from the homily by Br. José Rodríguez Carballo, OFM, Minister General of the , the order founded by St. Francis. He gave this during Mass yesterday:

This is the path which Francis points out to us, the path which he also travelled, because it was that chosen by the Son of God in order to become man. Christ Jesus, though “His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God, but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are” (Phil 2,6f). This unlimited love of God for humanity, which led Him to strip Himself of His divinity in order to participate in the fate of man, even to die naked on the cross for us, is the love which Francis sought to live throughout his existence, up to the final instant when, right here, he wished to die, like his Lord, naked on the ground. Francis made himself little because he wished to imitate his Lord, who, to love him, had become so little as to be born as a defenceless child from the womb of the Virgin.

You can learn a lot more about St. Francis on this website.

Our Lady Queen of Peace was the church I got to attend Mass at once again this year on my annual fall visit to Madison, WI for World Dairy Expo.

The church has a 6:30am Mass each week day which is perfect since I usually need to be on location at the Alliant Energy Center by 7:30am for different activities.

I’m planning on starting an online photo album of churches where I get to attend Mass soon.

Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers.

~St. Therese of Lisieux, Story of a Soul

Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux: Oct. 1

When asked what she meant by “remaining a little child before God,” Therese responded:

It is to recognize our nothingness, to expect everything from God as a little child expects everything from its father; it is to be disquieted about nothing, and not to be set on gaining our living. Even among the poor, they give the child what is neccessary, but as soon as he grows up, his father no longer wants to feed him and says: ‘Work now, you can take care of yourself.’

It was so as not to hear this that I never wanted to grow up, feeling that I was incapable of making my living, the eternal life of heaven. I’ve always remained little, therefore, having no other occupation but to gather flowers, the flowers of love and sacrifice, and of offering them to God in order to please Him.

To be little is not attributing to oneself the virtues that one practices, believing oneself capable of anything, but to recognize that God places this treasure in the hands of His little child to be used when necessary; but it remains always God’s treasure. Finally, it is not to become discouraged over one’s faults, for children fall often, but they are too little to hurt themselves very much.” (St. Therese of Lisieux, Her Last Conversations, pp. 138-139)

Previous posts:
Unless you Become like Little Children
Darkness Within Faith

Since there continues to be confusion about just what Opus Dei is, a resource you can go to to find out the facts is the Opus Dei website. They’ve got a very up to date and easy to understand section on the facts about the Prelature. Here’s an example:

Mission & Characteristics: Saint Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei in 1928 to help people live by the Gospel in their daily activities and make Christ present in every endeavor. Opus Dei focuses on work and daily life as an occasion for spiritual growth and an opportunity to contribute to a better world. Opus Dei also emphasizes divine filiation, unity of life, prayer and sacrifice, charity, apostolate and fidelity to the Pope.

Activities: The chief activity of Opus Dei members is personal effort to grow in holiness, carry out apostolate and improve society. In support of these efforts, Opus Dei provides spiritual direction, prayer and study meetings, retreats, classes and workshops. These activities take place in an Opus Dei center, or in a church, office or private home. Members also sometimes join with non-members to organize educational, charitable, and cultural projects, which may include spiritual formation carried out by Opus Dei.

Great meditation from Christ is Passing By:

Love the Thirst Person of the most Blessed Trinity. Listen in the intimacy of your being to the divine motions of encouragement or reproach you receive from Him. Walk through the earth in the light that is poured out in your soul. And the God of hope will fill us with all peace, so that this hope may grow in us more and more each day, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As Catholics we are called to love and respect all human life, including those who do not love us in return, and even those who wish us harm. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus tells us,

““To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…love your enemies and do good to them…Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful…Forgive and you will be forgiven…For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” (Lk. 6:27-28, 35, 36, 38)

Today’s anniversary gives us the opportunity to put this teaching into practice. Those who attacked us seven years ago did so out of extreme hatred and hate can only be defeated by love. As we remember this bloody day in human history may we learn to love and forgive our enemies, especially those who wound us so deeply and not let hatred enter our hearts no matter how grieved we may be. May our enemies turn from their evil ways. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

In this time of hatred, violence and war, let us strive to be instruments of peace and love for all human beings.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

From today’s evening prayer (plus a few lines):

“Finally, all of you, be of one mind, sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble. Do not return evil for evil, or insult for insult; but, on the contrary, a blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing. For: “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep the tongue from evil and the lips from speaking deceit, must turn from evil and do good, seek peace and follow after it” (1 Peter 3:8-11)

Previous post:
Loving Our Enemies