PathToHoliness

Yesterday 70,000 pilgrims celebrated the 150th anniversary of the visions and healings at Lourdes. My mother and I went to Lourdes in 2003 with the Knights of Malta and I gotta tell you, it wasn’t one of my favorite trips. Not only did I get sick and end up in a French hospital for five days, but it was cold and rainy there and I was stuck in this voiture, pictured here, during most of the time we spent away from the hotel. Lourdes is one of my favorite apparitions, but I’m not really into the whole Lourdes/cures thing nor have I ever been concerned with “being cured” myself. What fascinates me more is the entire story of Bernadette and the apparitions. How such an adolescent, illiterate on matters of faith and education, could retain such deep spiritual insights from Our Lady and have the courage to insist on the validity of her claims in the face of strict opposition from her superiors – pressure that didn’t cease behind the convent doors.

Interesting fact: Song of Bernadette was written by a Jewish author who escaped the Nazis by fleeing to Lourdes. There he was so impressed by the happenings there and thankful for his own escape from death, he promised God he would tell the world the story of Lourdes. I never knew that.

The Song of Bernadette
Song of Bernadette, book
Bernadette
The Passion of Bernadette
Bernadette Speaks

“This is the great mystery of our faith. We do not choose God, God chooses us. From all eternity we are hidden ‘in the shadow of God’s hand’ and ‘engraved in his palm.’ Before any human being touches us, God ‘forms us in secret’ and ‘textures us ‘ in the depth of the earth, and before any human being decides about us, God ‘knits us together in our mother’s womb.’ God loves us before any human person can show love to us. He loves us with a ‘first’ love, an unconditional love, wants us to be his beloved children, and tells us to become as loving as himself…

God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not ‘How am I to find God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be found by Him?’ The question is not ‘How am I to know God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be known by him?’ And finally, the question is not ‘How am I to love God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be loved by Him?'”

This is an excerpt from The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen. I thought it was appropriate for the beginning on Lent and wanted to share it with you all. The greatest challenge of the spiritual life is not to love God, but to allow ourselves to be loved by Him. Not to ask for forgiveness, but to let go of our sins and allow ourselves to be forgiven. This Lent, through fasting and prayer we reflect on the emptiness of our lives without God. Let us also reflect on His great mercy and forgiveness and his desire to love us lavishly.

I have been seriously neglecting Path to Holiness lately. I’ve been torturing myself with politics and trying to keep up writing on Reflections. I hope to spend more time on both blogs and less time obsessing over politics. God bless you all this Lenten season!

This past week my Opus Dei Cooperator’s Circle met at my house. With all my travel I rarely get a chance to attend so I try to host at least once a year and then maybe I’ll actually make it.

The talk was on what St. Josemaria Escriva calls “Holy Intransigence.” I had to look up what the word meant even though I had an idea. He describes it this way (From The Way 397):

Be uncompromising in doctrine and conduct. But be yielding in manner. A mace of tempered steel, wrapped in a quilted covering.

Be uncompromising, but don’t be obstinate.

This is what I love about this saint. His spirituality is so simple and he puts it into simple words for us to understand and apply in our life. I think this is a great lesson to meditate on.

I meant to post this on the feast of St. Francis de Sales a few days ago. The Office of Readings for that day had an excerpt from his that really explains the spirit of Opus Dei, and really the mission of the Christian vocation.

When God the Creator made all things, he commanded the plants to bring forth fruit each according to its own kind; he has likewise commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each one in accord with his character, his station and his calling.

The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them. True devotion does still better. Not only does it not injure any sort of calling or occupation, it even embellishes and enhances it.

Moreover, just as every sort of gem, cast in honey, becomes brighter and more sparkling, each according to its color, so each person becomes more acceptable and fitting in his own vocation when he sets his vocation in the context of devotion. Through devotion your family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife becomes more sincere, the service we owe to the prince becomes more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable…

Therefore, in whatever situations we happen to be, we can and we must aspire to the life of perfection.

“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48)

I have not yet read Intro to the Devout Life, but I have heard wonderful things about it. I might have to pick it up for spiritual reading when I finish Spe Salvi.

It’s March For Life day in Washington, DC. Judging from the looks of the people I’ve seen on EWTN which is doing live coverage, it’s pretty cold there. That doesn’t deter these people. We’ve got quite a few, including high school students, from our area there.

In case you haven’t visited it, there is a March For Life website.

I listened to some of the prolife politicians talk on a lunch break. While it’s sad that we can’t have laws in our society that protect life from conception to natural death it’s also inspiring to see how many people are willing to work so hard to try to create a culture of life here in our country. That Supreme Court decision 35 years ago is one of the worst ever made and those who have a reckless disregard for the life of others revel in it still.

I remember when I got more involved in prolife activities when I went to work for the Vitae Caring Foundation (not working there now). The founder, Carl Landwehr told me that if you think about what has happened and is happening every day you can literally go crazy. It’s hard to believe how many babies have been killed in this country. The number is staggering. I hope and pray every day that there will be an end to abortion. We need a change of hearts though. Many times I’ve said that if our hearts and our culture respected life and people didn’t have abortions, the laws would become irrelevant.

But they do need to be changed.

I was interviewed for my local paper recently and the story just ran today. Check it out! Here is the pic that ran with the story. This is a woman that I visit when I go to the nursing homes every Friday for communion services as part of my Legion of Mary work. Her name is Dorothy Holterman, she’s 92 and a RIOT! She’s better known as “Grandma” from Grandma’s Cool and Zesty Dressing, an excellent dressing for cole slaw! Read the story of how it started here. Be sure and check out their website and order some for yourself!

The author wrongly stated that I started Path to Holiness – she must have misunderstood. I am really just filling space on here while Dad (the real founder) is too busy to post on a regular (or even semi-regular) basis. He did post today though!

The same author also wrote a story on the wonderful group of kids we have at our local Catholic high school who are going on the March for Life: Crusaders for Life readying for pro-life rally in Washington. Please keep them in your prayers.

Opus Dei is providing short video clips of founder, St. Josemaria Escriva on its website. The latest one is about:

When St. Josemaria was a young parish priest, there was a milkman who entered his Church every morning for a few seconds. “Jesus, here is John the milkman.” To the young priest, that prayer seemed simple and beautiful.

Here’s where you can find the video.

On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of his canonization, we offer a weekly video of Saint Josemaría.

In the last years of his life, St. Josemaría held many conversations with various groups of people. During them, he would explain points of Christian doctrine and Opus Dei’s spirit. These short videos allow you to see and hear him presenting these teachings.

I hope your spanish is good.

It’s product list is not as extensive as its secular counterpart, but Faith and Family Flix offers many Catholic titles you won’t find in any Netflix genre – like documentaries on the Saints, the Eucharist and Lourdes and animated Bible tales for children – along with other classic family TV and movie favorites. They even have a “pro-life” section! The FFF top ten rentals are:

01. Johnny Tremain (1957)
02. Knights of the Round Table (1954)
03. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
04. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
05. My Fair Lady
06. My Friend Flicka
07. So Dear to My Heart
08. The Out-of-Towners
09. Anne of Green Gables – The Sequel (1987)
10. Boys Town

Monthly packages start at $9.99

H/T: Causa Nostrae Laetitiae

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.
– GK Chesterton

Today’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord reminds us of our own baptism into the family of God and our call to grow in holiness: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48).

We may not all be called to the same level of spiritual or intellectual insight as the likes of Augustine or Aquinas and we may never be martyred like St. Paul or St. Thomas Moore, but we are certainly all called to be saints. What I love about Opus Dei is that it encourages the sanctity of the ordinary Christian life:

“It doesn’t matter what age you are; it doesn’t matter what your position is or what your circumstances are or who you are: you have to convince yourself, commit yourself, and desire holiness. You well know that holiness does not consist in extraordinary graces received in prayer, or unbearable mortification and penance; nor is it the inheritance only of those who live in lonely oases, far from the world. Holiness consists in faithful and loving fulfillment of one’s desires, in joyful and humble acceptance of God’s will, in union with him in your everyday work, in knowing how to fuse religion and life into a fruitful and harmonious unity, and in all sorts of other ordinary little things you know so well.”

From Jesus as Friend by Fr. Salvatore Canals

Helpful resources:
The Bible (obviously)
The Way, Furrow, Forge (here is a combined set)
Passionately Loving the World
Story of a Soul

This time they set their sights on the Trappist monks at Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina. These peaceful monks used to sell chicken eggs to help with the financial support of their community. I say used to because, after an undercover “investigation” into their chicken business, PETA determined that the animals were being treated cruelly and living under conditions that the organization described as “hell on earth”. They even used the words of the monks’ own Pope against them. Now the monks have decided to permanently suspend the egg operation which has been active for over 50 years and accounted for 60 percent of their earned income.

Now, PETA is not known for its decency, but this is particularly outrageous. As Dad said on AgWired:

Way to go PETA bullies. Pick on a group of peaceful monks who I’m sure are praying for your souls and have already forgiven you for your persecution.

Needless to say, the monks are looking for a new industry to help them meet their daily expenses. If you can thank of any, or want to help them out financially yourself, visit the Mepkin Abbey website to find out how you can contact them.

Ben Stein’s back in the movies. This time he’s taking a look at Creationism and the scientists who have risked their careers defending it, or at least attempting to explore it. Ben is convinced that the rabid attempt to stifle the idea of Creationism is due to a certain amount of fear and even uncertainty on the part of neoDarwinists. What I really can’t figure out is why Creationism is equated with Christianity by those who condemn it. There are many non Christian religions who believe in the existence of a higher power. Teaching Creationism does not mean teaching the Bible.

Anyway, look for this movie in theaters next month:

h/t: Regular Guy Paul

Resources:
Reasons to Believe – I’m reading this right now and it’s excellent
Faith and Reason

Do you ever experience moments of extreme nothingness in the midst of the world? I mean when you’re sitting there, even surrounded by family, and you think that everything around you, by its own merit, is nothing. That without God nothing has value and, as Pope Benedict points out in Spe Salvi, there is no hope. Much of his encyclical revolves around St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in which he tells the Gentiles that for a time they were “alienated from the community of Israel…without hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12).

At these times, when the nothingness of the world creeps into my senses, I have a renewed longing for God and proclaim with the psalmist:

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee,
my soul thirsts for thee;
my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary,
beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise thee.
So I will bless thee as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on they name.
(Ps. 631-4)

Jean, at Catholic Fire, alerted me this week that she will be contributing to the new blog, Catholic Media Review, along with Leticia at causa nostrae laetitiae and Cause of Our Joy , Julie at Happy Catholic, Christine at The World IMHO. It is a response to the recent outrage about the reviews of Harry Forbes of the USCCB Office of Film and Broadcasting for giving positive reviews to Golden Compass and Brokeback Mountain:

We will do our best to examine each film in the light of Catholic teaching and to warn parents about films that will present a danger to our youth. We also want to encourage people to see those films which we believe will have a positive impact on our society…Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we as Catholic Christians could make an major impact on the type of films that come out? We have this power simply by purchasing tickets to those films that are of excellent quality. You can count on us to keep you informed.

It’s hard to find good, Catholic reviews that take into account everything that we should be concerned about. Check them out.

Hello and Happy New Year! While we thank God for our many blessings of the past year, one blessing which should not be forgotten is the blessing of hardship and struggle. The hard times offer the ability to build character, strengthen the will and draw us closer to God (inspiration from yesterday’s homily).

Peace and Blessings this New Year! And thanks for stopping by!