(110) Fr. Larry Richards Featured at the 2013 Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal

AMDG

Editor's Post Conference Note:  For a summary of Fr. Larry Richards' talk and the 2013 Men's Day of Renewal, go to

(48) Fr. Larry Richards Wows the 250 Men at the 2013 Steubenvile Diocesan Men's Day          of Renewal  https://diosteubmen.blogspot.com/2014/02/14.html

The dynamic Fr. Larry Richards in action at a Conference.

         The 2013 Steubenville Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal will be held at St. Stephen’s Church in Caldwell, Ohio on Saturday March 16 from 9 am to 3 pm.  The theme is “Embracing the Faith” with St. Joseph as the patron of the Conference.  At 8 am before the official start of the Conference, there will be a Holy Hour with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Rosary.  The program includes the dynamic and entertaining speaker, Fr. Larry Richards, who will challenge the participants to be true men as God intended.  Too many of us really don’t know what true manhood is.  Also included is a Penance Service and a Mass presided, by Bishop Jeffrey Monforton.  The priests attending will concelebrate with him. 

             The goal of the Men's Day of Renewal is to focus on the spiritual development of the men of our diocese. Having spiritually strong men of faith and character translates into more solid families, more dynamic parishes, and better communities. These are crucial to the Church, now and in the future, not to mention the critical need for nurturing vocations.  The theme of the Conference is “Embracing the Faith” with St. Joseph, model of a true man of God, as its patron.  The distance is great for many, but that gives the Conference a pilgrimage flavor and Lent is all about sacrifice.  After all, we're in a Super Bowl, and each one of us must win it.  The trophy for victory, the prize is eternal salvation, everlasting happiness in heaven when Christ Himself would say to you...... “Well done good and faithful servant.” 

 

            Too often the women are the pillars of the parish.  It is essential that the men take the spiritual lead in the family and in the parish.  One holy woman in our diocese likes to challenge the men and say: "I don't see many REAL men around".......i.e., authentic men of strong character, virtue, and integrity.......willing and able to put Catholic values into their families, their professions, and the public square.  She refers to some research.  It concludes that if the mother takes the spiritual lead in the family, there is in the neighborhood of a 40% probability that the children will remain faithful to the Church in later life.  However, if the father takes the spiritual lead, that probability doubles to about 80%.  If the men can get into good spiritual shape, we'll have stronger families and parishes.  Set the men on fire and you renew not only the parish, but the entire diocese and ultimately the Country, thus transforming Society.

             Fr. Larry Richards, the main speaker, is a captivating, dynamic, and entertaining speaker as well as a favorite at men’s conferences around the country.  He has considerable experience as a counselor and in conducting many retreats, parish missions, and conferences for people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.  He will answer some of the most profound questions that men encounter in their lives.  See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nprg5Ew6Mo to previewone of his talks.. 

            Fr. Richards is the author of the best seller, “Be a Man!  Becoming the Man God Created You to Be” which challenges men to be true men as God intended with manly virtues such as love, wisdom, courage, integrity, and compassion to pursue holiness, to make a difference in the world, and to live as a beloved son of God, revealing the meaning of a man’s life.  Fr. Larry inspires men to become the true heroes they long to be.  He recounts his struggles to learn true manhood, as well as the inspiring stories of others he has served. He tells men how to focus on the right goals, to live according to the Holy Spirit, to be a man of true love and of wisdom, to appreciate properly the differences between men and women, to pursue holiness, and to make a difference in the world. Not preachy but direct, Father Larry challenges men to be strong, without putting on a mask of false strength or machismo. He calls men to admit their faults, weaknesses, and limitations, while urging them to find strength in faith and genuine love to overcome their sins and faults. 

            He often appears on EWTN, hosts his own national radio show, “Changed Forever” on Relevant Radio at www.relevantradio.com and other stations on Saturday 8 pm & Sunday 11 am.  Fr. Larry Richards is the founder and president of the Reason for Hope Foundation dedicated to spreading the good news of the Gospel (see www.TheReasonForOurHope.org) by educating others about Jesus Christ and giving insights on true manhood.

            Fr. Richards, born in Pittsburgh, earned a degree in Mental Health at the College Seminary at Gannon University.  He completed his priestly training and studies in Theology at St. Vincent Seminary, received a Master of Divinity degree, and was ordained in 1989.  He is the pastor of St. Joseph Church and the Bread of Life Community in Erie, Pennsylvania.  Fr. Larry is also the Spiritual Director of the TEC (To Encounter Christ) Retreat Program for the Diocese of Erie.  At the same time he is close to completing the requirements for a MA degree in Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame.

            It should be a great day of enjoyable fellowship and spiritual invigoration.  The last three years the men returned refreshed spiritually, reinvigorated, and enthusiastic.  Expect the same this year.  Most impressive in prior years was the Mass concelebrated by the Bishop with up to 25 pastors who accompanied their men.  The men sang with such enthusiasm that the walls reverberated.  It was great to see how the participants are moved by the beauty and power of the faith and it's contagious. But most of all, through grace we'll have a few more good spiritually strong men for the kingdom of God in the battle against secularism and other evils and problems that our troubled society must confront.......men --not spiritual weaklings and wimps-- who will put Christ into their professions.  Finally, the men will become more knowledgeable, firmer in their faith and better prepared for a more joyful Easter, not to mention greater closeness to God and eternity which life on earth is all about.  If successful, a Men's Day of Renewal can become an annual event in our diocese, thus fulfilling a great need. 

            One or two good men are urgently needed in each parish to help to assure adequate promotion overall and to promote the Men's Conference with one on one selling of the event.  Then they would organize the men to go as a group in the parish van, a van pool, or hiring a bus.  That would be great fellowship and would solidify the parish as the men get to know each other better, especially if the pastor accompanies them and we'll need confessors.  If the distance is great, there would be a pilgrimage flavor, especially if there's prayer and discussion of the day's events.  Pastors, already overworked, can't do it all, especially the grunt work of promotion.  They need the help of the laity.        

            Each prospective parish representative is asked to make his availability and contact information known to the Chair of the Steering Committee, Steve Ishmael at 740-635-2102, 740-296-9927, or swi167@comcast.net.  The  parish representative may collect the registration forms and send them to Ishmael at P.O. Box 167; Lansing, OH 43934.  This would save considerable time waiting at the door.  This may also be done individually. Make the check for $25 payable to the Diocese of Steubenville and write “Men's Day of Renewal” on the memo line of the check. 

            Other Promotional Help Needed.  The best form of advertising is word of mouth.  Thus we are asking participants of past years to tell their friends about this great opportunity for spiritual renewal.  The local Knights of Columbus council can be invaluable in mobilizing their members and the other men in the parishes.  A layman could briefly talk about the conference at the end of Mass.  Other parish groups can help with the promotion.  The women can be most valuable in encouraging their men to attend.......husbands, sons, fathers, boy friends, etc.  Certainly, they want them to be true men of God.  This is really part of the new evangelization and every Catholic shares in that mission Christ gave us.  Perhaps, the parish could help the men who cannot afford the cost.

            Donations Needed & Ads Invited.  It is very expensive to put on a Conference of this magnitude and bring the top speakers of the country.  At the same time, the Steering Committee is doing its best to keep the Conference affordable for each participant during these difficult economic times.  Thus we are asking for donations from businesses, parish organizations, the Knights of Columbus, and individuals.  Ads in the program are also available.  Please send any check to Steve Ismael as shown above. Businesses also have an opportunity to place ads in the program brochure.

            Often the enthusiasm generated at a men's conference is contagious and there is a spillover into parish life since the men see fellow participants moved by the beauty and power of the faith.  Non-Catholics are also welcome.  This is all a part of the new evangelization in in this Year of Faith......to fire up the apathetic Catholic who doesn't do much beyond attending Sunday Mass, i.e., the minimalist; to touch the drifting Catholic and the fallen away through the publicity and inviting them to attend.  

       More information is available from your pastor, Steve Ishmael above, or “Paul Sebastian” <pauls@rio.edu> at 740-245-9404.  The latter will provide the address to the Men's Conference blog, which has a wealth of promotional materials (possible bulletin and pulpit announcements, a possible bulletin insert, promotional ideas at the parish level, crucial role of the parish representative, possible talk by one of the men after Mass, etc.), interesting articles, and other information.  After the Conference through the rest of the year, articles will be added to help the men keep in good spiritual shape and continue in their quest of becoming true men of God.    

            Although registrations will be accepted at the door, please register as soon as possible.  That would make planning much easier and would minimize waiting at the door.

SUMMARY OF WHAT THE MEN'S CONFERENCE CAN DO FOR YOU

*Get into good spiritual shape and avoid being a spiritual weakling, i.e., a spiritual wimp.

*Have a great day of enjoyable fellowship and spiritual invigoration in the parish van and at the conference, resulting in deeper friendships and parish cohesion.

*Develop ourselves as men of character and spiritual strength as we obtain the graces to conquer ourselves and cope with the problems that our troubled society and economy bring.

*Be a more effective spiritual leader of your family as a better husband and father.

*Prepare our hearts for the great feast of Easter and for eternity as we become closer to God..

*Become knowledgeable about the faith and grow in Christian maturity.  We know so little about Church teaching.

*Become a more effective soldier of Christ in this Year of Faith as you do your part in evangelizing, establishing the  kingdom, winning the spiritual-culture war against secularism, and putting Christ into your profession.

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St. Joseph, model of a true man of God, pray for us and for the Men's Conference.

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(109) The 2013 March for Life Pilgrimage: Thoughts and Lessons Learned

 

  

 

 THE MARCH FOR LIFE 2013:  THOUGHTS AND LESSONS LEARNED

            This is the 40^th March for Life since the Roe v Wade Supreme Court Decision of January 22, 1973 legalizing abortion in all 50 states.  “Abortion is still legal and over 55 million babies have had their lives snuffed out since that day of infamy.  It is so evil because little human beings --created for eternity according to the image of God and along with the angels His most magnificent creation-- are destroyed.  What have we accomplished in 40 years?” my wife Jaga asked.  The answer is: a lot.  During Republican administrations, abortion funding was struck out of our foreign aid programs.  A number of states have mandated such rules as parental consent, informed consent regarding alternatives to abortion; a waiting period; prohibitions against partial birth abortion; etc.  The majority of the American people actually favor some restrictions to abortion as opposed to abortion on demand.

        A Prayerful Pilgrimage. I realized that the March for Life is much more that a protest or demonstration to our leaders and representatives in Washington advocating that they do something to combat one of the greatest affronts to human dignity in history alongside the Nazi slaughter of the Jews as well as numerous Christians; the Communist Gulag of Russian Siberia (read the story of a Polish-American priest in the Gulag at http://www.ciszek.org/About_Ciszek.html); and slavery.  The March for Life is not simply an excursion; it’s actually a pilgrimage which is a prayerful journey to a place of prayer.   The actual 45 minutes or so march should consist of silent prayer or song and meditation.  It must be a prayerful pilgrimage because hearts must be changed in order to stop abortion..  Politicians can’t do that; only God can.  However, God can use politicians as His instruments.

            Our bus of people from St. Louis Church Gallipolis, Sacred Heart Pomeroy, St. Ambrose Belpre; St. Lawrence Ironton, and the few of our separated brethren accepted the pilgrimage concept.  Fr. Tom Hamm, the pastor of St. Louis started it off with a Mass for Life at 6:30 pm Wednesday January 23 followed by all night adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 4:30 am.  After boarding the bus at 5 am, Fr. Tom started the trip with a prayer and blessing. 

 

The Rosary. After getting a little shuteye, I explained what the rosary is: a meditation of the mainly biblical events involving Mary and her son with the repetitive prayer serving as background music.  The prayers include repetitions of the “Our Father” and the “Hail Mary”, both of which are biblical.  In the latter we also ask Mary to pray for us as I ask you to pray for me.  Also included in the rosary are the Apostles Creed and six repetitions of the “Glory Be” giving praise to the Holy Trinity.  For centuries Mary has advocated the praying of the rosary in her diverse apparitions through the centuries.  See my blogs #50, 73, 78, & 84 at www.paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com for meditations on the 20 Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries with biblical references.

            We prayed for Divine Mercy upon those who have facilitated or committed the grievous sin of abortion and the countless many who have done nothing to stop this evil under the guise of “tolerance” and  fear of “imposing my personal belief” on those who see nothing wrong with the evil of abortion.  After I explained it, we prayed the “Chaplet of Divine Mercy” which Christ asked St. Faustina to promulgate during His appearances to her in the 1930s in Krakow-Poland preceding World War II.  The primary message is that Christ is not only a God of Justice, but also a God of Mercy and we should show mercy to others.  Our Lord also asked her to record what he revealed to her.  That included contracting an artist to paint an image of what she saw and the book “Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul” available from www.amazon.com.  For more detail, see my blog #80 by clicking on our visit to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Poland at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-post_15.html.

            The Chaplet is a litany of repetitive prayer asking for mercy upon us and upon the whole world.  However, the focus again is on meditating upon the many events and aspects of Our Lord’s passion with the litany like background music.  Christ promised that if the Chaplet is recited in the presence of a dying person, He would come to him/her. 

            The rest of the trip consisted of great fellowship and watching a dramatic movie about a beautiful woman who managed to survive a botched abortion and her struggles over being rejected by her birth mother after her loving adoptive parents revealed that fact.  Again, the Stapleton and Lewis babies were as well behaved as angels and added so much to the pilgrimage.  Noticeably missing were Mama Bernadette and Grandma Karen who attended the funeral of Great Grandpa Clifford Stapleton Sr.  Arriving at about 3:30 pm, we checked into the Red Roof Inn, the only motel in the area that did not support Planned Parenthood according to Chrissy Stapleton's computer search.

           

            The Mass for Life in the great Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Thursday evening before the March was beautiful.  It was so gratifying to see so many high school and college students occupying every possible space allowed (aisles were kept open) both on the main floor and in the crypt where we could only participate in the Mass with enthusiastic prayer and song with the aid of many television monitors.  Also gratifying was the great number of  seminarians and young priests.  There is hope for the future of the Church!  My Blog #67 has more detail on it and the March.

             Praying in Front of Abortion Clinics.  The next morning we were on our way to the March with the almost “miraculous” appearance of Bernadette Lewis and Karen Davison Stapleton who could take turns loving each of her grand babies (about 8 of them) after all.  They came by car immediately after the funeral.  On the way to Washington I asked everybody to prayerfully consider during the morning rosary and the March itself the next step in combatting abortion……that is silently and peacefully praying in front of nearby abortion clinics.

  

I was inspired by a talk on EWTN cable, satellite, and internet television (www.ewtn.com) by an interview of Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood Abortion Mill (http://www.abbyjohnson.org/) and author of the book, “Unplanned”.  She repeated and emphasized that the single most effective thing that one can do for the Pro-life cause is to simply pray silently and peacefully in front of an abortion clinic.   The love showed despite some risk had a profound effect upon her and influenced her conversion together with the grace of God.  Sidewalk counseling is only effective if one is well trained. 

 

Also inspiring was hearing about a classmate of my daughter Stephanie at Thomas Aquinas College (she participated in the March for Life in San Francisco on Saturday).  Read about a martyr for the Pro-Life Cause, Andrew Kentiger Moore on my Blog #88.  He was killed by a car during an early morning fog while prayerfully walking across the United States to pray, witness, and educate people at stops along the way.

The March.  We had an hour and a half before our start at 1 pm at 7^th & Constitution in front of the Federal Trade Commission.  So Steve Smith and I spent some time at the Archives, which is just across the street.  It had a great exhibition on the Cuban Missile Crisis when we came so perilously close to a nuclear holocaust in October 1962 (I remember it so vividly.  The fear was worse than 9/11).  I met my godson, Danny there.  It was a highlight for me since I haven’t seen him for years.  He’s a graduate of MIT in Civil Engineering and has done considerable work in development projects for the Interamerican Development Bank and the World Bank.  I’m proud of him and his desire to serve humanity, something he got from his parents whom I worked with in Peru.  Just seeing the mass of people on this very cold day really impressed him.  

His comment convinced me that the mere presence of over 400,000 people traveling in the cold from as far away as North Dakota and Florida must have witnessed to all of the Washingtonians who saw it.  Too bad that the mainstream media ignored it all; only EWTN television covered live the Mass, the speeches on the Mall, and the March itself. 

 The rest of our group decided to hear the talks on the Mall and couldn’t make it to our starting point.  So not finding them and the March having already started, I was on my own, not sure if they were ahead of me or behind.  I enjoyed hearing the seminarians singing in Latin and a band from the America Needs Fatima group.  There were people of all ages, including beautiful young nuns and young monks in their habits.  Many kids from the Catholic grade schools and high schools were enthusiastic and exuberant.  Even a Jewish group for life in conservative traditional dress added to the event.  The Knights of Columbus were there front and center, financing some of the signs.  I ran into Fr. Nelson Hegao, a Piarist priest from Colombia.  It was his order that educated my father in Timisoara, Roumania (then Hungary) before and during World War I.  I was thrilled to meet them and see that this small order has houses all over the world including Europe, USA, South America, and even Africa.

Lost in Washington: me or the bus?  I arrived at the Library of Congress at about 2:30 pm, about a ten block walk of some 45 minutes.  Then another adventure began.  For the next 2½ hours I kept walking back and forth at our meeting point to keep warm.  It’s a good thing I had long johns, thermal socks over another pair, and a house jacket underneath my overcoat.  With the hoard of people the group did not see me and I did not see them.  The March was over about 4 pm.  I just kept walking.  When a cop said that buses were not allowed in this area, I walked a block down to 2^nd & Independence and back a number of times, hoping to stumble upon the bus.  

I figured that they had left me.  My cell phone was dead and I did not have the cell numbers of people on the bus (two counts of being dumb).  Although praying, I was starting to give up hope and asked a cop where the Greyhound Bus Station was.  Suddenly I remembered that Karen Stapleton once gave me her cell phone number which I had in my little pocket address/notebook.  I borrowed a phone from a cop and called.  We only got voice mail since he must have dialed the wrong number.  Since I had the phone, I decided to call up Jaga to tell her that after a half hour more I’m heading to the Greyhound Bus station and to pick me up in Columbus (that would have been really dumb since they would not leave without me).  “Copy down this number and call it”.  “OK……I love you; bye”.  So I called and Scott said that they are on 4^th and Independence.  I wasn’t sure if I was going in the right direction since there’s two 4^th & Independence north and south.  Luckily I spotted the bus and dodged traffic to cross the street.  Thank God; they were praying too…….one to St. Anthony, the patron of lost items.  All my life I’ve made him work overtime.  She said her son lost an implant in the ocean; they prayed to St. Anthony; and the next day they found it washed onto the beach.

It turned out that Steve, who also was lost, had my home phone number and called Jaga.  She was like an old fashioned switchboard operator making calls to get hold of a cell phone number of somebody on the bus.  Bernadette Lewis remembered my home phone number and called Jaga.  So Scott called Steve and I called Scott and we were finally together.  I walk about half an hour a day; that day in Washington I exercised enough for a week.  I guess I’m not that old after all.

Moral of the Story.  Last year everyone had a map……x marks the starting point and meeting time; y marks the ending and final meeting point to walk to the bus.  It also had a couple of cell phone numbers of people on the bus.  Why didn’t we do that this year?  I would add: and z for probable points where the bus might be.  In addition instruct everybody:  “STAY IN ONE SPOT BT THE FOUNTAIN IN FRONT OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ON ITS SIDE OF THE STREET.  DO NOT LEAVE.  THE BUS WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL WE FIND YOU”.  If a couple of people would have stayed there with a cell phone instead of going to the bus, we would have stumbled upon each other.

Our adventure still was not over.  The bus crawled out of congested Washington; it was snowing, but we were on our way.  I apologized to everybody as a group and one on one.  After stopping at McDonald’s, we watched a great movie underwritten by the Knights of Columbus, “For Greater Glory”.  It’s exasperating that Hollywood distributes mostly junk and won’t distribute a great movie like this even though it had top Hollywood actors in it.  I explained some of the history of the time relating to the Cristero Wars for religious liberty, a basic freedom against intense persecution of the Church.  Blogs #42 & a part of #105 relate to that bloody period in the history of the Church in Mexico.

The bus broke down and barely made it to the bus depot in Parkersburg, West Virginia.  So we had to unload our original bus and move ourselves and our gear to another one.  After stops in Belpre and Pomeroy, we finally made it to Gallipolis.  The driver keeps the bus in New Albany where he lives and Rio Grande was on the way.  He left me off in front of our home at about 2 am and I found Jaga sleeping on the couch ready to pick me up in the middle of the night.  Thank you Tim and Chrissy Stapleton for all of your work in organizing this and obtaining donations.  You work together as a great team in and out of your home. Thank you generous donors for reducing our bus and motel costs with one meal to only $30 for each of the 40 or so people who came. 

After a few hours of sleep it was off to the meeting of the Steering Committee for the Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal in Caldwell, two hours away.  I called up our Chair, hoping that the meeting was cancelled because of the weather.  “It’s on” came the answer.  Then I sang:  “On the road again…..”  After the meeting I took a nap on the way back; got home; donned a suit; and off to Mass to be lector......two long days and a short night sandwiched in between.

It was an adventure, but pilgrimages are that way…….often difficult, involving sacrifice, but spiritually uplifting.  Thank you, Lord for getting us all back home safely.  Thank you for saving the lost.  Still we had it easy, sleeping, praying, and watching movies in a warm bus.  In ages gone by, people walked hundreds if not thousands of miles exposed to the elements and to robbers too.  I got a taste of a real pilgrimage in Poland when we and a thousand others walked 125 miles to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa.  See Blogs #46, 47, & 48. 

You know, when you look at it, we are all on a pilgrimage on this earth on our way to heaven.  May we all meet there some day.  YOU BE THERE!   

(108) Our 2012 Family Newsletter

            We hope that all of you are enjoying the Christmas season.  May it all bring us closer to Christ and His mother.  May the Christ child bless you abundantly in the coming new year.  I was on time with our Christmas greeting and here’s our annual newsletter for 2012.  It will probably be a little long; so I put in subtitles to make it easier to scan and read only what interests you.  I tried to shorten it by putting in links to my blogs to whatever you might be interested in for greater detail for future reading if time permits.  I would suggest that you write an annual family newsletter or individual one if single because a collection of them on disk or hard copy makes for a great family history for posterity after we’re gone.  If you do it; I’ll read it.  Promise!  I’d be most interested.

            Naomi and I went on the March for Life in Washington January 22-23 as we did in and 2010 with a busload of people from our parish and two others of southeastern Ohio along with a few non-Catholics.  The Catholic Women’s Club and a second collection helped to underwrite it.  It’s a great experience. Our entire family went in 2008.  For a detailed account of it, click on http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com/2012/01/southeastern-ohio-residents-march-for.html. On the bus I had a long dialogue with a former witch and a Protestant minister.  She seemed to be so sympathetic to the Church and observed how misunderstood Catholics are.  Later she followed her daughter into the Catholic Church.  An even greater experience would be going with a group to pray at an abortion clinic.   

       Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood Abortion Mill (http://www.abbyjohnson.org/) and author of the book, “Unplanned”,  repeated and emphasized in a televised talk that the single most effective thing that one can do for the Pro-life cause is to simply pray silently and peacefully in front of an abortion clinic.   The love showed despite some risk had a profound effect upon her.  Sidewalk counseling is only effective if one is well trained.

            John-Paul, Our First College Graduate. We did a lot of traveling in 2012.  First was our trek by our salvage ’04 Chevy Cavalier (bought at 120,000 miles and now at 205,000) to Ave Maria University near Naples (see http://www.avemaria.edu/ for a virtual tour), Florida for John-Paul’s graduation.  However, Naomi missed it because of the prom and Stephanie was in the middle of final exams.  Stephanie, however, visited him for Holy Week.  John-Paul graduated Magna Cum Laude as a member of the University’s eighth graduation class with a demanding double major in Math and Economics with an emphasis on a Catholic liberal arts education.  Having taken four years of college courses at the University of Rio Grande as a high school student, he was able to transfer many courses that facilitated a double major.  He was also named the Outstanding Economics Student, thus utilizing his full tuition scholarship to the utmost.

      

Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, was the commencement speaker, a friend of Ave Maria University President H. James Towey (see http://www.avemaria.edu/AboutAveMaria/PresidentsPage.aspx).  He was one of George W. Bush’s senior advisers and member of his senior staff who attended Cabinet meetings as Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives from 2002 to 2006.  He was also Blessed Mother Theresa’s counsel in the U.S. for 12 years.  Towey is determined to keep Ave Maria University an authentic Catholic Christ centered campus despite rapid growth with aspirations to be a top academic institution as Notre Dame.  One faculty member says this is very doable because the faculty is behind the concept as opposed to St. Vincent College where he was previously president.  Michael Novak, one of their professors, was decorated by the President of Poland and gave a lecture on social justice at the Presidential Palace (see http://www.avemaria.edu/NewsEvents/News/tabid/92/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/139/Ave-Maria-University-Professor-Decorated-by-President-of-the-Republic-of-Poland.aspx.  On our way back we stopped at St. Augustine, Florida which has a definite Spanish colonial flavor and a well preserved colonial fort.  It’s really worth the stop (see http://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/?gclid=CLnKsuno37QCFUeRPAod63sARQ).

Celebrating the 60^th Wedding Anniversary of cousin Martha and Joe Loya at the Byzantine Cathedral in Parma was a highlight for the extended family.  Deacon Greg Loya and his six sons as altar boys all participated in the Mass.  They were married in St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in East Pittsburgh in May 1952.  Their wedding reception featured a Hungarian gypsy band.  Fred (bless his soul) was a baby and John was a cute ten year old runt who managed to get in on every wedding picture.  Martha and Joe had more than their share of crosses over the years including the tragic death of their only daughter, but stuck it out with faith and courage.  They were rewarded with the joy of having eight grandchildren and one of their four sons being a dedicated priest (Fr. Tom) and another a deacon (Greg).

Another highlight was the 50^th Wedding Anniversary of Betty and Bob Foley (Martha’s brother).  Congratulations!  May they have many more anniversaries together.  May we all do as well.  I just got out of the Army in time to attend their wedding in Philadelphia in October 1962. 

Finding His First Job. John-Paul found www.catholicjobs.com to be a great starting point after graduation.  We traveled to Stafford, Virginia at the beginning of June for an interview at a parish Catholic middle school and then to Benedictine Academy, a Catholic military high school in Richmond, a long shot for a guy with no teaching experience or education courses.  John-Paul is a natural teacher, having taught his four year old sister how to read and write while in the first grade, even writing lesson plans.  Before returning, we stayed one day with Stephanie’s classmate, Abby Quinan in Manassas, Virginia, the site of a major Civil War battle for a critical railroad junction.  We had a great time with the Quinan family and doing some sightseeing in town.  Her mother is amazing in home schooling I believe five children and working as a nurse.

When we returned, John-Paul found a newly posted ad for Ville de Marie Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona just outside of Phoenix.  All of a sudden, everything fell into place as often happens when it’s the Lord’s will.  The Headmaster, Mr. J. Hickle , called John-Paul an hour or so after he sent out his e-mail resume.  The next day JP was invited for an interview and given an offer before returning.  So he was able to finish his Accounting course at the University of Rio Grande and play softball in the Church Softball League while preparing to teach Math, Physical Science, Biology, and gym.

Catholic Familyland. At the beginning of July our family helped out at Catholic Familyland (see www.familyland.org) just outside of Steubenville. Prior to that we had to bet fingerprinted and go through an FBI background check by diocesan regulations.  Now they’re going from one extreme to the other.  After a home visit, Stephanie worked for the summer at Thomas Aquinas College in the cafeteria.  We did such tasks as helping to supervise the 500 foot water slide, help out in maintenance and setup for events, bus tables, etc.  It’s great as a family retreat.  About 100 families attended the six days of pray and play. Each had their own cabin with room for 1 family of eleven.  There’s something for all members of the family.  

All attend Mass in the morning with enthusiasm and have religious talks and activities.  The afternoons are filled with water slides, swimming, softball, soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and even chess with tournaments.  Joseph won the chess tournament and John-Paul had his best games ever in the basketball tournament which his team won.  After a catered supper, there’s a rosary & marshmallows bonfire night, an amateur show, a square dance, family banner night, etc.  Later in the evening, the teens have a couple of hours of fun and faith formation with a night of Eucharistic Adoration.  Several confessors hear confessions every afternoon, each under the shade of a tree.  For more detail and information, see www.familyland.com and a future blog of mine at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com.  Their  www.FamilyCatechism.com has the complete Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Then there's a weekly guide to teach the faith at home, www.FamilyCatechesis.com because the primary educators in the Faith are the parents.  In addition, www.familylandtv.com provides a wide selection of television programs to watch at your convenience instead of being tied down to a particular time.

Westward Ho!  At the beginning of August, we helped John-Paul buy a salvage 2010 Honda Civic and decided to help him to drive it to Phoenix as well as assist him in finding an apartment and moving in.  The trip was so long (almost three days) that I thought at times we were in a covered wagon.  Finally, we made the descent form a high plateau of the Rocky Mountain chain.  It’s almost providential that our good friends, Richard & Celina Koczwara and their beautiful family live in Mesa, another suburb of Phoenix and operates an 11 room motel (see http://www.desertrosemotelaz.com/).  We had a wonderful stay with them and thoroughly enjoyed their traditional Polish hospitality for almost a week while looking for an apartment with John-Paul.  This city in the middle of the desert is beautiful, especially during winter, but it was an oven when we were there……115 F…….still more comfortable than the muggy 90 F in the east.  One afternoon we had a fascinating visit to the Goldfield 1890s vintage ghost town a half hour away (see http://www.goldfieldghosttown.com/).

John-Paul’s school, Ville de Maria Academy (see http://www.villedemarieacademy.org/), a Catholic college prep school with only about 75 students, has only a handful of students in each class, great for individual attention in its classical liberal arts curriculum.  Its small faculty is very dedicated to make the school Christ centered with the faith integrated into all of its courses while still being very good academically.  We’re very happy that John-Paul has a key role in this very noble enterprise that has so much potential.  Next year it will occupy the closed St. Daniel School.  With more space in a parish environment, it hopes to expand and be better able to compete with the excellent charter schools in the area. 

Visiting Stephanie at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California.  Finally, we drove the car across the desert with its occasional almost blinding sandstorms into California to visit Stephanie at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula just outside of northwest Los Angeles.  The scenery there is breathtaking, being nestled in a bowl surrounded by mountains with a newly constructed church standing out.  That together with the landscaping, ponds, gardens, & an orange grove plus Spanish colonial type architecture makes it one of the most beautiful campuses in the world.  The functioning pendulum and statues of great scholars further gives a great learning atmosphere.  Click on http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/ for a slide show on its home page.  Naomi was already there for a two week summer great books program for high school seniors. 

 

The beautiful church recently constructed dominates the campus.  Much of any Mass there is in Latin.  We attended one Liturgy during the week in the old Tridentine Mass completely in Latin.  I thought I was in a time capsule going back to the 1950s as a kid.  They have a staff of full time priests to attend to the spiritual development of the students as well.  Most of the students attend daily Mass and each dorm has prayer to end the day. 

     

Being ranked among America’s Top Colleges by the U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and the Princeton Review, Thomas Aquinas College is probably the best Catholic liberal arts college in the country (See http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/about/press-releases).  The entire very demanding standard curriculum for all graduates is based upon reading the great books in the original……Aristotle, Homer, Plato, Augustine, Aquinas with some readings in the original Latin, Shakespeare, Euclid with the same proofs & propositions, Einstein, etc.  Reading and discussing these pioneering works puts the student in the shoes of the pioneer intellectual who encountered obstacles, road blocks, and contradictions.   The student goes through the same discovering and reasoning processes as the original scholars to obtain insights and arrive at the truth in the advancement of knowledge throughout history…….Theology, Philosophy, Mathematics, and the empirical sciences with labs.  

The focus in this Christ centered institution is upon searching for the true, the good, and the beautiful in God’s creation.  The small classes (less than 20 students) with a total enrollment of 358 are based upon the Socratic Method (mainly discussion) with an emphasis upon rhetoric and developing the mind.  Classroom discussion even spills over into the cafeteria after class. 

    

Stephanie will have a general liberal arts degree quite equivalent to majors in Philosophy and Theology.  Many of their graduates teach and do parish work.  Others go on to graduate school to pursue a variety of specialties……law, business, medicine, education, etc.  Tragically, one of Stephanie’s friends there, Andrew Kent Moore ended up as a martyr for the pro-life cause in the Walk Across America.  You can read the details on my blog at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html.  With each home visit, we see in Stephanie marked intellectual and spiritual growth.  She’s our scholar, a perfect fit for Thomas Aquinas College and she loves it.  In addition to the academic, Stephanie works 13 hours a week since they don’t give academic scholarships as such; participates in social functions; and takes part in different intramural sports.  Her high school varsity experience makes her a standout in basketball.

Back to Kent State.  After flying back to Columbus minus John-Paul and Stephanie, it was back to school for Naomi and Joseph.  In September Jaga and I attended the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Kent State University Catholic Newman Center.  Needless to say, the campus looked so different and it was great seeing old friends, especially Janet and Bob Stadulis who were wonderful to us, inviting us for Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving.  I wrote about it and the crucial importance of Newman Center or Club on the secular campus in my blog at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-newman-clubcenter-catholic-presence.html.

   

The visit of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue in October and later the visit of the Pilgim Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in December (sponsored by the Knights of Columbus) were among the highlights of our parish devotions.  Our pastor combined it with Eucharistic Adoration for 24 hours each time.  It was such a privilege to be involved in its promotion.  To our great surprise, our local newspaper not only published much of my article on the first visit, but also published a photo of the statue in color on the front page.  For greater detail including fascinating facts about Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Guadalupe, see my blogs #95-96 for the former and #104-106 for the latter at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com.

   

Naomi is a senior, her fourth year in the PSO program at the University of Rio Grande where she simultaneously receives high school and college credits for each course she takes there.  It’s still seven straight semesters of all A’s (one A-).  She continues on the Swimming Team for her base high school, Gallia Academy and hopes to make the district championship meet in her specialties of breast stroke and the butterfly.  Naomi works as a cashier nine hours a week at the El Toril Mexican Restaurant in town and three hours a week with the local Municipal Court. 

       

In November we made a campus visit to Franciscan University of Steubenville, a very Christ centered Catholic university.  This is one of the few Catholic Colleges that has remained very faithful to their original missions.  John Paul’s Ave Maria University and Stephanie’s Thomas Aquinas College are of the same mold.  Naomi plans to get a Bachelor Degree in Nursing and then go to graduate school to become a midwife.  We ran into one of the leaders of the Diocesan Youth Rally who is on the swimming team.  So she arranged to meet the Swimming coach and observe one of their practices.  Naomi is only a few seconds within the times of their best swimmers.  She fit right in and got a partial scholarship to boot.

Joseph is a sophomore, his first year in the same PSO program as Naomi at the University of Rio Grande.  The baby of the family is already the tallest of all of us.  He plays basketball and tennis in the spring for Gallia Academy.  He’s also one of the top members of his high school’s Quiz Bowl team.  He is an avid reader, subscribing to the Weekly Standard and regularly reads the National Review online.

Jaga continues as a full time mother since we have two kids still in the nest and the other two come home during the Christmas and summer breaks.  Our family is blessed.  That frees her to volunteer as a nurse in the Free Clinic we helped to found, to work in a soup kitchen, to be a member of the Catholic Women’s Club, and other activities as daily Mass and reading the Divine Office each day.  Because Jaga is a stay at home Mom, I can get involved in considerable volunteer work. 

Paul continues as a Eucharistic Minister to the sick.  I have learned the value of suffering in becoming closer to God and have the opportunity to unite one’s cross with the Lord’s cross, offering it all up as a dynamic prayer for the Church, the missions, for our country, and our loved ones.  In this way the sick person can be more valuable than the President!  The Knights of Columbus is also a great opportunity for fellowship and service.  I continue on the Steering Committee of the Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal (see our Conference Blog by clicking on www.diosteubmen.org).  Fr. Tom Loya has been one of our speakers and has four articles on that blog. I’m also vice-president of our free clinic (see Blogs #90 & 91 of http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com. 

 

Jaga and I are advisers to the Catholic Newman Club of the University of Rio Grande where I am Professor Emeritus and a member of the Chaplaincy Board.  With what time is left, I like to write for the Gallipolis Daily Tribune and my blog at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com.  Take a look at the titles; I think that you’ll like at least some of them, especially Blog #102 on a detailed analysis of the unsustainability of the National Debt.  Being busier than ever in retirement is a lot better than becoming a couch potato and wither away.  Retirement is such an opportunity to serve on one’s own terms and pace while keeping sharp mentally and intellectually and utilizing past experience and skills acquired over the years for the benefit of God’s people.  On the fun side, I follow the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers closely along with Rio Grande sports.  To keep in shape I try to take daily half hour walks and a weekly mile swim.  Changing strokes and keeping a good rhythm makes it rather easy. 

    

 So 2012 took us from a beach on the Atlantic Ocean at St Augustine to another beach on the Pacific Ocean at Ventura as we continue to carry on with our family, aspiring to grow spiritually and doing our part for the Church and the Community.  When you die, may the world be just a little bit better because of you.  God bless.