Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
-Hebrews 12:1-2

These great witnesses may have passed, but the saints are alive.

But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him.”

Luke 20:37-38

In the past few years that I truly began to embrace the saints, my faith has found more comfort  and encouragement being actively involved in their prayers for me. These great heroes became more than old stories of history, and I was able to enter into conversation with them.

and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.

Revelation 8:4

The beauty of having perfect friends is that they only point me to Jesus. This is part of the reason I find it odd/interesting that some protestants accuse us of worshiping idols.

How do we talk to the saints? Well… we pray. Not to them, but with them.

Looking at the surface, I can kind of see how it could be confused as idol worship, but our prayers are more than remembrance of loved ones passed. Our prayers with saints are live conversations with those that have already finished the race. They know the struggles – they know the suffering. I can think of no one better to ask for prayers.

Last year, I only finished one painting so that I could take a break and focus on large design projects like Austin Catholic New Media. I also felt like taking a break from religious themed art, which has dominated most of my works. Now after much discernment, I realized that promoting the faith through my art is more important than ever.

Now that my angel series has come to a stopping point, I am very excited to work on my new works that will focus on the saints. I hope that I am able to create works unique to my style and in ways that celebrate the great legacies of these men and women that know a life and love deeper than we can imagine here on earth.

May it be done for the greater glory of God.

Recently I haven’t published any new posts on my personal blog for many reasons. I actually have a long list of started, but still unfinished drafts because I’ve had many concerns about everything from search engine optimization, conflicts of interest, and many other technical issues. I realized how much pressure I was putting on myself for no real reasons.

Last weekend, I was greatly motivated by a presentation I heard at CatholiCon Expo in Houston. It helped to liberate my approach from being so confined to a strict, strategized approach to my online presence. In the grand scheme of eternity, I do a greater disservice if I am afraid of being who I am.

I look forward to starting to post more, even if some are short. Some may call it lazy, but I call it prudent. 2011 has definitely been a working year, and God has provided plenty for me to do. With all of that, I have to be careful to keep it all balanced. Many great things have happened by the grace of God, but there are many times that it’s easy to forget who’s in charge.

My penance from confession last week really resounded with me. I only had to do it once, but he recommended adding it to my regular prayers. It is absolutely the perfect prayer for the different work that I am called to do right now. I highly recommend it for everyone.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Last week, my wife and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. I wrote a post last year titled A Sacrament of Service soon after our first anniversary, and I thought it fitting to give a follow-up for our second.

It’s somewhat hard for me to believe that it has already been two years since I married Cristina. Slowly, I think we’re learning more about how to live our vocation as married people. Like other couples, our marriage is far from perfect, even when it looks so easy from the outside. I don’t think I ever imagined the types of struggles and difficulties we would encounter within our first years of marriage. Every couple encounters their own personal and unique problems, but I do believe that God provides us all that we need to endure and overcome. Although, all of this is hard to remember at times.

Remembering all that we have overcome together really strengthens our bond, and it is nice to know that she is partner through the best and the worst. She is the one that I upset when I do something wrong, but she’s also the one that lovingly greets me when I come home. Our life together is filled with the enjoyable and the uncomfortable, and that’s what makes it such a beautiful gift.

I remember very vividly how it started with a drive I made from West Texas to Denver. It was to reconnect with old friends, and to pursue the heart of the woman I had met a few years before. I knew it was a risk, but I knew in my heart that I had to take it because I had never felt so compelled so powerfully do something in my life before. During the weeks before I made the trip, I really connected with the song “Far Away” by Nickelback. The song will always bring back the feelings of that first year we lived so far apart from each other, and the way we came to be together. Now I and am even more amazed at how my love for her has grown much deeper.

There have been many time I have seen His hand at work, unfortunately it seems to always be in retrospect. When we arrived from our honeymoon, we were both unemployed and in a new city. We had faith that God would provide as we followed His call to Austin, and to the amazement of the many naysayers in our lives, He has. That’s not to say that it has been easy. Through a lot of prayer, patience, and love was the only way we made it through the first of our tough times. I am very grateful for all that God has done in our lives.

Once we are blessed to expand beyond a family of two, I know that our vocation will take on a new direction, but for now we will continue to serve in ways we can to the Church and to each other. Sometimes it’s really hard to figure out how to prioritize our lives. It’s easy to unintentionally put family before God or serve others before my wife. It’s a difficult balancing act that will probably take me the rest of my life to figure out.

Even though it’s already been two years, I still feel very new to the vocation of marriage. When I see the love of couples that have been through a lifetime together, I am reminded that we are really new to this. It makes me happy to see the opportunity of the rest of my life with my wife. She is the woman I was called to live my vocation with, and the one that I am called to give my life for.

My wife and I danced to the song “To Know Love” by Little Big Town at our wedding reception. It’s a very beautiful song, and still, I think about the words often.

‘Cause to know you is to know love
And to know love is to know enough
To walk with you through this life
From now until the day I die
‘Cause what better way is there to live than to with you

Note: This video of another couple’s anniversary is the only good audio version I could find

June 1st if the feast day of St Justin Martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. It saddens me that many people don’t know who he is. I want to make sure more people get to know him, and know him as more than just one of the early Church martyrs.

St Justin is considered the first great apologist of the Church. He was a pagan philosopher that converted to Christianity after he could not find satisfaction in other philosophies and traditions. In his heart of hearts, he knew that all his studies in Rome lead him nowhere, even when he didn’t know of God. Through conversations with a Christian, he came to discover Jesus and scripture. It was then that the Truth spoke to him so clearly, he knew that it was undeniable.  He then used his love of reason to teach a pagan world about the Truth in Christianity.

It was his writings on the Eucharist that touched my heart the most when I began to do research on why he was a saint. In the second century, he brought light to the Truth in a world full of darkness, and he did it all as a layman. He fell in love so deeply with The Logos, Jesus, that he willingly died defending it. Although, he did not die before converting many hearts through many personal conversations and sharing the love of Christ.

St Justin is also very special to me because he is my patron saint from confirmation. There were many reasons why we connected, but it was his unwavering passion for Truth that really inspired me. At the time, I wasn’t sure that I could truly believe in something so deeply that I would tell the world and even die for its sake. His testament inflamed my desire to love the faith like him.

In September 2006, I was on a private tour of  Immaculate Conception Church in Rome with some seminarian friends. This church is famous for a crypt-ossarium that consists of bones from 4,000 different Capuchin friars that died in the 16th-19th centuries. It a little odd, but it has really interesting art and powerful message for our mortal bodies. I recommend reading this interesting post from Cardinal O’Malley’s blog about his visit there (Half into the post). He has some good pictures of the site.

When the Capuchin Friar leading the tour got to the altar of the back chapel, I read the Latin wording on the altar that indicated it was St Justin, and I fell to my knees. It felt like suddenly running into a long lost friend. It was a moment of pure joy and thanksgiving. The power of the communion of saints hit me at that moment, and I was deeply touched at the blessing of visiting where his relics lay. To this day, it is one of the most beautiful blessings that I have personally experienced – to visit an old friend and thank him for his prayers for me during some of the most pivotal points in my life.

Some may find it weird, or down right morbid, that I would kneel in prayer in the place of where man’s remains are stored. It may be even harder for some to understand that I feel such a deep and personal friendship with a man that died over a millennium before I was even born. This mystery is the beauty of the communion of saints. It is the mystical body of Christ that unites us all beyond our current state and surpasses all space and time. I will come back to this point at a later post and expand upon it, but currently I don’t have the time to do so here.

In the meantime, I will leave you with the video featuring some text of St Justin.

St Justin, Ora pro nobis.

Last week I wrote a post about the current state of the world and the possibility of the end of the world.

Read the article at Austin Catholic New Media

Last Week’s Post on Austin Catholic New Media,  I address a question that is often asked by Christians. As a media professional, I have a lot of thoughts on this issue. What I have to say may not be what you’re expecting. Read the post at ACNM.

Last week I wrote a post about the strange situation of loosing sight of Jesus in our religion. Read the full post at Austin Catholic New Media.

At the end of March I wrote a post for Austin Catholic New Media about the expectations of users and relationships with content providers and what we should learn from it. Read the full article.

For the last few weeks, I have been preparing for consecration to Jesus through Mary. I wrote a post in December explaining my decision to do it, but originally I was planning on waiting until next December for the feast of either Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Immaculate Conception. Although what good would it be if I did this on my terms, rather than our Lord’s?

Note: This post was accidentally published before it was complete last week. I apologize if you saw that version.

Two weekends ago, my wife and I attended a Hillsong United concert, and I must admit that it was one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have witnessed outside of Eucharistic adoration. This was the second time we attended one of their events, but this one was definitely more memorable than the first time.

While big name bands, like Chris Tomlin’s, are super well known and always associated with their music, Hillsong United gets far less recognition. Most Christian stations don’t even play much of their original music because many of their songs are too long for a usual radio edit. Also, if you are not familiar with their style, most people don’t like that the crowds do a large portion of the singing in the live albums. I was impressed that they were able to sell out so many large venues on this last tour through the US. It was even more impressive to see a crowd so on fire that they sang  with the band in a stronger power than their loud speakers.

I grew up in the Bible Belt, far outnumbered by very conservative Protestants. I am comfortable discussing religion with our protestant brothers and sisters, but I normally shy away form praising and praying with them. I have also attended many different types of Christan concerts in my life. Normally, a Christian concert does involve praying, but it is never really more than just simple and almost superficial prayer. They are still unaware of the true worship that we know well, the mass.

Hillsong takes these prayers to a deeper level than any other group I have every witnessed. This is really only possible through their genuine knowledge and relationship with the Holy Spirit. They very openly and boldly call upon Him similarly to the Charismatic prayers in the Catholic Church.

While they are very aware of their relationship with the Holy Spirit, their relationship with the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, is not as strong as they believe. Like all other protestants, their lack of understanding of Christ’s True Presence in the Eucharist. Still, no one can deny that their prayer was powerfully filled with the True presence of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

There could be no denial of the Holy Spirit’s presence at that event. Some may look at it an think it’s fake or all for show, but their prayer was absolutely genuine. While the fallen away Christian groups do not know the fullness of Truth, it’s group like these that make me understand what Vatican II wrote about. For a long time, they were simply seen as heretics, but after the council the Church acknowledged that protestants do have a partial understanding of Truth. I wonder how much the Church could do in this world if only their passion was in union with the True Church. I sincerely wish that more of  the Church would catch on to this passion. I pray that someday, we will all be one Church again.

Hillsong – With Everything from With Everything on Vimeo.
This is a video someone else took at the concert we were at this month.