Tag: Greatness

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Standing His Post 

I had the privilege to be on the Board of Catholic Men’s Fellowship (CMF) of Pittsburgh for several years, serving along-side some wonderful men who became good friends. At that time, one of the primary things CMF did was put on its Annual Gathering of Catholic Men. Then COVID hit, having a negative impact on all events…boy do I know that story in working in the Steubenville Conference Office at Franciscan University. 

On Saturday, September 23, I had the opportunity to reunite with several of my CMF brothers at the 15th Annual Gathering of Catholic Men. Having stepped away in 2017-18, it seems like a lifetime ago and yet we just picked up where we left off. It was wonderful being with brothers in Christ, sharing in and being part of the fellowship which bonded us back then. It was a good example of community, the importance of brotherhood, especially in this crazy world we’re living in today. 

That crazy world is a great segue to Mark Houck, who in my opinion stole the show on that Saturday. That’s not an easy thing to do being preceded by Chris Stefanick and Ennie Hickman, two of the best speakers in the Catholic world…btw both of them did a great job, delivering their own impactful messages. That said, it’s difficult to compare with the story told by Mark Houck. 

As you might remember, in 2020 Mark was arrested at gunpoint; 20+ FBI agents surrounding his house, banging on his door at 6:30AM, with his wife and 7 small children at home. All this actually happened on September 23rd (Feast Day of Padre Pio), 3-years to the day of the Gathering just a little over a week ago. Mark told the gruesome story, including how he was mistreated by the FBI that day all the way up to him being acquitted after refusing a plea deal most people would jump at. 

Hopefully CMF will have it up on its YouTube channel soon. I’d encourage spouses to watch it together, as my wife and I did. 

There are so many things I could talk about from Mark’s story that day, but the point which continues to resonate with me is Mark “standing his post”. As he said, just showing up, doing his job, doing what the Lord calls him to do. His examples were that of a husband and father. A pro-lifer who for more than a decade has been praying every Wednesday at the same abortion clinic. A ministry guy who’s helped men for years through his apostolate, The Kings Men…doing great stuff which I’ve experienced firsthand.  

Mark made an observation about how we’ll ultimately be judged by our Lord, Him looking at that gap between the life we led and that which God anticipated for us with all the graces He gave us individually. Did we do what he called us to? Did we stand our post? Did we show up? Did we do our job? 

My “schtick” is the love of Christ. My catch phrase is that in “understanding and internalizing the unconditional love of Jesus Christ, the unimaginable is achievable”. There’s a lot there that requires a lot of unpacking. One of those points is this…when you truly know the love of Christ, you have to give it away. 

I walked away from Mark’s talk convicted. Like you, I’m on this journey. What does it mean to stand my post, to show up, to do my job…do what the Lord calls me to do? In the end, how is our Lord going to look at my “gap”? Please keep me in your prayers as I pray for you. And let us together pray for Mark Houck and his family. 

You may have heard…Mark is running for US Congress. Given what I know about Mark, his walk and his experiences, I couldn’t feel any better about endorsing him. He’s an example for us all, standing his post, doing what our Lord has asked him to do. I’d invite you to join my wife and me in supporting Mark’s candidacy financially…. 

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

The Pittsburgh Steelers and America

During the 1970s, I was 7 to 17 years old. What a great age, during an incredibly exciting time to be a Pittsburgh sports fan. We were the City of Champions. The Pirates had won 2 World Series and the Steelers 4 Super Bowls. Pitt won a National Championship in ’76 as well. The oldest of 4 boys, my brothers and I would swim and play baseball during the summer, but the other 8-9 months of the year it was football, football, football…with us pretending to be our favorite Pittsburgh Steelers. 


These days I often watch TV or DVDs while working out. Most recently I took in The Complete History of the Steelers (great watch), from when Art Rooney bought the team to when they won their 6th Super Bowl. Dan Rooney makes the observation that Pittsburgh was the City of Champions during the decline of the steel industry, and that the Pirates and Steelers gave people hope, something to really be excited about.

Too young to worry about the steel industry’s impact on the local economy, I fondly remember the hope, happiness, and excitement we had in Pittsburgh in the 1970s. What great times, whether you were at a game, watching on TV, or playing outside with family and friends. Being young, not having a care in the world. Seeing the good in people, the good in things. Having role models truly worth looking up to. An amazing time to be a young Pittsburgh sports fan. 

Still today my favorite sport is football and favorite time of year the fall. The turning leaves, temps in the 50s and 60s, the smell of autumn. What are your memories? How do you relate them to your life today? Times with your friends and family. Maybe related to particular events, sports or otherwise, or a favorite food. Maybe a holiday picnic, i.e., 4th of July. 

This might seem like a stretch but this time of year, around the time of the birth of our country, I’m incredibly grateful that I live in the USA. Although there are other places of the developed world where I’m sure I would have had a great childhood, I sincerely doubt that anyplace could have delivered like America. 

Whether Pittsburgh or Portland (no Steelers there). California or Colorado. Sioux Falls or Sarasota. We’re blessed to be in the United States. I know we have challenges, some very big ones right now, but think about it. What country would you rather be in? If like me…none. Our country has so much to offer. All the freedoms. All the opportunities. The resources, the niceties. 

That hope that existed in the 70s in Pittsburgh. That’s the hope I wish for today. For our kids and grandkids. For our country. And for the world. 

You’ve seen me write about an attitude of gratitude. With this being the day after July 4th, I thank God for our country and all those who have fought for it. I thank God for my journey and all the good memories (including those Steeler Super Bowls). He has us where we are because that’s where we’re supposed to be…with all our experiences (and memories). The question now for all of us is…what’s next? What’s God calling us to do with the experiences, memories, and yes…blessings we’ve enjoyed? 

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph

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Weekly Blog

A Time for Everything

Today is the Feast Day of St. Mark the Evangelist, a favorite of mine for obvious reasons. St. Mark was one of the four writers of the Gospels. Among other things, he’s quoted as saying, “For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul”. How true. In doing a little research, I found a Prayer to St. Mark: 

O, Glorious St. Mark
through the grace 
of God, our Father,
you became a great Evangelist,
preaching the
Good News of Christ. 
May you help us to know Him
well so that we may faithfully
live our lives as followers of
Christ.
Amen.

Today also marks the 5-year anniversary of when I first began posting these blogs. With roughly 1,600 on our email list, every Wednesday I send out a note of roughly 600 words. Although the topics vary, they most often have to do with real life issues, relating them back to our faith. Over five years, this is my 260th post, most of it being original content. 

Beginning with my conversion experience in March 2006 and based on my journey to date, I continue to believe that in understanding and internalizing the unconditional love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ that: 

  • The unimaginable is achievable,   
  • We can live Heaven here on earth, 
  • There’s a path to peace, joy, and fulfillment. 

As expressed in my book, online course, my talks, videos, and these blogs, I also believe that God made you and me for greatness, putting each of us individually on this earth with a specific purpose, with unique gifts and talents. 

I launched this blog right before my book came out. Having aspirations of sharing my message (really God’s message) with as many as possible, I was doing a fair amount of speaking, mostly local, and promoting myself and the ministry. We created an online course and promoted that too. Then COVID hit and we lost momentum. 

Something else happened over that time. I’m five years older, now sixty, and my priorities have shifted. With expanded responsibilities at work, I’m quite busy, including travel. Since the beginning, the writing and speaking have been done on the weekends and the older I get, the more I don’t want to be running in my off-time. Instead, I prefer hanging out with Cyndi and doing the things we enjoy on weekends. 

In discerning this, a couple questions come to mind. Is this about me or the message? Where can my greatest impact be? At Franciscan University of Steubenville, I have the privilege of leading a team of 30, in addition to being responsible for the 10 partner organizations that put on our conferences across North America. What if my efforts exclusively went towards them? What would the impact be, especially with our exponential reach? Understanding that these things aren’t mutually exclusive, where is God calling me?

There’s a time for everything. Life is made of decisions, and we can only say “no” if we have a stronger “yes”. All this to say that as a standard, we are going to begin posting once a month instead of every week. Given the time it takes to prepare each blog, I think it’s the right decision. My priorities (not the message but the means) have shifted and I feel God calling me in a slightly different direction. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be posting something else periodically, but our original content will be coming out monthly. 

I want to thank you for being on this journey with me. Your support is so appreciated. I know I’m biased but I don’t believe there’s a more important message to share. In fact, I am convicted that if more people knew the love of Christ, that we’d live in a much better country and world. Please pray for me as I do for you. We are experiencing very challenging times and clearly Jesus is the only answer. 

Btw, all my past blogs are on the website at https://markjosephministries.com/blog/. We have an online course as well as my book. If desirous and you have a financial issue, just email me and we’re happy to discount or provide them for free. Lastly, I’m happy to give the occasional talk or do a Parish Mission, especially locally. 

In closing, I want to thank two people. First, I couldn’t do any of this (website, blog posts, videos, etc.) without Mary Kate Cuccari, who’s the creative genius and designer behind the scenes. If you ever have the need, I’d recommend MK in a heartbeat. My wife Cyndi has always supported all of my endeavors, including this ministry. My best friend, I thank God for her every day. Thanks Babe!!!

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

There’s a Jesus Revolution

Several weeks ago, I went to see Jesus Revolution, an absolutely wonderful movie that’s based on a true story. It was the cover story of Time Magazine on June 21st, 1971. You can read the article here. 

Greg Laurie, still the Pastor of Harvest Church in Southern California, wrote the book which the movie is based on. It’s the story of a failing Church and a struggling Pastor named Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), who is introduced to a hippie preacher named Lonnie (played by Jonathan Roumie of Chosen), by his daughter. Chuck does the unthinkable by inviting Lonnie into his Church to preach, also inviting his hippie friends and a band to do what wasn’t considered true Church music. 

More and more hippies then attended services, with the Church growing so much that they had to build a big tent. Baptisms were done in droves, in the Pacific Ocean. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Pastor Chuck addresses the hippie congregation by saying (paraphrasing), “no matter what sin you’ve committed, no matter what sin you’re currently living, you’re welcome here, where you’ll experience forgiveness and freedom”. WOW!!!!!!!!!! One of many times I teared up…pure joy. You may have heard before, “the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints”. Do yourself a favor…go see Jesus Revolution. 

Relate the above to what went on at Asbury University, where a revival was sparked by students spontaneously staying after a regularly scheduled chapel service on February 8, 2023. Following the gathering, Asbury President Kevin Brown sent out a brief two-sentence email: “There’s worship happening at Asbury. You’re welcome to join. An estimated 70,000 visited the campus for the revival through February 19th. 

I don’t know if you see it, but something’s happening. There’s a thirst, a hunger that people have. And they’re acting on it…including our Catholic Church. You may have heard of the launch of the National Eucharistic Congress, that will culminate in a revival in Indianapolis, in July 2024…with 80,000 in attendance. I’m honored to be on the programming team…it’s going to be a great gathering. 

I’m also privileged to work at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where we see this enthusiasm for our faith all the time. If you’ve never been, come visit. You’ll see a campus full of students truly on fire for our Lord. Come to one of our Steubenville Conferences and be blown away by what you experience. I guarantee you, you’ve never seen a Liturgy celebrated like at Steubenville. Our conferences are truly life changing, clearly the work of Jesus. 

In 1969, then Fr. Joseph Ratzinger said, “From the crisis of today the Church tomorrow will emerge a Church that has lost much. She will become small and have to start afresh, more or less from the beginning”. Prophetic words from our last Pope. The world, including our country, is in crisis. Not unique to all of Christianity, the Catholic Church has suffered significant losses. The statistics show that far fewer have a faith life compared to past generations. 

Stipulating to the above, people are seeking. They don’t always know what it is they’re looking for, but they’re looking. They’re yearning to fill the God sized hole they have in their chests. We know there’s only one answer…and that’s JESUS!!! 

What to do…love God, love your neighbor, and share the love of Christ. What else? Go see Jesus Revolution. Engage in the National Eucharistic Congress. Come to a Steubenville Conference. All will be life-changing…I guarantee it. Invest in your own faith journey. And then go light up the world. 

Btw, you can listen to a brief interview of me by Drew Mariani on Relevant Radio, on all of this here. (from minute 40 thru 47ish) 

As always, please email me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, concerns, comments, or prayer requests. 

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph