Tag: life

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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

What’s the Answer?

This kicks off our monthly posts, which we’ll endeavor to get out the first Wednesday of every month. Consistent with the past, we’ll cover real life stuff, relating it back to our faith. Today’s topic…the significant challenges of our world and the answer to it all. 

Are you a “glass half full” person or “glass half empty”? How do you typically see the world? The circumstances around you? Do you experience challenges as opportunity? Or is everything a crisis, a problem that needs solved? What about your view of the world? Our country? How does what is going on in our communities effect you? Are you nervous about it? Or although a concern, it’s nothing to really lose sleep over. 

I don’t know about you, but I see our current world as being in a bad place. Starting with our country, crime and violence have skyrocketed. Deaths from overdoses are through the roof. Depression and addiction are at all-time highs. There’s a homeless crisis in numerous cities. Regardless of what you may think of immigration, you have to admit that we have no idea who’s entering our country along the southern border, by the tens of thousands. It’s a safety concern, not to mention how the vast numbers are stressing our local governments. 

Inflation is out of control. Gasoline is way more expensive than just 2 years ago. With a couple banks having failed, there’s a lot of uncertainty. Recession is probable. There’s a huge shortage of workers, with many having left the labor market. There are supply chain issues, causing shortages of some products. We have an overreliance on China, which has shown itself to be our adversary.   

Then there’s all the geopolitical stuff…challenges around the globe, including China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia. Just two years ago, who would have imagined war in Europe…there doesn’t seem to be an end to the Ukraine conflict. Or such instability in so many places? It’s nuts.  

If paying attention, the above (and more…my list is brief) can really bring you down. It can depress you. One answer may be to ignore it…don’t watch the news; don’t read the articles. I have a couple friends who practice this approach and it seems to work. For me, I prefer being in the know. Once a real political junky, I can’t imagine tuning it out completely, although I watch and read less about it than I used to. 

And I’ve not even mentioned the personal struggles we all have, that are a part of everyday life. 

The Only Answer

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…our Lord and Savior. The answer, my answer is Jesus. If I didn’t have my faith, I don’t know what I’d do. There are so many thoughts, expressions, and principals I could include here. That said, it’s all about the love of Jesus; the glory and grandeur of God; the strength given us by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. 

All the things that are happening globally and locally, even to us personally…God’s got it. Although He doesn’t create it, especially the evil, God isn’t surprised by it. He’s bigger than all of it. God’s love, His Son’s love is bigger than we could ever imagine. The Holy Spirit is there for us day by day, every hour and every minute. 

There’s a difference between knowing the above intellectually and experiencing a real peace in your life. I believe it begins with understanding and internalizing the unconditional love of Jesus Christ, followed by being heavily engaged in our faith. To me, that includes having an active prayer life and participating in the Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Confession; reading Scripture and other faith based books. All of it helps me in staying closer to God and being at a place of peace. 

Do I still worry at times? Yes. Do I not sleep at night periodically? Yes. Those are the times when I double down on prayer. We live in a crazy and scary world, but thank God for God. The only answer is Jesus.  

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

The Dysfunction of Today’s Communication

There are lots of ways people disappoint us. Family. Friends. Casual encounters. We’re human. We’re all sinners. So, the fact that we disappoint one another, in various ways, isn’t a surprise. 

What I’m referring to in this post, that is so disappointing, is lack of response, primarily related to text messages and emails. I’m no longer surprised or amazed that it occurs. It’s now common place, to be expected. Please note…I’m not talking about people (y’all) responding to blog posts like this one. I’m referring to one on one communications. 

I’m not the only one who’s noticed this. In doing an internet search, there are plenty of articles on the subject. People either don’t respond…which is the most frequent issue, or the response is delayed. What I couldn’t find on the internet (I’m sure I just need to search more) is the real reason or the impact. 

It Would Seem Being Too Busy Isn’t Valid

As a slight aside, at one time I believed that what I was experiencing in life was unique to me. As I’ve progressed, engaging with many on the same journey, I know that we’re all experiencing very similar things, possibly characterized differently. As such, I now know if I’m feeling it, if I’m experiencing it, chances are most others are too. 

One of the reasons pointed to is how busy people are. With the previous paragraph as context, I believe I am representative of most in relation to how busy I am or not. I would assume my inboxes, both work and personal, are similar to others. I would think my text traffic is comparable to most my age. 

I respond…really to all my emails and texts. For me not to do so would be an oversight…which I typically catch within a short period of time. Being as busy as others (I think), I seem to have time to respond. BTW, I’m not suggesting I’m perfect. I make plenty of mistakes with plenty of things. 

Photo by Yan Krukov from Pexels

How Would You Feel?

Here’s the other side of the coin…how does it make people feel to not get a response. Ignored, forgotten, unimportant, not a priority? Whether we want to acknowledge them or not, we know none of these things are positives. I’d suggest they add to the statistics for the societal ills going in the wrong direction in our world, i.e. depression, isolation, anxiety, addiction, suicide, etc. 

It would seem people experiencing the impact of not being responded to doesn’t seem to positively impact response to others. Does anyone else find that interesting? 

This may seem like a silly example to you. Imagine sitting at a table with someone. You say something to them, transactional or possibly with detail and depth, maybe even emotional. After, the person sitting across from you doesn’t respond. He or she just sits there, possibly not even looking at you. You wait for a response…and none is forthcoming. What would that imply about that person? Would that behavior be acceptable? Would you be eager to re-engage with that person? 

What Should We Do? 

Maybe I’m just wining. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Or does it? To me, it’s a continuation of the downhill spiral that we’ve been on. I’ve come to say the more connected we are (social media, apps, text, email), the more isolation we experience. I’d argue isolation isn’t good. Nor are its impacts. 

We’re not meant to go through life alone. We are made for community, for friendship, authentic relationship. The second part of the Great Commandments is, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Second to loving God, we have no greater call. 

I’d suggest the way we treat one another, whether in person or online, is important. I hope the above prompts some thought. When someone sends a note, he or she has taken the time and expended the effort to do so. That person is believing he/she would receive a response…or in most cases wouldn’t have sent the note. As Jesus told us, “love your neighbor as yourself”. More people doing so (responding) would make this a better world. Amen!!!

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

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

Remember…God made you for Greatness!!!

Mark Joseph