News

Frank Agraz, a long time friend and cooperator and a well known voice, has recently finalized the recording of "Our Lady of Fatima" by William Th. Walsh. The book recounts the apparitions at Fatima to the three young shepherds; with interesting information about the social; political and cultural context in which they lived. Most importantly, it helps the reader to grasp the meaning of the Marian message. If you are not familiar with the story, it is highly recommended. You can find in this site library.

No Small Goals, a biography of Dr. Ernesto Cofiño (1899-1991), whose cause of holiness is underway, has been recently published. The book tells the story of his trip to Houston in 1991 to seek advice on how to treat a recurring cancer. This is how the story goes (our emphasis):

After much discussion, José Luis and Clemencia (his children) accompanied him to Houston to inquire about the operation. (...) While at lunch, José Luis suggested that Ernesto go to the nearby center of Opus Dei so that he could talk it over with God. Fr. Michael Barrett answered the door of Chaucer Center. An elderly gentleman with a pleasant smile introduced himself as Dr. Ernesto Cofiño and asked to pray in the oratory. Fr. Michael was delighted to meet him. He had heard of Dr. Cofiño from Guatemalans with whom he had studied in Rome. He showed him into the oratory. There, alone with Jesus, Ernesto faced the fact that God was calling him home. On the way out, he and Fr. Michael again exchanged some words, but by Ernesto’s smile and pleasant conversation, Fr. Michael never imagined that he had just prayed about such a weighty matter.

On Saturday, Sep 19, Doug Hinderer delivered the first talk of the Parenting with Purpose Lecture Series on "Solving Conflict in Marriage" attended by over 300 people. If you did not happened to attend and you may have experienced differences in your marriage, you are highly encouraged to watch this recording. In his talk Doug talked about how conflict in marriage can not be eliminated - it must be managed. He then spoke about the connection between emotions and behaviors; the needs and fears of wives and husbands; the "four horsemen of the apocalypse" as described by John Gottman and how to resolve conflict gently.  A very insightful and practical talk geared to couples of all ages. 

The first volume of Saint Josemaria's letters (Cartas 1) has just been published as part of the Complete Works of St. Josemaria (Rialp). It contains his four earliest letters. They are helpful to deepen one's knowledge of the spirit of Opus Dei. If you read Spanish, you are encouraged to read it and use it for your prayer. The ebook can be purchased for Kindle. The English translation is being prepared, even though it is not known when it will be available. 

The book can be ordered through Scepter at usamadrid.com or scepterespanol.org.

On September 17, Fr. Pete Arriagada traveled to Oklahoma City invited by the local bishop to visit, to preach a first recollection in that city and meet men interested in the spirituality of Opus Dei. About 25 men attended the event. 

At the end of March 2020, a group of Spanish-speaking professionals, led by a Francisco Ortigosa and William R. Colina, met online to discuss the vision of the world beyond the current pandemic. We held long conversations, where everyone informally discussed their personal vision based on experience and area of ​​expertise.

Little by little entrepreneurs, company executives and professionals with experience in different specialties joined the group. We had global participation, since participants joined us from Spain, England, Oman, Denmark, USA, Venezuela, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and Canada. Since then, we have changed the initial format, and now hold meetings every two weeks. We exchange ideas for 90 minutes, guided by highly-trained professionals with ample experience.

On August 14, 1960, Fr. Chris Schmitt was ordained a priest in the Basilica of San Miguel in Madrid, Spain along with twenty or thirty other numeraries of Opus Dei. Since then, Fr. Chris has exercised his pastoral ministry in several continents: Europe for one year, Australia for five years, and America for fifty-four years. In the US he has worked in a number of US cities: Chicago, Milwaukee, Valparaiso (Indiana), Washington, Miami, Menlo Park, Houston, and Dallas. Fr. Chris is also known for his interest in college football and things Italian. He is has been living at Chaucer Center in Houston for the last few years. Please join us in thanking God for so many years of faithful service.

An article entitled Dancing the Texas Two-step Towards the Faith on the Opus Dei website tells the story of Courtney and Brian. Both are Texans but until recently they lived in Spain. Their love story began on a dance floor and has led them to places they never dreamed of.

Fr. Bill Shaughnessy and Fr. Jay Alvarez will be switching positions in August. Fr. Bill is the current chaplain of the new Montevista Study Center in San Antonio. Fr. Jay takes care of activities of Opus Dei in Florida, and currently lives in Tekesta Study Center, the center of Opus Dei in Miami. We will certainly greatly miss Fr. Bill in Texas, and we warmly welcome Fr. Jay. He was not born in Texas, however, he is coming to the Lone Star State as soon as he could. 

The Saint Josemaria Institute has published the illustrated biography, Wanting Jesus Alone to Shine by Jesús Gil and Enrique Muñiz. This book is an excellent introduction to the life of St. Josemaría.

Wanting Jesus Alone to Shine” is a biography of St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, illustrated with more than 300 photos, maps, infographics and autograph texts. The authors, Jesús Gil and Enrique Muñiz, offer a biography in which the images allow readers to enter into the life of Saint Josemaria: not only to learn about his experiences intellectually, but also to share in some of the feelings that accompanied these experiences.

The e-book is available for free in English, Spanish and other languages on opusdei.org.

Due to the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty about its evolution, the 2020-2021 Family Enrichment courses have been canceled. After considering many factors, including the unavailability of some of the venues, Texas Family Enrichment (TFE) was left with no choice but to come up with a plan B to replace the traditional FE courses.

Number of COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals in the vertical axis, versus the date from April to July 26 in the horizontal axis (Data from https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com). 

The COVID-19 situation in Texas seems to be starting to improve (see graph above). With that in mind and encouraging everyone to keep following the directives from civil and ecclesiastical authorities, we will be holding some "hybrid" recollections (in-person and on-line) at Westcott Study Center (Saturday, Aug 25, 8 AM and Wednesday Aug 19, 7:30 PM), and at Western Academy, on Aug 5, 7:15 PM. Those attending in person will be required to wear a mask at all times during the activity. We encourage those unable to comply with that requirement to attend the recollection online.  

After many months of work and feedback from various Featherock constituents, a new Featherock website (www.featherock.net) has been launched. It offers a more modern look, and most importantly it is responsive. Being responsive is technical jargon to say it can be visualized correctly on cell-phones and tablets. As you may have noticed, the lack of responsiveness was one of the main drawbacks of the previous website. The website was developed by Gustavo Bernardo, preserving the functionality and the back-end (not seen by users) of the previous website. Any feedback and suggestions are welcome (please email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). 

Canavox has announced a new video series by Ana Samuel, Ph.D. titled Helping our Children Navigate Gender Ideology. The videos are geared toward parents and other caretakers. Each video presents case scenarios broken down by age group (links below) for Elementary, Middle, and High School Years. In the case studies, Dr. Samuel offers ideas for how to articulate to your children about the beauty of their sexuality and encourage them to apply the wisdom from home in the situations they find themselves in at school and with friends outside of the classroom.

• Elementary School
  
• Middle School
• High School

Pope Francis has added three invocations to the Litany of Loreto, said by many Catholics as part of the Rosary. The new litany is available as a web page or as a pdf file. 

Number of COVID-19 patients in Texas hospitals in the vertical axis, versus the date from April to June 26 in the horizontal axis (Data from https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com). 

Given the significant increase of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas and Harris County (see graph above), following recommendations from local authorities, and evaluating June attendance trends, recollections in the Houston area will be reverting to online-only until further notice. After what we all have gone through in the last few months, this is a very difficult decision to make. However, given the data, it does not seem to be much of a choice at this time.