ORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED was established nine years ago. I discovered CCW shortly after its founding and began doing contract labor. ¹ We started creating projects dedicated to the Jesuit Martyrs, whom I had admired for years. ² Years later, someone claimed that CCW was founded on the Jesuit Martyrs’ feast. I was familiar with their Extraordinary Form date—26 September—but not their Ordinary Form date. About four years ago, I discovered this piece of paper:

Remember: that date was chosen by the State of Texas. Coincidence? You decide!

MY PRAYER GOING FORWARD is for God to give us the grace to avoid the negative and focus on the positive. That can be quite difficult sometimes.

Nothing is easier than writing provocative, sensationalist headlines for blog articles. We try to avoid that.

Nothing is easier than finding falsehoods on the internet and “exposing” them in a blog article. The problem is, doing that usually elevates the falsehoods.

Nothing is easier than spreading gossip online. We try to avoid it.

Nothing is easier than writing snarky, slanted articles which reveal a lack of charity on the part of the author and (ultimately) insult the intelligence of the readers. We try to avoid that.

THE CHALLENGE IS, using the above techniques almost guarantees “attention” and web traffic. Talking about perennial truths seldom garners as many “clicks” as provocative headlines or character assassination. I think this is because of HUMAN NATURE—something our pastor often mentioned during his sermons years ago. Most people would rather click on an article about a famous priest who got caught sinning than a tutorial on how to sing Gregorian chant.

But we will continue trying to focus on the positive, because we believe it’s what God wants us to do. An example of something positive: we made available this remarkable book about the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. I cannot recommend that book highly enough. ³

NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Watershed still had paid employees in 2007. We no longer have paid employees—we’re a 100% volunteer organization. Someday, if we can find find the funding, we’d like to again have paid employees.

2   I dedicated my first CD to these martyrs in 2001.

3   We hope to do more projects honoring those martyrs. God-willing, we’re just getting started!