How old must you be to attend MoE?

This was a question recently asked of us and I thought it would be appropriate to open this up for discussion.

How old should you be to meet with a group of men that pray and discuss the Gospel? How about when we really open up and bare our souls, talking in strictest confidence about issues and struggles that we face?

There is a certain amount of trust and confiendiality that we must guarantee if we hope to continue our successful mission. Without that, I believe, we begin to chip away at the foundation of the group.

I believe that is more of a question of maturity than age. Certainly maturity comes with age, but it is not the same for all.

We meet at 7:30am on Saturday mornings. It takes a certain amount of discipline, motivation and maturity to get up and make these meetings. So, in my opinion, if a high school aged guy wants to come and listen/learn/share with us, he should be able to. Just my opinion, and I am anxious to hear what the rest of you think. Lets discuss.

It's A Dangerous World Out There...

Kevin Brock of the FBI came last weekend and gave a fantastic talk to 70+ guys about the world of pornography, child abuse and violence in our society. Men of all ages, including several guys from the St. Martin's Youth Group, showed up at 7:30am to hear the message.

To say that Kevin is an expert on the dangers we face in the world today would be an understatement. As a director of Anti-Terrorism in the FBI and a 20+ year career in the Bureau to go along with being a husband and father of 1 boy and 7 girls (God Bless him!!), he had us hanging on every word.

There's no doubt that we live in a dangerous world. The criminal element is all around us. The really scary thing to me is the way our society tolerates and even encourages immorality and impurity. With the advent of the internet and more and more households online all the time, we really need to be careful.

Thanks Kevin for sharing with us your insights! We will no doubt revisit this issue indepth in future MoE meetings. Looking forward to seeing everyone again this weekend.

Peace and God Bless!

"Why did God allow this to happen?"

Last week, a beautiful, twelve year old, Catholic girl was in the hospital because her appendix burst. When she returned home after her painful ordeal, she asked me, "why did God allow this to happen?" Whenever I hear people ask this question, I point them to a crucifix, and say, "why did God allow that to happen?" The Father has infinite and unending love for His own son, and yet, He let him suffer tremendously while on Earth.

When I was in Calcutta years ago, the sister who succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of the Missionaries of Charity said to me, "the greatest way to imitate Christ is to suffer. Those who are closest to Jesus on earth are those who suffer the most". The 12 year old girl is a great friend of Jesus Christ! Already in her young life she has had the opportunity to carry a part of Jesus' cross. The Father trusts this little girl in a big way. He'll never give any of us a cross that's too big for us to carry.

Normally, our suffering involves crosses that we don't choose. We accept them as Christ freely accepted his. He was an innocent victim who suffered for our sake: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15). Any of us who lay down our lives in any way and suffer for the sake of love are in intimate friendship with Christ. We do choose to make small sacrifices in Lent in order to become closer to Him, body and soul.

Who, then, are the greatest friends of Jesus Christ? Who see concrete signs in their lives of being loved and trusted by their heavenly Father? Those who are in physical, psychological, personal, or spiritual pain...those who hunger and thirst... those who are rejected and lonely... persecuted...outcasts... are laughed at... homeless... victims of violence...victims of disasters... etc. Those who carry their daily crosses are Jesus' closest friends.

Christian suffering, then, has great meaning. Our whole faith is centered on the suffering of our Savior. Suffering leads to love, and as I will write in an upcoming post, and it leads to glory. This seems like foolishness to the world, but as St Paul writes, "it is the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor 1). Ultimately, then, suffering is a sign of God's love. Anyone who imitates the Son in suffering for the sake of love receives the infinite and unending love of the Father.
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Any other friends of Christ that I missed? Any stories of people who have taken up serious crosses? Anyone for whom we can pray?

Something special for God this Lent

Yesterday, a SFA blogger asked, "Is there anything special we can do to make a good lent?" This is a very open-ended question with a million answers. I am tempted to just answer, "yes". But, I'll say a bit more than that, as usual! The Church wants us to focus on prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during these holy 40 days, as Christ himself exhorted us to do (Mt 6). Let me use those as headings.

Prayer: Something special for God this Lent would be to attend daily Mass, in additon to Sunday. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest form of prayer. In Mass, we not only hear God's Word and encounter Him in the Eucharist, but we actually receive His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Making a frequent Communion with Christ is the best thing you can do this Lent, or any time. The next best thing you can do is spend time with Jesus in Adoration. Whether it's 15 minutes or a full Holy Hour that you can spend in His Presence, your soul will be grateful!

Fasting: Something special for God this Lent would be to offer a physical (but healthy) sacrifice to Him. We fast during Lent, especially, to be in union with Christ who fasted for 40 days in the desert. Whatever it is from which we fast (food, drink, television, etc.), it should be to draw our souls closer to God. The more we can detach from things of the world, the more we can attach ourselves to Him. If our fasting is merely external and doesn't draw us closer to loving Him and others, God himself has said that it's pointless.

Almsgiving: Something special to do for God this Lent would be to make a generous contribution to the Cardinal's Appeal. Like prayer and fasting, almsgiving should be part of our normal Christian living. But, in the season of Lent, maybe we can do more. Can I share more of my time and talent with those less fortunate? If not, I should give more of my treasure, so that those who do serve the poor will be better equipped. It is, after all, God's treasure; in almsgiving, we give back to Him what he has given us.

Whatever we decide to do this Lent, even if it's the smallest thing, if it's for the love of Jesus, it pleases him immensely. "If but a pin is given in homage, and given with a good heart, it will be enough for Jesus, who loves only the good will" (St Louis de Montfort).
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Any other suggestions that MoE bloggers have??