A Great Success!
The Rocky Mountain Catholic Men’s Conference, held March 21, 2009 at Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, CO was a great success! Over 700 Catholic men joined together to be strengthened for Christ. It’s an amazing event when men come together to learn, pray, sing and share in brotherhood for the glory of God. The power that is contained in male leadership is incredible and I earnestly pray that this is the start of a revival in our diocese. Where there are men of faith, there is success; successful families, successful churches, successful businesses. Praise God.
For the men from the Conference who are here on the site for the first time, please take a chance to navigate through all of the pages at the top (or on the side) and please subscribe to the feed so you know automatically when updates are made.
Man up!
Joseph, of the line of David
Notice that Joseph carries both carpenter's tools and lilies in this picture. The lily is a sign of his purity as the Most Chaste Spouse. My daughter Lily is named after St. Joseph for that very reason.
“…Eliud, the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.”
Matthew Chapter 1 “The Genealogy of Jesus”.
Today (March 19) is the Feast of St. Joseph. St. Joseph was Jesus’ earthly foster father, the husband of Mary (Jesus’ mother) and a faithful Jewish man. We don’t know much about St. Joseph from Sacred Scripture, but we can deduce many things about his character, his demeanor and his effect on the world. For men, we should strive to be like St. Joseph – holy, upright, honest, hardworking and just. He was also a faithful man, a man of prayer and he allowed the Lord to work through his life. Can you imagine being selected by God to be the foster father of the Messiah? Obviously, Mary was selected as special by God to be the God-bearer (theotokos), why would God not also select a special man to be her husband and the protector of the God-bearer? He knew the role he was undertaking and accepted it whole-heartidly. He never failed to set the example of manliness for his son, Jesus. As we look to Christ to learn what He taught us, we must believe that He learned a great deal of what He knew from his earthly father, Joseph; therefore, telling us a great deal about Joseph.
As a father, I see characteristics in St. Joseph that I know I must possess. His example of virtue is second to none. In order to pass on faith, tradition and a legacy, I must first act out of love – setting the bar high for my children – so that my actions always precede my words and never contradict them. St. Joseph, the model for men – father, husband, man of faith and prayer, worker, protector, servant to the Lord. St. Joseph, pray for us.
Man up!
Can you Believe it?
Believe it… the pornography industry is a giant, preying on unsuspecting victims. Once it has a grip, it isn’t likely to let go, unless the prey decides to fight back. This “fighting back” can’t be weak. It must be calculated, planned and executed perfectly in order for the battle to be won.
For many years, I was held captive by an incredible grip… a grip that left marks, wounds and scars; not to mention emotional memories. For years, I lay helpless to pornography’s grasp. I knew not where to turn, or how to start fighting. Thanks to my brothers-in-Christ, I was able to begin fighting back and eventually, through God’s mercy, forgiveness and strength, I overcame the grip and applied a strangle-hold back upon my aggressor. I’m not out of the woods yet (I’m still a living, breathing man!)… but my life is no longer controlled by porn.
The porn industry portrays itself as normal, as something “everybody does”. It’s makes men think that it’s completely normal to injest incredibly large doses of smut, lust and obscenity. Guess what, it’s not normal. We were created for greatness, not for mediocrity and what “everybody else is doing”. We’re called to stand and defend, especially against sly predators. (Remember how cunning the serpent was in the garden with Adam and Eve?)
If you are currently in porn’s grasp, there are ways out. Make sure you check out the tab “Fighting Porn” located at the top of the page for some initial advice and help. If, at any time, you need someone to talk to, contact me. A True Man fights back against the things in life that are temptations and conduits to sin.
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 7 – Love
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 7 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 7 – LOVE.
Love, also called charity, is the form of all virtue. Love is friendship with God and love leads us to God. An important aspect of love is that it is a verb; it requires action from us. To perform acts of love, we must surpass our own abilities; we require supernatural grace. (Supernatural = super –> beyond… natural –> nature… beyond our nature.)
Society often tells us that love is something that we get, instead of something we give. We’re often told to seek it for our good, instead of the good of another. This leads us to selfishness and seeking our our passions, desires and wants. Instead, we should love unconditionally, especially our spouse and our children – making a freely given gift of ourselves and our lives. Love brings us:
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Joy – seeing love in others.
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Peace – right relations, when we are united (or under reconciliation)
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Mercy – a compassionate heart for another’s unhappiness. (The greatest virtue in relation to others.)
Love also occurs in:
- Passion – the desire for something.
- Natural virtue – when you want what is best for someone else.
- Theological virtue – the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 6 – Hope.
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 6 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 6 – HOPE.
Hope – the virtue by which we desire the kingdom of Heaven as our happiness. Because of hope, we trust in God’s promise to help us. Hope is the bridge between faith and love. Hope allows us to keep our eyes on our goal of Heaven. Hope keeps us going, especially when times are tough, because of the promise of Heaven.
Despair is the opposing vice to hope. Despair is the belief that God will not forgive me for my sins. It is, simply put, giving up. When you give up (on God or on yourself) you believe that God can’t really help you. There’s also something that can appear to be hope, which we call a counterfeit vice, called presumption. When we presume, we believe that we’ll get to our goal without God’s help. This is not depending on God and not seeing the need to.
Hope is the unending desire to see God, to know God and to be with God. Never lose hope, never give up, never give in. Living a good life, striving for excellence, serving our neighbor… that is living a hopeful life. You have the power to pass on hope to those around you who are in despair. More than ever, people are despairing because they lose the belief that God cares about them. When you go it alone, you will despair. Stay strong, our hope is in the Lord!
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 5 – Faith
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 5 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 5 – FAITH.
Faith, simply put, is a relational trust in God. Trust is an incredible part to faith. Trusting in the unseen is difficult, but an amazing experience when you allow yourself to do so. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that faith is the intellectual assent to God’s revelation (intellect) and a personal adherence to God (entrusting one’s self to God) (will). Therefore, faith is the intellect plus the will. Thinking and doing.
Intellect allows us to think about faith. There are a few vices that can get in our way, however…
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Unbelief – either by ignorance (no knowledge) or by opposition (choice not to believe).
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Heresy – a choice to disagree with what Christ taught.
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Doubt – a lack of understanding.
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Blasphemy – making jokes about God, the Church, etc.
In relation to the will, our actions allow us to believe.
Faith is an incredible thing, and an amazing gift to possess. For some, it’s difficult to really believe, to really let go of the pieces of life that we can control. When you get to the point of being virtuously faithful, it will change your world. All of us, as with all virtues, can gain the virtue of faith, meaning that we have the habit of being faithful (trusting) and that faith comes to us 1. easily 2. joyfully 3. promptly and 4. consistently. Practice and Grace… that’s what gets us to all the virtues.
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 4 – Temperance
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 4 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 4 – TEMPERANCE.
Temperance moderates our attraction to pleasure. This can be any form of pleasure… physical, emotional, sexual, mental, spiritual, etc. There is an opposing vice that we should stay away from… insensibility (the complete rejection of any pleasure). Pleasure, in and of itself, is not bad, as long as it is ordered and moderated. There are three major vices that go along with temperance that we all deal with, in one way or another; it is NOT manly to indulge in these sins!
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Gluttony – inordinate consumption of food and/or drink. If they need a fork lift to come get you from the booth to your car, you ate too much. We are incredibly guilty of this in America with our portion sizes. A way to fight gluttony is by fasting.
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Drunkenness – hinders our reason. Drinking to excess means that we are willingly depriving ourselves of our reason (St. Thomas Aquinas). A HUGE problem in our culture. Men, drunkenness is not manly. Being able to stop after 1 or 2 drinks is manly and it doesn’t just mean you do this when you are driving. This is at home, at a party, with a DD, where ever. Losing all ability to think, function, act and control yourself is cowardly. Be a man, put the drink down.
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Lust – is destructive and causes harm. Sex, like fire, is a good thing – in context. If a fire gets out of control, it destroys. If it is used how it is intended, it gives off warmth and can be used to cook. Sex is the same way… if we make the choice to be chaste, we are ordering our sexuality in the way that God intended. Don’t be fooled by society, lust is destructive. Everyone’s NOT doing it – there are those of use who strive for it who are living chaste lives, even in our marriages. St. Thomas Aquinas said: “A man who gives into his lust has weaknesses. From this weakness means that he will give into his passions. He is not free to love.” Are you weak? Be virtuous, control your sexuality, don’t let it control you.
Temperance guides us so that we do not fall into these sins. Being temperate means that we know when enough is enough, too much or sinful.
Man up!
