The TrueManhood Podcast Episode 7 – My Confession

In the 7th episode of The TrueManhood Podcast, Dave makes his confession. Whether you’ve confessed recently or not, get there and do it! If you’re not Catholic and want to know more, contact Dave@TrueManhood.com.

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Onions: My Barrier to Holiness

Lent is intended to be a season of penance, of self-reflection, of growth, of personal introspection, and ultimately, we should be working to “die to self”.  I’m terrible at it.  Here’s a lame story.  Let’s call it the “onion-idiot story.”  I’m the onion-idiot.

Last Friday was the 1st Friday of Lent 2018, and my beautiful wife, Catherine, (who is a phenomenal chef!) made a meatless cheese and broccoli soup.  (It was even Keto-friendly, which we are currently utilizing as our fueling system.  Perhaps more on eating Keto in the future?)  The soup was VERY tasty.  The ingredients were fresh.  The flavor was amazing.  It probably wasn’t much of a Lenten sacrifice, other than the fact that it didn’t have bacon in it!  There was only one problem: onions.

I HATE ONIONS.

It’s not the taste.  It’s not the texture.  It isn’t even that they make you cry.  It’s the smell.  They stink.  Terribly.  Whenever I smell an onion, it is as if it embeds its stink in my nasal cavity, and won’t evacuate the premises for days on end.  It’s stench digs deep into my skin’s pores, and it won’t leave.  I hate onions.  [I apologize if you like onions… this has nothing to do with you, it’s my issue.]  And I’m assuming you’re seeing where this is going.

Catherine knows this about me, and hasn’t cooked onions (one of her favorite ingredients!) in our home for years – all because she knows, very explicitly, how I feel.  I’m very grateful.  And how do I show her how grateful I am?  I complain.  I make it known just how bad it smells in the house.  I put every sort of smell-good mechanism that we own directly in the ‘on’ position.  I turned on the vanilla-scented burners, sprayed the air freshener, and even opened up windows and doors on a cold February day.  The smell was still in the… well… everything. Yuck.

Saturday rolled around and Catherine wanted to eat leftovers.  She considered – again, because of how much she loves me – taking the soup leftovers over to her parent’s house to warm and eat it there, just so the onion smell wouldn’t be present in our home again.  I still complained.  I still made childish comments.  Then, in my only moment of reasonable interaction surrounding these onions, I got the leftovers out, pulled out the bowl, and warmed up the soup for her.

I had already failed miserably in terms of “dying to self”.  What a stupid thing, too.  Onions.  Onions are my barrier to holiness.  I need to learn to keep my mouth shut, bear difficulties with humility, and realize that onions (read that “my own preferences/wants/desires/me-me-me”) are keeping me from true holiness.  If we were to apply this to anything else, especially something that matters, we’d hopefully see that when we die to self, we love others.  When we love others, we fulfill who we are as men.  The culture is extremely interested in destroying the idea that men can love.  That love, which they reduce to a mere emotion, is feminine.  Love, in actuality, is so much more and is required for authentic masculinity.

There are countless exercises that we can all work on to die to self.  And some might think that because I’ve been in this thing we call the Christian journey for so long that I’d have this down, but I don’t.  Can you believe how ridiculous I am?! 

In order to get better at something, we need to practice it and rely on God’s grace! So, here’s what I’m going to do today to die to myself: first off, I’m going to go home and tell my wife that I love her, give her a big, meaningful hug and kiss, and ask her about her.  Nothing to do with me.  Next, I’m going to find 5 little ways (one per my wife and 4 children) to choose someone else’s preference and never make mention of it.  And, I’m going to try to sustain that every day… slowly working to lose my own preferences (ultimately, the goal is to become selfless in all things, and not selfish, ie: prideful) and offering up in prayer my ‘suffering’ for their sanctification.  If you struggle with dying to self, try it with me.

TrueMan up!

What’s Coming Next?

My apologies for not posting anything the past week.  Since I don’t have sponsors, paid advertisements and/or endorsements (hint hint, wink nudge) I don’t feel too guilty.  Actually, I was out of town visiting my very elderly grandmother and some of my extended family with my wife and children, computer time was very limited. TrueManhood.com has definitely been on my mind, but not a priority because much needed time with them was taking precedence.  So, since I haven’t written anything lately, I wanted to let everyone know what they can expect in the coming days.

Depending on what I see/hear about/come across/etc. “out there” in regards to TrueManhood, I’ll be posting whatever I think is worthy of a post.  Besides those stories, you can expect something on the following topics soon:

• Struggling with Lenten devotions, the struggle of Lent (general) and the tough days during Holy Week.
• Major League Baseball, Opening Day Special
• Holy Thursday – The Vortex, “Judas Today”
• An article about “supertaskers”
• A post about an irate hockey coach.  Temper, temper.
• A Dating Article
• A Eucharistic Miracle Video
• Plenty of other great stuff!

Until the next post, keep fighting the good fight!

Man up!

Play Through the Whistle

We’re into the second half of Lent, and I think some encouragement would do us all some good.  In 18 days (plus Sundays – these are feast days in the liturgical calendar and do not “count” towards days of fasting) Christ’s passion, death and resurrection will be remembered.  Whatever you decided to “give up” or add for Lent this year should bring you closer to this mystery of our faith.  It should unite your knowledge of what Jesus went through for you and me with the physical sacrifice in which you make for Lent, thus making Lent more meaningful and more purposeful.

Lent isn’t about impressing anybody with what we give up or with what Lenten devotions we increase, it’s about personal conversion – a turning away from sin and a turning towards God.  I’m struggling this Lent, anybody else?  There’s a lot on my plate and my Lenten devotions have gone by the wayside multiple times.  I try to remind myself that through perseverance we obtain holiness.  I really need to “get back on the wagon”, so to speak, and continue persevering through my laziness and indifference.  I encourage you, if you’ve let your Lenten sacrifices ride, to take the time and energy to decide if you really need(ed) the penance or not.  If so, keep doing it.  If not, find something else, more important for you.  Have a great rest of Lent.

“Turn away from sin, and be faithful to the Gospel.”

Man up!

A Dirty Conundrum

One of the mysteries of the Catholic faith is why Mass attendance on Ash Wednesday is so high. It truly baffles me. When attending Mass on Ash Wednesday, you see droves and droves of people coming to receive dirt on their foreheads. The dirt (actually ashes, created by burning last year’s palm leaves) signifies our mortality, and is a reminder of our sinfulness. Do people turn out in record number because they like dirt? Do they think it’s a holy day of obligation (opportunity)? Do they enjoy receiving something? Is there another reason? The baffling part about it is that they could faithfully receive the Eucharist each and every Sunday (an actual holy day), or everyday if they so desired… how much better is the Eucharist than Ash Wednesday ashes?!

Another element about the fair-weather crowds on Ash Wednesday is the assumption (or maybe ‘sense of entitlement’ is the better phrasing here) that they can receive the Eucharist. The Eucharist isn’t simply a snack, or a party favor. The Eucharist is Jesus Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity! The Eucharist is reserved for Catholics, in the state of grace, who fully proclaim and live the truths of the Catholic faith.

Why do I bring this up?  Partly to vent, because it’s frustrating to me.  But, more importantly, because we need to realize the importance of catechesis and of witnessing to non-Catholics and others we come in contact with.  We have to be reminded of what’s happening to our Church, and as men, step up and lead others to a deeper understanding of Christ and His Church.

Man up!

Ash Wednesday Parody

Although Ash Wednesday is rarely joked about, this video clip is pretty darn funny.  A good laugh before we start 40 days of penance couldn’t hurt.  Click HERE if the content has been removed.

Opening Day (Holy Week)…Opening Day (MLB)

April 6th, 2009… opening day for two important institutions.  One, as you will read quite obviously, is much more important than the other.  [The other simply lasts much longer than the first.]

The first “opening day” is Monday of Holy Week– the week leading up to the Triduum and Easter Sunday.  Technically, Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday.  Holy week signifies a time in our lives where we remember (commemorate) Christ’s passion, death and resurrection from the dead.  It’s  incredibly important.  Easter begs us to ask the ever-philosophical “chicken or the egg” question – is Christmas or Easter more important?  I won’t get into that here.  Easter, whether more/less important than Christmas, is incredibly important for us because it signifies the culmination of salvation history in Christ’s conquering of death on the cross.  Christ – the ultimate servant leader.  I encourage everyone to make special time this week to take part in the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday – actually one continuous liturgy).  Open your heart and your mind to what God is calling you to.  The end of Lent can still be a fruitful time for you.  Give it a great deal and you’ll receive a great deal in return.

The other institution (although, a bit difficult to talk about following that Holy Week piece) is Major League Baseball.  MLB has been a part of my life since birth.  Now, I’m not trying to convince the baseball-haters of the world that baseball is a great sport – heaven knows that soccer fans won’t convince me that soccer is a great sport – I simply want to call to mind that opening day for the 2009 season is today.  This marks a special day for baseball fans everywhere when we know that basketball is ending soon 🙂 and we have sunny summer days at the ballpark to look forward to.  Double-plays, stolen bases and home-runs.

A thought… if the Pirates win today, I suggest that they end the season early and end their pitiful 16-year streak of playing sub-.500 baseball.  It would be a great thing for us Pirates fans to have a “winning season”.  Just kidding – I guess. 

Either way – Man up!

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