The TrueManhood Podcast Episode 2 – St. Joseph

Dave DiNuzzo of The TrueManhood Podcast takes a look at St. Joseph, the role of man, how to live as a father, and more.

St. Joseph was righteous under the law and taught Jesus everything He knew, what a perfect opportunity for God to be glorified through His creation. St. Joseph, pray for us!

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The Case for Sainthood

The Catholic Church has a process by which She determines whether or not a man or woman should be named a saint.  The process can be long and tedious and involves loads and loads of paperwork, proof, documentation, etc.etc.  The “case” is reviewed and then a determination is made.  (For more on this process, click HERE.)  One such man, Fr. Emil Kapaun, has a case being sent to the Vatican as we speak.  The story of Fr. Kapaun is close to my heart, as he was from Wichita, Kansas and a military man.  I grew up just 6 miles south of Wichita and as many of you know, have a long and extensive family (and even a personal) history with the military.  My Father, Tony, just told me about the opportunity that he and my mother had of attending this special Mass that was held at the Cathedral in Wichita on July 1.  We’ll pick up with an Al Kresta story…

“Fr. John Hotze, episcopal delegate for the office of Fr. Kapaun’s beatification and canonization, said the event marks the culmination of years of work and also celebrates the “gift” of Fr. Kapaun.

“The fact that we, unlike any other diocese in the United States, in the world, have been blessed by the example of this saintly man, Father Emil Kapaun, boggles my mind,” he said in a June 30 statement. “How can we do anything less than give praise to God for this gift and strive to follow the example of Father Kapaun’s selfless giving.”  Fr. Kapaun, a native of Pilsen, Kansas, served in the Korean War. He courageously rescued wounded soldiers from the battlefield, risking his own life to prevent their execution at the hands of the Chinese.  He was captured by North Korean and Communist Chinese forces after he volunteered to stay behind on a battlefield with the injured.  The priest’s service to his fellow prisoners has become legendary among those who knew of him. Scores of men attributed their survival to his work tending the starving and the sick.

Fr. Kapaun died in a prison camp hospital on May 23, 1951. The Diocese of Wichita has investigated his life since 2001 and officially opened the cause for his beatification on June 29, 2008.

Andrea Ambrosi, a lawyer investigating the case for the Vatican, told the Wichita Eagle he thinks Fr. Kapaun has a good chance to be raised to the altars.  “He showed that there was not just a devil working on the battlefields of the war, but something else.”  The investigator said Kapaun’s candidacy is unique compared with the hundreds of other cases he has investigated because it is so full of action and detailed. While most cases involve “very holy” priests and nuns who have miracles attributed to them, Fr. Kapaun’s story involves far more deeds of heroism, sacrifice and action.

Ambrosi has investigated two alleged miracles involving prayers for Fr. Kapaun’s intercession.  In 2006 Avery Gerleman, then 12 years-old, was near death for 87 days. She recovered after her parents prayed to Kapaun.  In October 2008 Chase Kear, a college track athlete, inexplicably survived a severe pole vaulting accident. His skull was fractured from ear to ear and caused some bleeding on his brain. Doctors said he would likely either die in surgery or from a post-surgery infection.  However, family and friends joined in petitions to Fr. Kapaun. Kear survived the surgery and left the hospital only a few days after the incident.  Doctors said both recoveries were medically inexplicable.  Ambrosi said the intensity of the priest’s devotees is “incredible.”  Several Catholic parishes and many parishioners pray for Fr. Kapaun’s intercession every week at Masses and many call upon him when loved ones become ill.

Fr. Hotze said that the diocese has finished collecting information that will “hopefully, with the grace of God, prove Father Kapaun worthy of beatification and then canonization as a saint of the Catholic Church.”  Ambrosi and other investigators must now closely study 8,268 documents about the chaplain’s deeds and sacrifices in the Korean War. Those documents are being sent to Rome.  If canonized, the priest would become the third American-born saint.”

Clearly, Fr. Kapaun was an incredible man!  What a TrueMan!  Living virtue at every turn.  I wrote another story about him previously, which also includes some video trailers of a film that was made about his life.  Click HERE for that story.  We hope he is elevated to the distinction of “blessed”!

Fr. Emil Kapaun – Pray for us!

TrueMan up!

World Cup Promise

Just thought it was a cool story…

Madrid, Spain, Jul 14, 2010 / 06:05 pm (CNA).- Spanish soccer player Andres Iniesta, who scored the winning goal during the World Cup final in South Africa, has promised to walk the Way of St. James, which leads to Santiago de Compostela.  The Way of St. James is a pilgrimage route that for centuries brought the faithful from across Europe to the city of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of the saint are venerated. 

According to the Spanish newspaper, Marca, months before the 2010 World Cup, the members of the Spanish team sent the newspaper sealed envelopes with the promises they would keep if they won the title.

Marca opened the envelopes after Spain’s historic victory on Sunday and found that Iniesta, along with Fernando Torres and Carlos Marchena said they would walk the Way of St. James.

Iniesta also revealed his promise in an interview prior to the World Cup.  Speaking on Spanish television he said he would make the pilgrimage “somehow…I’ll do it however I have to!” His teammate Sergio Busquets, who was with him, made the same promise.

The Spanish media is reminding the players of their promise and although no plans have been officially made, reporters were convinced many fans would share the pilgrimage with them.

This year, Pope Benedict XVI will travel to the city for the Holy Year of St. James 2010, which is celebrated each year that July 25, the saint’s feast, falls on a Sunday. 

The next Year of St. James will be celebrated in 2021.

How Men Were Created To Pray

In response to a comment, stemming from a recent post: The question was asked, “How were men created to pray?”  Please note, this post, as with all my posts, comes from my experiences and may or may not take into account every aspect of the topic.  If you have additional thoughts, questions, doubts or replies, please write them in a comment below.

I believe that men were created to pray in a manner that is wild, unrelenting and strong.  What do I mean by that?  I mean that a man has to pray in the same way that he was created.  It doesn’t make sense to do it any other way.  We were created, as evidenced in the creation story in The Book of Genesis, to protect, defend and guide.  (See Genesis chapter 2, specifically verse 15).  Adam was instructed by God to do all these things as the man, the one who has dominion over the earth and the creatures of the land, air and sea.  This was no small task.  Adam was given a great amount of responsibility.  Until the fall, Adam relied totally on God to direct and guide him.  We should take this as a guide – that in all things, we should ask God to direct and guide us.  After the fall, Adam was distanced from God and he toiled in the fields.  This is where we find ourselves today.  We toil, in whatever profession we have, and specifically, we toil in a real way when it comes to our conversations with God.  Why is this?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph 397, explains this clearly.  It says, “Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command.”  We do this daily!  No wonder it’s so hard to pray!

If we know that we must trust God and that we must have reckless abandonment to God’s commands, then it will help us to pray.  If we know that we were created to protect, defend and guide others, it will help us to pray.  Now, some practicals:

• Find what works for you.  We’re all different and there are many different ways to pray.  Whatever your preference, do it often!
• Remember that prayer is a relationship with God.  It takes two; God always does His part.  Are you doing yours?
• Make your life a prayer.  Every chance you get, talk/listen to God.  (Guess what, you’ve got lots of chances to do this during your day!)
• A Man was created with a wildness within his heart – live wildly for God.  Your prayer can be wild, rugged and intense.
• Do it often.  Did I mention this already?
• Prayer is NOT an emotional thing; emotions may come about during/after prayer, but prayer itself is not emotional.  Our prayer is based on our faith – if our faith is founded on the Truth, then it is stable and unchanging and our prayer must follow that model.  If our faith isn’t founded on the Truth, then our faith (belief in God and His dominion over us) can change as quickly as the wind.
• Use helpful “tricks” to guide your prayer.  One easy one is ACTS – Adoration Contrition Thanksgiving Supplication.  Adoration is praising God, adoring Him, fervent worship of Him and His glory.  Contrition is asking for forgiveness for our sins; NOT in place of Confession!  Thanksgiving is thanking God for the blessings in our lives.  Supplication is asking God for the things that we need in life.

I suggest that you read up on men of the Bible, as well as Catholic saints, to get more ideas on how men pray.  Find one of these men that you share similarities with and try to emulate him and his style of prayer.  These men came before us and succeeded (and sometimes failed) in order to pave the way for us.

Man up!