From our meeting on January 22 - Back to Blogging!

Well, I suppose keeping up with this blog was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be.

Sharing the goings-on of The Men's Prayer Group is something I truly enjoy.  Life has a lot of distractions and I have just not been posting for some time.  I am going to try to post regularly from now on.  We'll see how I do!

Some highlights from this past Saturday's meeting:

• It was COLD!!!  The thermometer on my car said 3 degrees (Jeremy's said ONE!)
• We had 15 attendees, including Andy's son AJ - good group and great to have a young visitor!
• As always a couple of solid themes came out of the readings and our discussion

One of the themes was that being "comfortable" can be kind of a bad thing some times.  We get comfortable in a lot of ways.  Comfortable inside our own homes, in our soft chairs, watching our big screen TVs.  Comfortable in the same friendships, habits and routines.

It seems to me that being comfortable can also mean we are being selfish.  Not always, but sometimes.  For example, staying home in bed at 6:30 AM on a Saturday morning when it was THREE degrees outside would have been comfortable.  But we all chose to be a bit UNcomfortable and were certainly rewarded for the effort!

Volunteering our time to help others also takes us out of our "comfort zone."  Especially if we volunteer to do something that takes considerable time or doing something we are not familiar with.  Teaching the PREP class for the last year and a half has been much more rewarding than I imagined.  I had to choose to put my own comfort aside and give up "my" time to undertake this effort.  I honestly feel that I have gained more than I have given.

Take some time to think about how you can challenge yourself to be "uncomfortable" in a way that will help others. If we all do it, imagine how much we can help each other!

I'll save some of my other thoughts from Saturday for later in the week.  It will give me something to write about!  I'll be doing some research on the prophet Isaiah this week and will share it on here.

From our meeting on April 3rd

Today is Wednesday, April 7.  A very HAPPY EASTER SEASON to all!

Notes from our meeting this past Saturday, April 3rd:

Well attended for the day before Easter!  10 of us in attendance and TWO KEYS thanks to Jim !

The discusstion was lively as always, focusing first on the Gospel of John and the story of discovering Jesus' tomb empty on the day of resurrection.  We discussed how important it was that this story was NOT written from a first person Point Of View.  Rather, by describing himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," John allows us to insert OURSELVES into this position of discovering the empty tomb of Jesus.  What do WE think about that?  How do WE react to the discovery that his tomb is empty?  Do we ACCEPT and CELEBRATE the absolute FACT of His Resurrection?  Interesting to consider during this Easter season!

We talked a bit about how the early disciples were killed and how they endured in their faith for the survival of the early church.  Would YOU have the resolve to suffer in the name of Christ?  Consider what they went through:
DO YOU KNOW HOW THE APOSTLES DIED?  Here is a link :  http://www.shrinesf.org/apostles.htm

I found several other links - if you search you will find a number of them as well.  And Norm forwarded me an email with some more detail that I will send to you all later.  Thanks Norm!

The next topic was centered around the Shroud of Turin.  SOOO much information about this topic.  I think I may do a separate posting about the Shroud later in the week.  It will be on display in 2010, although I couldn't find specific dates, I beleive it will be displayed next month.  Jim Dunn also indicated that he may hold conduct a presentation at church about the Shroud.  It's a fascinating topic to be sure!  There exist a number of websites.  Try:  http://www.shroud.com/

Our last topic, which definitely merits a separate posting, was about Eucharistic Miracles.  We were all very impressed  (again!) with Jim's knowledge and passion about this topic.  Look for a posting on this soon!

As usual, this past Saturday was filled with discussion inspired by the Holy Spirit.  I am always amazed how we are led to discuss certain things.  Never are we at a loss for a topic.  I can't wait until we meet again!

-Eric

The "Good" in Good Friday

I have heard a number of people asking lately why Good Friday is named as such since it is the day commemorating the Crucifixion.  What could possibly be "Good" about that?

The good that comes out of Christ's sacrifice is apparent on a number of fronts I think.  Consider:

• Think of the fact that Christ opened the door to Eternity with the Creator of All with his sacrifice.  This is the ultimate gift of gifts. 
• Christ's suffering was in perfect union with the scriptures of the old testament.  In particular the prophet Isaiah.  I encourage you to read chapters 52 and 53.  Awesome when you consider the detail.
• The suffering of Christ brings us knowledge that our sufferings in our daily life have purpose.  His suffering was for the SOLE purpose of our salvation.   Our sufferings, whatever they might be, are to be seen as a blessing.  A hard viewpoint to accept, but unwaveringly, God provides answers to why we suffer the things we do.  Good invariably comes out of this

The other point I am considering today is the human aspect of Jesus and how difficult it must have been for Him as a MAN to know absolutely the pain He would endure today and that He was marching towards His death.  Take strength from His resoluteness.  NOTHING is insurmountable with the Love and Grace of our wonderful and most glorious God.

-Eric

We Answered The Call !

Pictured from left to right are:  Norm, Louis, Mike, Ray, Andy, Eric, Father Martin, Mike, Jeremy, John, Jay, Jason, Dave, Troy and Jim.  Photo by John Sabbak (not pictured)

This past Saturday was our annual visit to the Answer The Call Catholic Men's Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.  We were fortunate enough to have 16 of us attend the conference. 

The conference is one of the highlights of our year and we all certainly look forward to the day.  A BIG THANK YOU to John Blandin for again putting the trip together for us this year.  It was a terrific day of learning and spiritual growth.

The speakers this year included:

Jack McKeon  - former manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Florida Marlins. Jack's speech centered on the power of prayer and the importance of choosing a Saint that we can pray to on a regular basis for intervention in our lives.  He also stressed that we should not be fearful about professing our faith, and that in fact some day, someone may thank us for showing that strength.

Brian Rooney - I think ALL of us were thoroughly impressed by this member of the Rooney famiy of NFL fame (Pittsburgh Steelers).  Mr. Rooney's speech was inspiring to say the least.  His unapologetic approach to his faith was refreshing to all of us.  A particular theme that stood out was one of standing firm in your faith and taking time to put on the armor of Christ each day in order to prepare for the battles that await.  I plan to write more about his speech in later postings.  You can learn more about Mr. Rooney at http://runwithrooney.com/

Father Mark Burger - As usual, Father Burger focused on getting us all ready for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  It is always interesting to me that Father Burger is so adept at listening to God's word committed to doing his will.  Each year that I have seen him at the conference, I have been impressed with his approach to preparing for his speech.  He asks God what he is supposed to talk about.  And God always tells him!  You can follow Father Mark's blog at : http://www.stjohnwc.org/blog/father-mark

Jim Gruden - Mr. Gruden's is a true believer in the power of Eucharistic Adoration.  He gave some pretty impressive data to back up his passion for having this available in our parishes.  He also told his amazing story of faith as he relayed how he became an organ donor to a refugee from Rwanda.  

As always, the conference culminated in the celebration of the Mass.  It is a very powerful experience to share with a few thousand men.  The singing sure is different than on Sunday's at home!

Thank you again to all my St. Aloysius Men's Prayer Group brothers for a memorable day!  God Bless us all!

-Eric

Notes from March 6 Meeting

SIXTEEN MEMBERS TODAY!!! 

Certainly the largest group we've had.  We were posed with the problem (how wonderful!) of deciding whether or not to divide into two smaller groups.  We went with the regular format of one group and it seemed to work well.

Welcome to Tom - our newest member.  Recruited by Norm, our new member from the last meeting.  Way to go Norm!!!

As usual, our discussion took on a theme we did not really expect to focus on.  The Holy Spirit always guides us like this.  I look forward to it.  We spent a great deal of time talking about fasting.

Jim enlightened us all with his views, knowlege and experience about fasting.  Jim - we are always grateful for your input and are so happy that you are willing to share your experiences.

Next - a quote from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10 that seemed to capture our attention:

"Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall."  We all had the understanding from this that we can not rest on our spiritual good deeds.  We must keep moving.  Towards God.  When we stand still, when we THINK we are standing secure - trouble inevitably awaits.

The Gospel discussion from Luke 13 and the parable from Jesus about the fig tree was an interesting discussion.  God is patient with those of us who do not produce fruit that serves his purpose. Although God is patient, this parable reminds us that at some point we DO have to repent.  If not, we put ourselves in peril and risk being cut down like the fig tree mentioned in this passage.

Mass following was quite well attended.  Father Jack told us all about how beautiful Rembrandt's Prodigal Son paining is, which is why I put up a copy here.  It really is something to behold - Thanks Father Jack!

Some links that I would like share with you are:

http://yimcatholic.blogspot.com/ and http://www.sainthoodandsurrender.com/ 

Have a wonderful week!

From our meeting on Saturday, February 20

It was another great turnout for our group this week.  We had 14 of us there.  We've had 14 a couple times in the past that I can remember.  I was hoping one more member would show up and become the 15th person.  That would have been the first time that I know of that we would have had 15 people together.  Maybe next time.

Welcome to our newest member - Norm!  We were all glad to have you there and even happier that you mentioned that you came as a result of our group being mentioned as a part of the stewardship program outreach announcement during Sunday Mass.  We all hope to see you again and again!

Our discussion seemed to focus around our realization that the Lenten season is a focused time for us to test ourselves to be who we want to be.  To be who God is calling us to be.

Michael mentioned a salesman who discussed how he could automatically add to his bank savings account by signing up for a regular automatic decduction.  He related this to our spiritual lives.  We don't have that option with God.  We can't sign up for an "automatic spritiual deposit" into our "faith accounts."  We are called to make deposits into this account through our actions.  This was another reminder of what the Lenten season is about.

Troy mentioned that we should spend more time reading about the Saints.  Of course, I first thought he meant the SUPER BOWL CHAMPION SAINTS - but he meant the Saints in heaven.   Sorry - selfish moment there!  But we all agreed that there is a lot to be gained from spending time reading about, learning about, and praying to the Saints.

I can not remember who mentioned it, but someone mentioned that there was a proverb that spoke to the thought of resisting temptation nad it will flee from you.  I could not find a proverb that spoke directly to this point, but I did come across a quote from the book of James, James 4: 7 - it says:

So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

It's about changing our behaviors and the rewards and peace that result from choosing to do so.

Finally - Jay Schmidt mentioned that there are Chapel Prayer Services during Lent on Friday's at 7 PM.  The prayer services will be held during lent and include prayers from the Pieta Prayer Booklet and the St. Bridget Prayers.  You can read more about the 15 St. Brigdget Prayers at  http://www.medjugorje.org/pieta.htm

Have a wonderful, Christ centered week!

-Eric

Second Day of Lent

So, today is the second day of lent.  I've been thinking about this blog post all day and can't really come up with anything poignant to say.  Maybe that's ok.

I'll just take the opportunity to say thank you to Jesus for his sacrifice.  He did it for me.  And you.

I pray that I find strength in his willingness to die for my sins.  I'll pray tonight for guidance about what to post on here tomorrow.