AMDG
February 23, 2018
Dear West Virginia Pastor:
The Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal will be
held on Saturday March 3 from 9 am to 3:30 pm at St. Stephen’s Church in
Caldwell. The Conference will open
with a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament.
There will be a Penance Service and Mass presided by Bishop
Monforton. The featured speaker is Mike
Aquilina, nationally known expert on the early Church, author of over
50 books, and speaker. His morning talk is titled
“The Strength of Heaven”, which will show how the angels were effective
witnesses and can teach us much to apply to our daily lives. In the afternoon, he will show how the
witness of the martyrs of the early Church can teach us to be witnesses today
in secular America. Mike Aquilina will
challenge the men to follow the example of the early Church Fathers and martyrs
and be effective witnesses in their homes, in their parishes, on the job, and
in their communities. As Blessed Pope
Paul VI said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if
he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”
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Mike Aquilina
I
am a member of St. Louis Church in Gallipolis in southeastern Ohio across the
river from you and am a member of the Steering Committee for organizing the
Steubenville Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal.
Our parish, Sacred Heart Church in Point Pleasant WV, and Sacred Heart
Church in Pomeroy, OH have been sister parishes for many years. They invite each other to parish functions
and some go to daily Mass at the other parish when the home pastor is
away. The pastors worked together beautifully
with Penance services and substituted occasionally at a weekend Mass.
In
that same spirit we thought that it would be great if a group of men from your parish
would attend. Perhaps this joint effort
will stimulate more cooperation and pooling of resources among the parishes of
the two dioceses on opposite sides of the river. If we can attract a good number of men from
both states, we will be able to provide more nationally known speakers in
future years. Of course, we would not
want to interfere with any event of the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese, but I
understand that they have decentralized regional retreats which our men could
also attend. Thus the two are compatible
with each other, especially if one conference or the other is more convenient
for some of the men.
Mike Aquilina is the executive
vice president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a
Catholic research center, based in Steubenville. Drawing from his diverse experience as a
journalist, prolific author, conference speaker, and father of a family of six
children, Mr. Aquilina can speak to the needs of the men.
This background puts Mike
Aquilina in a position to speak on the theme of this year’s Diocese of
Steubenville Men’s Conference, “Being a Cloud of Witnesses”. That is through the power of faith rise up
to be the spiritual leaders of their families, to do their part in renewing
their parishes, be servant leaders in the community, and to make a difference
for Christ by applying the social teachings of the Church to their
professions.
Attached
is a 1) the Conference Brochure, 2) Additional Information, 3) Registration
Forms, 4) Functions of the Parish Rep, 5) Summary of last year’s talk by Capt.
Guy Gruters, former POW. 6) Example of a
bulletin insert, 7) Example of an After Mass Talk By a Layman; and 8) Possible
Pastor Announcements.
The backing of the pastor is crucial. Bulletin blurbs and inserts are
not enough. A plug from the pulpit is
helpful. Being already so busy with many
responsibilities, the pastor doesn’t have time to get too involved, but he could appoint a
parish representative or a committee to mobilize the men with one on one
selling, organize a van pool, and register the men. Filling out the attached registration form in
advance with the $25 payment and giving it to a parish representative would
speed things up at the door. If
sufficient time, you may send them to Roger Huck; %Men’s Day of Renewal, P.O. Box 54;
Beverly, OH 45715. That would help our planning. A parish representative would facilitate
follow up on the undecided and for organizing a car or van pool.
The
men may bring their teen age sons, godsons, relatives, and friends. Thus the Conference can also be a father and son event, a shared experience.
Non-Catholics are also welcome.
The local
Knights of Columbus council can be invaluable in mobilizing their
members and the other men in the surrounding parishes. The spiritual formation of their men is very
much within their mission. A layman
could briefly talk about the conference at the end of Mass. This would be a great supplement to any
promotion that you care to make in the bulletin, from the pulpit, etc.
I
know that there is only one week-end left before the Conference, which is not
much time. But I’m hoping that you can
send at least a few men. I'm sorry about
not being earlier, but it is still very doable.
I apologize and hope to do better next year.
Useful Resources for
Promotion. There’s
more information on the diocesan website at www.diosteub.org
with a link at the bottom of the home page and the Conference Blog, “Becoming
a True Man of God” at diosteubmen.blogspot.com which is also
devoted to articles to keep men in spiritual shape after the Conference. For a greater variety, go to “A
Little Bit for God and His People” at paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com.
The goal of the Men's Day of Renewal is to focus on the spiritual
development of the participants. The includes
helping the men to take the right path before having to face the four last
things.......Death, Judgment, Heaven or Hell.
Having spiritually strong men of faith and character translates into
more solid families, more dynamic parishes, and better communities. This is
crucial to the Church, now and in the future. It is also critical for nurturing
vocations.
True,
Caldwell, Ohio is a good distance for some parishes. It involves sacrificing most of a Saturday
with some travel, but Lent is all about sacrifice and the quest for
holiness. During the middle ages,
pilgrims would travel for days by foot or horseback. Organizing the men to go together in a van
pool for a 2 – 4 hour trip would give it a pilgrimage flavor, especially if
there's a rosary and discussion about the day's events along the way. It's a great opportunity as well. It can solidify the parish as the men get to
know each other better through great fellowship, especially if the pastor
accompanies them.
Another option is to stay at the
Microtel behind the Sunoco of the I-77 exit and make a retreat out of it. Less than two miles from the St. Stephen’s
Church which has a parish program of Stations of the Cross (Mass at Immaculate
Conception Church nearby) on Friday at 7 pm preceded and followed by
Eucharistic Adoration.
It
should be a great day of enjoyable fellowship and spiritual invigoration. The last five
years the men returned refreshed spiritually, reinvigorated, and
enthusiastic. Expect the same this
year. The men sang with such enthusiasm
that the walls reverberated. But most of all, through grace we'll have a few more
good spiritually strong men for the kingdom of God in the battle against
secularism and other evils and problems that our troubled society must
confront.......men --not spiritual weaklings and wimps-- who will put Christ
into their professions. Finally, the men
will become more knowledgeable, firmer in their faith, and better prepared for
a more joyful Easter, not to mention a greater closeness to God and eternity
which life on earth is all about.
Often the enthusiasm
generated at a men's conference is contagious and
there is a spillover into parish life since the men see fellow participants
moved by the beauty and power of the faith.
Non-Catholics are also welcome.
This is all a part of the new evangelization......to fire up the
apathetic Catholic who doesn't do much beyond attending Sunday Mass, the
minimalist; to touch the drifting Catholic and the fallen away through the
publicity and inviting them to attend. The experience of seeing so many men enthusiastically participating and
lifting up their voices in song is uplifting.
Please
don't hesitate to call me at 740-245-9404 or e-mail me at paulrsebastian@yahoo.com if I can be
of help. Hopefully, the men will return
on fire which would make your parish more dynamic. Thank you so much and God bless.
SUMMARY OF WHAT THE MEN'S CONFERENCE CAN DO FOR
YOU.....BENEFITS
· Get into good spiritual shape and
avoid being a spiritual weakling, i.e., a spiritual wimp.
· Have a great day of enjoyable fellowship
and spiritual invigoration in the parish van and at the conference,
resulting in deeper friendships and parish cohesion.
· Develop ourselves as men of
character and spiritual strength as we obtain the graces to conquer
ourselves and cope with the problems that our troubled society and economy
brings to us.
· Be a more effective spiritual leader of
your family as a better husband and father.
· Prepare our hearts for the great feast of
Easter and for eternity as we become closer to God..
· Become knowledgeable about the faith
and grow in Christian maturity. We know
so little about Church teaching.
· Become a more effective soldier of Christ
as you do your part in establishing the kingdom, winning the spiritual-culture
war against secularism, and put Christ into your profession.
AS A SHORT ANNOUNCEMENT
Diocesan
Men's Day of Renewal Saturday, March 3 from 9 am – 3:30 pm at St. Stephen’s Church in
Caldwell. The theme is “Being a
Cloud of Witnesses”. The main speaker is Mike Aquilina, a prolific
author of over 50 books, particularly on the early Church. He is a nationally known speaker, appearing
frequently on EWTN and Relevant Radio.
Mike Aquilina will show how the witness of the angels and the martyrs of
the early Church can teach us how to be witnesses today in secular
America. Registration fee is $25 at the
door.
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