Dr. Allen Hunt’s two talks to 217 men at the 2015 Steubenville Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal at St. Bernard’s Church
in Beverly - Ohio on March 7 went over very well as reflected by the reaction of the
men and their written evaluations at the end of the day. Some of the men shared the day with their
sons.
The
Men’s Day of Renewal opened with a formal Holy Hour with Benediction followed by
Deacon Mark Estes, who promoted opportunities to serve in the diaconate. After Dr. Hunt’s first talk, Msgr. Robert Kawa,
the host pastor, presided over a Reconciliation Service with the aid of a
number of confessors. He advocated that
penitents pray: “Lord, what should I confess? He will tell you things.” Then the penitent should ask himself, “What am
I going to do about them?”.
Vocations. Fr. Michael Gossett, the Diocesan Director,
suggested that the young single men think of serving Christ and His Church as a
priest. A husband gives himself to his
wife; the gives himself to the people.
Pray for His will for your life. Pray
for seminarians. A priest never knows the
consequences of what he says and what will stick among individuals in the
congregation. More information can be
found at www.steubenvillevocations.com.
Bishop Jeffrey Monforton
presided at the Mass and talked to the men, accepting questions. He urged communion with God. Make God your all. Aspire to love what God loves. Get away from self-absorption. It’s not about me nor self-esteem; it’s about
Him as shepherd. Christ must be the
center of your life. The Bishop
admonished that neglecting parents is a mortal sin. Trust God.
 | ||||||
| Dr. Allen at the mike on his radio show. |
Dr. Allen Hunt’s Long Journey to
the True Faith
In
his morning talk, Dr. Hunt related how he discovered the true, the good, and
the beautiful in the Church. We are part
of a denomination that educates more kids, feeds more kids, clothes more kids,
and treats more kids. We have a life
saving treasure.
While
working on his doctorate of New Testament at Yale in 1992, another member of
the class, the Dominican Friar Steve invited him to speak with him on holiness
to a group of 50 cloistered Dominican nuns. Their mission is prayer. His role was to present the Methodist Wesley view. A smiling radiant Sr. Diana with the presence
of glowing holiness, impressed Allen as the most beautiful woman he has ever
seen. She kept asking; “Why aren’t you part of the Church?” Allen’s biggest obstacle was the Eucharist.
He
cultivated that mustard seed for 15 years before finally crossing the Tiber to
Rome. Once he opened the Bible and the
words “This is my Body” jumped off the page.
He discovered that for 100 years no one questioned the Eucharist until
the Reformation that spawned 30,000 different Christian sects. People died for the Eucharist. When on vacations all over the world, Dr.
Hunt was drawn to attend Mass. It was
all about the Eucharist.
Down
the street from his Methodist Church was a Perpetual Adoration Chapel that he
would occasionally visit. On the feast
of St. Thomas Aquinas, one of Catholicism’s greatest thinkers, Dr. Hunt met a
very holy priest. It was St. Thomas who once
said after the Consecration: “All my work in comparison to the Eucharist is
straw”.
In
closing Dr. Allen Hunt affirming “By faith we turn on the spigot for God’s grace
in front of the tabernacle or at the Consecration or upon receiving Communion. ALWAYS REMEMBER WHO YOUR ARE; WE ARE PEOPE OF
THE EUCHARIST”. Don Coen, the MC, reaffirmed
“Act like you are”.
Four
Signs of a Dynamic Catholic
In his afternoon talk, Dr. Allen Hunt declared that the
key to becoming a dynamic Catholic is to develop four habits.
Prayer. No
prayer life, no spiritual life……you’re done.
He recounted how anxious he is to speak with his daughter every day at 2
pm. “How much more does our Father in
Heaven desire the same? For example, a
woman improves little by little on the treadwheel. It’s the same with prayer. Start with just ten minutes a day.
Study. He recommend five pages of the Bible each day
and five pages of spiritual reading.
Generosity. The Bible advocates tithing, i.e., giving 10%
of one’s income to the Church and charity.
Compared to Evangelicals (4%) and other Protestants (2.3%), Catholics
are tied with atheists at 1.7%. We
should try to give 1% more every year.
After all, God is the supreme giver, giving us life, salvation, and the
Eucharist.
Christ spoke more about money than any other thing
because of greed…….”stuff” is the biggest competitor for our hearts. “Let go of stuff and share it. We are created to be givers”.
Evangelization. About a third of Catholics are Christmas and
Easter Christians. Share books. Befriend people. Communicate love. Care about them. Love them; be concerned about them. “Come to Mass and we’ll go out for dinner”. You can’t argue people into the Faith. Pray for them. Live your vocation; that will help others to
live theirs.
Links to Articles and Videos on Dr. Allen Hunt
www.amazon.com –
stocks his books.
Links to Articles and Videos on Dr. Allen Hunt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITWF7rXE8vY – His talk at the Charlotte Eucharistic Congress.
003&hspart=mozilla&p=Dr.+Allen+Hunt#id=1&vid=95645725a9539592f16bba99429a0b87&action=click – Videos of a number of Allen Hunt’s talks.
http://matthewsleonard.com/062/ - His podcasts
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/art-catholic-matthew-leonard/id1017177745?mt=2 - Art of Being Catholic podcasts.
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