AMDG
March 14, 2019
Dear Father:
First of all, thank you so much for giving your life to the God, His Church, and to us. Your work is so important and crucial in being another Christ in bringing us Mass, the sacraments, counseling us, teaching us, overseeing parish groups, and managing the parish, an enterprise just as challenging as running a business enterprise or other organization. Your duties in running one or two or even three parishes often with a school and other services can be overwhelming while keeping up with the indispensable Liturgy of the Hours. Through your most noble vocation over your career you will have brought the Lord’s mercy to hundreds if not thousands of souls and help them along the narrow and often difficult road to salvation. May God reward you richly and use all of the trials, crosses, and frustrations of your crucial job to make you a saint. Again my deepest gratitude.
It is the role of the father to assume
spiritual leadership in the family, but in many if not most cases, the
mother assumes that role. As Danny
Abramowicz, 2012 Conference speaker and former All-Pro wide receiver for the
New Orleans Saints, says, “The men have dropped the ball”. If the father takes the spiritual lead, the
probability that the children will remain faithful to the Church in later life
doubles or triples. The Church in
America may be losing a generation of youth.
The men must become the pillars of the parish, not only the women. The men must step up. Thus it is crucial to reach the men and the Steubenville
Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal plays an important part because the enthusiasm
generated is contagious as the men witness to each other. Setting the men on fire means stronger
families which in turn means the renewal of the parish.
The Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal will be
held on Saturday March 23 from 9 am to 4 pm at St. Stephen’s Church in Caldwell. The theme is “The
Cross as a Source of Strength and Path to Ultimate Victory Over All Adversity”
with St. Joseph, model of a true man of
God, as the Conference’s patron.
The Conference will open with a Holy Hour before
the Blessed Sacrament. The
featured speaker is Mark Nehrbas, a speaker at many conferences. The
morning talk, “Victory of the Cross in My
Battle With Cancer”, will include his testimony of his six year battle
with an aggressive form of stomach cancer and his healing at Lourdes,
France. In the afternoon talk, “Victory Over Suffering: Lessons Learned
From the Cross”. Mark Nehrbas
will explore the mystery of suffering, why God permits it, how he confronted
it, how he grew from it, the lessons he learned, how it can be very productive,
how it can make one a saint, and tips on
how to cope when it’s your turn to suffer.
Sooner or later every one of us must suffer.
The
crux of his talk is redemptive suffering, a concept which Protestants and most
Catholics do not understand. Doctors
recognize that patients who spiritualize their suffering do better. Uniting our cross with the Lord’s cross and
offering it up as a dynamic prayer for our country, our Church, and our loved
ones makes suffering productive and gives it purpose.
Mark Nehrbas
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.
Mark Nehrbas has served the Lord by working on the
campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville for 32 years until his
retirement in August of 2017. He was
administrator for FIRE, a Catholic ministry that provided evangelistic rallies
in cities across the United States, Canada, the Philippines, England and
Ireland. Nehrbas served as Director of
Development raising over ten million dollars for student financial aid,
buildings, and special projects. As
Director of Christian Outreach for 13 years, Mark led the summer conference
operation at the University, overseeing the growth of conference participants
from under 25,000 to over 41,000 per year.
Mark is a dynamic speaker and given talks at local, regional, and
national conferences as well as in Jamaica.
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. You and the parish representatives you appoint can utilize our
Conference Blog at http://diosteubmen.blogspot.com. The 2019
series of resources begins with Blog #160 – Overview; and continued with 161)
Ad Form; 162) Diocesan Press Release #1; 163) Possible Short Bulletin
Announcements; 164 Promotion Ideas; 165) Functions & Crucial Importance of
the Parish Rep; 166) Sign Up Sheet; 167) Sample Bulletin Insert; 168) Diocesan
Press Release #2; 169) Backing of the Pastor; 170) Role of the Deacon; 171)
Example of an After Mass Talk By a Layman; 172) Possible Pastor Announcements;
173) Diocesan Press Release #3; 174) Catholic Newspaper Press Release; 175)
Secular Newspaper Press Release; 176) Appeal to the Diocesan Councils of the
Knights of Columbus; 177) Invitation to Parishes in West Virginia; 178)
Invitation to College Students; and 179) My Ad in the 2019 Program
Booklet. Numbers 165 – 179 will be added
in the next few days. They correspond to
numbers 141- 155 of 2018 which are similar in principle to the current
year.
The diocesan website at www.diosteub.org has a link to the brochure
and Additional Information. Hover over
the “ABOUT” Menu at the top of home page.
Then hover on “Men’s Ministry” and click on “Men’s Day of Renewal”. The link to our brochure and “Additional
Information” are on the bottom left under documents. You should have received in January a poster
and a packet of brochures for each of your parishes. If not, please inform me. For your convenience you will find
attached 1) Conference Brochure 2)
Registration Forms, 3) Additional Information, 4) Sample Bulletin
Announcements, 5) Promotion Ideas, 6) Functions of the Parish Representative,
and 7) Sample Bulletin Insert.
There are also
interesting articles on men’s spirituality at http://diosteubmen.blogspot.com, along with
summaries of past talks, promotional resources, and other information. After the Conference and throughout the year,
articles will be added to help the men keep in good spiritual shape. Clergy, Religious, and knowledgeable layman
are invited to submit to me for the Conference Blog articles or copies of
homilies that are particularly appropriate for men’s spirituality. For a greater variety, go to “A Little Bit
for God and His People” at http://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.
*********************************************************************************
St. Joseph, model of a true
man of God, pray for us and for the success of the Men's Conference.
AS A SHORT ANNOUNCEMENT
Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal Saturday, March 23 from 9 am – 4 pm at St. Stephen’s Church in Caldwell. The theme is “The Cross as a Source of
Strength and Path to Ultimate Victory Over All Adversity”. The main speaker is Mark Nehrbas, former director of
Franciscan University conferences and noted speaker himself, will give a
testimony regarding his victorious six
year battle with stomach cancer and miraculous healing at Lourdes. More important, he will teach us the lessons
he learned from his suffering, how to confront it, and how it can make us
saints when it’s your turn to suffer as part of the human condition. The $25 Registration could be a belated
Christmas gift for the men in your extended family. Contact Name
of Parish Representative (phone no. & e-mail) (e.g., John Doe (245-9404
or jdoe@gmail.com) to register. Enjoy
the fellowship by going in the parish van, which leaves at 6:30 am from the
Parish Hall.
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