Men's Fellowship: Steel Sharpens Steel

I spent this past weekend at a men's retreat sponsored by our parish. Men getting together to discuss and experience faith. Men deepening their faith. Men praying for each other for more faith. What an incredible experience.

Before I became a Catholic, is used to believe that "religious" people were the 98 pound weaklings of the society that needed the crutch of religion because they couldn't handle reality. Thank goodness I have been purged of that nonsense. The only true reality is the one based in faith in God!

I sat with doctors & store clerks, lawyers grocery & store cashiers, engineers & janitors, accountants, & general laborers. There wasn't a 98 pound weakling in the bunch. We were all men of God! All I could think of is the Knights of the Round Table - warriors readying for the battle.

Only the battle we were preparing for was not the Crusades of the middle ages. This was the battle against evil in the present day. The evil that is in our homes, our families, our societies, our lives.

The title of this post is from a friend of mine. We were discussing how powerful it is when we spend time together. And he said we need things like the Knights of Columbus because we can get together and increase of faith - steel sharpens steel!

We gain strength by being together and the evil one wants to separate and conquer...but united we will stand. But we can only win the battle with Christ! Without him we can do nothing.

Selfishness

How often does selfishness cause problems...at work...at home...with God? This seems so simple, yet I am completely dumbfounded by this. My own selfishness effects so many things.

Occam's Razor is a principle that goes something like this "The simplest solution is the best solution". I have spent so many hours in prayer, asking for God to help other people with their sins (wrongs that they have committed against me), but never thought these folks may have been reacting to my selfishness, my feeling of entitlement, my ego-centric world view. How extremely simple...they are not the problem...I am!

I waste so much energy being mad at others (mostly my wife) because they don't see things my way. We don't go to the restaurants I want to go to, I don't get leave the house when I am ready, I can't spend money when I want to. How selfish of me to try and impose my world on others.

When asked "What is wrong with the world"? G. K. Chesterton responded "I Am". This never quite made any sense to me, but now it does. I am the problem with the world. Not that I am causing all the problems with the world, but the problems that I see are because I am looking at them as a very selfish man, who thinks...gulp...I am important.

I just finished reading an excellent book on spiritual development. Ralph Martin's Fulfillment of All Desire is such a powerful work. In it he compares the writings of several saints (St. Augustine, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Therese, St. John of The Cross, and others) to show the different stages of holiness.

There were several times that I had to put the book down. Not because it was too scary, but because it was so inspiring that I needed to really contemplate the message. One of those moments was during the section on selfishness. It became so clear to me that I was missing the whole point of being Catholic. Even though I went to mass every Sunday (and any other day I could), went to confession regularly, prayed daily, etc., I was still missing one of my main failings. The world wasn't created to have my will imposed on it!

Dear Holy Trinity, please forgive me for being such a fool. You have repeatedly given me opportunities to move closer to you, to let more of your love in my heart, to serve you. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, you are my salvation!

Costa Rica Trip

I spent the first week of October 2007 visiting our production facilities in Costa Rica. When people hear the company I work for has a plant in Costa Rica they usually say "Wow. What a treat that must be" or something along that lines.

Obviously they have never been to Costa Rica in October. Due to it's location, Costa Rica is considered a tropical rainforest (i.e. it rains alot!). The locals refer to October as the "rainy season" (i.e. it really really really rains alot in October).

I did get a cool photo of one of the local churches, even though I didn't get a chance to go inside. The attached photo is a church outside Alajuela and was originally built for one of the wealthy families in the area. The land that they controlled was so huge they had the church as a gift to all the people that lived and worked for them.

What are friends for...

Here is another photo from our recent nuptials. We asked our friends Bill and Carolyne Millard to help us out and be our "witnesses". The irony is that these two have been "witnessing" to us for almost two years.

Bill and Carolyne are members of our parish, and have been instrumental in our involvement with the Catholic Charismatic Movement. It seems that everytime I am at a crossroad in my faith, either Bill or Carolyne, or both of them are their to help out. Gladys and I are truly blessed to have these two in our lives.

God Bless you both!

Married...AGAIN!

Yes, we finally did it. While in our 25th year of being legally married, Gladys and I are now married in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Some may think we are completelely nuts. They may be right but not about this one.

Awhile ago I heard a man on Ave Maria Radio put it this way "If you aim for heaven and miss, you hit purgatory. If you aim for purgatory, the only other option is Hell"! Well our aim might not be good, but we are going for the fences...er I mean the pearly gates!

I love you honey!

perplexing commercial

Today I saw a commercial on TV for AIDS awareness which contained a bunch of celebrities with one or two line statements about why we should care about AIDS.

At one point, one of the celebs looks solemnly into the camera and states "Because it's our future" (i.e. we should care about AIDS because if we let those with AIDS die, it will effect our future).

What???? The overwhelming majority of those with AIDS get it because they don't belive in procreation. How does this effect our future?

OY!

Cool Pic of Gladys & Mike

Gladys, Mike and I attended the "Beats and Eats" festival in Pontiac, MI. This is a picture of the two of them standing next to a 68 Dodge Charger. Good food, good music, great time.