July 1998
Index
- The Holy Spirit as SacraMentor by Fr. Bob Camuso
- SacraMentors and Men of the Upper Room by Lory Misel
- Do You Feel Called to Teach? (Part II) by Carl D Jones
- SacraMentors Ends Season With a Burst of Activity and Four New Communities by Carl D Jones
- Our Journey Continues by Carl D Jones
- SacraMentor Women Program Graduates Ten by Carl D Jones
- Book Review by Steve Egge
- Membership Opportunity coming your way! by Carl D Jones
The Holy Spirit as SacraMentor
by Fr. Bob Camuso
Lory and I are constantly amazed at the miracles we hear when SacraMentors gather. We simply ask the question: "What miracle happened in your life this past week?" Then it's like cracking opening a dam. A flood of grace begins to pour out all over the room.
Often, before I ask to hear miracles, I think to myself, "Are you being
presumptuous to ask such a question—to think that miracles are so commonplace?" Or, "Will anyone have anything to say? " But these questions last only for a moment because I know that it’s not I who am asking. It is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants men to witness to God’s wonderful works. And so I surrender the question to God and to the men. I still wonder how I could ask, but, at the same time, I trust that this is what God wants.
Then I sit and listen in wonder at how God works through the SacraMentors method to create profound changes in the lives of men. I feel a sense of awe. I am humbled. I know that what we are hearing is not my doing, or Lory’s
doing or any of your doing. It’s the Holy Spirit come alive in the hearts of these men of faith.
The Holy Spirit is like a pilot light in each man that never goes out. The SacraMentors program simply turns on the gas and, suddenly, boom! We have a fire. We have heat. We have spiritual energy. We have excitement. We have God’s grace which, like heat, permeates every form of matter and space in the room.
There’s no escape from this reality. There’s nothing fake going on here. We all know it’s true. We think we come to a meeting to help the movement, or to pray, or maybe just to smooze with our brothers. But that’s not why we really come. We come because something in us pulls at us the way a tide pulls the sea. It is the Holy Spirit. And like a tide, the gravity of the Spirit is subtle, hidden, not noticeable at first. We simply do our part and show up.
Then, like a tide being pulled out to sea, our fear is drained from us. The banks of our hearts are exposed. We see what is hidden in each other. We are now in that sacred place, at the low tide of falseness; at the low tide of the need to compete or be right. We are relieved and refreshed to be at last at the place of the true self.
If you’ve been in a room when men speak from this place about miracles, you know the stories are not made up. You know they are true. Then you remember that God is real. Then you remember how much you need God in your life. And you are grateful to have your deepest hunger for God satisfied in this special way.
SacraMentors and Men of the Upper Room
by Lory Misel
I heard the Master, He called my name.
He softly touched my soul
He invited me, He reminded me
In His Plan, I have a role.
It's Apostles I need, to further My work
I'm not wrong, it's you I'll groom.
To join with Me and My brothers here
My Brothers of the Upper Room.
You must be mistaken, You can't mean me
I'm sinful and full of pride
You shouldn't select a man like me.
Ask another, more worthy than I.
I know your heart, dearest brother Mine
The reason I selected you
Is because God’s Plan has a special part
One only you and I can do.
Okay, My Lord, If You say it's so
I will trust and follow You
But hold my hand and help me along
I am weak and fearful too.
Fear not My brother, Fear nothing here
Release your fears and stress
For with my Love and faith in you
I will teach you how to bless.
We'll be SacraMentors, our dearest Lord
Our lives we give to you
Lead us along and share Your Love
And teach us what to do.
Thanks for preparing this Upper Room
And for teaching us what to do.
We will follow You and join as One
Brothers, In Christ, with You.
Do You Feel Called to Teach? (Part II)
by Carl D Jones
In our last newsletter we asked the question, "Do you feel called to teach?". Some of you answered this call, indicating you were ready take a leap of faith and let the Lord enter your life in a special way.
Some of you, for many good reasons, could not answer the call at this time. If you still wish to help the SacraMentor program I would like to suggest some less time consuming ways to serve your brothers and future brothers.
After a pastor has commited to have the SacraMentor program come his parish the most critical phase starts and that is the program’s promotion among the men of the parish. To promote the program within the parish we have developed the following promotion schedule;
1) Six weeks from the date of the program we have the parish place an announcement in their bulletin letting the men know that there will be a male spirituality series starting soon.
2) The pastor writes a letter to men he would like to see become involved in the program (this is at the pastor’s option).
3) Five weeks from the program we have the parish place a full page insert into the bulletin and men come to all masses to give personal testimony,
4) For the next four weeks bulletin announcements are run and men sign up for the program with the parish office.
The most critical part of the promotion schedule is to have enough men to speak at the masses at all the parishes we are going to. This is where your help and support of the program comes in.
We need men who would be willing to commit two hours of time once every other month to promote the program at parishes where pastors have commited to conduct the program. We need men who will go in pairs or individually to a parish and give a 2-3 minute personal testimony at the end of mass about what the SacraMentor program has meant to them in their lives and then answer questions of individual men after that mass.
We need men who will come to one or more of the SacraMentor sessions to give their personal testimony to the men going through the program. This is done at each one of the four sessions of the series and therefore many men are needed.
We need men who will come to the Saturday Sanctum to give personal testimony, help facilitate the Process of the Apostles session, help cook dinner and help at the mass/communion service and the Stone Ceremony. Remember how moving your experience was. You can help make the new brothers experience be just as moving.
We need men to write book reviews of spiritual books they have read since becoming a SacraMentor. We will include this book review in each issue of the SacraMentor newsletter (see Book Review in this issue).
We need men who will share their personal "miracles" in a written form that can be shared with Bishops, Pastors and other religious to show them the power of this life changing program. (See Testimony page)
We need men who want to be part of a training team but who feel that training is not what they are called to do. The facilitator role in the training team is extremely important and a role that will make the entire process organized and flow much more smoothly. This position needs someone who is organized, detail oriented and can commit to attend all four sessions. The person who fills this role should be willing to work with parish volunteer who helps set up the facility for the meeting, other SacraMentors who will come to give testimony at the sessions and with me in registering and coordinating all the materials necessary for the four week series.
There are opportunities to serve the SacraMentor program and each is as important. Your help is invaluable to the success of the program. I urge you to get involved and grow. We learn the most when we extend ourselves to others. Not only do we learn, but we grow and become better children of God. I encourage you to help other men become better Christians. Call me at (253) 863-1269 and I will answer any questions you may have.
"I thank Him who has given
me strength for this,
Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he judged me faithful
by appointing me to his service."
— 1 Timothy1:12
SacraMentors Ends Season With a Burst of Activity and Four New Communities
by Carl D Jones
Do you feel the power of prayer?
You should, you now have four more communities of SacraMentors praying for you every week.
The SacraMentors program has added Holy Spirit in Kent, Sacred Heart in Lacey, St. Stephen the Martyr in Renton and St. Thomas More in Lynnwood to the roster of parishes in the diocese. These new SacraMentor communities are meeting on a weekly basis, praying for their families, their brothers, their communities and the world.
They are learning how much love the Lord has for us and how powerfully the Holy Spirit will work in their lives if they only ask for the help. I ask you to pray for their growth, pray for their families and pray for their communities.
St. Vincent de Paul (Class II):
St. Thomas More, Lynnwood:
Holy Spirit, Kent:
St. Stephen the Martyr, Renton:
Sacred Heart, Lacey:
(Webmaster has removed names to prevent a "commercial list" from being generated from these men)
We would like to take this opportunity to thank Bill Barth and Paul Roth, both of St. Thomas More Parish who acted as interim Community Coordinators and Mike Cantu of St. Andrew Parish in Sumner who was the first Community Coordinator. These men have recently stepped down from the Community Coordinator position because of their heavy schedules and other parish commitments .
While these are relatively new parishes to join in the SacraMentor movement they have already seen small and large miracles occurring in their daily lives and they are eager to join with their fellow SacraMentor brothers in praising the Lord and doing his work. Please join with Fr. Bob, Lory and me in welcoming these men to the SacraMentor brotherhood.
Our Journey Continues
by Carl D Jones
As can be seen by glancing at the calendar of events, we are starting to fill our schedule for the 1998-99 SacraMentors season. As we continue to fill out the year we will announce the sessions in the calendar of events section of this newsletter.
If you know someone who belongs to one of these parishes why don’t you make him aware of the series, tell him what it is about, urge him to attend and then pray that the Holy Spirit will touch him and have him join us. Better yet why don’t you sponsor someone to attend the series.
Sponsorship can take place at two levels.
Level 1 - Pay your brother’s tuition to the series, now $75.00 and we’ll send you or him, whichever you prefer a Sponsorship Certificate. What better present could you give a friend?
Level 2 - Pay your brother’s tuition and accompany him to the series. What better way could you share with a friend? Your tuition is free!
An old sage once said "It takes seven times hearing something to make it fully understood or a learned habit". Have you heard it all or do you think you can learn more by attending a second series? I you do come join us at a session this year.
Many men have attended a second session, some even a third and have said it is like attending a completely different program, even though the content is the same.
SacraMentor Women Program Graduates Ten
by Carl D Jones
The first SacraMentors for Women program, held at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Tacoma has graduated a class of ten women from several communities.
(Webmaster has removed names to prevent a "commercial list" from being generated from these women)
Congratulations to all the women who heard God’s call and enrolled.
Lory and Fr. Bob are continuing to work with this group to further enhance a program that is specifically tailored for women. The group’s next meeting will be on July 12th at 1 PM at Lory’s home in Enumclaw. The purpose of the meeting will be to further develop the program, pray together as a community and make plans to begin offering the program to other women throughout Washington.
Book Review
Have you read a good book lately? Would you like to share it with your brothers? Here’s your chance. Write a review not to exceed 300 words and send it to Carl c/o SacraMentors, 1411 1st Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119.
Against an Infinite Horizon
by Ronald Rolheiser. The Crossroad Pub. Co, N.Y., 1996.
REVIEW by Steve Egge
There are many books that strengthen one’s spirituality. There are some books that open a door in one’s mind and lead to a deeper spirituality. As you read them, the "Ah Ha – that’s it" phenomenon happens. In the same way that Anthony De Mello’s book Awareness open’s your mind to how attachments and "programming" control our lives and keep us from happiness, Ronald Rolheiser’s book Against an Infinite Horizon opens your mind to the cause of underlying restlessness and the longings that are present in our hearts and everyday lives. Both books are worth reading, and rereading. Rolheiser’s book was given to me by Fr. Mike Ryan of Holy Spirit parish when I went to promote the upcoming SacraMentor series. (So if Carl Jones asks you to speak at a mass – Go! You may receive unexpected blessings.)
Here is a sampling of Rolheiser’s writing:
To bless someone is, through some word, gesture, or ritual, to make him aware of three things:
i. The goodness of the original creation where, after making the earth and humans, God said that it was "good, very good".
ii. That God experiences the same delight and pleasure in him or her that he experienced with Jesus at His baptism when He said: "this is my beloved child in whom I take delight".
iii. That we, who are giving the blessing, recognize that goodness and take that delight in him or her.
Elsewhere he describes a view of birth, life, and eternity that will stick in your mind forever. Understand that I am at the beginning of my spiritual journey, but Rolheiser is the only author I have read who has ever really discussed human sexuality and the church and its relationship to marriage in such a life giving and healthful way. The book is in stock at Kauffer’s bookstores.
Steve Egge is a SacraMentor from St. Andrew Parish and resides in Puyallup, WA
Membership Opportunity coming your way!
by Carl D Jones
There will be a letter in the mail to you soon outlining a new membership program. This membership program will be of financial value to you as we continue to grow and develop new programs for you and your family.
There will be two levels of membership and your contribution to it will not only defray the costs of producing and mailing this newsletter, but will help with all the other postal and production costs incurred when we offer the program to parishes throughout the diocese
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