June 1999
Index
- Moral Loneliness - By Fr. Bob Camuso
- SacraMentor Council Formed - By Carl D. Jones
- Catholic Northwest Progress Looks at SacraMentors - By Carl D Jones
- New Parishes Complete Series - By Carl D Jones
- Book Review - The Return of the Prodigal Son by: Henri J. M. Nouwen - Review by Bruno Ienni
- No Ordinary Retreat! - By Mike Cantu
- Train the Trainer Series Starts Soon - By Carl D Jones
Moral Loneliness
By Fr. Bob Camuso
What troubles men deeply, according to Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, is "moral loneliness." Fr. Rolheiser says there are five basic kinds of loneliness: alienation, restlessness, rootlessness, psychological depression and moral loneliness. He says our deepest aloneness is moral. Because, Fr. Rolheiser says, "where we feel most alone is in the deepest part of our being, our moral soul, the place where we feel most strongly about the right and wrong of things and where what is most precious to us is cherished, guarded, and feels violated when attacked" (Against an Infinite Horizon, p. 32). It is here that men are most vulnerable. Here in this sacred place we allow few to enter, especially other men because we fear that what we cherish might be debunked, laughed at, misunderstood or dismissed.
And so, when it comes to talking with men, we become prudent with our deepest feelings and thoughts. Yet, at the same time, we hunger for moral affinity. We want to speak heart to heart with other men about Jesus, about our mistakes, and about the contradictions we face in ourselves in trying to live each day as Christians.
As men, we naturally desire to be with other men who share our beliefs and values and allow us to feel at ease with who we are. We long to be with men who do not judge us based on how much money we make or how much power or prestige we have or do not have. Moral companions are men who accept us as we are. They hear and feel deeply with us. They do not act like they are listening while they anxiously wait for their turn to talk. They genuinely care about what is most important to us.
Is it possible to find moral companions today? I believe it is. I believe we can find such men in our small SacraMentors groups who meet each week.
Our moral loneliness is not going to entirely disappear in this life. To know the truth of this is important so that we don't live with the illusion that we can find the perfect person or group that will satisfy our deepest needs. For no person or group on this earth can do that. Your marriage will be stronger when you don't put such a burden on your wife. Your relationship with the Church will be stronger when you don't put such a burden on the Church. No one can fully satisfy our hunger for union except God alone. And even then, moments of union with God are often so brief.
But we can find moments of union with God and others when we make ourselves available and open. Many of us find such moments at Eucharist, in prayer, when we serve others in Jesus' name, or in intimate moments with family and friends. SacraMentors is a program to help intensify and engender these experiences. But SacraMentors is also a program designed to relieve our moral loneliness. SacraMentors was created with the idea that we as men are not separate, despite all evidence to the contrary. Jesus has told us that where two or more gather in his name he is with us. And when he is with us we are with God, in union. That is why we place an empty chair at our weekly meetings, to remind us that Jesus is with us when we gather in his name.
When we gather and stick to the weekly process we discover moments of moral affinity with other men. The moral loneliness goes away. Then, when the meeting is over, we sense that the world is a better place. That God is good. And all is well.†
SacraMentor Council Formed
By Carl D Jones
For some time now Fr. Bob, Lory and I have realized that if this movement is to continue to grow and flourish we would have to develop and rely on an organization of volunteers who would place themselves in service to God to care for and nurture the SacraMentors program within the Western Washington Diocese.
After much prayer and consideration and after having met with the very enthusiastic and committed leadership group we have asked twelve of your SacraMentor brothers to form a Council of Twelve which will oversee the growth of the SacraMentors program within this diocese.
We have created this Council of Twelve who will serve a one year term, renewable for a second term to act as the leadership team and liaison between the board of directors and the parishes that have Apostles Groups. They will also act as co-chairs of six separate councils. I’ll tell you more about the councils later, but first let me outline the role of the Council of Twelve.
First, and most importantly, we have formed a non-profit organization with a board of directors consisting of Fr. Bob Camuso, Lory Misel and Steve Egge. These three men will have primary responsibility for policy establishment within the non-profit, to be known as MOTUR which is an acronym for our original name Men of the Upper Room.
The Council of Twelve will form six separate councils of twelve men each that will conduct the day to day activities of the organization. The Council of Twelve will recommend to the board, through discernment with their respective councils, changes and modifications to the SacraMentors program and they will insure that the program reaches the broadest possible audience within the diocese. The Council of Twelve will recruit the 10 men who will serve on each council from their brothers within the existing SacraMentor communities.
The six councils are:
- SacraMentors Series Council
- Spiritual Development Council
- Training Council
- Public Relations/Marketing Council
- Fund Raising Council
- Development Council
These six councils will consist of men who volunteer their time to help the co-chairs with specific responsibilities in each of the councils areas of responsibility.
Co-chairs of the councils are looking for ten men for each council to help them complete their plan for the 1999-2000 fiscal year and to help them achieve the goals outlined in the plan. After reading this article and looking at the attachment if you feel you are interested in volunteering for one of these councils call one of the co-chairs listed on the insert.
The SacraMentors Series Council has primary responsibility for setting up the program within parishes throughout the diocese and the Commissioning Ceremony. Once the Series is set up in a parish this council will turn over the parish to the Training Team that has been assigned to that parish.
The Spiritual Development Council will have responsibility for the Sacramentum, working with the existing Apostles Groups in the parishes, retreats and establishing new programs as necessary.
The Training Council will conduct the summer and winter “Train the Trainers” trainings, working with training teams to update and enhance the trainers’ skills and be responsible for updating the training materials.
The Public Relations/Marketing Council will promote the programs of the SacraMentors to the media and public both within Catholic circles and to the broader communities. This council will also be responsible for the website and the newsletter.
The Fund Raising Council will be responsible to raise the money to fund the existing programs as well as find funds to develop new programs and other necessary needs of the SacraMentors organization.
The Development Council will have responsibility to concentrate on new avenues to promote the SacraMentors program to men.
The co-chairs have taken on the tremendous task of organizing the first councils and developing the first annual plan for each council. They cannot do it alone, they will need your help. To this end I am asking you, for them, to consider using your talents to serve the SacraMentors for one year as a member of one of the councils.
We have set up a full day retreat for all the councils on July 10, 1999 for the purpose of planning the goals for 1999-2000. Call the co-chair of the council you would like to volunteer for and let him know of your interest.
Only ten positions are available in each council so call soon to volunteer and put the July date on your calendar.
It is intended for these councils will serve as the model for future councils developed in other dioceses as the SacraMentors program expands to the call of the Holy Spirit.
An organizational chart is shown on a separate page, please click and print it out for better reading (note: print in landscape mode). The names and telephone numbers of all the Co-Council Chairs and areas of responsibilities are listed for each council.
The phone numbers are also listed below.
Marketing/Public Relations Council
Norm Bailey & Mark Hadnett
(253) 859-7863 (253) 638-1345Fundraising
Jay Blakley & Dick Charles
(360) 825-5639 (425) 868-4154SacraMentors Series
Bruno Ienni & Bruce Stopper
(360) 754-1912 (253) 946-8742Spiritual Development
Steve Egge & Jim Malneritch
(253) 841-1093 (360) 825-7332Training Council
Bill Barth & John Miles
(425) 745-22-4 (425) 742-6710Development
Jim Ferris & Dan Staab
(253) 565-5379 (253) 756-2078
While the insert does not go into detail about each council the co-chair will be able to give you the detail you need to help you make your decision to join us in this most wonderful undertaking. Please refer to it as you are discerning your involvement in a council.†
Catholic Northwest Progress Looks at SacraMentors
By Carl D Jones
In the May 20, 1999 edition of the Catholic Northwest Progress, Terry McGuire, Associate Editor, wrote an article about SacraMentors. He wrote of what he had encountered when he observed SacraMentor programs first hand. He wrote of faith based sharing, of men praying with and for each other, of men willingly admitting their mistakes and committing to correct them. Simple but life changing things that we all now almost take for granted, now that we have been doing them for a while.
Remember however, that there thousands upon thousands of men “out there” in the diocese who are still struggling daily with the challenges of their daily lives. This article may help some of them to search us out and participate in one of our programs.
Terry was able to encapsulate the heart of our program. He put a public face on SacraMentors. He was, with this one article, able to accelerate the understanding of what our program is about and trying to do.
If you have not had a chance to read Terry’s article, we have placed it on our website www.sacramentors.org. Feel free to make as many copies of it as you want to pass out to your Catholic friends. This just may be the tool you need to get them to a SacraMentors Series.
We will be forever grateful for Terry and the Catholic Northwest Progress for taking the time to “see for themselves” what SacraMentors is about and what we hope to accomplish.†
New Parishes Complete Series
By Carl D Jones
It is indeed an honor to welcome several new parishes to the SacraMentor family. These are the classes that completed the series since January, 1999. Some of the parishes participated together in a single class but I have listed them by parish for ease of identification. Some of the men will be joining groups already in existence in their respective parishes and these are noted by an asterisk next to their parish name.
If you see a new SacraMentor brother’s name that you recognize, give him a call and let him know you are praying for him. If you don’t know any of our new brothers you might get to meet them if you come to a SacraMentum . (Web Editors Note: names removed for web posting)
All Saints – Puyallup
Holy Rosary – West Seattle*
Our Lady Queen of Heaven – Parkland/Spanaway
St. Andrew – Sumner*
St. Brendan – Bothell
St. Frances Cabrini – Lakewood
St. Monica – Mercer Island
Book Review - The Return of the Prodigal Son by: Henri J. M. Nouwen
REVIEW by Bruno Ienni
In this book, Fr. Nouwen discusses his reflections on Rembrandt's painting of the return of the prodigal son. He encountered this painting by chance in a poster tacked up in someone's office. That led to years of meditations on the subject portrayed.
While it may be easy for each of us to relate to the younger son who goes to a far away land only to return to the father utterly destitute, Fr. Nouwen challenges the reader to relate to the elder son and the father as well.
Ultimately, Fr. Nouwen asks the reader if we are ready to love as the father and whether we are ready to accept that kind of unconditional love from our Father in Heaven.
"From God's perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from his throne to run to his returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy."
Do we believe the Father loves us this much? There are so many challenges in this relatively short, simple book. It is deceptively easy to read, but the truths in this book are powerful and work on the deepest levels of our thinking.†
Bruno Ienni, a SacraMentor brother who worships at St. Michael Parish, Olympia, WA.
No Ordinary Retreat!
By Mike Cantu
I knew in my heart that this was not going to be any ordinary retreat. I knew this retreat would bring us deep within our souls-it wouldn't be easy, but it would be incredibly joyous. After all this was our first SacraMentor retreat.
We arrived Friday afternoon under typical winter weather at retreat located on a wooded lakeside. This was an ideal setting for us to retreat from our ordinary, hectic lives, to slow down in a quiet space and find God amidst His creations and most importantly of all, in the twenty men who came to embark on this sacred week-end journey. We came in our brokenness and as a diverse group of men. We left closer to the holiness within us and uplifted by the joy and unity of meeting new friends.
Our journey began with each man introducing himself and saying why he came. After this, Lory and Fr. Bob led us through several insightful presentations. Through these talks I learned how little I knew about relationships and how little I knew about myself in relationships. I was amazed that I had never learned these things before or was not open to learning them. How wonderful it was to be with a group of men who desired to have the wisdom and tools to become more self-aware and ultimately more nurturing of others.
We had many opportunities to reflect and listen to God through private and group prayer, music, Confession and Mass. I thoroughly enjoyed the friendly hospitality and delicious meals provided by the staff. One of my greatest joys was the opportunity to meet so many new friends either through conversations throughout the weekend, getting my butt beat in the games (of course, in a very loving and nurturing way, thanks Steve K), listening to them snore in the bunkhouse (I'm sure that was Jay B), and the many small group discussions we had.
At the end of the retreat it was hard to say good-bye, I dare say nobody wanted to leave. It is always difficult to leave heaven. That bright and sunny Sunday morning before Mass, standing by the lake I felt the peace, serenity, nourishment, and safety the ducks felt as they landed together and I knew I had become the lake and all is well, all is well.†
Mike Cantu, a SacraMentor brother who worships at St. Andrew Parish, Sumner, WA.
Train the Trainer Series Starts Soon
By Carl D Jones
The Train the Trainer Series will start in July. The training is a five week series which prepares SacraMentors Series trainer candidates for the responsibility of taking the SacraMentor program to parishes throughout the diocese.
We will be attempting to reach 25 parishes this year which means that we’ll need to train a few more teams to accomplish this task. Have you considered becoming a trainer? Answer any of the following questions and you are a candidate for becoming a trainer and should prayerfully consider it:
- Has your life been changed since going through the program?
- Has your family life changed since your participation in the program?
- Have you started praying and forgiving more since the program?
- Are thinking more about how you can become a better Christian?
If you answered yes to any of these questions of you have been looking for a chance to tell someone about your experience this is your opportunity. God didn’t call only a few of us He called us all. Heed His call.
The Train the Trainer Series is scheduled on five consecutive Tuesday nights on July 20, 27, August 3, 10 and 17 from 7-9 PM at Holy Spirit Parish, 310 Third Ave. Kent
To sign up to be a trainer or to find out more call Carl at (253) 863-1269.
Home | Blessings Newsletter | Events | Site Map
About Us | Contact Us | Converstions with Fr. Bob
Support Us | Library | Participating Parishes | Readings & Prayers
Our toll free message line is 877-585-5500
Questions about content:
Technical feedback:
