March 2003
Index
- Use It or Lose It - By Fr. Bob Camuso
- Note from the Executive Director - Jeff Smith
- Sacramentum Program Underway! By David Gedrose, Spiritual Development Coordinator
- Nineteen Men and Women Answer the Spirit’s Call to Serve as Trainers By Bill Wiebe, Senior Trainer
- What is God Asking You to Do By Dean Mannello Expansion and Development Coordinator
- Mentoring - An Alternative Approach By Frank Pease, Senior Parish Coordinator
- The SacraMentor Wheel: A Driver’s Ed Program by Colleen Balling, Sacred Heart, Lacey
Use It or Lose It - By Fr. Bob Camuso
“As each one has received a gift, use it
to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” –1 Pt 4:10
Many years ago I broke my leg skiing at the top of Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. In my weeks of recovery, and with a stiff brace on my leg, I stopped using some of my leg muscles. When the brace finally came off, it took a long time to regain the strength I once had in that leg.
Something similar happens to us when the brace of indolence (which means, “I don’t care”), fear or selfishness keeps us from flexing the spiritual muscles of stewardship—the giving of our time, talent and treasure to God.
That is why our Catholic Church places such an emphasis on stewardship. Stewardship means to act firmly to be a follower of Christ, no matter what the cost. Stewardship is a way of life in which we never, ever forget that God is the source of all the gifts we have been given. Or that “the Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; and the world and those who dwell in it.” Ps 24:1 In response to God’s tremendous generosity, stewards of God give back to God.
But some of us do forget that God is the source of all our gifts. Along with forgetting, another reason we stop giving is fear. Fear that we will not have enough. Fear that God will not provide. Fear then drives us to individualism and to the false belief that it is totally up to us as individuals to provide for ourselves. Or, as someone once said, “You don’t reap what you don’t sow.” Yet, we forget that God created the seeds and soil, wind and rain, bees and pollen.
God calls us to sow and reap and then return to God with increase what we have been given. The Bible tells us that God placed Adam and Eve in the garden to practice stewardship, “to cultivate and care for it.” Gen 2:15 We live in a garden in America and in the Pacific Northwest that is unlike any since Eden. We have an abundance of the best food available. We have the best medical care in the history of the world. We have the best clothing and shelter and more time for leisure than in all of history. The world we are blessed to live in is a garden God has entrusted to us to cultivate and care for.
But even knowing this is true, it is difficult to separate ourselves from our possessions, from our time and talent and treasure. Yet, we also know that once we do give to God, we find a peace we did not have before. We discover a sense of completion, a connection with God and gratitude that we no longer feel separate from God.
Jesus says that if we wish to come after him, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily to follow him. For if we wish to save our life we will lose it, but if we lose our life for his sake, we will save it. Lk 9:23-24 Jesus is the chief teacher of Christian stewardship. His classroom is not for those who seek security, comfort and pleasure in life. Stewardship is one of the great costs of discipleship. And we may wonder if it is worth the cost, as Peter does when he says to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Mk 10:28
But Jesus responds with generosity: “There is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more …” Mk 10: 29
In other words, when we give, we receive. When we practice stewardship we are rewarded with the joy of Christ. In this way we learn to share because we want to, not because we need to.
I have seen an abundance of acts of stewardship in the SacraMentors movement. I am amazed at the sacrifices of time, talent and treasure that SacraMentors brothers and sisters make in presenting the series at parishes. I believe most of us would agree that we get so much more than what we give. And who knows how many choirs of angels have sung with joy at the miracles that have resulted, and the lives that have been changed because of the stewardship of our SacraMentors brothers and sisters.
Yet, our call to stewardship does not end, even with our sacrificial giving at our parishes. The SacraMentors movement needs your continued stewardship especially now as we seek to expand to other states. We are at a turning point in the history of SacraMentors. We have tremendous talent on our board of directors and a great leader in Jeff Smith as our executive director. Yet, without the support of your time, talent and treasure, SacraMentors cannot reach out to the dioceses in other states.
You will receive a letter soon inviting you to become a more active steward to help tend and care for the garden that is SacraMentors. Please pray about how much you can give. Use the gifts you have been given to support the SacraMentors movement and God will surely bless you.
Note from the Executive Director - Jeff Smith
As we pass the mid-point of our Year of Rejuvenation, I wanted to let all of you know how the Holy Spirit continues to use the SacraMentors movement to draw us closer to God and to each other.
At this point, we have completed six SacraMentor programs since September (four men’s and two women’s) and have another seven scheduled between now and the middle of June. The completed programs have led to the establishment of Apostles Groups at St. Nicholas in Gig Harbor (both a men’s group and a women’s group); a women’s Apostles Group at St. Patrick in Tacoma; two men’s groups at St. James Cathedral; the creation of two additional women’s groups at both Sacred Heart in Lacey and at St. Michael’s in Olympia; and the addition of men and women to existing Apostles Groups at a number of parishes. To support the upcoming programs, nineteen of our brothers and sisters have answered the Holy Spirit’s call and agreed to become active trainers. For more details about this important development, please see Bill Wiebe’s article in this newsletter.
Some of you may be wondering what is being done to meet the spiritual needs of our members, other than the growth we experience from our weekly Apostles Group meetings. David Gedrose, our Spiritual Development coordinator, has redesigned our Sacramentum programs and we are now in the midst of our Spring Sacramentums. If you haven’t signed up to attend one of the four scheduled Sacramentums, it’s not too late to do so! All you have to do is use the registration slip that follows David’s article or go to our web site.
In February, the Internal Revenue Service approved our application to be recognized as a tax-exempt organization, retroactive to August 26, 2002. This was a necessary first step to reach our goal of expanding SacraMentors into five states in five years. With our new status, we can now turn to step two – a stewardship campaign to obtain the financial backing required to make our dream of taking SacraMentors to parishes throughout the United States a reality. For more details on this campaign, please see Fr. Bob’s article and the article prepared by Dean Mannello, our Expansion and Development coordinator.
Finally, let me say thanks to all of you for your continued support to SacraMentors, whether that support is as a parish coordinator, trainer, board member, or active member of your parish Apostles Group. God continues to work miracles through SacraMentors and those miracles are occurring in your lives and in the lives you touch by your acts of kindness, appreciation, love and forgiveness.
May God abundantly bless each of you.
Jeff
Sacramentum Program Underway! By David Gedrose, Spiritual Development Coordinator
As SacraMentors, we have all seen the blessings and miracles that occur through the Apostles Group process. To further deepen our faith and strengthen our bonds as SacraMentors, we have redesigned our Sacramentum program. The intent is to have the Apostles Groups in an identified geographic area meet several times a year for prayer, study, and sharing. Specifically, the Sacramentums will begin with a common devotional exercise, such as the Rosary, continue with a Bible study and sharing of our insights into an assigned reading, and then close with prayer. The same program will be offered three or four times throughout our Archdiocese to minimize the distance participants must travel.
By the time you read this, our spring Sacramentum program will be underway! The Bible study for the spring Sacramentum is Matthew 5:1-12 (the Beatitudes) and we are using Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation for our assigned reading. Hopefully, many of you have already attended one of the Sacramentums or have registered for one of the remaining dates and locations which are:
Pierce County
Sunday, March 30, 2003, 2-5 pm
St. Charles Borromeo Convent
7112 S. 12th St., Tacoma, WA
Olympia and Vancouver
Saturday, April 5, 2003, 9-12 am OR
Sunday, April 6, 2-5 pm
Sacred Heart Parish
812 Bowker St. SE, Lacey, WA
If you have not yet registered for one of the remaining Sacramentums, you may do so on-line at our website or by contacting me by email at NOR3000@aol.com, mail (a mail-in registration form is below) or telephone at 360-352-6393. If you are bringing guests, please register for each person planning to attend.
I look forward to spending time and sharing with many of you at one of our spring Sacramentums or at a future Sacramentum. May God’s blessings be abundantly with each of you!
During this season of Lent, we are called to become more like our Lord through prayer, fasting, and giving alms. Perhaps the following will give you a different perspective on fasting.
Lenten Fasting
Fast from judging others; feast on Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on trusting God.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal hope through Jesus.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from thoughts of weakness; feast on promises that inspire.
Fast from everything that separates you from Jesus; feast on everything that draws you to Jesus.
Nineteen Men and Women Answer the Spirit’s Call to Serve as Trainers
By Bill Wiebe, Senior Trainer
Recently, nineteen men and women answered the Holy Spirit’s call to serve the SacraMentors movement as trainers by completing the “Train the Trainers” sessions held on February 22 and March 1, 2003, at St. Charles Borromeo in Tacoma. Joining the new trainers at the sessions were several active trainers, who provided the training, and several current trainers who attended as a refresher course.
We began our first session by examining a variety of training techniques, common training challenges with suggested solutions to those challenges, and training “Do’s and Don’ts.” Next, there was a presentation on witness talks and facilitating a series, which included some entertaining banter between our Executive Director, Jeff, and his wife, Denise. We then examined the material presented at each session of a spirituality series by having experienced trainers explain the key points of each presentation and share their teaching techniques. Of special note was MaryAnne Reynolds’ presentation on the “Mind Split” talk and her use of flip charts during all of her presentations.
Our second session on March 1st was a truly moving afternoon. The Holy Sprit was with us as the new trainers gave a short presentation on one series session and how it impacted their life. We laughed and cried with love, compassion, and kindness for one another. At the conclusion of the presentations, Casimer Harzewski commented on how he was “on fire with God’s love” for each of us. The afternoon was perhaps best summed up by Kendra Perkins who wrote me in an email that, “Today was absolutely amazing. The Holy Spirit had a powerful presence today during the presentations. It was truly an honor to see the beginnings of presentations that will shape future SacraMentor Brothers and Sisters and each presentation touched my life in a special way.”
Now the real work begins. The next step for the new trainers is to build on the training they just completed by preparing presentations that cover not only the critical points in each talk, but that also integrate and maintain the power of their personal witness. We have seven SacraMentor programs scheduled between March and June and the help that each new trainer will provide during that time period is greatly appreciated (and needed!).
Congratulations to the new trainers and those who attended for a refresher. They are: Margaret Birchem, Linda Moran, Charles Lovejoy, Scott Occhiuto, Eileen Heapes, Ray Capps, Chuck and Cheri Dusek, Kendra Perkins, Patsy Maloney, Carol and Ray Grothe, Colleen Champlin, Casimer Harzewski, June Wiebe, Denise Smith, Rosie Scott, Colleen Balling, and Bob Mischel. If you know any of these brothers and sisters, please thank them for answering the Holy Spirit’s call to serve as a trainer. And if any of you are feeling the Spirit’s call, please contact me at 360-456-3264 or email me at W_Wiebe@msn.com.
What is God Asking You to Do? By Dean Mannello Expansion and Development Coordinator
The SacraMentor program is going on a long journey you might say…and we are entrusted with its talents. The richness of our program has touched the lives of many men and women in the Western Washington area and has changed lives, healed relationships and worked miracles in many families within those parish communities. This year has already seen the number of series increase at a dramatic pace along with the planned Sacramentums and retreats.
The SacraMentors Board would like to extend a sincere “thank you” to everyone that has supported this ministry over the past few years. We are indebted to the previous board members, SacraMentor volunteers, our SacraMentor brothers and sisters, and of course to Fr. Bob Camuso and Lory Misel, our founders.
All of this would not be possible were it not for all the volunteers that deal with the every day issues of delivering such a large program as this. The contributions from so many, so far apart, are truly a gift from the Holy Spirit. In fact, this year we find ourselves growing in membership far beyond our capacity to provide support from our all-volunteer organization.
“Time and talents” is the staple of the SacraMentor organization. We have been blessed by the way so many of you have shared your talents. However, now we need your treasures to support the next phase of our growth. Your charitable contributions, which are tax deductible, will be used to create the business operations required to support our program. This includes office staff, equipment and supplies, web maintenance, and the cost associated with delivering more of the spiritual material Fr. Bob and Lory Misel continue to develop. Our immediate need is for a full time Executive Director, a part-time administrative assistant and the cash flow necessary to deal with the expenses of expansion into other Catholic parishes.
In the next few weeks you will receive a letter from Fr. Bob asking each of you to make a financial commitment to SacraMentors. As you ponder whether to make such a financial commitment, consider making a financial “faith gift.” Your contribution can be from, “that which will be added unto you” as you continue to “do the Lord’s work” and grow in your relationship with the Lord, your family and your community.
We will be asking all SacraMentors to help us reach our goal of $100,000.00. Remember, many hands make light work. Please know that your financial support will allow the Holy Spirit to continue using SacraMentors as a way for men and women to know the love of God and the love of their brothers and sisters.
May God’s blessings and peace be with each of you.
Mentoring - An Alternative Approach
By Frank Pease, Senior Parish Coordinator
Recently, I got to thinking (at the encouragement of Jeff, our Director) about the mentoring role we have as Sacramentors. We do our best to take care of the holy aspect (“Sacra”) of our spiritual life, and we share in the holiness of the lives of our brothers and sisters in our parish Apostles Groups. But what mentoring do we do outside of our group to bring the program to new people?
A couple of years ago, the SacraMentors Board saw the need for “mentoring” a man or woman into an existing Apostles Group, prior to that individual actually attending a SacraMentors Series. This need was driven by men and women expressing an interest to join SacraMentors, but being turned away until a series “came to town.” To address this situation, the board established a mentoring process that allows individuals to join SacraMentors before attending a series but with the understanding that the individual will attend a series as soon as practicable. In the interim, the individual attends the weekly Apostles Group meeting. Although this alternative approach benefits both the individual and the group, it is an underutilized method of spreading SacraMentors and the blessings we receive as SacraMentors.
Just what does the mentoring process entail? The Parish Coordinators Manual contains a detailed description of this alternative means of joining SacraMentors, but let me cover some of the highlights.
The first step is for your Apostles Group to decide whether it wants to open itself to new members through mentoring. Because bringing a new member into your Apostles Group will impact the group dynamic, each member of your group must be comfortable with the idea of bringing in a new brother or sister. This is a group decision which could be discussed during the Service portion of your Apostles Group meeting or after the meeting. In deciding whether to open your group, the following questions should be addressed:
- Is the group comfortable with bringing in new members?
- Is the size of the group too large to accommodate new members?
- Has the group been meeting long enough (at least 3 months) that it feels it understands the process to teach it to a new member?
- Is the group willing to trust and continue sharing on a deep level in the presence of a new member?
Once an Apostles Group agrees to open itself to new members through mentoring, the second step is for someone to volunteer to serve as a mentor. This person is responsible for facilitating the addition of the new member into the Apostles Group. The mentor should feel well versed in the concepts presented at the SacraMentor series and be an active and contributing member of his or her Apostles Group. If the mentor wants some “refresher training” on the SacraMentor concepts, Bill Wiebe, our Senior Trainer, is available to provide whatever help is needed.
After the above steps are taken, your Apostles Group is ready to use the mentoring process. The group may either wait for someone in the parish to express an interest in SacraMentors or you may recruit new members by approaching individuals in your parish whom you believe would benefit from joining your Apostles Group.
Once a prospective SacraMentor is identified, the mentor arranges to meet with the individual to discuss, at a minimum, that the meeting:
- Is designed to bring us into a closer relationship with Jesus and each other.
- Is held weekly and lasts no longer 90 minutes.
- Consists of an opening prayer, sharing of mistakes and blessings, a study section, contemplation of service opportunities, and a closing prayer.
- Is strictly confidential and what is discussed may not be shared with anyone outside of the group.
The prospective SacraMentor is then allowed to attend an Apostles Group meeting. Before the meeting starts, the group needs to review the meeting guidelines found at the front of the “Blessings and Renewal” section (i.e., the Apostles Group Process) in the Book of Blessings. It is especially important that the potential SacraMentor understand that the meetings are confidential and that we do not discuss what was shared with anyone outside of the Apostles Group.
Following the meeting, the mentor meets with the prospective SacraMentor and discusses whether the individual wants to continue with the process. If they do, the mentor provides them with a copy of the Book of Blessings and a copy of Book of Kindness I. The mentor and the prospective SacraMentor then become prayer partners, reading a concept from the Book of Kindness I each day and calling each other at night to briefly touch base. As you may recall, this is the same process used during the SacraMentors series.
After completing Book of Kindness I, the new SacraMentor receives Book of Kindness II and the mentor explains how that book is to be used. Throughout this process, the individual attends the Apostles Group meeting.
It is important that the mentor emphasizes to the new member that the mentoring process is not a substitute for attending a SacraMentor Series. Rather, attendance at a series is important because it provides a foundation and springboard for the candidate’s further spiritual journey. The mentor and the parish coordinator must keep the new member informed of upcoming series and ensure that they attend a series within a reasonable period of time after joining the group.
That’s all there is to the “mentoring” process. Please pray about it. There may be some folks in your parish who could really benefit from the SacraMentors program and have a need to join your group as soon as possible. Recognize the blessings that also flow to your group from having a new member join you. If you have questions or thoughts on “mentoring,” please contact me at (425) 562-8744 or frank_pease@hotmail.com.
God bless you in the days ahead!
The SacraMentor Wheel: A Driver’s Ed Program by Colleen Balling, Sacred Heart, Lacey
I was sitting with a group of women recently discussing the SacraMentors program. Some of the women were SacraMentors, others were curious and inquiring. “Who are we?” “What is SacraMentors?” During the course of the conversation, one of the women raised a legitimate, and I suspect often thought, if not verbalized, question. “This program sounds like Cursillo, or Life in the Spirit, or other things that are already going on in the Church. Why reinvent the wheel?”
There are many groups already within the Church which call us to a life of holiness. There are many homilies we have heard over the years on forgiveness. We have been told many times that we are to be a blessing to others. There are Bible study and small faith sharing groups in many parishes. What’s so different about SacraMentors?
Cradle Catholic or convert, new or life long Christian, we have all been told to love everyone, even our enemies, to forgive our brother, and to share our blessings with others. Yet, we may not have been taught HOW to do these things.
I have been blessed over the years to belong to parishes and prayer groups where I have felt the power of the Holy Spirit moving. This awareness of God’s presence has strengthened my faith, and convinced me that “I know that I know” that God is real and walking among us now. In these groups, and at Mass I have been challenged to bring what I have been blessed with out into the world. Yet time and time again, I have failed “to love and serve the Lord and one another” because I just didn’t know HOW to do this. I could read my bible, I could pray, I could fellowship with other believers to sustain and grow my faith. But not until I became a SacraMentor did I have the concrete tools that I needed to put everything I already believed into practice every day.
SacraMentors gave me the HOW. The simple (not easy) techniques I learned through SacraMentors are my daily instructions. My weekly meetings with my sisters in my apostles group keep me focused and accountable to practice the techniques I have learned. SacraMentors didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it has shown me how to steer. I still make a wrong turn now and then, and I know the road ahead is long, but I think my driving is improving.
Thanks be to God.
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