Hello Team!

Walking with God is dynamic. It has been a very good first week of traveling, and anything but static. Of course, since the day I was sitting in my study reading through a Latin dictionary trying to find a name for the early vision of this ministry, nothing has been static. FRATERNUS is the word that stood out that evening, and it continues to grow and spread throughout the country. I often ask Tommy, “When do you think things will slow down a little?” What a silly question.

This trip has been no different. Beginning in Tallahassee I met with Richard Albertson of Live the Life Ministries. If his name looks familiar it should, it can be found in our founding story. He was the person who planted the seed for FRATERNUS in that men’s group meeting so many years ago. It was great to reconnect and be mentored by a seasoned president of another ministry. I look forward to keeping in touch with him and finding opportunities to partner with him in the future. From Tallahassee it was off to Pensacola to catch a beautiful wedding and have lunch with the Toups family and several HAWC brothers. It was great for Angela to meet the amazing young men FRATERNUS is honored to have in its ranks. She was impressed by their strong faith and brotherhood. The low country boil was awesome and great preparation for our next stop.

Continuing west we landed in New Orleans. Our friends the Butler’s, received us warmly and Brian prepped me on the many meetings scheduled for the coming days. And then it began, three days of multiple meetings a day. I met with diocesan leadership, business owners and other people excited about FRATERNUS. Louisiana is ripe to be a home for FRATERNUS; I look forward to where the Lord will lead us.

Next stop was Houston and it was more of the same. Diocesan leadership and business men received the FRATERNUS story with an overwhelming sense of support and encouragement. I also had the opportunity to have lunch with Steve Bollman, Founder and President of That Man Is You . His experiences in business, ministry and family life were invaluable to learn from – God continues to provide mentors to a mentoring organization. My family was especially blessed to spend time with Mike and Mary Ellen Van Horn. Staying at their home was wonderful. The kids really loved them and were sad to leave, as if they were leaving their own grandparents.

We now have arrived in Pagosa Springs, CO where I will have a series of meetings and also spend significant time in prayer. This is definitely God’s country and I look forward to giving Him time to speak to me. Outside of a few episodes of car sickness, the family is doing great. The grace that flows from the marriage covenant is overwhelming; I can’t imagine doing this without them. Today, looking at a mountain, Monroe said, "Thats a big rock!" Please keep the prayers coming, I remain surrendered to the Fathers will for this trip – please make that the center of your intercession.

I hear (and read) that everything continues to go well in the field and at HQ. I haven’t stopped talking about each of you and praying for you. What a dynamic journey we are on with our Father, full of grace and adventure. Things will never slow down, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I miss you guys, keep up the great work!

JB+

While Fall officially arrived on September 21, we (Saint Augustine) did not experience our first taste until the eve of September 30th. Coming from a meteorological background every experience I have is described by temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and dew point et cetera.

Growing up in the south, I would argue that we (southerners) long for the first sign of fall as the northerners for spring. As a teenager "opening day" brought with it cross country races, Halloween and consistent Gulf Coast surf. In college, that transitioned to college football, homecoming and consistent surf (once again). Now in my new season of life, another event is added to the list. EXPOSURE.

This morning on my predawn run in the cool fall air (60 degrees and 49 % humidity) memories of last years EXPOSURE outings came to mind. EXPOSURE is one of my favorite aspects of FRATERNUS (if that is possible). The idea is simple -a weekend camp-out. However, anytime you get a bunch of FRATERNUS brothers together for an overnight trip, the ordinary often becomes extraordinary. Capture-the-flag, insane hikes/ runs, things associated with water, football, ultimate Frisbee, mass and talk of what it really means to be a man. Its raw, its real and there is little sleep. Did I mention food always taste better when camping?

For the chapters in Florida, our first EXPOSURE Outing is a territory-wide event on October 23-25.

Pray for us!

FRATERNUS

::T$

So.

The Knighting Ceremony was already covered by Brad, but I want to take a little bit of a different tack.

Never have I been more aware of how much FRATERNUS depends on parents.  We are unlike any other youth ministry because of the investment of parents and other adults.  Put simply, without adults, FRATERNUS doesn’t go.  Every week the brothers break into small groups (squads) for discussion, and each squad is led by a volunteering adult man (a Captain).  Without the week in, week out commitment by the Captains, FRAT night wouldn’t happen.

I got another great example of this dynamic during our Knighting Ceremony on Sunday Night.  It was inspiring to see the faces of the brothers as a Captain approached them individually, shook their hand, and said the words “receive the FRATERNUS Manual.  Welcome to the Brotherhood.”  What a moment.

In addition to the ceremony, we also had a reception in the gym.  Here is how the reception planning went, starting a month ago:

FRATERNUS Mom to me:  ”Hey, is there anything I can help out with in the commissioning ceremony?”

Me: “Yeah, there sure is.  Could you coordinate the reception afterwards in the gym?  Nothing too fancy, just some tables set up with some goodies.”

Mom: “no problem.”

After that, all I did for the next month was watch the emails go flying around as our hard charging FRATERNUS mom coordinated help with baked goods and decorations, and when I walked into the gym a few hours before the Commissioning to see how the set up was going, I couldn’t believe what I saw:  Two dozen tables set up, each with tablecloths, flowers, and centerpieces bearing the FRATERNUS logo.  A food table adorned with goodies, punch, and blue and gold ribbon.  A podium set up in the middle with a giant laminated FRATERNUS logo attached to the front.  Two FRATERNUS moms and their kids bustling around making the last minute decorations.  I realized in that moment that, by myself, I never could have set the room up so well.  Even if I tried, my poor attempt would have taken me hours.  With the help our FRATERNUS mom recruited, it took less than an hour.

It was in this room that I realized what a striking alternative FRATERNUS is to the standard, one-man-show youth ministry.  Because of the parents, we had a beautiful Commissioning Ceremony, led by the Captains.  Because of the parents, we had a fantastic reception, with enough baked goods to keep everyone up well past their bedtimes on a school night.  It wasn’t until much later, when everyone was gone and I was doing the last few clean up things in a quiet gymnasium that the full gravity of the night began to sink in.  It was this quiet moment that reminded me not to take for granted the things that I get to be part of this year.

Rush

Last weekend I was in TN meeting with various people about the FRATERNUS Chapter starting there.  Wow.  What a city.  I could go on and on about parts of the city I fell in love with and exaggerate all sorts of things, but I think you would like to hear about some of the boys I met.  Trust me, you want to hear about them.

Founding brothers in the FRATERNUS program are boys in high school that help start and lead a new Chapter.  In Nashville, TN this group of boys amazed me.  What’s amazing is their desire for holiness.  They are hungry for a challenge.  Most of them play sports but know that their identity is elsewhere.  Here are their ideas on ways to do this:

• Have a strong brotherhood.
• Be accountable to each other.
• Meet regularly.

Complete tangable challenges as a group.

Does all of that sound familiar?  Brotherhood, accountability, challenges.  This is FRATERNUS.  These guys really affirmed that this program speaks to the heart of a young man.  For those boys that are eager for holiness it speaks louder. It’s really simple.

Jason Craig out.

Love is in the air in Tallahassee.

I was debating what to write about today and alot of topics came to mind. Alot of them were complicated, I was unsure how to write anything. Then it hit me. I tend to complicate things alot. The simplest answer is most surely the right one.

I’ve always been an advocate of simplicity. I went to Franciscan, grew up on St. Francis Ostrich Farm (I can’t make this stuff up), and took Francis as my confirmation name. I’ve always enjoyed the simplicity of life without distractions, ironic of course as I’m typing this on the computer I’ve been attached to for the better part of the day. (Sidenote: I know St. Francis courted Lady Poverty, but I don’t have to embrace everyone of his charisms to the “T.” I like having a second tunic and a coin purse chock full of Chuck-E-Cheese tickets.) The answer was love.

I’ve read alot of ministry books. I’ve read books on how to make friends (again, homeschooled and Ostrich Farm). Everyone has their 7 steps to happiness, a formula you’ve never thought about before, or a quick-fix way of “dealing with” people. The reason why I was hired into this organization, ok, one of the reasons, was BECAUSE I had no previous experience with ministry. When I would go into a school and talk to a teen, I didn’t need or want a script. I didn’t want to have an agenda. At the point where I have an “objective” in mind with that person, I rob them of their freedom to say NO and have that be an answer I truly accept. To have an agenda with anyone is OBJECTIFICATION. Jesus loved people where they were at. They were free to follow him or spit in his face. How dare I reinvent Jesus’ Wheel?

Love is a many splendored thing. Forget the chocolates and Venus FlyTraps for a second (I give plants to girls that are both beautiful AND useful). I’m not going to start writing poetry but I want to leave you with a  quote. Peter Kreeft says we must learn love to play the only game in town. “If we will not learn to eat the only food the universe grows - the only food any possible universe can grow - we must starve eternally.” Bam!

Forget the formulas, look to Christ.

Bam.

KWess.

I know that I posted my last blog on Tuesday, and that it’s only been two days since my last post, but I had originally intended for it to go up last Thursday, but I experienced some technical difficulties. Thursdays are pretty much my blogging days, so even though you might have been deprived of some AndrewT action last week, it’s all being made up this week!

I visit the middle schoolers at Cathedral Parish School (CPS) almost every day of the week during their lunch. It’s almost expected that I’m there now. I spend this time just hanging out at some of the tables, talking to the brothers about how their last baseball, basketball, football, or soccer game went. They tell me about the random things they do when they get bored in class (especially the 6th graders). About half of the guys don’t believe that I’m married, even though I have a ring on my finger every time they see me. Some of them saw Sara at daily Mass with me on Tuesday, but insisted that I was too young for a wife that she was my girlfriend.  However, others have insisted that I’m well into my thirties and of course I’m married.  And then there are the girls at lunch, who regularly yell at me for not spending enough time at their table. Every day, I’ll be talking to a table full of boys when I’ll be summoned by a table full of girls. And I don’t hear my name called. No. They call me by the nickname that I carried back when I did Young Life at CPS, Leppie. It’s short for Leprechaun because they think that I look…like a leprechaun. I do have the red beard to match that, and one of my ears also curls strangely so that it kind of looks like it’s pointed.

Anyway, that’s enough of my freakish physical characteristics. I just want to comment on how pumped up some of the boys are getting about FRATERNUS. Those that attend are always talking to me about the last night, bragging about how they nailed Jason during dodgeball.  Some of the boys aren’t able to make it some nights and are legitimately bummed about missing. Some of them haven’t come to a FRAT Night yet and are still asking me, "what do you do?" I then tell them to ask their friends who went. I’ll point to one of the brothers to describe the last night and he has to put his food down to explain just how cool FRATERNUS is. It’s awesome! These brothers are awesome! I can already see how we’re directing these boys toward manhood, and we’ve barely started this chapter! It’s so good! I love it! I’m freaking out right now. Mostly because I’m going to spend some more time with those same excited brothers and yelling girls in one hour. I can’t wait.

A saint that has started to become more and more influential in my life is St. John Chrysostom. He’s a saint that you usually don’t hear too much about today, which is a huge travesty. He is considered a great doctor of the Church and was called Chrysostom, which means "Golden Mouth," because he was able to proclaim the Gospel in such an eloquent and complete manner. St. John Chrysostom was bold, proud, loud, and an inspiring leader in the spiritual life. He had a courageous outlook on living the Christian life that inspires the heart of a man and is a great example for us right now as most of the FRATERNUS chapters are going through the virtue of Fortitude.

I had honestly never heard of St. John Chrysostom until I started praying the Liturgy of the Hours, which I only started about 4 years ago when I thought that God was leading me to the priesthood. I later found out that He was simply leading me to spiritual formation unlike anything that I had experienced before. I had obviously developed a prayer life before then, but I did not have somebody to guide me in how to go further in my spiritual life, or to have other brothers holding me accountable. This time of preparing for seminary was paramount for me in developing a true relationship with Christ and striving to go deeper every day. I felt a sense of duty to wrap myself in Christ and to know Him as my refuge and source of strength.

Some quotes from St. John Chrysostom that I have read recently (and finally led me to start taking a deeper examination of this great, inspiring saint) have continued to call out to my heart and challenge me in how much I find my strength and identity in Christ. This first quote is from the second reading in the Office of Readings for St. John Chrysostom’s feast day on September 13th:

What are we to fear? Death? Life to me means Christ, and death is gain . Exile? The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord. The confiscation of our goods? We brought nothing into this world, and we shall surely take nothing from it. I have only contempt for the world’s threats, I find its blessings laughable.

The man that proclaims these words finds total strength in Christ; he finds the greatest strength that can be gained in Christ. Any material offer that comes this man’s way is laughable! A man is weak if he focuses his desires on the things of the world. It’s almost as if St. John Chrysostom pities those who find strength elsewhere because they can’t even come close to how strong he can be through Christ. But he also pities those men because they are lost and simply do not know what to do with their lives.

There is another quote I first heard from the priest that married Sara and I the day after we were married. When I heard this proclaimed, I approached him after Mass and asked for it so that it could continue to inspire me. This completely speaks to my warrior’s heart as a man.

To show the love he had for us he has made it possible for those who desire, not merely to look upon him, but even to touch him and to consume him and to fix their teeth in his flesh and to be commingled with him; in short, to fulfill all their love. Let us then, come back from that table like lions breathing out fire, thus become terrifying to the Devil and remaining mindful of our head and of the love which he has shown us.

AHOO! (Insert your manly noise of choice) That last sentence is SO inspiring. I get a little grin every time that I read it! Such powerful imagery; I just imagine people coming out of Mass turning into giant lions like Aslan and breathing fire, scaring anyone and anything that is even thinking about crossing them! What a way to find strength in Christ! That’s what FRATERNUS is aiming to do, to lead young men, with the hearts of lions, to be fierce and powerful by relying on the nourishment of Jesus Christ. Every man should leave Mass feeling completely empowered, ready to take on any laughable threat that is has to offer! We should walk away from Communion proudly as roaring lions who have just consumed the nourishing flesh of God! Unfortunately, too many people leave the church as docile sheep who are being corralled to the safety of their homes, still afraid of that which is actually weaker than them.

As we delve deeper into the virtue of Fortitude, let us remember these words and find total strength in Christ, and be prepared to completely frighten the pitiful threats of this world.

But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

It’s amazing to see young souls who have fallen in love with God Himself in an absolute, final way. This earthly life will always be a sojourn, a temporary though sometimes spectacular visit in anticipation of a better homeland. Man can search this world wide for beauty, truth, and goodness, but he will always be disappointed if he searches with the expectation of longer-than-temporary satisfaction.

Where, then, does one find the greatest glimpses of our better Homeland? Where do strangers and sojourners become natives of Heaven? It is in the Mass, when Heaven touches down and kisses our lips in the form of bread and wine. It is in the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord and Lover, Jesus Christ. He is the end for which our souls long. He is the Love that our hearts desire, the Remedy for our every aching, pain, and suffering. And He wants not just a place in our souls, but the entirety of our souls. His Spirit will not rest until we respond with the Blessed Mother’s fiat, her obedient, humble, and loving “yes” to the Father’s will.

And with our fiat comes divine filiation, that authentically Catholic understanding of Scripture that hails salvation from sins and salvation for sonship. We are not only rescued and delivered from the power of darkness but we are also transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). It is here that we become sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus, and spouses of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ words to St. John become our own as we behold our Mother (John 19:27), the Blessed Virgin Mary who is our life, our sweetness, and our hope. And the beauty of the New Jerusalem no longer breaks like dawn in a foreign land. It breaks in our hearts - melting them into deep wells of love - until we become alter Christus, indeed, other Christs.