“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” (G.K. Chesterton)

The past three months as a FRATERNUS missionary has brought countless blessings. Most mornings, I wake up and can hardly believe that it’s my full-time job.

This afternoon, I spent several hours at Fr. Ryan High School. In fact, every Monday from 11am until 1pm, I get to know the young men at this school over the course of four lunch periods. Though it often feels like I am reliving my own high school days, I always walk away encouraged as new relationships develop and conversations continue to deepen. Two months ago, I felt like I was experiencing the first day of school four times in a row every Monday afternoon. Now, there are enough familiar faces that I feel at home.

Tonight, I will be going downtown with one of our FRATERNUS brothers and his family for the Predator’s game. While I am excited to cheer on Nashville’s pro hockey team, I am much more pumped about the opportunity for friendship to grow. Being invited into a family with such openness is an incredible blessing.

Just before Thanksgiving, two of our HAWC groups met. At the end of the 2nd night, after nearly two hours of unbelievable conversation about truth and manhood, an all-out wrestling brawl erupted. Before I knew it, three of our brothers had pinned me to the ground and left me lifeless and laughing. It was one of those moments of profound joy that confirmed my theory that men show their affection to one another more through physical collision than kind words.

As we enter into this preparatory season of Advent, may we all be filled with a deep and joyful expectancy as we await the coming of the Christ Child. Grateful is the word. In fact, it is the only word that describes the wellspring of love and brotherly affection in my heart. Thanks be to God for this great apostolate. And thanks be to God for all who make it possible through prayer and support. Let us store up treasures in Heaven!

This is an outsider’s perspective of FRAT Night.  By “outsider,” I mean a woman’s perspective.  This blog entry is dedicated to all the moms who wonder what in the world happens when the Brothers, Captains, and Missionaries gather together for their weekly meeting.

About a month ago, I was talking to Brian Butler from Dumb Ox Productions while at the Territory-Wide EXPOSURE Outing.  Please consider this my official “shout out” to Dumb Ox on the blog.  He asked me something about my experience of FRAT Night and I confessed that I had never been to one.  A look of confusion crossed his face.  You see, I work in the Programming branch at Headquarters.  To have not been to a FRAT Night is like Shakespeare not having attended opening night of Hamlet at the Globe Theatre.  I know, I’m being a little dramatic.

Brian: (Walking downstage stopping just below the Procenium Arch, bewildered) “Is it that you have no interest in going?”

Lorelle: Heavens!  No! (placing the back of her hand against her forehead) I’d love to go, but FRAT Night is a men’s event! (She faints at the very thought).

END OF ACT I SCENE II

I think it’s best that I stick to writing for FRATERNUS.  Tommy and Justin thought that I should see a FRAT Night for the sake of the good of the order.  I’d like to announce that I attended last week’s FRAT Night in St. Augustine!

It was wonderful!  I walked in just as they’d all taken a knee to say the opening prayer for the night.  To hear the words I’d seen on the page now said aloud as a prayer from the masculine heart was inspiring.  As the rules were being explained for COMP Time, a few of the Founding Brothers who knew me asked what I was doing there.  I had just enough time to answer before the whistle blew that signaled the beginning of the game.  I stood at the gym door captivated by the Brothers, Missionaries and Captains as they ran back and forth across the court, the spirit of competition surging through the room.  One Brother asked me to hold his sunglasses while he played.  There was something beautiful about that to me.  Woman = Can-take-of-fragile-sunglasses.  It touched that part of my heart that loves these boys like they’re my own.  Although I rarely see them all together, I pray for them and hope that they will hear God’s call for their lives.  I believe that they will help transform the Church in America because of their experience of God’s love proclaimed to them by the Missionaries and Captains of FRATERNUS.  I dream for them, that they’ll know the reality of what it means to be a son of the Father and that they’d lead others to know Jesus.

I digress.  When COMP Time finished, they funneled out of the gym and into the foyer of the building for pizza.  I delighted even in their system of attacking the pizza and discarding the boxes.  Everything about the night was charged with excitement because they were brothers just being together.  I stayed to watch the movie clip and listen to the King’s Message but sneaked out quietly when they began SQUAD Time.  Greeted by the coolness of night, I sat in my quiet of my car and watched as some SQUADS walked to their meeting place to talk.  I knew that they would be different afterwards, that they would read the Word of God and hear from the heart of the Church together, as Brothers, and be changed.

I love my job.  I thank the Father for bringing me to serve these incredible boys as they journey on the most noble of missions.  If I were a FRATERNUS Brother, I wouldn’t miss a single FRAT Night!

-L-Rellie

Today is the feast of St Clement.  Might I recomend checking him out a little?

http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/CLEMENT.HTM

After all, he’s in the Roman Canon - that’s gotta mean something to you!

I like once a month.

Not only does a new magazine come once a month, but once a month the missionaries get together in person for a little bit of meeting, and a lot of quality time.  This Tuesday we met in Tallahassee for the first time since the retreat to catch up a little bit.

It was a great day, and it was actually hard to stay focused on what we were talking about because we were just so excited to see each other.  When I walked in the apartment, Kevin was wearing a RIDICULOUS tie, playing the guitar, with Brad sitting next to him trying to find the beat on a djembe jembe jimbay big drum.

Smiling, I immediately took the guitar from Kevin, and we waited for our last two to join us.  Once they got there, we called poor Jimmy in Nashville, set the phone on speaker, and put it down on the table between all of us.  We met for the next couple of hours, eventually getting some lunch and taking a stroll around the local gardens.

I always like coming together with the guys.  What is it about coming together that I like so much?  Truthfully, I’m not really sure.  I know that I’m not doing this alone — I know that there are guys in Tallahassee and St. Augustine and Nashville doing the exact same thing I’m doing — it’s just nice to see them face to face every now and again.  Not just because I like their company, which I do, ridiculous ties and all, but because it renews me in what I do here.  I can do my job a little more faithfully because I know, because I have seen and continue to see, that my brothers and friends are doing it too.

And I think that’s OK.

-Rush

With the exception of the postmaster, everyone loves getting mail. Imagine receiving an embossed, cordial invite to an Affirmation Party. The instructions are to come to FRATERNUS, bring yourself (and a snack to share if you so desire), and your God given desire to be affirmed in your walk with the Lord. FRATERNUS shaped confetti falls out of the card onto the floor. You’re so happy to get mail you don’t even care that you’ll have to spend hours vacuuming the confetti off of your shag carpet.

Admittedly, I was a little numbers crazy in the first few months of my employment with FRATERNUS, majoring in Economics made the source obvious. The point in knowing the numbers is holding ourselves accountable to each other and to the brothers. If week by week into the semester five less brothers keep coming each week, it’s not fair to those brothers if I don’t reach out because I don’t see the change happening. If I went through a FRAT night for only one brother, having started the semester with 50, something happened.

God has given me a better understanding of why we exist as an organization. Being present is the name of the game. That and growing in holiness. Oh, and seeking and finding. Don’t forget laying your life down for others. Sigh…I almost forgot dying to self. Ok, there are many names but through openness to God, things are starting to click. As I’ve prayed to see others with the eyes of Christ, the conversations have been so much better. I’ve seen so radical growth in the lives of the HAWC brothers, guys willing to walk with their brothers in the pursuit of holiness, and I’ve affirmed them for it.

We recently added something to the tailend of our FRAT night in Tallahassee. At the end of the evening each Captain will affirm in front of the group something someone did that night in their squad time. I was skeptical the first night we tried it but was blown away but the brothers’ responsiveness to this. Of course! People need to be affirmed when they are potty trained as children, when they don’t hit EVERY mailbox on the street while learning to drive, and then when they graduate college to start working with FRATERNUS. The most important affirmation throughout life is sometimes not as intuitive; affirmation for growth in holiness and virtue.

You’ve just received a cordial invite to FRATERNUS…

KWess

What’s this all about? Well check the link…it supports Catholic Monks in Wyoming, its the best coffee I have tasted (cowboy blend is a fav) and 20% of the sale comes back to FRATERNUS! So be generous and give the gift that keeps them awake!

This past Friday evening, the second HAWC group in Tallahassee kicked off.  Six brothers (minus one who had a Boy Scouts camping trip) joined together around a wooden table in the San Miguel Community Center for our very first meeting.  Each was excited to be there, but slightly hesitant, unsure of what to expect.  After our opening prayer the questions came spewing out: ”What does the ‘A’ in HAWC stand for?  What are the ‘requirements’ and expectations of us as HAWC brothers?  What are we going to be talking about?  Can we go swimming?  Are we going to eat?”  I tried to answer these questions as best I could while trying to convey the level of commitment that is required of them to make this HAWC group successful.

We began the discussion talking about the reason God gave us the commandments and if the brothers felt freedom in them or not.  The brothers quickly learned I was not going to accept the generic answers, “To get to heaven” or “Because He’s God and He can.”  While those answers are true, they fail miserably in presenting the whole picture.  The commandments are more than a tyrant God imposing His will on us and they aren’t just a blueprint for the path to heaven.  After my challenging them to think deeper, they began to see that the commandments were given out of love, for our protection, and so we can live a truly fulfilling life here on earth.  Their eyes started to open to the freedom that should come with obeying God’s commandments.

I then asked the brothers what it looked like when someone does not have God in their life.  They began debating different telltale signs of a person who is lacking a relationship with God.  One brother, who had remained pretty quiet until this point, piped up and offered the most profound statement of the evening, “They don’t know their own power.”  I froze for a second - half blown away by the comment, half wanting the statement to linger with the brothers for a moment.

Do these brothers even know the power they have within them?  Before his Ascension into Heaven, Christ told the Apostles, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…” (Acts1:8a).  Not only are we powerful because we’re made in the image and likeness of God, but the power lost due to sin has been restored by the Holy Spirit dwelling within each of us.  Each of these brothers is fearfully and wonderfully AND powerfully made by our Creator.  The goal of this HAWC group is to take this from a cerebral understanding (”Hey, God made me pretty powerful.”) and help them to embrace it, harness it, and use it for good daily.

B-Rad

November 13, 2009

FRATERNUS hoping to form virtuous ‘heroes in society’

Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register, www.dioceseofnashville.com

Shouts of “Coragio!” filled the streets of Germantown the night of Nov. 4 as 80 young men sounded their rallying cry outside Assumption Church, preparing for initiation into the FRATERNUS brotherhood.

Part Knights of Columbus, part Boy Scouts, part SEARCH, FRATERNUS is a new national program whose mission is “to form boys into chaste young men of integrity.” FRATERNUS is for those “seeking a genuine brotherhood centered in the person of Jesus Christ,” according to Jimmy Mitchell, a 2008 graduate of Vanderbilt University and founder of the Nashville chapter of FRATERNUS.

It takes a lot of courage to lead a virtuous life today, but Mitchell and his fellow FRATERNUS leaders are confident that this new program will give participants a strong foundation to walk as disciples of Christ. By joining FRATERNUS, these 6^th-12^th graders learn “they are not alone in fighting this fight” to be virtuous, said Mitchell.

“This is a unique group to be a part of,” said David Lee, a senior at Montgomery Bell Academy and a Cathedral of the Incarnation parishioner. “It’s hard to find a solid group of high school guys willing to be open about their faith.”

With an emphasis on mentorship and accountability, FRATERNUS provides the opportunity for young men to practice the virtues of faith, hope, charity, prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. Members of FRATERNUS attend weekly meetings, regular outdoor excursions and summer camp.

And it’s all done in a male-only setting. After being involved with youth ministry for several years, Mitchell said he witnessed “how young people respond when mentored by a young adult of their own gender.”

While some classmates chide him about being involved with a guys-only extracurricular faith-based activity, MBA junior Mark Simpson said it doesn’t bother him. “We try to lead by example and not talk too much,” he said.

Simpson said he is thankful to have found a group of guys all “pushing toward heaven” together.

His cousin, Anthony Simpson, a senior at Father Ryan High School, said in the few months since FRATERNUS has started up in Nashville, the brotherhood has already formed a “tight bond.”

It’s also been a good chance for Catholic teenagers from public, private and home school settings to band together, Anthony Simpson said. The ideals of FRATERNUS are tough to live up to, he said, “but it’s worth it in the end” to keep striving.

“We do everything we can to walk with them,” Mitchell said of himself and the dozen other FRATERNUS leaders, “but the captains (adult leaders) don’t have it all figured out either.”

“We help pick them up when they fall down,” said Mitchell. “To begin, and begin again” is a mantra that Mitchell espouses, affirming the young men that it’s OK to make a mistake, but to always get back up and try again.

All of the FRATERNUS brothers have the “authentic desire for holiness,” Mitchell said, and truly want to make the effort to live a virtuous life.

For Jacob Green, an eighth grade home schooled student and a member of Assumption Parish, coming to the weekly FRATERNUS meetings “is a blessing. I look forward to every Wednesday night,” he said.

At the weekly FRATERNUS meetings, held at Cathedral, the participants enjoy fellowship with games and pizza. Guided by Scripture and the Catechism, they watch movie clips that teach virtue. Then the boys split into small group squads according to their age to further discuss the challenges and solutions to living out the night’s virtue. “That’s really where the formation happens,” Mitchell said of the small group time, which is led by a young adult “captain.”

Still in the pilot phase, FRATERNUS is just entering its second year. Nashville is only the fourth city to launch a new chapter, and the first outside of Florida. While “bishops and families around the country are knocking on our door,” the program is still waiting for “funding to catch up with the demand,” Mitchell said.

With glossy brochures, a well designed website and comprehensive program guide, FRATERNUS is easily transferable to new dioceses. FRATERNUS only starts up in a new diocese with the approval of the bishop and the commitment of a sponsoring parish. The Nashville FRATERNUS chapter is sponsored by Cathedral and Assumption parishes.

Mitchell, who works full time for FRATERNUS, is excited about the program spreading around the country, even if it takes some time. “We’ve seen amazing fruits already” in Nashville, he said.

What does Mitchell hope for the FRATERNUS brothers, especially the high school seniors, as they graduate and move on? “We want to equip them to be mentors, to bring about renewal in the culture. We want men who are faithful fathers, priests and heroes in society.”

More information is available at www.fraternus.net.

Recently, my wife and two friends of ours decided to go on a canoe trip on Juniper Springs. I have never really gone canoeing before, but was looking forward to this time spent in nature, expecting a time of relaxation and meditation before God’s creation. I soon found out that I was in for a trip full of small and large obstacles and complete joy. We had two canoes, in one was my wife, Sara, with our great friend Cory; in the other canoe was myself with former kayak guide and current Cathedral youth minister, Ryan Poticny. I figured with somebody who was an Eco Tour guide, I would be set. Was I ever wrong. Within the first 25 yards, we flipped our canoe for what we still agree on was no reason whatsoever. We just started to fall off to the side and then…wetness. Sara and Cory are behind us and can’t believe how foolish we have been already. But we got back in the canoe and set off.

Almost the entire trip was consisted of us running into bushes, branches and anything else that could have possibly gotten in our way. Just when I thought we would completely miss a protruding branch, we would simply float right through it. Sara and Cory continued to laugh and avoid every obstacle. We couldn’t figure out what our problem was. Ryan was using all of his kayaking moves to maneuver us to safety, but we seemed to fail almost every single time. When we did go past an obstacle unscathed, we rejoiced as if we had just defeated a bear. Sara and Cory shook their heads.

We eventually stopped to have lunch and Cory explained to Ryan that the kayak moves don’t work with canoes. He needed to approach things differently by using his oar as a rudder. After this, our movement was so much more graceful. We were able to enjoy so much more of the beauty that the springs had to offer rather than constantly worrying about what we were going to hit next.

We did, however, continue looking out for obstacles and deciding which way we would go around trees and such. As we were deciding, I heard Sara release a shortened squeel. She and Cory had just moved past an alligator. We had no idea that we had passed it. Ryan and I start to freak out a little bit and begin to become super-aware of everything around us. Five minutes later, we see another alligator. We go by slowly so as not to disturb it.

After this close encounter, I begin to see how this small adventure could be reflected in our Christian lives.  There are obstacles all around us. After every step we take, and every obstacle we overcome, there is still something else waiting for us; another temptation or the same type of temptations that we thought we had already defeated. We must also combat this effectively. As the kayak strokes don’t work with canoeing, we must battle sin and temptation in a way that will actually steer us clear of the sin, not just make us acknowledge it, freak out, and then fall into it anyway. We can’t escape from a sin by simply saying, "It’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad." It is much more effective to call to mind the love that we are called to for God and His people. What sins can we commit if we are truly loving people? None.

I could go on and on about the analogies that could be construed from this trip, but I’ll stop there for the sake of brevity. I’ll simply inform you about the end of our trip. Right before we got to the end of our run, there was a tree with a rope swing on it. We all climbed up the tree and jumped off the rope, into the cool waters. Our fun was also escalated by climbing the tree an extra 10 or 15 feet to jump straight off of it. So fun!

Ah, another 80’s TV reference….they come to me without even trying, it’s really sad.  I won’t even bother to ask if you know where it comes from.

What was I talking about?  Oh, HAWC.  I like to talk about HAWC a lot, but if you just think I’m capitalizing a misspelled word just for fun, then you need to read this.

So, here in Pensacola we’ve been rolling with our HAWC group for over a year.  We’ve tried a few different curriculums (curricula?), we’ve done a lot of sharing, and it’s been great watching the guys become such good friends.

When we began this year, we had a few more guys interested in HAWC, so our group swelled from five, then to seven, to nine, and finally a tenth expressed interest, so we invited him too.

Everyone noticed, though, what happened to the dynamic when the number swelled.  Instead of having a small, intimate meeting, it took on more of a classroom like setting (definitely not what we’re going for) with guys raising their hands.  We were in quite a predicament.  Should we continue with a mega-group, or split up?  Pretty much everyone agreed that it was was too big for real vulnerability, but how should we split?  Do we break up the guys that have been together for over a year to keep the groups an even size?  We could keep the old group of six together and have the new guys start a group, but they haven’t all committed to be in for the year, and if there’s one thing HAWC runs on, it’s commitment.

So I showed up last week having no idea what to do about all of this, and somewhat unexpectedly, all ten of our possible members showed up.  Pleasantly surprised but needing a resolution, I began the meeting by going around the circle, stating plainly whether they were willing to commit for the year or not.

Every single one committed.

Every.  Single.  One.

So tonight’s the night we officially kick off our second HAWC group — in two hours, to be exact, we’ll meet at Moe’s for some burritos before we sit down and talk.  Pray for the new HAWC brothers tonight, that it may be as grace filled as it is for me and for the other HAWC brothers.

-Rush