December 2010 Breakfast Meeting - Saturday 12/11/2010

An Evening with Father Gregory Boyle Saturday, November 13, 2010

Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Men's Fellowship is hosting FATHER GREGORY BOYLE Author & Founder/Executive Director of HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES on Saturday, November 13.

Fr. Greg will be speaking and reading from his best-selling book: TATTOOS ON THE HEART  The Power of Boundless Compassion.


Don’t miss the rare opportunity to hear this phenomenal man of our time, as he shares his insights into gang intervention, rehabilitation, and social justice.

Schedule is as follows:

5:30 p.m. Mass celebrated by Fr. Greg
6:30 p.m.   Reading, discussion and dinner catered by the Homegirls Cafe.


Fr. Greg will be signing copies of his new book. Books on sale at the presentation ---All net proceeds From this book go to Homeboy Industries. To learn more about Father Greg Boyle and his work, please visit www.homeboy-industries.org .

Refuge House: CMF Hosting Coffee House Friday October 22 7 PM

August 2010 Breakfast Meeting - Saturday 8/14/2010

August Guest Speaker Father Charles Ssebulime

OLRCMF will be welcoming Father Charles Ssebulime of Uganda as our August Prayer Breakfast Guest Speaker on August 14. Fr. Charles is a priest of the Diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana in Uganda where he is an associate Pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Mwera, Uganda. Fr. Charles family is from Mubende, Uganda. He is the eigth of ten children. Fr. Charles began his seminary training in high school and continued with college studies at the seminary. After completing college with a degree in philosphy, Fr. Charles came to the United States and studied at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, CA . While at St. John's he completed a one year intership at St. John Fisher Parish in Palos Verdes. Fr. Charles earned two Masters degrees (M. Div and MA ), and was ordained a Deacon on November 19, 2005. In July 2006 he returned to Uganada and was ordained to the Priesthood.

Mass begins at 8 am in the Church followed by breakfast and Fr. Charles at 8:30. Meeting will end at 10 am. Bring a friend.

Fr. Charles' Bio above was summarized from Father Charles web site http://changeuganda.com/ Visit the site to learn more about Father Charles.

June 2010 Breakfast meeting - Saturday 6/12/2010

Jamie Carvlin and Steve Lang will be the keynote speakers at our June CMF Prayer Breakfast on Saturday June 12. At a CMF Breakfast last year, Jamie requested prayers regarding his critical need for a kidney transplant. Steve, a parishioner in attendance that morning, stepped forward to be a donor. Jamie and Steve will each share their personal take on this inspiring story of faith and brotherhood. The breakfast meeting is open to all parish men and women. The morning begins with Mass at 8 am in the Church, followed by breakfast at 8:30 in the Cafeteria. The fellowship will conclude at 10:00. For more information on organ transplants, vist OrganDoner.Gov.

The Bread of Life

Keeping with the theme of the Feast of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, the OLRCMF webmaster is posting a guest blogger from our Blog Roll. Originally posted at Will There Be Donuts in 2009, the blogger considers Jesus' miraculous feeding of the multitude, and how the wonder of that event informs our understanding of and living out of the Eucharist. (Note: the CMF webmaster does disclose and admit to also being the webmaster at Will There Be Donuts. OLRCMF: Hey, thanks for being our guest blogger this week. WTBD: Oh, don't mention it.)

I heard it again today. It was suggested to me that when we read John 6:1-15, wherein Jesus feeds a multitude with five barley loaves and two fish, it wasn't necessarily a miraculous event. Jesus simply encouraged a large disconnected crowd of people to redistribute the food they already possessed equitably among themselves. In those days, it was pointed out, people did not hit the road without a plan. There wasn't a 7 Eleven or a Jack in the Box on every corner. No Taco Bell. The people comprising that assembled crowd in that particular time and place would have been packing, meaning that they would have brought their own food and beverages, and more than likely had them discreetly stowed beneath their cloaks. Some might have brought more than they needed. Others might not have brought enough. All that Jesus did was to teach, by the example of a generous boy, that the crowd could abundantly feed itself if everyone shared what they already had in common.

Not a bad story. Not a bad lesson. Misses the point, I think.

I'm always curious whenever a believer, be they a theologian, a catechist, or the guy eating a donut next to me at coffee hour, feels the need to weed out the miracles from the words and works of Jesus in the Gospels. His life begins with a virgin birth and ends with resurrection and ascension. The water walking, dead raising, demon expelling, and food multiplying parts in the middle shouldn't be too much of a stretch to accept framed within that context. Why is removing the miraculous (and traditional) understanding of this event necessary? Does it provide more clarity, or is it simply too much to expect modern rational minds to accept the narrative literally?

We can begin by asking ourselves why the author of the Gospel included this event. Is it intended to teach us to share what we have with each other, that hunger and poverty are man induced, and that we, like Dorothy and her companions in Oz, have the solution to our dilemmas within our own grasp all along if we but trust to look? Or is the point of the event a confirmation that Jesus is the messiah, accompanied by signs and wonders, and that this God man is not only concerned with our eternal destiny, but demonstrates human compassion for our current temporal struggles? Might Jesus have even used this sign to prepare His followers, including us, to understand that He Himself would feed us always, would Himself become the bread come down from heaven, would be Eucharist?

In the Gospel story, we're told that the crowd had gathered because of the signs that Jesus was performing, specifically with the sick. This was not a marketed event. There were no flyers posted around the villages noting when and where Jesus would be, including a start and end time. It was a spontaneous crowd that gathered and grew in response to Jesus miraculously curing large numbers of sick people. As Jesus moved away from the populace, the crowd followed after him. Passover was near (think Eucharist.) Instead of returning home for the Passover the crowd continued to follow Jesus into the mountains. The crowd followed Jesus beyond where they had expected to follow Him. The crowd was compelled. Something amazing was happening. This was not a trip that they had planned and packed for. This was a movement of the Spirit. The crowd followed Jesus beyond the line of personal risk. Haven't you ever found yourself there?

"When Jesus raised his eyes

and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,

he said to Philip,

“Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”

He said this to test him,

because he himself knew what he was going to do" John 6:5-6

Phillip's answer to Jesus assumes that everyone in the crowd would need to be fed. Phillip was a man of that time and place. He was familiar with his own culture. He did not say, "Well, most of these people probably have enough to feed themselves. We only need to worry about the geniuses that came along without a sack lunch." No. Instead, Phillip guesstimated that "Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." John 6:7.

Enter the boy with the "five barley loaves and two fish." John 6:9 It seems that he had brought more than enough for himself. Most likely, when his mother packed his lunch, she always threw in a little extra, just in case. I don't think she realized that this time she was preparing a meal for 5,000 plus. The boy came forward to help, and directly or indirectly, gave the food to Andrew, who then brought the small amount to Jesus. Jesus responded with, "OK. That should do it," gave thanks, and then proceeded to offer the boy's lunch to the crowd. Not only did everyone have enough to eat, but more food was gathered up from the left overs than the amount that had been originally served.

Was this truly a miracle?

"When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,

“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”" John 6:5-14-15

The fed multitude believed that something supernatural had occurred. The gathered had become sharers in the type of sign and wonder they had set out to behold.

Jesus then realized that the crowd, in response to what they had witnessed, wanted to carry Him off and make Him king there and then, so He escaped further off into the mountains alone. The apostles departed by boat without Jesus. The boat encountered rough water, and Jesus caught up with them, having crossed the water on foot, just as they reached the other side. It should be noted that many of the people who had "eaten the bread" also departed by boat and were surprised to find Jesus on the other side. He chastised them for being more excited about the bread, the temporal comfort and curiosity, than the implication of the sign, which He went on to connect first to the manna by which their father's were fed in the desert, and then directly to Himself, to the Eucharist. The chapter ends with Jesus repeating that His flesh is real food and His blood real drink multiple times, and that His followers must consume Him in order to have life.( John 6:53-58) For most of the gathered, Jesus' words were too hard to accept. Most walked away. Jesus then asked his closest friends if they were going to leave Him too? Peter responded as we must, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" John 6:68

John Chapter 6 is all about the Eucharist. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus giving us His own flesh and His own blood as food and drink. This is miraculous. This is the central miracle of our faith. Jesus offered on the cross for us. Jesus as the Passover Lamb. It requires faith in the miraculous. More than that, it feeds faith in the miraculous.

The Gospel is still too hard for many to accept. The signs and wonders that Jesus worked are too difficult for many present day believers to fully embrace. Miracles must be made metaphor, the wonder relegated to internal spirituality. The natural interpretation trumps the supernatural. It isn't surprising that some liturgists have begun to more celebrate the gathered than the sacrifice for which we gather. Our God is a miracle. Jesus is still working wonders among us. We need to be a people of the wonder. We need to offer, unashamed, our belief in the wonders of our God to a world much in need of wonder. Accepting that Jesus miraculously fed a multitude of hungry people does not negate the role of the gathered in the miracle. Jesus allowed the saved to participate in the saving act. The young boy risks rejection and scorn by offering a small gift to a large problem. Much like Mary's humble yes to the Angel by which the Word became flesh, Jesus takes a small humble act and magnifies it. When Andrew brought the boys small gift before Jesus, he asked Jesus, "what is that among so many?" John 6:9 Jesus responded by feeding the multitude with 12 baskets in excess. In the company of Jesus, we can always confidently approach the needs before us, the struggle at hand, in our homes, in our parishes, or within our world, bringing no more than the strength, the intelligence, and the faith we have on hand. Some may ask, "what is that against so great a problem?" We know the answer. Everything.

Catholic Men's Fellowship of California Update

A number of new parish based men's groups are starting up, particularly in Southern California. Please pray that these groups will help men become more committed in their Christian walk. Pray for the leadership teams that they will be men of service, faith and humility. CMF is pleased to help in any way to assist new or existing men's groups.

Catholic Men's Fellowship of California has announced that Burt Martinez had become our newest Ambassador. Burt has been actively involved with St Hilary's parish in Pico Rivera, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for 18 years. He has served as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister and Sacristan. Burt helped build and start the St Hilary's Men's Fellowship. He has been married to Rosemarie for 12 years and has helped raise four stepchildren. His vision is to bring many lost sheep back to Christ and help men discover the truth of the Faith. He is motivated to build a stronger marriage to Rosemarie and become a true servant and minister to his family and to others. CMF Ambassadors are men who volunteer their time to assist men's groups, help with conferences and encourage men to become daily followers of Christ.

Upcoming Events:

One Day Conference: The Way to the Father: On Saturday, June 5 at St. Joseph Center of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart in Alhambra. The day begins at 9:30 am and ends at 5:00 pm. There will be two dynamic speakers for us men: Fr. Steven Guitron and Fr. Joseph Shea. Come join with other men to be encouraged in fatherhood after the model of God the Father. Cost of the conference is $45 which includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Confessions will be offered. The conference will include mass. Register online NOW at www.Catholicmen.org.

You Are My Son

I know your name

and I weep when you hurt

And I cheer when you win

Because you are my son

I will come when you call

I will hear your prayers

And I will fight for my name

Because you are my Son

You are my son

Artist: Scarecrow and Tinmen

Song: You Are My Son

Album: No Place Like Home

1999 Pamplin Music

ChrisPadgett.com

St. Barnabas, Long Beach Offers Adult Lenten Series

St. Barnabas Catholic Church in Long Beach is offering a 4 week Lenten Series for adults beginning Thursday February 25th.

What are the top 10 things a Catholic should know about their faith? What does the Church really teach about life after death? What does the Church teach about the problem of pain and suffering? What does the Church teach about the relationship between science and religion? These are the topics that will be covered by presenters Scott Johnson MA, Chair, Dept. of Theolgy, Loyola High School, and Jeff Johnson MD, MA, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics USC Keck School of Medicine.

Suggested donation for the 4 week series is $40 for one adult, $60 for couples. Child care is provided for an additional $3.

Visit the site here for more information or click on the image at left for larger view.

A Lenten Plan for Catholic Men

The 775 Challenge Plan by Danny Abramowicz

Danny Abramowicz , former NFL wide receiver, now a popular author, speaker, and television within the Catholic Men's Movement, has created a special Lenten Plan for men. Abramowicz's Plan can be found at Catholic Exchange. Below is Danny's introduction and a link to the plan.

"I would like to share with you a challenge plan that the Lord has put on my heart. Men throughout salvation history have been open to and have accepted challenges from God, and by doing so, their lives were changed and they became holy men of God, which he has called them to be and us to be.

Lent last for seven weeks and this plan is called the "775 Challenge Plan," which stands for 7 challenges to take effect over a 7 week period of time and the 5 ways to obtain the graces needed in order to give us the inward strength to complete these challenges. By accepting this 775 Plan we are giving the Holy Spirit permission to remold our lives.

Maybe, this Lent, instead of giving up something, we, instead, can accept these challenges from the Lord and with His graces can succeed in changing the lives of each and every one of us.

Of course, once you review the plan, the 5 ways to obtain graces are the bare minimum amounts of times-you can add to these numbers as the Spirit moves you.

My prayer is that each of us will accept this challenge and, hopefully, cast our nets and ask one other man to join in this challenge-preferably a family member. " Danny Abramowicz

Find the plan at the Catholic Exchange by clicking Here.

Ash Wednesday - Into the Desert

LAST CALL - Carmelites at St. Joseph Center in Alhambra Host Men's Conference

This Saturday, February 20, the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Los Angeles will hold their first men's conference. It will take place at the St. Joseph Center next door to their retreat house on Alhambra Rd. and Granada Ave. in Alhambra. The conference is titled "UPSTREAM ~ LIVING RADICAL CATHOLIC LIVES"