August 1997
Index
- A Full Cup of Perfect Faith, by Lory Misel
- Update on the SacraMentors Movement, by Fr. Bob Camuso
- The SacraMentor Process-Why it exists and why it works, By Tom Mengert
- What the Future Holds, by Carl D Jones
- Tacoma graduates its second class
- Opportunities for service to SacraMentors by Carl Jones
[Web Editors note: that all references to MOTUR (Men of the Upper Room) have been changed to reflect the SacraMentors name]
A Full Cup of Perfect Faith
by Lory Misel (August 1997)
"What can I do to have more faith?" Who has not asked this question at one time or another? It is a very acceptable question and many acceptable answers are offered to assist: Pray, fast, read the scriptures, increase Mass attendance.
Forgive me but I am beginning to think this "What can I do to have more faith?" is a faulty question. It implies you lack faith. Could it be you have a full measure of perfect faith within you? Let us look again at the question, "What can I do to have more faith?".
Could it be that God has gifted each of His children a full cup of perfect faith and asked, "Dear child, if you offer this cup to Me, I will drink of it and bless you beyond your imagination. As you see my blessings, your cup will run over". (Could this be what David meant in the psalm, "My cup runneth over"?)
Could it be that what God gives cannot be diminished, changed, altered or lost? Could it be that this instant, even as you read these words, you have the contents of your full cup of perfect faith within you that yearns to be held with loving hands to your Father?
Let us suppose your ego is an eye dropper, a siphon, a sponge, dedicated to withdrawing small amounts of your perfect faith from the cup God gave you and squeezing your perfect faith onto things the ego deems important; things you want to get things your ego tells you that you can control and accomplish on your own. A drop here, an ounce there, withdrawn from your cup.
Now you have a drop of perfect faith that, say, anger will get you what you want or an ounce of perfect faith that money will offer you security. A teaspoon of perfect faith that grudges will make you safe, secure and powerful. A measure of perfect faith that getting others to think well of you will give you true self-esteem. Now you turn to the cup God gave you and find it empty. Your cup may seem empty but your perfect faith is still within you, just misdirected to ego things of the world.
The question is not, "How can I have more faith?", the question is, "How can I reclaim the perfect faith God has given me?". The first thing to consider is that you cannot reclaim and restore your perfect faith to your cup on your own. This is neither possible for you nor your function. This is the function God gave to the Holy Spirit and this task is totally possible for Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to assist you and absorb the faith your ego has siphoned onto ego things of the world and lovingly return your perfect faith back into the cup that is only to be offered to God.
Realize my brothers, that God thirsts to drink from your cup. When He asks for drink, how full is the cup you offer Him? An interesting visualization is to picture Jesus coming to your home each evening to share a drink with you. Each evening you sit across from Him and offer Him your cup of faith, realizing He thirsts to drink from your cup. Is it a full cup of does it contain just a few drops? Know in your heart He is grateful to you whether He drinks but a few drops or fulfills His thirst.
Realize my brothers that the Eucharist is a reciprocal process. Your are offered the cup of His Blood that He gave His life to provide you and you in turn offer Him your cup of faith. You drink together at this holy instant.
It is with the realization that you possess a full cup of perfect faith that prayer, fasting, meditation and scripture reading take on a new significance. Pray for assistance in withdrawing your faith from yourself, your ego and things of this world that you may offer your full cup of perfect faith only to God. Fast to remind yourself that you do not live by bread but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Meditate of how only God is worthy of the perfect faith He has given you. Revel in scripture reading as you realize the love, grace, abundance and miracles which have flowed from God to His children as they offered Him faith.
May your cup runneth over!
Update on the SacraMentors Movement
By Fr. Bob Camuso (August 1997)
In the past few months we have been working on many fronts to introduce the Men of the Upper Room program to our diocese. I met with Archbishop Murphy a couple months before his death and sent him the materials we have produced thus far. After reading our materials he became very enthusiastic about SacraMentor and began promoting it among priests, telling them they should talk to me about our program. With the archbishop’s death we have lost the best public relations person we could have had! One of his concerns was that we present this program not just to parishes in King County, but to parishes that extend to the boundaries of our diocese. I very much want us to be able to fulfill this last request he made of me.
When I talk to priests about SacraMentors they ask me when we can come to their parishes. There seems to be a pent-up demand for the what we are offering to men. One thing Lory and I quickly discovered is that we cannot do this alone. We need your help as leaders to present the talks and lead the program in parishes. In this regard, we are currently putting together a leader’s manual that will outline the program and provide information on how to facilitate the four sessions. Once the manual is completed we will be inviting many of you to join is in training sessions to prepare you to present this program at other parishes. If you are asked to be a SacraMentor leader we hope you will accept that this call is not just from us but also from God. Why? Because this is God’s work. My role and Lory’s role is simply to cooperate with what God seems to be doing with the men who have participated in the SacraMentor program. Lory and I are continue to be amazed at the changes we have seen in men who have joined with us so far. We know this is not something we have done. It is the Holy Spirit who is changing the hearts of so many men. We are humbled and grateful to be mere witnesses to the wonderful works of God!
The SacraMentor Process - Why it exists and why it works
Why it exists and why it works
By Tom Mengert (August 1997)
Editor’s Note: Tom Mengert, who participated in the SacraMentors presentation at St. Charles Parish in Tacoma, wrote the following (with editing from Fr. Bob) to describe why the SacraMentors process has been successful thus far. While Tom’s thoughts do not exhaust the mystery of why SacraMentors works, what he wrote is important in helping us understand SacraMentors and what all of us have gone through.
The SacraMentors process is designed to empower men to bless the world with kindness, appreciation, forgiveness and service at their local parish.
The process consists of a 90-minute method which clears away obstacles and strategies created by the ego to insure defeat, demoralization, and a sense of unworthiness.
The SacraMentors process is based on the following twelve assumptions:
That we approach the innocence in others, instead of their guilt. We do this because we see each person as a holy child of God.
That our life experiences leave us wounded by grudges and fears which prevent us from being effective witnesses to the Gospel and from realizing our true vocation and power to bless.
That we take seriously the call to bless as found in the New Catechism ("Every baptized person is called to be a 'blessing,' and to bless." 1669). This power to bless is a central life function entrusted to all Christians. As we bless one another we give witness to our union with Christ and each other. As we bless one another we help to heal our community. When one part of the community is wounded, all parts are wounded. When one part is healed, all are healed (cf. 1 Cor 12:26).
That fearful dreams and illusions about self and others confine us to a narrow view of the essential plan God has for each of us.
That fearful dreams and illusions gain power when held in secret. And that such power dissipates when fearful dreams and illusions are held before the loving gaze of Christ and our brothers of the Upper Room.
That our active and loving God presents to us each day people we are called to bless with kindness, forgiveness, listening, sharing and letting go of our need to be right or to control another person.
That problem solving is a subtle temptation to enmeshment and identification with another’s problem to the exclusion of all else.
That God’s method of healing is one of silent but active caring and acceptance.
That to listen with love to another person mirrors the receptivity of God and the unconditional affirmation of the essential beauty and dignity of each person.
That the response of the recipient of such love is to return love in an ardent but non-guilt motivated response of gratitude and reciprocal blessing.
That as we bless others we break the cycle of violence in our society which is crucifying the heart of the world.
That through acts of kindness, forgiveness and blessing, we serve our brothers and sisters, share our gifts, receive answers unsought and unexpected and abide in peace.
What the Future Holds
by Carl D Jones (August 1997)
You, as a participant in the SacraMentors series have been permanently changed. Your life will never be the same as it was before you participated in the series. You now know more about your God and yourself and no matter how you tried (assuming you even wanted to) you cannot unlearn what you have learned. You are committed to an altered course through the remainder of your life and isn’t it wonderful to know you are on this new and ever evolving course.
Like you the SacraMentors program is on a evolving course. This program started with one man committed to enhancing the spiritual life of the men in his parish, in 1996 Lory Misel joined Fr. Bob Camuso to broaden the SacraMentors series and now we are starting to train our first lay trainers who will take the SacraMentors program to its next level of growth.
Fr. Bob and Lory cannot physically handle the increased demands of the program made by parishes requesting the series. We have, in fact, had to place the parishes who have requested the program on a list and are serving them on a first come, first served basis. Presently, there are over 15 parishes waiting for the program. This means that 1998 will be a very busy year for SacraMentors.
Plans are being developed to serve all the parishes who are waiting for the program and more during 1998. The lay trainer program is the first in a succession of trainings that will be conducted during the coming months and years to meet the demand for the SacraMentors series in our diocese. Trainers will be going through a series of training sessions that will prepare them for their role as trainers. A Trainers Handbook is being developed which will include all the information needed by the trainers to fulfill their function.
Once enough lay trainers are recruited and trained, Fr. Bob and Lory can then direct their time to development of the SacraMentors program in other dioceses.
Other parts of the SacraMentors movement have been and will be developed over the course of the next few months and into 1998. We have developed the Community Gathering, which is a two hour meeting of all men who have participated in the SacraMentors program who wish to meet and share with other men who have gone through the program. This meeting is held every six weeks and is rotated between parishes that have been involved in the SacraMentors program.
A couples program, titled How to Heal and Bless Your Marriage, has been developed and will be offered for the first time on Saturday September 6, 1997. The program will be 7 hours in duration and will start at 8:30 AM and end at 4:30 PM (lunch is not included). This program will be for couples both within and outside the SacraMentors membership. For men who have participated in the SacraMentors program the cost will be $45.00 per couple. For others it will be $90.00 per couple: The -size of this first time offering will be limited to the first 100 couples. If you know of a couple who could benefit from this program please invite them.
A three day intensive study retreat is being developed for the early summer of 1998. This retreat will be conducted by Fr. Bob and Lory to deepen spirituality in all the participants. More about this retreat will be outlined in the upcoming issues of this newsletter.
It is expected that 1999 will be a major growth year for the SacraMentors movement with growth both our own diocese and beyond our borders. Certainly, we would like our growth to be orderly and manageable but with the enthusiasm already being generated from our core communities we will be hard pressed to keep SacraMentors from exploding. We are realizing God has His own plans for this program.
Tacoma graduates its second class
SacraMentors has recently graduated it’s second class in the Tacoma area. This class included men from Auburn, Enumclaw, Fircrest, Puyallup, Tacoma and University Place. The first three sessions of the class were held at St. Charles Borromeo and because of a previously scheduled event at St. Charles our Saturday Sanctum was held at St. Patrick’s in Tacoma.
A special thanks goes out to the recent graduates who returned to support their new brothers and to refresh themselves with the process.
(note: The webmaster has edited out the names of men to prevent this list from being used for commercial purposes on the internet)
Congratulations to all those that participated and grew from their experience. We welcome you to SacraMentors and will keep you in our prayers.
Opportunities for service to SacraMentors
by Carl Jones (August 1997)
The SacraMentors movement is developing quickly and there are many parishes that have requested the program. In order to fulfill the need for the program many volunteer opportunities are developing.
MOTUR is in need of men who will be willing to commit to one year of service in one or more of the following areas: Trainers, Facilitators, Testifiers, Community Coordinators, Cooks and Prayer Partners.
These volunteer positions are extremely important to the success of the MOTUR program for Fr. Bob Lory and Carl cannot fulfill the demand for the program on their own. All volunteers will receive the necessary training to fulfill their responsibilities. After reading and praying about each position need listed below, if you feel called to volunteer, please e-mail Carl Jones for complete details.
Trainers; This position is responsible for the conduct of the three Sunday sessions and the Saturday Sanctum session of the MOTUR series. Each series is to be co-taught with two trainers.
Facilitators; This is the third position in the four week MOTUR series. This person will take full responsibility to set up the facility, register all participants, introduce trainers, set up refreshment breaks, and coordinate Saturday Sanctum activities.
Witnesses; These individuals will be critical to the promotion of the MOTUR series in parishes. They will speak at Masses prior to the series being conducted in a parish and give personal testimony at the first session of the series in a parish. Community Coordinators; This individual is the link between MOTUR and each parish. This person will pass along any information from MOTUR to the parish, work to recruit more men into the MOTUR movement and coordinate with the Pastor of the parish to ensure he knows what is happening within MOTUR in the parish.
Cooks; These individuals will set up and cook the food for the dinner at the Saturday Sanctum.
Prayer Partners; This person will actively pray, at home or some other location, each Sunday for the success of the series, in progress.
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