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WYD08 - MAD08 Make a Difference

Men Alive hold 'Make A Difference' rally (MAD08) at WYD

The Men Alive movement from Brisbane Archdiocese held their MAD08 rally (Make a difference) in Sydney on the opening night of World Youth Day.

Despite pilgrims having to make their way back from the busy Opening Mass, a crowd of 1000 came and assented to the call for God to make a difference in their lives.

Men Alive is a movement that promotes young men becoming an active force again in the life of parishes and the wider church. One of the movements’ chief architects, Robert Falzon, was the MC for the night.

The event combined the music of Roby Curtis and the Emmanuel Worship Band, along with AV presentations and a slate of charsimatic speakers to give witness to the power of prayer and the graces that flow from making a difference in the church.

Fr Chris Ryan MGL, a priest well known in Queensland for his visits with the WYD Cross and Icon in 2007, began proceedings with a reflection on how important prayer is to the young man.

“For me it began when I met people who talked as though Jesus was still alive,” Fr Ryan said.

“I said ‘you’ve got something I’m looking for’ and they said if you pray you can have it too.”

“It worked because at Uni I prayed to God to show me how to live. I prayed and prayed until he showed me the way to be a priest as a Missionary of God’s Love (Fr Ryan’s Religious Order).

“I’ve never regretted the decision to follow God’s call and I wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t learnt how to pray.

“If you want to make a difference then you have to be a man of prayer and have a relationship with Jesus everyday,” he said.

Fr Ryan strongly recommended Fr Ken Barker’s book ‘Young Men Rise Up’ which has a specific chapter showing young men how to pray.

The second speaker was Paul Mimis, the first of many lay people making testimonials on the night.

Paul spoke of the transforming power of the sacraments in his life, in particular reconciliation and eucharist. He recalled vividly his attendance at the final Mass of WYD in Cologne.

“I remember during that Mass I received communion and prayed,” Mimis said.

“I looked around at the one million people there and I finally got it. It made sense.

“It was the same eucharist that I received every week, and sometimes I struggled with it, but here, on the far side of the world, I understood that it was Jesus that brought us all together,” he said.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge, of the Canberra-Goulbourn diocese, was next on stage and reflected on the importance of the bible.

“Read that book and leaping from the bible is the recurring theme that when you are weak you are actually strong,” Archbishop Coleridge said.

“It was John who said that there is no wound that cannot become a fountain. From the overcoming of that wound, or weakness, you can make a big difference.

“So I would encourage you then to go and read the bible with big wide open ears, the ears of your heart,” he said.

The powerful testimony of Paul Hayes signaled the urgency of Men Alive and the brotherhood and fellowship it offers.

“I only came back to the church four years ago,” Hayes said.

“There was a void in my heart that only God could fill, and when I went to reconciliation I felt cleansed and as though a weight had been lifted.

“Although there was a bit of backsliding to my old behaviours, I finally met a group of guys that supported me.

“I opened up and put to death all the things that had been binding and worrying me,” he said.

Henry Capillo talked about mission and how he had learned so much since making the most important decision of his life, the one to make the Lord his saviour.

Capillo impressed upon the gathering the five most important things he had learned, namely :

(i) God wants us to know he trusts us
(ii) God wants to build his kingdom using us
(iii) God wants us to believe his will is the best for me
(iv) God wants us to be bold, courageous and to change nations
(v) God wants us to commit and believe that with him we can make a difference

The night’s final speaker was Shayne Bennett, of Net Ministries, who talked about the Church.

Bennett recalled how as a young man he had learnt to be cynical about his faith.

“One brave priest had invited me to a prayer meeting at the end of Grade 12. I left and I hated it but one of my teachers had the courage to breakthrough and asked to pray with me.

“I began to look at people differently,” he said.

Bennett unveiled one of his core beliefs that Jesus wants to transform the world and wishes to use us, not just as individuals, but as a people.

“He’s chosen us to work together,” Bennett said.

“Unfortunately what is missing in church today is the potency of young men.”

“I know that sometimes the church is difficult – it’s like a family where some people can drive you nuts. And yet they are still family, they’re the ones that you hold together with.

“There is a call on us, a perseverance that is necessary to get past it, but definitely there is a call on young men to stand together with Jesus and make a difference,” Bennett said.

Released by the Catholic Communications Office

 

A new movement is seeking to encourage more men to take an active role in the Church.

PETER BUGDEN reports in the Catholic Leader:

The founders of a new movement in Brisbane believe they are awakening one of the Church's 'sleeping giants' - men.

Peter Shakhovskoy, a married 51 year-old father of five boys who has a successful career in middle management in a large corporation, looks around his parish church on Sunday mornings and wonders at the scarcity of men.

'Where are the men of our age' he asks himself. 'Where are the young men?'
The same questions have troubled Peter's friend, Robert Falzon, so they have decided to take up the challenge of doing something about it.

Together, they and three others have developed a program called Men Alive, aimed at rousing male Catholics into living their faith in a way that makes a difference.

And, even though it is only early days, it seems to be working.


One indicator Robert offers is the success of a recent weekend, when many participants were so moved by the discussions and reflection that they took up the offer of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time in years.

Robert said one man told him he had not been to reconciliation in 30 years and another 55 year-old said he could not remember his last time because it was when he was a boy.

'They're real graces - that men would go back to the sacraments after so long,' Robert said.

Men Alive uses the words of St Ireneaus as its inspiration - 'God is glorified when men are fully alive'.
The group says the movement was founded 'in response to a great need evident in the hearts and lives of men and a great need in the life of the Church.'

We believe the Church is waiting for men to wake up, to become fully alive and to take their place among the people of God and in His world.

'We envisage men finding their purpose anew, becoming active, and so making the Church a more potent influence in the world.

'Our focus is the lost territory in the hearts of men and the impact this has on the life of the Church.'

The aim of Men Alive is to minister to men by providing opportunities for them to gather, initially for a weekend and then regularly in small groups if they decide the experience benefits them.


It offers inspiration, encouragement, a chance to reflect and ponder, and to share with one another in groups about 'the real issues of their lives.'

Participants are motivated to take up the challenge and call 'to become a fully alive man', and to be a fully active member of the Church'.

After an initial weekend, Men Alive encourages men to gather regularly in small groups to pray, read the Scriptures, write about their reflections and for discussion.

Ultimately, this is to provide support, and encourage growth and action.

Ricci Barros, 41, of St Bernard's Parish at Upper Mt Gravatt in Brisbane, was part of the Men Alive team that organised a recent weekend for St Bernard's and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Sunnybank.

He said Men Alive 'offers something practical and down to earth that most Catholic guys can relate to.'

It gave an opportunity to break through the 'barbecue talk' with other fellas and to build a basis for support.

'If there are any spiritual issues you need to deal with there's a group of fellas with a similar mindset that you can come back to.'


Ricci said the Men Alive weekend gave him the chance to step back from a busy life to focus on spirituality and to reflect on that.

Paul Risitano, 51, who attended the same weekend, said it was very rewarding.

He had found it valuable to put into practice the SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) method of nurturing spirituality which was covered at the weekend.

The weekend experience had encouraged him to continue to reflect on how Scripture impacts on his daily living. He was looking forward to being part of a group praying and reflecting on Scripture.

'Hopefully it will bring Scripture alive for us on a daily basis,' he said.

The two brains behind Men Alive, Peter Shakhovskoy and colleague Robert Falzon, 48, who is married with four daughters, have worked together in the Church for 20 years.

Peter has worked in a ministry for fathers and sons, and Robert has run an annual weekend for men in Brisbane for several years.

Participants at a Men Alive weekend at Upper Mt Gravatt include (from left) Bruce Collins, Pat Sherry, Sean Harris and Ricci Barros

Their experience has pointed to the need for a movement like Men Alive.

'There's sort of a dream or energy in both of our hearts, a dream of lay people playing a part in the renewal in the life of the Church,' Robert said.

Common issues they have noticed among men in the Church are loneliness, dealing with transition, marriage, sexuality and purpose.

Caught up in the 'busy-ness' of modern life, men often face 'a lack of meaningless', and Men Alive offers a chance to fill that gap and to invite men into the 'task' of being part of Church renewal.



The movement is about helping men realise the importance of that task.

Men Alive offers two simple propositions;

Being spiritually alive and adult is of great personal value. Having a real relationship with God, a prayer life, and being in relationship with other Christians will transform you.

You are of great value to God, the Church and the world. As you come 'alive', God will use you as a co-agent to transform the lives of others and the Church and world around you.

In pondering the value of Men Alive, Robert thinks of one particular man for whom the movement has been an opportunity for change.

He's a truck driver in his late 40s. He's a guy who wants to make a difference, and if you scratch the tough surface, here's a guy who's never had a chance to share in a room with other guys and to tell his own story and his own needs.

It's an incredible need in the Church but we see it as an incredible resource.



What if the men in the Church could wake up and be fully alive?

'We want them to be involved in the Church and to go to Mass because they see they can make a difference,' Robert said.

The Church is no longer reaching the lapsed and lost. We see the lapsed, lost and discouraged can be reached.

'We see we can reach men.'

Peter and Robert believe Men Alive can engage and empower men.

They believe they can minister to men in the areas of prayer, fellowship, health and well-being, sexuality, fatherhood, marriage, vocation (purpose), and contributing to the life of the Church.

As the group works on establishing the movement in Brisbane archdiocese, it also hopes it will spread to other parts of Queensland and Australia.

One of its aims is for at least 300 men to gather for a major event in Brisbane next year as the group consolidates its work.

Peter and Robert are quick to stress that this is a developing movement and they are flexible about how it progresses.

They see the movement as a vocation for them, and they believe the Holy Spirit is at work in it.

Another parish weekend will be held at Petrie in Brisbane's north this weekend, with the group hoping to involve men from nearby areas such as Burpengary, Strathpine, Redcliffe and Deception Bay as well.

( Copyright -- Catholic Leader, Brisbane )

Prayer of St Francis Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy; O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.