St. Kieran’s Men’s Fellowship
Mission:
A gathering of men to explore and discern how to integrate the Gospel into our daily lives, across all the roles we fulfill. We gather in the name of Jesus Christ trusting ourselves to His presence, depending on the active guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We are small, but a growing group of men from the parish who recognize the power of meeting with the Lord each week in a forum where His voice can be heard above the din of our daily activities.
We meet the first and third Tuesday of the month,
from 7:30 to 9:00 P.M.
in the
Parish Office Conference Room.
No advance registration or notice required, just come and join us any Tuesday. Contact information is provided below with some supplementary background. Come and join us for an evening.
A Lesson from Zaccheaus
In Luke’s Gospel we find the story of a tax collector by the name of Zaccheaus. We have all heard the story about how Jesus, walking along the road, saw Zaccheaus high in a tree and called to him for an invitation to dinner. I am sure he was surprised.
Do you think he had any idea that Jesus would call to him? Yet all of us have been like Zaccheaus, haven’t we. We find comfortable branches to sit in and look for Jesus from the back of the crowd. Especially as men, we have a particular penchant for staying “un-involved” in spiritual things. Sure we will set up tents, work on projects and do many of the necessary things that need to be done in a parish. Those are good things, so don’t get me wrong. They are also pretty safe things, from a spiritual stand point. Like Zaccheaus, the tax collector, we men tend to stumble. We find ourselves busy with the things of life and where does it lead? Being selfish, being interested in others only if it can help us or being concerned with making money and garnering material things. It also leads to unintended things, like not spending enough time with our wives, our children, and our families. There’s good news. It is fixable.
In the short time it took to have dinner, Zaccheaus was moved to a deep and profound conversion to God. Christ came into his life, and convinced him he had to change. We do too, if we are honest.
There is a group of Men here at St. Kieran’s who meet to help each other change for the better in the same way Jesus helped Zaccheaus. Why focus on men?
Besides the fact that we really need it, it is somehow very effective to have men challenging other men to do the right thing. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man.” Think about that. Iron sharpens Iron. We simply don’t grow as much as we do when we are challenged by other men.
So what is this group like?
For years now, our society has come up with many different “self-improvement” plans. Usually, they do not work because we are human and will always make mistakes, run out of enthusiasm or find that the rewards aren’t there. But imagine a self-improvement project that actually works over the long term. The St. Kieran’s Men’s Fellowship is much like that self-improvement project, but it adds one critical item: We rely on God to do the heavy lifting, so that it’s a “Christ-driven” self improvement. Christ is the one element we add that makes it successful. We recognize we can’t do it ourselves, but we CAN do it with the help of the person whom we receive in the Eucharist.
It is a call to personal holiness, but take note that it’s not a call to being “holier than thou”. We aren’t in this to compare ourselves to other men. Rather, it is more like “holier-than-we-were yesterday, or last month, or last year. You’ll find that it won’t be long before those around you will notice a difference in you.
We’re inviting all kinds of men. Men who are married, single, fathers, or grandfathers, those who are well in-tune with their faith, as well as those who are not. Even if you are already in a group like the Knights of Columbus, you’ll find that the small group style we follow will help challenge you to put into action the principles of those other groups. One of the top reasons that men’s small groups like ours are so helpful is that they provide the accountability from other men who are going through the same challenges you are. It’s easy to attend a talk or read a book to improve your life, and then forget about it later. But helping ensure that you continually strive to put into action what you learn is the real value of this group.
Think of all the time and effort we put into professional development for our careers and work. This is the chance to put a fraction of that time and effort—just a few hours a month—into our souls… our marriages… our families. Combine that with the grace of God and we really can succeed in becoming the men He wants us to be.
Come and see how. Join us on the first and/or third Tuesday of the month, from 7:30 to 9:00 P.M. in the Parish Office Conference Room, behind the glass partition. There’s no commitment involved, so come and give it a shot. Take a chance and climb down from your branch. You just might find Jesus has been calling you.
If you have any questions, you can contact
Hugh Buchanan (586)997-0519
