BE OUR GUEST – You’re Invited! – SFI Hall of Fame Special

BE OUR GUEST – You’re Invited!   

We have established a group called “CMCS”  for complimentary admission.

To register click here

Download the PDF click here

This Sunday: February 26th 2012 NFL Veteran Mike McCoy speaks out!

Please help spread the word!

 

 

Feedback from a recent talk: In teens’ own words

“ I now realize I have to fight my addiction to Sexual behavior. I have a boyfriend and I am heading down path to teenage pregnancy. Sex has hurt me and is keeping me from my goals. I want to remove negative influences and be best I can be. You have helped me to save myself and I am ready to make peace with my past and move forward to virginity” Missouri

 

“I have been struggling for past three years with Depression and it has been miserable. My boyfriend broke up with me before our 1 st anniversary. I cared and loved him so much I gave him all… Now I regret it so much. The emotional, physical and mental pain haunts me daily. I don’t usually ever go anywhere with my problems. What also are my barriers are bad influences from friends like alcohol, weed and painful comments. But God has been slowly helping me recover.”

 

“Thanks so much for coming here today. I’ve been struggling with my Faith and making bad choices revolving around alcohol and sex. Thank you for putting sense back into me because lately I have been lost.”

 

“My real barrier is fear and anxiety. This fear starts a chain reaction and often leads me to cutting myself. On the outside I appear to be perfect, smart, athletic, and beautiful (not to be narcissistic) But I really I am a wreck. My mother is an alcoholic. My father is cruel to a point of emotional, abuse. You though, the Real McCoy, have encouraged me not to use my past as an excuse for not moving forward. But Play like a Champion and never hold myself back.”

 

“Thank you for coming to our school. I myself have been a victim of self –mutalization-cutting. You have inspired me to take ownership of my life”

 

“Your speech taught me to never take drugs /alcohol and always put God first”

 

“Depression and suicidal problems”

 

“ I’ve seen Marijuana destroy and change many of my friends and family. I promised myself I would never do it. Thank you for shedding light on this.”

 

“This will make an impact on my life.”

 

“Thank you for encouraging me to take the right path and I am proud to be clean and have good friends.”

 

“One of best programs I have ever seen. You helped out a lot.”

 

“Mike, you taught me a lot about life and how some decisions could change your life forever. Everything you said you should never change .Say it to everyone and never say anything different!

“I really liked the prayer at end about converting ourselves. It really woke me up. I have been dealing with Anorexia and bulimia. I have been in and out of rehab and I relapse every time. I also have been dealing with depression and cutting. My life is spiraling out of control and I do not know how I am anymore.  I can solve it by praying, seeking God to deal with all the demons in my head so I can live my life because I want it back. Yes Proverbs.”

 

“The program was fun and meaningful at the same time.”

“I feel like the world is cashing in on me. My grandpa has cancer and my dad lives in another state unemployed. How do I deal with this? I worry about them both and I miss my Daddy.”

“I loved the presentation. I opened my Heart to Jesus.”

“My father’s death, outside conflicts and alcohol at a young age.”

“I found the right way of life because of you.”

 

“This taught me how to handle life’s complications’ and how to work for success.”

 

“ My family, Sex, Drugs, drinking and friends hold me back. I been through hell.  I was caught up in the darkness from being abused. I opened my heart to God and I am in the light. It helped me clear my mind of my past and the choices I made.”

 

“You taught me a lot about my life. There were so many things I always thought about doing but now my mind has definitely changed.”

 

“You have great words. Everyday Jesus is with us. Your words are like Jesus. It is cool how you interact other things with Jesus. In the future I will use your words.”

Student Comments from LA and St. Louis Teen Life Group – February 14-19, 2012    

 

How to be a Catholic Man in the Workplace

Frank J. Casella

By Frank J. Casella, Co-founder*

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing”.   – Vince Lombardi

If you substitute “Prayers” for “Winning” then “Praying is not a sometime thing. it’s an all the time thing…………“

Everything you do in the workplace as a Catholic Man must have a foundation of prayer.    Every decision that you make. Every action that you take. Every thought that you think, and every word that you say.

Character and Integrity is what you do when nobody is looking.

If the boss asks you to cheat to make the company profit, do you do what the boss says or what God tells your conscience?  ‘Catholic guilt’ is really your will and your conscience boxing … with the Devil as the Ref.

Women.  Need I say more?

…. Respect her as a person and as the woman that she is. Always look at her in the eyes, or not lower than the bridge of her nose. If she dresses with ‘too much skin’ then see her as Blessed John Paul II says “ a work of art created by God”.   If you have ever visited St. Peter’s at the Vatican, women are to dress modestly as to not draw attention away from God.

Likewise, if the way you dress causes a woman to look at you in in-modest ways  …  Married or not … Then you are a distraction (in the workplace) and not honoring God.

Do you know the rules of your company manual?  How about your spiritual manual: The Bible and the Catechism?   Are you of the world, or just live in it?

When you walk through a room do people know you’ve been there in a positive way?  Does the light of Christ radiate from you and your personality?  Jesus made his presence attractive in a way that people knew quickly what He was about, and wanted what He had for them: God’s Love and the Gospel message.

Are you an example of your relationship with God and the Holy Trinity?

Do you milk the day to get a paycheck, or do you bring value to your firm through your performance … Regardless of how the company treats you?  Are you humble or modest … Do you look at others as better than yourself?

Do you pray for your company every day, as well as your boss and co-workers.  When someone is going through a life set-back do you care, and maybe a good listener, or do you look the other way?

Are you Charming.  Forgiving.  Patient.  Wait for God’s agenda … or on your own?

With all of this you might be saying ‘where is my freedom”?   “Don’t I have a right to do things the way I see them”?

“Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.” – Pope John Paul II

Are you a winner?  Are you a prayer?  It’s not a sometime thing.  It’s an all the time thing.

Speak your mind below or share this blog post with a friend.

*Portions of this article are contributed by Deacon John Rangel.

The Catholic Man’s Tool Box

Frank J. Casella

By Frank J. Casella, Co-founder

“Some day I want to be like him”.  Have you ever said those words about your Dad?  If your answer is ‘Yes’, consider yourself blessed.  In our culture, boy’s ( and girls ) with Fathers absent in homes, or who are not present, usually beget Father’s absent in homes.

The same is true for teaching the Catholic Faith in your home. Recent studies tell us that Dads determine the church habits of their children and thus to a significant degree their eternal destiny.  According to one study, if a father doesnʼt go to church no matter how faithful the mother is, only one child in fifty will become regular church goers.

Many Men who are high-powered in the board room, are passive in the family room. They come home from work and – like a big kid – veg out and play games with their kids, instead of first mentoring them by nurturing his wife and their marriage.  You know how it goes: “ the best gift that a Father can give his kids is to love their Mother”.

Whether or not you are married, what does it mean to be a Catholic Man?  When you are married, how do you be the Husband and Man in your home? Here is my short-list tool box for the Catholic Man:

  • Many Dad’s admit to us their kids get everything they want, more than they themselves ever had as a kid, but don’t do anything about it.  It’s okay to give yourself permission to tell your child “NO”.  The Catholic Bible says so. “Do not withhold discipline from youths; if you beat them with the rod, they will not die”. Prov. 23:13
  • Do your kids spend too much time texting, gaming, or on Facebook?  Take it away and use that as a reward system to create balance in their lives.
  • Penetrate and fill your wife’s heart with your love an affection.  When you don’t, someone or something else will.  It goes back to Adam and Eve: Eve sinned because Adam was not protecting her heart. Women tell us about their husbands “I don’t want his money … I want him”.
  • Read your Bible daily.  Don’t have one?  Start with the “Today’s Reading”  website link on this blog at the side bar.  Make sure that what you’re reading is a Catholic Bible, as it has the added books that Martin Luther took out giving you the fullness of our Catholic Faith. The Bears’ Pat McCaskey shared at a recent CMCS Men’s Conference that you can read the Bible in a year and still have time off for Christmas.
  • Live the Virtues of a Catholic Man by Bishop Joseph Perry (click here). Start with one virtue and don’t move to the next until you have it mastered like a Navy SEAL.
  • Join or start a Parish Men’s Small Group ( click here ).  This is where a dozen or so Catholic Men meet to share the challenges they face in the workplace and at home.
  • Spend time with your children every day, either reading to them if they are young, or in a meaningful conversation. The average Dad spends only seven minutes a day with his children.
  • Embrace your Catholic Faith, trust it, and make your life more of Christ and less of you.  Give your personal agenda to God. Many Men identify themselves by their paycheck or the sports Jersey they wear, instead of as a child of God, Husband, or Father.
  • Attend daily Mass or regular Adoration with the Eucharist, and pray for and WITH your wife and family.  Find the many prayers on this blog by Bishop Perry on the top menu bar, or the ‘ How to pray the Rosary” link on the side bar.

I’m sure you can think of many other tools to put in your toolbox, and I’d like to hear some of them with your comments below. The thing that holds your toolbox together, though, is found in 1 Corinthians 13: 11-13: “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love”.

See you back here next week for how to be a Catholic Man in the workplace.

Speak your mind below or share this post with a friend!