I love our men!!!

Today I got to be a fly on the wall as the only woman in a room full of dozens of men! I gave a five-minute talk of encouragement to these wonderful, faithful men, who are leaders in our diocesan men's programs in some way. These were our husbands, our sons, our brothers, our priests and our deacons, and our shepherd in the Diocese of Phoenix, Bishop Thomas Olmsted!

Ladies, I spoke on your behalf, telling these men that we love them, we support them, we invite them and allow them to be men, because that is how we will best flourish as women! The men were grateful to hear it, as they live in a culture that denigrates everything they are. The thought of marriage and family take a backseat to perpetual adolescence, video games, and porn; fatherhood is mocked and deemed irrelevant; man as protector, provider and spiritual leader of his family is seen as some sort of crazy throwback at best, a dangerous concept at worst.

The men I talked with and prayed with this morning have prayerfully read and are ready to implement the Bishop's Apostolic Exhortation to Catholic Men: Into the Breach, which I wrote about earlier. Since women are more likely to read the exhortation right away, and men are more likely to watch a trailer (c'mon, it's true!!), here's the trailer for the men:

My sisters, please show this to the men in your life, and then have them read the Exhortation, privately at first, and then hopefully in small groups of other men.

You know, I have been in a room full of women countless times, and now I have been in room full of only men. Anyone who tells you that men and women are the same is not living in reality. I was bursting with joy to be there, reveling in the fact that men and women, though complementary and equal in human dignity, are not alike. Praise God! Male and female He created them!

I was so indescribably moved and heartened by the words of these men, speaking freely and humbly about their love of Christ, their families, their Christian brothers, and their mission to be holy and virtuous men. These men are ready for the battle to which God is calling them.

Ladies, be very proud of your men. Their hearts are big and they were made for something great. With the encouragement of this Exhortation and the love and support of their wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters, they can and will do great things for Christ and become the men that God created them to be!

I love our men so much!!

Exhortation to Catholic Men! (Women, direct your husbands and sons here!)

“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and 

stand in the breach before me for the land…”   -- Ezekiel 22:30

Hooray!!! At long last, the Exhortation is here!

If you recall, way back in February I was part of the Diocese of Phoenix Synod on Masculine Identity and Mission called by my wonderful and holy Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. This synod was a gathering of scholars, priests, religious, and laypeople, and it served as the foundation and inspiration for the incredible document written by Bishop Olmsted and just released on the Feast of the Archangels, at the hour of mercy:

 Into the Breach: 

An Apostolic Exhortation to Catholic Men

Bishop Olmsted is an incredible spiritual father to all of us here in the Diocese of Phoenix, and he felt a special need to call forth his spiritual sons, the men of his diocese, to their God-given mission. As a woman, I cannot tell you how grateful I am! We have such a crisis of manhood in our nation today, and men, for so many reasons, have forgotten who they are.

Every woman I know wants her husband, her son, her brother to be the man that Christ intends him to be. Our wonderful bishop has sent out a clarion call to those sons of the Church to step up and take their place in the spiritual and cultural battle raging around us!

Bishop of Phoenix, Thomas J. Olmsted

First, watch this amazing trailer (and trust me, the priests and other men in this trailer walk the walk, they don't just talk the talk):

Next, read Bishop Olmsted's Exhortation, which opens:

I begin this letter with a clarion call and clear charge to you, my sons and brothers in Christ: Men, do not hesitate to engage in the battle that is raging around you, the battle that is wounding our children and families, the battle that is distorting the dignity of both women and men. This battle is often hidden, but the battle is real. It is primarily spiritual, but it is progressively killing the remaining Christian ethos in our society and culture, and even in our own homes.

.......

One of the key reasons that the Church is faltering under the attacks of Satan is that many Catholic men have not been willing to “step into the breach” – to fill this gap that lies open and vulnerable to further attack. 

Read it all! Spanish speakers, go here! Print it out and put it in the coffee table in your home. Email it to all the men in your life. Post it on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. Men, challenge other men to read it and discuss (there will be ways to implement this document in parishes and small groups, so stay tuned). 

There are three main questions presented in the Exhortation:

1. What does it mean to be a Catholic man?

2. How does a Catholic man love?

3. Why is fatherhood, fully understood, so crucial for every man?

And these three questions are understood within three basic contexts:

Context #1: A New Apostolic Moment – The “New Evangelization”

Context #2: A Field Hospital and a Battle College

Context #3: Man and Woman are Complementary, not Competitors

I am in love with this document. I tried to parse out a few passages that are my favorites, but there are too many, and I gave up. Just read the whole thing. 

Men! We women support you and love you! Be the men that God is calling you to be! Step into the battle, be a hero, be a protector, a provider, a spiritual warrior, a saint! Sacrifice yourselves totally for the ones you love, in service of Our Lord! We love you! We want you to be what God made you to be!

Men of God, step into the breach!

*******

And, for those who would claim that the Church bypasses women, read Pope St. John Paul II here and here. I trust you will be more than satisfied. And if not, please go pray, and read again. :)