DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH OUR LADY OF ANGELS MEN’s DISCLIPLESHIP GROUP

by Carlos Chaves

In 2013, the Year of Faith, I was a part of a small group of men that approached Fr. Michael Deusterhaus, at the time the Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Angels Parish (OLA) in Woodbridge with an idea. We wanted to explore the possi- bility of starting a lay-run parish min- istry focused on the spiritual needs of the men of OLA. The parish had hosted men’s groups from time to time in the past; however, there seemed to be a bit of a lull and we wanted to rekindle the Holy Spirit. With that, we decided to do what Catholic men usually do when they want to approach a priest with an idea: We took him out for pizza, beer and fellowship! During the initial gath- ering, we bounced around various ideas such as organized bible study, month- ly Holy Hours, meditations, retreats, and guided discipleship programs.

In the end, after two or three-3 more meetings (and countless pizzas), our group decided to sponsor the popular and highly successful men’s disciple- ship program, Paradisus Dei’s “That Man Is You” (TMIY). From the TMIY website: “Paradisus Dei (Latin for the Paradise of God) was founded in 2001 by Steve Bollman to help families dis- cover the superabundance of God within their marriage and family life.”

After receiving the blessing and ap- proval from our pastor, Fr. Kevin O’Keefe, our core group of OLA men organized, promoted and successfully launched the program on September 12, 2013. We would gather once a week at 7:00pm to share a meal prepared by a member of the core group of men, watch an inspirational video and then participate in guided discussion. The first few weeks saw an average of over 80 men participate in the program! In- vitations went out to neighboring par- ishes and the group flourished. This ministry lasted for the next four years with steady support from the pastor and the parochial vicars who served as unofficial chaplains for the group. After the completion of TMIY, a short hiatus saw the arrival of a new Parochial Vicar to OLA, Fr. Thomas Cavanaugh. Men’s ministry holds a special place in

Fr. Thomas’ heart and he quickly connected with the core group of TMIY men and began thinking about the next chapter in the spiritual growth of the men of OLA. He began hosting weekly “Theology Non-Tap” sessions where he taught the men the principles, ideas and spirituality behind his “Seven Pillars of Catholic Discipleship.”

In the foreword to Fr. Thomas’ book, “How to Win Friends for Christ - One Conversation at a Time, Fr. John Horn, SJ writes:

“As Christian disciples on a mission, we need to learn how to identify and surrender to the light of the Holy Spirit so that we can enjoy, in friendship with Jesus, the spiritual inheritance that he has gained for us. The more we learn to live in this friendship and receive the Holy Spirit, the more we will attract others through the contagion of hope. This is the hope that evangelizes the world!” In explaining the Seven Pillars and how they can help us evangelize the world, Fr. Thomas writes:

“Evangelization is as important as prayer to the spiritual and human health of the disciple, because each pillar is integral to the integrity of the structure of intimacy with the Person of Jesus Christ.”

Growing in friendship with Christ and evangelizing those around us became the mission for what would become the “Defenders of the Faith” Men’s Discipleship group at OLA. Fr. Thomas graciously agreed to answer some questions about the men’s ministry for this issue of Prince William County Catholic:

How did the OLA Defenders of the Faith come about? What was the inspiration?

”Really it started with the men reaching out to me and asking me to help them with this. It started long before I arrived, maybe two or three priests before me. So it’s a long standing tradition in the parish, between the men and the priests of OLA, it is a culture of Defenders of the Faith. So the name really came from just seeing the identity of the men’s discipleship culture of the parish. While I did have men’s groups in my past assignments, this one seems to be the most robust in terms of the longstanding culture for our men here at OLA.” What are the general goals of the group?

EVANGELIZATION IS AS IMPORTANT AS PRAYER...

”We have seven pillars that we seek to ground our group and our lives on: (1) Christocentrism; (2) the Word of God (both Scripture and Tradition); (3) Sacramental Worship (especially Mass and Confession); (4) Life of Prayer (Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Eucharistic Adoration); (5) Obedience (Ten Commandments, Virtue, moral teachings of Christ and His Church); (6) Communio (Mens fellowship, intentional family time, and parish communal life); and last but not least (7) Evangelization (works of mercy, inviting others into Faith and the Catholic Church, and joining ministries of outreach in our parish).”

What are your goals for the group?

“Growing in devotion to God through these seven pillars is our goal for the group. We are especially trying to grow in pillar 2, the Word of God, as our surveys of the group showed that it was both the weakest pillar and the one the men most desired to grow in.” who are real leaders in the community. Next, we had them personally invite 3-5 men from the parish or the surrounding area to join. We had two weekends of promotion in the Mass, the first week by general announcement, the second was we chose nine men to promote it by testimony and invitation at the pulpit after Mass on Sunday. We also promoted our first meeting as a night of fellowship, food, and fun! The first night had about 85 men there, a full house! We are planning another push as we start Lent in a few weeks to get our monthly average up to 100 and our weekly average up to 50-plus. It’s a very edifying thing to see so many men there week after week! I wish all parishes had the ‘“Defenders”! It’s probably important to add that our BYOB&B is an important part of our “Defenders” culture. We all bring a Bible and a Beer, calling it a “Scottish Style” Men’s group! We actually have a self-made brew master, OLA parishioner Christopher Howser, who made an official Defenders of the Faith Beer!”

How many men are participating so far?

”We have about a hundred men on our list but it’s an average of 30-40 each week. But because we have a meeting every week we have about 75-80 different men each month.”

What is the group doing to expand and promote this ministry? ”We have had waves of promotion. We started by gathering 15-20 men What would you want the public to know about your ministry?

”Men need men to grow in their spiritual life. The wives love this ministry, because the men are more and more becoming the spiritual leaders that they always wanted them to be. The children are being provided for, protected and learning the truths of the faith from their fathers, a tradition and necessity that was lost on a century of families after two world wars and other sources of generations

of men lost and spiritual-compromised by our common enemies--the world, the flesh, and the devil.”

How are meetings structured?

”We start with prayer, centered on the Trinity through Jesus and Mary. We open the Word of God (both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, using the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church), and after reading, I do a 20-30 minute dialogue-style teaching on the passage. We first did three weeks learning Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, then Galatians. Now we are on Ephesians and will do more Saint John and the Gospel of Mark then back to Saint Paul by the end of the month of May to end our year of meetings. The second half of the meeting is fellowship, or Communio (Pillar 6!) as we call it. It’s a very important thing for us as men to structure time to share our battles and our victories and encourage each other in our pilgrimage of Catholic faith.” Is this something you see growing to other parishes?

”We do not have a plan for it, but perhaps with this article, other priests and other men will be inspired. I know over a dozen other priests and parishes with men who do similar models of men’s fellowship or discipleship in their parishes. We really like ours, the BYOB&B is a really fun aspect. But I think any men’s discipleship group is going to have all the basic elements. We actually spent a lot of time looking at models from other parishes in the diocese and had some intense debates about how to make ours the best it could be. I know, for example, that Father Rich Dyer had about 60 men in his parish at St. Charles Borromeo in Arlington and they used the same seven pillars model, and two parts to the meeting (1) teaching or testimony, and then (2) fellowship, or faith sharing. It’s pretty basic, and anyone can do it without some big, complicated, or expensive program. There’s

lots of parish and men doing this every- where. We just believe that we can get better each time, each month, each year! The difference between the men and the boys in discipleship groups is that the men actually do it and the boys just talk about it. The men of OLA are not all talk and no action. These men are doers! The enemy wants to pick off men with lies and distractions. We need to fight for this sacred time of prayer, Word, and fellowship. It’s producing abundant fruit! And we are certainly not the only parish doing it, which to me is extreme- ly encouraging. Perhaps we are even on the brink of a new renaissance of Catho- lic culture, led by holy lay men of God!” At OLA, we are fortunate to have such a group of lay men, and even more for- tunate to have someone like Fr. Thom- as as our spiritual leader. For me, it’s been an incredible journey that has strengthened my faith and deepened my friendship with Christ. Commu- nity, and communal life (pillar 6!) has always been important to me and my family. In today’s crazy world where living as a faithful Catholic seems so counter-cultural, the bonds formed between Catholic men of faith and their families cannot be understated. St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote, “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” I am thank- ful for the group of men I have forged a friendship with and very much look forward to establishing new friend- ships within our parish community. For more information on OLA’s De- fenders of the Faith Men’s Disciple- ship, or how to start a group in your own parish, please contact or visit the OLA Parish Office, 13752 Mary’s Way, Woodbridge VA, 22191. For more in- formation on TMIY, please visit www. paradisusdei.org/that-man-is-you/ .