Its is truly a joy to write about this experience that happen to me recently. regarding Catholic Men's Fellowship of California. http://www.catholicmen.org/
let me set the scene for you... ill make it short hopefully and sweet. i have been soul searching for a group of individuals that i can be apart of. since a few months ago i was and have been going thru some really dark days spiritually. while surfing the web at night on a Thursday night the holy spirit took me to the website for Catholic Mens Fellowship of Pico Rivera. i saw that they were having a one day men's retreat, on early Saturday morning. i made a decision to go and it was an amazing day. i was so impress with this group of men that it left me thirsty for more.
fast forward to now, i have been looking for this type of group here locally in my hometown of Bakersfield ca. finally i was able to attend a meting, now this guys don't joke around, they meet at 6:30am on a Saturday morning. i remember the night before i had butterfly's on my stomach, i couldn't sleep, i was afraid that i was not going to get up, i was wondering how the meeting would be etc. its almost like i was a kid waiting for a big surprise.
well i made it to the meeting and man oh man was i surprised. as soon as i walked into the hall where the meeting was being held, the men who saw me knew it was my 1st time there and they immediately started it to introduce them self's, shook my hand and just made it me feel so welcome. you would think that i met these guys years ago and not minutes ago. i was sitting in a corner end table and i had the entrance door within my direct eye sight. so as every guy started it to walk in all were shaking my hand and introducing them self's and starting conversations and oh man it was so great. we chatted for a bit, then move onto breakfast and then the brothers open up the floor for sharing.
i have to say, its it truly a joy. a happiness, a super amazing feeling to have and to receive from god. because right there i can share with other catholic men that want to not just follow god but to love god and to give them self's to him completely. i knew that there were other men out there but i did not knew who they were. to be there in the room with so many dedicated god loving brothers inspired me to want to continue to grow in my faith and to continue with my journey. i can tell you some many stories from this meeting but i want to rather emphasize this.
we men need a support group like this. we need each other to encourage each other to pray for each other and to share with each other. if you are struggling with your faith, god, family, friends. if you feel like you are all alone and no one is there to support you in your journey. then i invite you to look for a group of men like this.
i have attended two meetings on this month for two different parishes St Joseph and St Francis, and i can tell you that my wife noticed that when i return home i was more at peace. i was more joyful and hopeful. i cook breakfast for my family, help clean up the house, did some chores. all weekend i was like i was floating on air and walk in on air. the holy spirit does surely touch you if you are open to receive him and you are willing to go out there and seek the fellowship.
As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man. proverbs 27:17.
will you be willing to trust the holy spirit and let him lead you? i hope and pray that you will!
God loves you!
Carlos Napoles
Servant of Jesus Christ thru Mary!
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Thursday, December 6, 2012
what the heck is advent?
hello brothers and sisters in Christ. its is truly an honor to be able to write to you again, well the title of this blog is what the heck is advent?
well don't worry this is going to be fun and simple.
well as you know this past Sunday December the 2nd was the begging of advent season on the catholic church. what does that means, well is simple. advent means a time to prepare for what is coming ahead. that all sounds pretty simple right. every Sunday during advent the church will light up one candle to celebrate something special every week. the 1st Sunday is hope, the 2nd Sunday is peace, the 3rd Sunday joy and the 4th is love. so every week we are supposed to celebrate and keep reminding us to apply the theme of the week in our daily lives. that is one of the many things to do in advent. the other thing that i wanted to emphasized is that we need to prepare for Christ to be born on the DEC 25th. well what is that mean, again is simple. think of it like this.
if you are dating now or think to back in the day when you were dating your wife or husband to be. what you guys used to do before going out on a date. 1st you talked about it, then you set up a day and pick up a place to go, something to do, eating, movie night, walking, or whatever. you wanted it to do something with your special someone. then you were all anxious the week before the date. thinking about what to wear, for us men we got a hair cut, shave, bought some expensive cologne stuff like that. women well, went to the salon, for hair, make up, to get the nails done, bought clothes, shoes all of that. then when it was time for the date, we got ready, took a shower, got all fixed up. you drove somewhere to meet up or pick each other. and up until then we were all stressed out. finally once the date began it was all smooth from there. whatever activities were done they were fun and at the end of the day it was an amazing one. telling each other, hey lets do this again... sounds well to familiar.
well if you switch this to advent, this is the same thing. that is what advent is. we are waiting for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ. that's is it, but however this is so much more at the same time. why well. instead of getting ready on the outside we must get ready on the inside. we need to clean our souls, our minds our hearts. we don't need to and buy clothes, shoes, accessories. you don't need to go all out just for the heck of impressing someone. all you have to do is go back to church, if you are catholic and your have your sacraments, well what are you waiting for! go to confession. start fresh, so you can too receive our lord in the Eucharist as well as to receive him in your heart. that's is the meaning of advent. its a time of preparation, reflexion, prayer, alms giving, sacrifice and then on the 25th its celebration time....
you see our holy mother church goes to different seasons thru out the year to celebrate different events in the life of our lord Jesus Christ. for us Catholics, advent is the beginning of it all. so this is huge!
so come on what are you waiting for, get up go to church, call your local priest, schedule an appointment for confession, or walk in to the church and just stand in line. go to mass on Sunday's and while you are at it. dust off all the dirt that has been collecting for years on your bible, crack the pages open. let our lord be your personal guide thru the scriptures. open your heart, mind, soul and be hungry for our lord Jesus Christ. once you do your confession, do your penance. stand up to received the body. blood soul and divinity of our lord Jesus Christ. and i promise you, You will feel the love, passion, forgiveness, hope and joy that god has in store for you and your loved ones.
if you are not catholic, DON'T PANIC ITS OK!, i want to personally extended an invitation for you and your loved ones to come and worship with us in on one of our many Sunday masses. although you wont be able to participate in the sacraments for now. attending mass its a very good 1st step towards Christ and his bride holy mother church. from there i invite you personally to approach your local church and inquire about RCIA classes. Right of Christian Initiation for Adults. its basically a program that will teach you all about the sacraments, Catholicism, the love of Christ thru the scriptures, church and sacred tradition and sacred scripture and so much more. but in the mean time if you are looking into the catholic faith and want to know more. hit me up and ill try to help you the best i can.
sincerely
Carlos Napoles
Servant of Jesus Christ thru Mary!
well don't worry this is going to be fun and simple.
well as you know this past Sunday December the 2nd was the begging of advent season on the catholic church. what does that means, well is simple. advent means a time to prepare for what is coming ahead. that all sounds pretty simple right. every Sunday during advent the church will light up one candle to celebrate something special every week. the 1st Sunday is hope, the 2nd Sunday is peace, the 3rd Sunday joy and the 4th is love. so every week we are supposed to celebrate and keep reminding us to apply the theme of the week in our daily lives. that is one of the many things to do in advent. the other thing that i wanted to emphasized is that we need to prepare for Christ to be born on the DEC 25th. well what is that mean, again is simple. think of it like this.
if you are dating now or think to back in the day when you were dating your wife or husband to be. what you guys used to do before going out on a date. 1st you talked about it, then you set up a day and pick up a place to go, something to do, eating, movie night, walking, or whatever. you wanted it to do something with your special someone. then you were all anxious the week before the date. thinking about what to wear, for us men we got a hair cut, shave, bought some expensive cologne stuff like that. women well, went to the salon, for hair, make up, to get the nails done, bought clothes, shoes all of that. then when it was time for the date, we got ready, took a shower, got all fixed up. you drove somewhere to meet up or pick each other. and up until then we were all stressed out. finally once the date began it was all smooth from there. whatever activities were done they were fun and at the end of the day it was an amazing one. telling each other, hey lets do this again... sounds well to familiar.
well if you switch this to advent, this is the same thing. that is what advent is. we are waiting for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ. that's is it, but however this is so much more at the same time. why well. instead of getting ready on the outside we must get ready on the inside. we need to clean our souls, our minds our hearts. we don't need to and buy clothes, shoes, accessories. you don't need to go all out just for the heck of impressing someone. all you have to do is go back to church, if you are catholic and your have your sacraments, well what are you waiting for! go to confession. start fresh, so you can too receive our lord in the Eucharist as well as to receive him in your heart. that's is the meaning of advent. its a time of preparation, reflexion, prayer, alms giving, sacrifice and then on the 25th its celebration time....
you see our holy mother church goes to different seasons thru out the year to celebrate different events in the life of our lord Jesus Christ. for us Catholics, advent is the beginning of it all. so this is huge!
so come on what are you waiting for, get up go to church, call your local priest, schedule an appointment for confession, or walk in to the church and just stand in line. go to mass on Sunday's and while you are at it. dust off all the dirt that has been collecting for years on your bible, crack the pages open. let our lord be your personal guide thru the scriptures. open your heart, mind, soul and be hungry for our lord Jesus Christ. once you do your confession, do your penance. stand up to received the body. blood soul and divinity of our lord Jesus Christ. and i promise you, You will feel the love, passion, forgiveness, hope and joy that god has in store for you and your loved ones.
if you are not catholic, DON'T PANIC ITS OK!, i want to personally extended an invitation for you and your loved ones to come and worship with us in on one of our many Sunday masses. although you wont be able to participate in the sacraments for now. attending mass its a very good 1st step towards Christ and his bride holy mother church. from there i invite you personally to approach your local church and inquire about RCIA classes. Right of Christian Initiation for Adults. its basically a program that will teach you all about the sacraments, Catholicism, the love of Christ thru the scriptures, church and sacred tradition and sacred scripture and so much more. but in the mean time if you are looking into the catholic faith and want to know more. hit me up and ill try to help you the best i can.
sincerely
Carlos Napoles
Servant of Jesus Christ thru Mary!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)