Joseph of Nazareth Is a Single-Issue Evangelical -- It is Our Call To Be Like Joseph NOW!

tip to Justin Taylor

Russell Moore delivered a most prophetic messages on Joseph, the demon-fighter and patron saint of the Mass'keteers on October 16, 2008 at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can download it here. The title of the sermon was, "Joseph of Nazareth Is a Single-Issue Evangelical: The Father of Jesus, the Cries of the Helpless, and Change You Can Believe In" (Matt 2:13-23).

THIS IS A MUST HEAR SERMON - SORRY IT IS NOT IN HOMILY LENGTH, BUT IT IS AN AWESOME MESSAGE ON SAINT JOSEPH AND ALL FATHERS.

One of the most poignant sections of the sermon comes when Moore makes a comparison between “Christians” of a former generation who tolerated the lynching of African-Americans and “Christians” of this generation who tolerate the atrocity of abortion:

And many of them believe that it is missional to speak to people while blunting or silencing a witness about the life of children so that you can reach them with the gospel. . . Some will tell us there are many other issues: economics, global warming—issues I’m very concerned about too. Previous generations have said that as well. Previous generations of preachers have stood in the pulpit and preached until they were red in the face about card-playing and movie-going and tax-policy and personal morality and tobacco-smoking and a thousand other issues, but would not speak to the fact that there were African-American brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus swinging in the trees! And there is judgment of God upon that. And there is here too.

Read more on the fruits of the Democratic candidate to understand what we are voting for in this upcoming election.

Remember it is all about LIFE! Don't get caught thinking overwise.

A Patron Saint for the 4Ms?

Aramis asked me who might be appropriate to ask to be our Patron Saint here at the 4Ms. Since it is the great Saint Jerome's Feast Day, I post this favorite image of him (above). But I don't think we'll ask him. My suggestion is someone near and dear to all of the original 3Ms, for fairly obvious reasons to Aramis, Porthos, and Athos.

Doug Barry Interview - Zenit

Doug Barry of Radix has been developing a camp for fathers and sons. This is an opportunity for teenage boys and their fathers to get away from the world's ideas of masculinity and the lies that go along with it and realize what God has always intended a man to be. RADIX Camp is about taking good young men and challenging them to become heroic.

Read all of Zenit's interview with Doug Barry, Becoming the Man God Made You to Be.

Churchgoing Men & Fathers

W. Bradford Wilcox opines at MercatorNet: Churchgoing men are not a hangover of the old patriarchy but a new breed who are closely connected to their families.

Heart of a Father

Childhood of Christ - Gerrit van Honthorst (The Hermitage)

In the Church we have the beautiful feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with the heart symbolizing the immense love of our Lord and His Blessed Mother for each one of us.

As Catholic husbands and fathers, we might also consider meditating on the heart of St. Joseph, the third member of the Holy Family. His heart is an apt symbol of the love he contributed to the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation that was unfolding under his watch. And now that same masculine vigilance and love, once focused on his beloved wife and the Christ child, is bestowed on each one of us, as he is universally invoked as the patron of the Catholic Church. [h/t: New Advent]

Read all of The Heart of a Father.

It is Hands-on Training in Chivalry, NOW!

What is the Knights and Squires Encampment? The Knights and Squires Encampment is a father/son camp out that takes place at the Marian Friary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Griswold Connecticut. The Encampment is run by a dedicated group of Catholic men called the Knights of Lepanto, and work under the direction of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. The event takes place three times a year, Spring, Summer and Fall. You can link to the Spring 2008 Encampment interview HERE it takes you to a page where you can view a video describing this past May's event, it is well worth the 11 minutes.

The Idea of Marian Chivalry

Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit or state of mind which disposes men to heroic and generous actions and keeps them conversant with all that is beautiful and sublime in the intellectual and moral world. (Kenelm Henry Digby, Maxims of Christian Chivalry)

Here we have succinct but essential definition of an institution that is often poorly understood. Today chivalry can mean anything from mere external manners to adulterous romance. Some revivalists conjure up a completely pagan version, ignoring or redefining the Christian virtues that made chivalry great: fidelity, honesty, courtesy, prowess and generosity.

Imagine one arguing that fidelity is based on faith, but that faith does not necessarily have any relation to God. Such is the present state of affairs.

According to the definition given above, chivalry keeps men “conversant with all that is beautiful and sublime in the intellectual and moral world.” From a Christian perspective nothing is more beautiful and sublime than the sacrificial love of Christ for his Church, and the Church’s obedient love for Christ.

Check out Chivalry and the Great Mystery I must admit that I find it very interesting that this program is put on by Franciscans.

Athos, forging our path to a renewal of Christendom, has been inviting all to chivalry for some time. Link to Corpus Christianum and learn more on how you can be apart of this movement.

H/T to Brad Watkins and his blog @ Roman Catholic Vocations. I encourage you to visit and pass this important blog along to someone who may be discerning a religious vocation.

Joseph the Worker

From Catholic Culture

The feast of St. Joseph the Worker was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 in order to Christianize the concept of labor and give to all workmen a model and a protector. By the daily labor in his shop, offered to God with patience and joy, St. Joseph provided for the necessities of his holy spouse and of the Incarnate Son of God, and thus became an example to all laborers. "Workman and all those laboring in conditions of poverty will have reasons to rejoice rather than grieve, since they have in common with the Holy Family daily preoccupations and cares (Leo XIII)."

Bless Your Family

I like it - Sacramentals are a growing edge for me:

Only Hope for Dads - Maturity of Faith

What is characteristic of the modern family is that on the level of profound personal experience, parents and children live apart... Now we are entering a social structure in which...there are only three ages: childhood, adolescence, and old age.

The husband of the mother is not a father, he is a regular guy, a playmate for the boys, engaged in the same foibles and subject to similar impulses. Since he neither represents the legacy of the past nor is capable of keeping pace with the boys in the pursuit of the future, his status is rather precarious.

Unless a fellowship of spiritual experience is reestablished, the parent will remain an outsider to the child's soul...

Excerpted from 'I Asked for Wonder'
by Abraham Heschel.

Fr Cantalamessa on Fatherhood

His father ran out to meet him
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-32

In this Sunday's liturgy the entire 15th chapter of Luke's Gospel is read. The chapter contains the three "mercy parables": the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son.

"A man had two sons": Anyone who has even the most minimal familiarity with the Gospel on hearing these five words will immediately exclaim, "the parable of the prodigal son!"

On other occasions I have focused on the spiritual significance of the parable; this time I would like to consider an aspect that has received little attention, but which is very relevant at this moment and close to life. At the bottom of the parable is simply the story of a reconciliation between father and son, and we all know that such a reconciliation is essential to the happiness of fathers and children. Continue reading …

Well, at least there's no patriarchy here, either . . .

Why gangs give boys what they need. (via Instapundit)

That Man Is Me?

Via Father Stephanos over at Me Monk. Me Meander, a recommended article for men of faith, The New Catholic Manliness.

In it, Todd Aglialoro mentions something he finds commendable from a family ministry based in Houston, Paradisus Dei, entitled, ”That Man Is You.” A rigorous three-year process, "That Man Is You" is not a "pastoral" program for those who want their hands held. Rather,

“Men respond to a challenge,” founder Steve Bollman says. “To offer them a ‘soft’ program doesn’t take into account how men work.”

So Bollman set out to provide that challenge—with early morning prayer groups; with demanding “covenants” that call men to be self-sacrificing leaders in their families; and with an intellectually rigorous 68-week program, spread over three years, that unites science, Scripture, theology, and spirituality in a “thinking-man’s quest” for the full truth of what it means to be a man—and a man of God. To date, more than 5,000 men in Texas, Canada, and satellite programs nationwide have participated.

Hmmm. Sounds like something the Three Mass'keteers might endorse and enjoy. Note well: Take time to read "The New Catholic Manliness" mentioned above. It includes such sub headings as "Toward a Crunchier Catechesis," that describes many new seminarians not engaging in psychobabble, felt banners, and "Jesus our friend."

Well, at least there's no patriarchy here . . .

Aaron Hanscom writes about schoolkids in intact and non-intact families at Pajamas Media. First part of two.

Faith and Fatherhood

Family researcher, Loren Marks, and co-author of Why Fathers Count, is interviewed.

Another book that looks good (when the book budget is back in line...) is Father – The Family Protector, by James Stenson.

Dangerous Dads of Boys

Recently, I purchased a copy of Hal Iggulden's Dangerous Book for Boys for my 10-year old. It has plans for tree houses, knot-tying, and even a section on grammar. Iggulden has a great essay in the Washington Post entitled, ”In Praise of Skinned Knees and Grubby Faces." And, from The Weekly Standard, Boys Will Be...
...pleased by this garden of earthly delights.

I am fortunate to come from an era and place similar to that of Iggulden, and to share the experience of having a father, like his, who could fix nearly anything, pinched pennies and lived within a family budget (a la The Great Depression), and could make a toaster shine and last for decades. In his retirement village apartment, he still has a workbench in a back room, replete with an iron vice/anvil (!). At 87, he is my compleat man.

What prompted this post, however, was something that the Musical Monk said in a comment on Aramis' review of Evan Almighty. "After the flood, all the colors came out -- Sir Bono," says he. Hmmm, colors came out ... Colors came out. Aha! -- Calvin's Dad! thinks I.

Dads can -- and should be seens, perhaps, by sons -- as "dangerous" too. Caveat -- Not in a sacrificial, abusive, fearful way. Nope. Rather, dangerous as in knowing a few things, because the "Old Man" or "Gaffer" (as Sam Gamgee calls his father) has been around the block a few times. He's been through the School of Hard Knocks. He is a survivor.

And we see perhaps the greatest exemplar of the art of fatherhood in Calvin's Dad. Not perfect (see illustration above), but capable of helping Calvin not to be too "cocky" and to see the wonders of existence. In the linked conversations with Calvin, note especially When the world was still black and white. You go, Dangerous Dads ...

Dads - In Body and Truth

An area of occasional concern for the 3Ms is what fatherhood should look like for Christian men. Gerald Augustinus over at The Cafeteria Is Closed posted featuring an article from Slate entitled, ”Stretch Marks for Fathers.” Research is now showing that as their spouse's pregnancy develops, and even after birth, they too undergo some fairly significant physical changes. This is a hopeful development in underscoring the essential rôle of fathers today.

Interest in how men's bodies prepare themselves for fatherhood only seems to matter to the extent it sheds light on mothers. Meanwhile, the ways in which dads screw up their kids is a thriving area of research.

Meanwhile, in today's Washington Post, Eugene Robinson's op/ed piece, ”A Father’s Absence and a Son’s Message,” addresses the "dire" situation caused by absent fathers.

Both areas -- the new-found physiological changes in fathers' bodies and the abandoning of families by fathers -- are areas for profound prayer, accountability, and responsibility. Dads are not perfect. But nature can be profoundly changed, and even perfected, by the grace of God. (Neither of my sons would claim that of their father, I assure you.) And the place to begin is and ever will be the sacramental locus of God's grace, the Catholic Church.