Why Get On The Bus?
While I have been working with the CMCS Team and the Advisory Board to tweak our name, slogan, and mission statement to appeal more to the masses, the thought came to me
“why get on the bus”?
You see, a mission statement is compared to being like a sign on a bus. It tells you where the bus is going, and helps you to decide if you want to get on the bus, or stay off. When I asked the Team ‘why get on the bus’, Bishop Perry replied,
“a bus collects people, sometimes when they don’t want to be collected, and puts them on a journey, however short; sometimes the same passengers meet each other daily; they are going somewhere, often not to the same place, but trying to accomplish something in their lives. We travel together ….”
This got me thinking about why we started CMCS in the first place, back in 2004. At the time Deacon John Rangel and I had many years of men’s ministry involvement (I am a third-generation Knights of Columbus, and I formerly served as a regional director with the now defunct CREDO - which was a great Catholic movement of men). We both missed and needed to share with other Catholic men the challenges we face in the workplace and at home.
So Deacon John and I went to visit Bishop Perry, our local Vicar, to seek his support for a Catholic men’s ministry in the far South Vicarate of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
The vision we shared from the Holy Spirit then was to host a hand-full of large group events several times per year for men to absorb relevant Catholic truth like a sponge, then send them home with a challenge – as well as to talk things over in the car – what I call ‘windshield time’. It wasn’t long after our first year that men came to us wanting more.
After each of our large events it was not uncommon for a man to say, with his eyes welled up,
“you hit my right here (in the heart)”. Other men later would call or email us with the issues they’re facing in their spiritual journey: forgiveness, marriage, unemployment, pornography or other vices, divorce or annulment, children and fatherhood, understanding the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and what it means to be a Catholic man, to name a few.
It was clear that our culture has beat-up men to the point of being stressed out and confused. Men were looking to us for a better way.
God’s way.
The Catholic way.
Then the wives got involved, sharing with us how their ‘man’ puts his identity in his paycheck, saying to us,
“I don’t want his money… I want him”. So we began to share in our conferences things like the Theology of the Body, teaching men how when Eve sinned it was because Adam was not protecting her heart. And sharing with a man how to penetrate their wives heart with his love and affection. Plus, how the best gift that you can give your kids is to love their Mother.
This became a tireless movement of men, us holding each other by the hand, if you will, through their spiritual journey .. and the challenges faced in the work place and at home.
So, back to the question,
“why get on the bus”? Answer – Because we are all on the same journey of helping each other make it through life. The names may be changed, but the circumstances are similar if not the same – to take back marriage and to take back fatherhood … and more! God uses us to bless each other; some with time, some with prayers, others with money, to name a few. ¥et still some of us with all of these.
It’s all in our mission statement:
Catholic Men Chicago Southland (CMCS) works to encourage and support Catholic men to grow spiritually, and to bring Jesus Christ into their daily lives and all of their relationships. CMCS is an Apostolate of Bishop Joseph Perry, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
If you have been staying off the bus waiting for the right time to get on, now is that time. Growth for this Apostolate is now in demand like never before.
We need you here!
To share together with you in your spiritual journey.
To share and develop positive relationships with you and other men and their families.
Best of all, we don't charge you a penny—and that's a promise we want to keep for years to come. So please consider a generous gift to Catholic Men Chicago Soutland and please keep our work in your prayers.
Are you a Catholic Man and have a deep longing to make positive changes in your life?
Do you want to live the goodness of a Catholic man?
Come along and journey together with us …
We’ll see you on the bus!