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[1. Please Sign in before posting or writing any message. 2. Write your message in MS Word; copy and paste it into the message box before posting. 3. To register click here. Thank you.] Marist Laity Australia Forums for Discussion / Random thoughts / Where are all the men? Author Message andrewdumas Member # Posted: 9 Jul 2010 17:47 - Edited by: andrewdumas Reply  Someone recently asked me - "where are all the men?" There are not a lot of men involved in Marist Laity. There are not a lot of men involved in our Church. Why is it that men are less likely to recognise their spiritual dimension? Our culture today has really done men a diservice. Our culture has made men think that they are in control. The male spirituality by its very nature is external. Thus a large dimension and mystery of the male spirit is external. We learn how to be men through other men. We need to prove our worth by what we do. This does not mean that the hidden dimensions - emotion, prayer, nurturing - are not there. But as Joseph played an important role looking after Mary, listening to his dream, being a protective figure, Marrying Mary, being a father, men need to learn how to be men in their life encounter. However, our materialistic, individualistic and consumeristic culture has undermined the chain of becoming men. We think knowledge and wisdom comes through what we own, the freedom to choose and what I can buy. Rather, wisdom comes through what and how we live and be. Recently I was listening to the radio about the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in 2009. A radio interview told the story of a father who was badly burnt almost to death. The goodness which came from this story was his son. His son saved him. Up until that day, Saturday, his son, twenty, struggled to know who he was. The event of finding his father burnt badly, risking his own life, covering his father with his own clothes, placing his father in a drinking trough and being burnt himself, changed the son. The son became a man not because he prooved he was tough, but because he risked everything for his father. He was willing to enter into the flames inorder to save what he loved. His dad. The male journey needs these moments to find and become who we really are. Boys need moments where they have no choice but to choose - through suffering and love. Men need other men in this process. Men need a process which calls them beyond their childish ways to manhood ways. These ways are more than just words. The ways are mysterious because they provide an encounter which is unique to the boy who enters them. Your reply           » Username  » Password  Only registered users can post here. Please enter your login/password details before posting a message, or register here first. Living Simply Prayer Marist Laity Do whatever He tells you Open Chat Events World Youth Day 2008 Short Stories Gospel Reflections Quotes Random thoughts Reflections Forgotten Password     Register for discussion

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