Men Helping Men! Resources for Your Men’s Group
Hope everyone is having a Blessed Christmas!
Back in October, I posted about starting your own men’s faith study group. You may want to read that post again… (Raise Your glass…with other Catholic Men and Grow in Faith!)
Our group (including Adam and David from The Catholic Man Show) meets monthly at my house. We have a great time and always look forward to the discussion.
It’s really very simple to get a group going.
- Call up some of your friends, invite men from your parish
- Choose a place to meet (a pub, your patio, etc…)
- Choose a topic to study (A book, a scripture study, a series of blog posts…more on this later)
- Pick a day of the month to meet
- Ask everyone to bring two bottles of beer to share (practice moderation)
And there you have it, the beginnings of a great group of men growing in faith together!
It’s best if kept completely informal. Just a group of guys getting together, to share a pint and their faith. Oh, and yes we do invite young men (16 and over) to meet with us so that they can be among good Catholic men and learn by example. (however, they do not imbibe!)
What To Study
I think the biggest thing holding most men back is the question of “what do we study?” There are a ton of resources out there. I’ll give you a few suggestions to start with.
First, you may want to think about what you want to study. The bible, Catholic faith formation, Apologetics, Catholic Men’s Spirituality, etc. There are many resources for all of these.
Books (This is just a small sample)
- “Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be” by Father Larry Richards
- “Behold the Man: A Catholic Vision of Male Spirituality” by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers
- “Church Militant Field Manual” by Fr. Richard M. Heilman
- “Boys To Men: The Transforming Power of Virtue” by Tim Gray and Curtis Martin
- “Mystery of the Kingdom (Kingdom Studies Bible Study on the Gospel of Matthew)” by Edward P. Sri
- DynamicCatholic.com has many printed resources at a very low cost.
You could also go with the classics like…
- “Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness” by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and Blessed Claude de la Colombière
- Anything by St. Alphonsus Liguori
- Anything by St. Francis de Sales
Websites and Online Studies
- My Catholic Faith Delivered
- Saint Paul Center for Theology by Dr. Scott Hahn
- The Understanding the Scriptures Podcast
Here is also a resource for all inclusive Catholic Bible and Faith Studies that you can purchase.
Another Source of Study
If you are interested, I have a 52-Week series coming out on my blog, The Pint, The Pipe and The Cross starting on Jan 2, 2017.
The series is called “A Weekly Defense of the Faith” and it will cover all of the core teachings of the Catholic faith. It is intended to be a source of learning why we believe what we do, being able to give an answer for what we believe and come to a greater depth of belief at a personal level.
My plan is to follow the following format.
- Start with an opening prayer,
- give scriptural proof for the teaching,
- give early Church examples if available,
- then follow with a reflection and closing prayer.
This could be something that you include in your weekly devotion and prayer time as well as discuss at your monthly men’s meeting.
Make this a part of your New Year’s Holy Strategy! So what are you waiting for? Get 2017 started off right!
Remember…We are on the winning side, so raise your glass. Cheers to Jesus!
