Our John Bosco Chapter of Kepha is gearing up for our "A Priest Forever" retreat! The retreat is Nov. 20-22, 2009. We will be meeting in Martinville, LA. at Lake Fausse Point State Park at 6pm on Nov.20, (mortification for Friday is no meat.) After our opening from our Co-Captains there will be a great Catholic movie for the boys and their dads. Then we have a Good-Night Reflection (these are always something about our Catholic Faith for each of us to ponder while our heads rest on a pillow,) silence and prepare for bed. Saturday (mortification, a Rosary for one of your Kepha brothers) will begin with a Dads discussion in the wee hours of the morning, then wake the boys (you would be amazed at the fun a dad can have waking a bunch of boys) for morning prayers and breakfast. Followed by a Saint report given by one of our Kepha boys. Boys are chosen prior to each retreat to give a report on a Saint. Then its dodgeball, football, and canoeing in the bayous. After lunch, I will be giving a talk on "What is the Priesthood?" Then after the talk its on to a wilderness hike! Somewhere along the trail we will have another Saint report from another of our Kepha brothers. At 3pm it is time for our Divine Mercy. Twenty to Thirty dads and their son's kneeling in the great outdoors, reflecting on our Lords Sorrowful Passion, followed by more dodgeball, canoeing, and other games. About 5pm we will say grace and have supper. At 6pm we will play Jeopardy! After that Mr. Mike will give a talk on "The Amazing Story of Father Gereon." Finally ending the night with a campfire, S'mores, and the unavoidable... Chocolate/Marshmallow covered young ones. These boys are easily cleaned though, we just dip them into the gator infested bayou. Ok ok Im kidding. Its not infested and we let them have a stick in one hand. Another Good-Night reflection and silence begins again. We silently prepare for bed. A violation of silence will earn you some pushups. I happen to be getting very good at pushups. Sunday begins with morning prayers, breakfast and packing up. Our Co-Captains will give their closing and we all depart for Mass together. We will be the large purple section, you can't miss us. We are "The Brotherhood of an Iron Will." Come and see.
http://www.kepharocks.org
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Prayer
PRAYER
"Every Christian is called to be a Saint and to radically transform his life so that he can live eternally with his Creator. Heaven is our greatest calling."
Article VII, Number 18 of the KEPHA Constitution.
A KEPHA boy's prayer life:
* Morning Prayers, daily.
* Divine Mercy (or Rosary,) daily.
* Frequent Confession.
* Weekly act of Mortification.
* Yearly reading of the Gospel of Life.
* Code of Reverence and Respect.
* Enthusiastic defense of the Holy Father and Catholic doctrine.
"Every Christian is called to be a Saint and to radically transform his life so that he can live eternally with his Creator. Heaven is our greatest calling."
Article VII, Number 18 of the KEPHA Constitution.
A KEPHA boy's prayer life:
* Morning Prayers, daily.
* Divine Mercy (or Rosary,) daily.
* Frequent Confession.
* Weekly act of Mortification.
* Yearly reading of the Gospel of Life.
* Code of Reverence and Respect.
* Enthusiastic defense of the Holy Father and Catholic doctrine.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
WHY MORTIFICATION
"Mortification, a path to grace forgotton by this age of self absorption, is a means by which KEPHA encourages its members to achieve sanctity. Each member agrees to perform a weekly act of mortification, consistent with his age and state in life, for the members of the Church Suffering." So reads KEPHA's Constitution.
Surely Mortification is the one of KEPHA's Five Commitments that other youth organizations will not rush to adopt. But in KEPHA we believe that attempting to shield suffering, especially voluntary suffering,from a boy's mind is a sure way to make a spiritual wimp. KEPHA's boys are challenged to be tough, after the model of Bl. Pier Giorgio. This is why we are always praying for an iron will.
On each day of any group event, excluding Sundays, the entire group is given a mortification. For example, day one of our Arkansas retreat required the boys to abstain from sweets. On day two, they could only drink water with their meals. Fridays are usually set aside for abstaining from meat. For some events, the mortification is to wake at 2AM for a prayer service. 8,000 feet high in the Rocky Mountains, the mortification was a cold "shower" underneath a snow-fed waterfall. As we tell the boys: "You are allowed to scream in your cold shower. Screaming is good. But there would be more graces if you chose not to scream."
You begin to see the value of mortification in the boys' lives when, without encouragement, all drop to their knees for prayers-- even kneeling on pebbles in a stream bed where we stopped at 3pm to pray the Divine Mercy. When a boy trips in kickball and busts his leg, you can read on his face that the reason he isn't crying, though his leg is bleeding, is because he's been told it is good to link his suffering to Christ.
Consider the time we played Revolutionary War Balloons. The game rules are simple, and barbaric. Your team plays the American Revolutionaries one minute. You hurl water balloons fifteen feet away at the British who foolishly stand there, side by side. If you choose to dig down deep and not move, you score 2 points for your team. One time when we played this game a normally shy member stood his ground while others dodged the bullets. At the end of the game the boy had red marks all over his body where the ballons hit. Due largely to his "courage," his team won. The boys thought little more of the game. Later that evening an adult leader asked the boy why he had stood there and let the balloons hit him and sting him until he was marked all over. "Because," he replied, "I couldn't let my teammates down." Later that night his answer was shared with the brotherhood and all the boys rose with a spontaneous round of applause. You see, these boys understood that courage is the mark of a man. KEPHA means rock!
Corey Harned
National Director
www.kepharocks.org
Surely Mortification is the one of KEPHA's Five Commitments that other youth organizations will not rush to adopt. But in KEPHA we believe that attempting to shield suffering, especially voluntary suffering,from a boy's mind is a sure way to make a spiritual wimp. KEPHA's boys are challenged to be tough, after the model of Bl. Pier Giorgio. This is why we are always praying for an iron will.
On each day of any group event, excluding Sundays, the entire group is given a mortification. For example, day one of our Arkansas retreat required the boys to abstain from sweets. On day two, they could only drink water with their meals. Fridays are usually set aside for abstaining from meat. For some events, the mortification is to wake at 2AM for a prayer service. 8,000 feet high in the Rocky Mountains, the mortification was a cold "shower" underneath a snow-fed waterfall. As we tell the boys: "You are allowed to scream in your cold shower. Screaming is good. But there would be more graces if you chose not to scream."
You begin to see the value of mortification in the boys' lives when, without encouragement, all drop to their knees for prayers-- even kneeling on pebbles in a stream bed where we stopped at 3pm to pray the Divine Mercy. When a boy trips in kickball and busts his leg, you can read on his face that the reason he isn't crying, though his leg is bleeding, is because he's been told it is good to link his suffering to Christ.
Consider the time we played Revolutionary War Balloons. The game rules are simple, and barbaric. Your team plays the American Revolutionaries one minute. You hurl water balloons fifteen feet away at the British who foolishly stand there, side by side. If you choose to dig down deep and not move, you score 2 points for your team. One time when we played this game a normally shy member stood his ground while others dodged the bullets. At the end of the game the boy had red marks all over his body where the ballons hit. Due largely to his "courage," his team won. The boys thought little more of the game. Later that evening an adult leader asked the boy why he had stood there and let the balloons hit him and sting him until he was marked all over. "Because," he replied, "I couldn't let my teammates down." Later that night his answer was shared with the brotherhood and all the boys rose with a spontaneous round of applause. You see, these boys understood that courage is the mark of a man. KEPHA means rock!
Corey Harned
National Director
www.kepharocks.org
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
CHARITY
"Teach us to give," said St. Ignatius of Loyola, "and not to count the cost." We take this message seriously. A KEPHA boy must donate 1/2 of all money he raises for his retreats to charity. This rule, stated in our Constitution, is meticulously followed. There are no compromises, no exceptions. Of course, this means that a boy in KEPHA must raise twice as much money for his retreats as boys in other organizations. But we believe that God will take care of those who take care of His poor. It has been said that no one can outdo the generosity of God.
WORK FOR IT
Another important component of our charity is that we don't just ask for money, we work for it. We have collected garage sale items and then have the boys work the garage sale. The boys collect walkathon pledges (both prayer and monetary)then walk 10 miles to honor thew pledges. So far the boys have completed ten 10 mile walkathons. For our major retreats, we do not allow the boys' families to give them money, even if they can afford it.* The boys must earn all of the money they need. Take our retreat to Rome, for example. Each boy must do $1.75 worth of daily chores over three years to pay his plane fare. Then, he must work garage sales, participate in walkathons and so on so that he can raise the money for all associated expenses, after giving half to charity. The reason? We want the boys to have the satisfaction of knowing that they earned their way to retreats without ignoring the poor in the process.
* Some exceptions are made for boys who join KEPHA late, i.e. after initial fund-raisers have already been completed for a major retreat.
DIRTY FINGERNAILS
A final consideration about charity. KEPHA does not just write checks. Wherever possible the boys are asked to get involved with the recipients of their charity. For example, before giving a $400 check to the retarded kids at St. Michael's Special School, KEPHA's boys played basketball with them. Prior to the $600 donation (and 200 bags of groceries collected by knocking on doors) to the Missionaries of Charity, the KEPHA boys served meals to the indigent and cleaned the soup kitchen. We believe that we must get our fingernails dirty in serving the least of our brothers. In reality, most people want love and affection more than they want money anyway.
NO COMPROMISE
KEPHA will not make donations to organizations which, in any way, promote agendas contrary to the Catholic Faith. A hunger relief program which promotes contraception gets no money from KEPHA. A religious order that is not faithful to the Vicar of Christ need not look to KEPHA for money for its missionaries. We never demand that everyone who receives our charity must be a Catholic, but we refuse to donate to anyone who works to undermine the Catholic Faith.
Corey Harned
National Director
www.kepharocks.org
WORK FOR IT
Another important component of our charity is that we don't just ask for money, we work for it. We have collected garage sale items and then have the boys work the garage sale. The boys collect walkathon pledges (both prayer and monetary)then walk 10 miles to honor thew pledges. So far the boys have completed ten 10 mile walkathons. For our major retreats, we do not allow the boys' families to give them money, even if they can afford it.* The boys must earn all of the money they need. Take our retreat to Rome, for example. Each boy must do $1.75 worth of daily chores over three years to pay his plane fare. Then, he must work garage sales, participate in walkathons and so on so that he can raise the money for all associated expenses, after giving half to charity. The reason? We want the boys to have the satisfaction of knowing that they earned their way to retreats without ignoring the poor in the process.
* Some exceptions are made for boys who join KEPHA late, i.e. after initial fund-raisers have already been completed for a major retreat.
DIRTY FINGERNAILS
A final consideration about charity. KEPHA does not just write checks. Wherever possible the boys are asked to get involved with the recipients of their charity. For example, before giving a $400 check to the retarded kids at St. Michael's Special School, KEPHA's boys played basketball with them. Prior to the $600 donation (and 200 bags of groceries collected by knocking on doors) to the Missionaries of Charity, the KEPHA boys served meals to the indigent and cleaned the soup kitchen. We believe that we must get our fingernails dirty in serving the least of our brothers. In reality, most people want love and affection more than they want money anyway.
NO COMPROMISE
KEPHA will not make donations to organizations which, in any way, promote agendas contrary to the Catholic Faith. A hunger relief program which promotes contraception gets no money from KEPHA. A religious order that is not faithful to the Vicar of Christ need not look to KEPHA for money for its missionaries. We never demand that everyone who receives our charity must be a Catholic, but we refuse to donate to anyone who works to undermine the Catholic Faith.
Corey Harned
National Director
www.kepharocks.org
BROTHERHOOD OF THE IRON WILL
Brotherhood is the "glue" that binds those in KEPHA together. Every action is guided by a common focus and the idea that we are "All for one, one for all." Brotherhood is practiced in some of the following ways.
* No one is a number. Everyone is known by name.
* We pray for each other and make sacrifices for each other.
* KEPHA has a code of Reverence and Respect.
* During Mass, at the Sign of Peace, we hug each other.
* Daily we are united in prayer, though sometimes miles or states apart, through Morning Prayers and Divine Mercy.
* Whether we are playing a game, working a soup kitchen, or committing to a mortification like no sweets for the day, whatever we do we ALL do. Our successes and failings in living up to commitments are neither sources of celebration nor shame; rather, we encourage each other to push on, "Towards the top!"
* No one is picked on(except in affection), demeaned, or left out.
* No one is a number. Everyone is known by name.
* We pray for each other and make sacrifices for each other.
* KEPHA has a code of Reverence and Respect.
* During Mass, at the Sign of Peace, we hug each other.
* Daily we are united in prayer, though sometimes miles or states apart, through Morning Prayers and Divine Mercy.
* Whether we are playing a game, working a soup kitchen, or committing to a mortification like no sweets for the day, whatever we do we ALL do. Our successes and failings in living up to commitments are neither sources of celebration nor shame; rather, we encourage each other to push on, "Towards the top!"
* No one is picked on(except in affection), demeaned, or left out.
Apologetics
Apologetics is the art of giving a reasoned defense of our Catholic Faith. The boys and dads of KEPHA are not professional apologists, just Catholics who take seriously our duty to defend the Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. KEPHA practices apologetics in the following ways.
* monthly, cumulative memorization of Bible verses central to the Faith
* yearly reading and discussing Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)
* boys research and give oral reports on the saints
* roundtable discussions and mock debates with "devil's advocates"
* being willing to pray in public and demonstrate on behalf of life
* posture, reverence, and participation in Mass
* hosting monthly retreats to strengthen our brotherhood
* Iron Will candidates memorize the books of the Bible, Isaiah 53, Jn 6, the Beatitudes, and more.
* monthly, cumulative memorization of Bible verses central to the Faith
* yearly reading and discussing Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life)
* boys research and give oral reports on the saints
* roundtable discussions and mock debates with "devil's advocates"
* being willing to pray in public and demonstrate on behalf of life
* posture, reverence, and participation in Mass
* hosting monthly retreats to strengthen our brotherhood
* Iron Will candidates memorize the books of the Bible, Isaiah 53, Jn 6, the Beatitudes, and more.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Kepha
This is one of the new Kepha blogs.
Here we will keep you updated as to what is going on with Kepha. Kepha started back in 1998 and to this day has members in 7 states.
The two current chapters of Kepha, Don Bosco (Louisiana) and St. Peter (Texas), are currently holding retreats on a monthly basis and are looking for men and their sons who are interested in Dynamic Orthodoxy and Infectious Joy.
For dads, if you are feeling like there might be something missing in your relationship with your sons, or are feeling dis-connected from them, we encourage you to give Kepha a try. It might be just what you are looking for. Maybe you are a single man or recently married and have not started having children yet. What ever the case, Kepha has the potential to improve all aspects of your life.
We have many testimonies from fathers and sons (and even wives and daughters) who can testify to the incredible impact Kepha has had on their lives. We are in the process of linking these testimonies so you can read them.
The next St. Peter retreat will take place November 14-15 in Grand Prairie, Texas. More information is available here http://www.kepharocks.net/blog.
The next Don Bosco retreat is November 20-22, at Lake Fausse Point State park in LA.
Play Hard & Pray Hard
Corey
http://www.kepharocks.org
Here we will keep you updated as to what is going on with Kepha. Kepha started back in 1998 and to this day has members in 7 states.
The two current chapters of Kepha, Don Bosco (Louisiana) and St. Peter (Texas), are currently holding retreats on a monthly basis and are looking for men and their sons who are interested in Dynamic Orthodoxy and Infectious Joy.
For dads, if you are feeling like there might be something missing in your relationship with your sons, or are feeling dis-connected from them, we encourage you to give Kepha a try. It might be just what you are looking for. Maybe you are a single man or recently married and have not started having children yet. What ever the case, Kepha has the potential to improve all aspects of your life.
We have many testimonies from fathers and sons (and even wives and daughters) who can testify to the incredible impact Kepha has had on their lives. We are in the process of linking these testimonies so you can read them.
The next St. Peter retreat will take place November 14-15 in Grand Prairie, Texas. More information is available here http://www.kepharocks.net/blog.
The next Don Bosco retreat is November 20-22, at Lake Fausse Point State park in LA.
Play Hard & Pray Hard
Corey
http://www.kepharocks.org
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