Tonights talk: You are made for more, YOU ARE CALL TO GREATNESS St Ignatius of Loyola was one of the great saints of the Church – a real man – and someone who would inspire anyone who looked at his life. As he was forming priests and sending them into the world he would end every meeting with them with one phrase. Before they’d leave hell say, “Go set the world on fire!” The great St Catherine of Siena said something similar - “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” The world – this university – the society around us is in need of REAL MEN. Nothing less. You accepted God’s invitation (not ours) to be here tonight. I hope that means that you are ready to accept the challenge of becoming what God needs you to be – what you are destined to be – strong men of God. There is no room for part-time guys – for part time commitment here. Catholic Men’s Leadership is not meant for “part time or half way guys. We don’t have room here for mediocrity. The world has enough of that, there is enough of that around us... UTS needs MORE THAN JUST OK. We are here tonight – you are each here tonight, whether you realize it yet or not – because you are called to GREATNESS. I want to invite you to consider a few ideas: First, let’s say right off the bat that this is a time for you to move your intelligence and your will. To decide and to act. It is not about what you feel like doing, but about recognizing clear ideas based in solid truth and acting on those ideas. Sometimes this comes easy for us and sometimes it doesn’t. Why is that? • Well, sometimes we are just accustomed to aiming low in life. Maybe it’s what we see around us – the way we have been taught to live through friends, family, teachers – those we surround ourselves with. Maybe we haven’t been exposed to enough of the kind of role models who challenge us to greatness. • Or maybe our vision – our point of view – is too worldly. Maybe we are used to focusing on earthly things. Maybe we have fallen for the lie that life is about doing what we want when we want – having fun only without serious commitment with ourselves (often involving sin). But there is more, eternal life exists. And real men aren’t afraid of living with that life in mind. Are you willing to take life seriously these next four years? Or is the world enough for you? I think you are here because you want the challenge of more. • Maybe there’s another problem. Maybe you’re not sure yet if there is really a plan bigger than your own. Maybe you’re not convinced. Of maybe, even if you are generally convinced that God is at work in the world, you tend to allow yourself to become distracted by the attractiveness of sin. You figure that the things of the next life and Gods stuff can wait. Do you agreed that this is our life, what we face as men on a college campus. Guys, this is a very important time of your life. It’s the time when you are building the foundation on which your whole life will be built. Don’t mess around, dont waste it – don’t build poorly. How can Catholic Men’s Leadership, CML help? For a start – talks are good, food is good, activities are good… The things we do here will make you stronger. But in the end, nothing compares to the strength of a person who really lives for the ideal of greatness, the ideal above all other ideals. Nothing will help you more than spending time with real men who share those ideals and live for them – real men who sin and fail sometimes, like I do and like each of us does. But we want to be men who want to strive for greatness in everything we do. Men who won’t settle for less. Not only greatness in sports or in your studies – but greatness in everything you do and ultimately greatness in who you are: son of God! Men - we were made for more than what the world offers. We are greater than the labels the world puts on us. You are an anointed generation if you become what you were meant to be. You offer hope for the world. Why do people give me food or money to buy it every Thursday for our CML Meetings? Because of you! Because they believe in you and hope that you are becoming a different and better generation if men. When the early Christians asked St Paul what had happened to him after his conversion on the road to Damascus – why his life was so drastically different – he said that Jesus had come into his life and because of that personal encounter he started to realize of his dignity and become what he was meant to be. God wants the same for you. Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.” Real greatness is found in glorifying God with our lives. Our hope is that by the end of our time together every gathering on Thursdays, you will have a deeper realization of this greatness – that you will learn to live for eternal life: made for more. Our Lord defined eternal life this way: “To know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” This is how we become what we are meant to be: with Him, in Him, through Him. We are meant for MORE than the world tells us we are. YOU are made for more! One last thing: Remember that you are not alone in this. You have Him by your side always and youll find us here with you during your journey of college to help by example (I hope, well try hard with Gods help) and by word, not only every Thursday but every day of the year... whenever you see one of us on campus or at St. Marks. To paraphrase Pope John Paul II – don’t be afraid to live for MORE. We will do it together!
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 03:32:56 +0000
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