Spirituality for men

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I am looking for help in finding topics to be explored by a newly formed group of men exploring their spiritual life.

I’m wondering if the group might begin with some reflections and discussion on their prayer life. Can anyone suggest source materials on this topic?

Here is one recent thought of my own on the subject:

Is it possible that so few people pray very often because prayer is a form of struggle, and struggle in all things is rarely a well-worn path? Ought we then to think of prayer as a calisthenics of the soul?

I’d really appreciate hearing your own reflections or prayer anecdotes.
 
The demons have no means of taking possession of a man’s spirit or body, no power forcibly to enter his soul, unless they first deprive him of all holy thoughts, and make him empty and devoid of all spiritual contemplation. St John Cassian *

Just as thieves do not lightly attack a place where they see royal weapons prepared against them, so he who has grafted prayer into his heart is not easily robbed by the thieves of the mind. St Mark the Monk

I would like to recommend two books that I have found useful:

*Earthen Vessels *- *the practice of personal prayer according to the Patristic tradition *by Gabriel Bunge O.S.B., Ignatius Press

*Praying with Jesus *- *what the Gospels tell us about how to pray *by George Martin, Loyola Press

Another delightful book (from which I extracted both quotes) is *The Art of Prayer *compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo. This is an Eastern book drawing on Greek and Russian sources.
  • Saint John Cassian was a contemporary of Saint Augustine, as a younger man he was a monk in Bethlehem and in Egypt. Later he travelled west to establish monasteries in Provence, he was an influence on Benedict of Nursia and the whole of western monastic tradition.
 
i would highly recommend a book called ‘saints guide to happiness’. i’m plumbing its depths right now.

another great book to use for group discussion is ‘celebration of discipline’. it’s author, richard foster, is not catholic, but he’s extremely ecumenical, and is the one who turned me on to the saints, and to folks like julian of norwich and duns scotus. his book is an exploration of all the christian disciplines, like prayer, fasting, bible study, worship, meditation, etc. it’s excellent. i’ve read it 3 times.
 
Thank you for these super suggestions! I will follow up.

God bless you Magi!

Carl
 
Here is an interesting thought from C.S. Lewis:

“The prayer preceding all prayers is ‘May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.’” Infinitely various are the levels from which we pray. Emotional intensity is in itself no proof of spiritual depth. If we pray in terror we shall pray earnestly; it only proves that terror is an earnest emotion. Only God himself can let the bucket down to the depths in us. And, on the other side, He must constantly work as the iconoclast. Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter. The most blessed result of prayer would be to rise thinking ‘But I never knew before, I never dreamed.’ I suppose it was at such a moment that Thomas Aquinas said of all his own theology, ‘It reminds me of straw.’”
 
Hi,

Great question and one I ask myself everyday.

Prayer is difficult and awkward for us. In all our other conversations, there is someone responding. I believe God always responds but it only through daily prayer that we learn to recognize how He speaks to us.

I am in a men’s group and we have used a few books ( I can’t remember the names off the top of my head. sorry). We have been discussing something with a little more substance or that would make us work a little harder. Two we have talked about are, 1. The Bible or 2. Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupolli.

Good luck with your group and prayer.

Your brother in Christ,
Trevor 👍
 
We have a Saturday morning Men’s breakfast from 7:30 to 9:00. It has been going on for more than 15 years. Over the years some have joined for a while and left after a year or so. Some have moved away and return when they are in town for a visit. Four of us have died. Some of us have been attending for the full 15 or more years. Our founder is one of those who died at 43 years of age, We range in age from 14 to over 60. Each week someone agrees to “Take the Basket” which contains our donations of $1 per person per week. When we get over $100 we donate to someone in need. The Basket holder is expected to return the following week with a short reading from the Bible or a Spiritual book. He shares his thoughts and we go around the table and share our thoughts/feelings about the reading. When the group is large, the limit is 3 minutes. We sometimes have non-Catholics, but they have been rare in recent years. Politics and arguementation over Spiritual or Religous matters are held for post meeting discussion. Of course we open and close with prayer. After 15 years I would say it is a simple system and it works.
 
Thank you all for your thoughtful remarks.

Does anyone here have an opinion of the Franciscan, Richard Rohr? Our group is reading his Soul Brothers. Has anyone seen him on a retreat or elsewhere? Would you recommend him as an invited speaker?
 
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Carl:
Thank you all for your thoughtful remarks.

Does anyone here have an opinion of the Franciscan, Richard Rohr? Our group is reading his Soul Brothers. Has anyone seen him on a retreat or elsewhere? Would you recommend him as an invited speaker?
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I would not. Rohr is a major promoter of the Eneagram, a New Age aberrant practice.
 
Fidelis

Rohr is a major promoter of the Eneagram, a New Age aberrant practice.

Now you’ve really got me interested.

My wife is attending a women’s group that is currently using Ronald Rolheiser’s The Holy Longing.

I’m not educated on eneagrams, so I did a Yahoo search. One web site featured a prominant promoter of eneagrams endorsing Rolheiser’s book. Rolheiser is also a priest.

Could you explain to me why eneagrams would be a tool contrary to your view of developing true spirituality?
 
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Carl:
Could you explain to me why eneagrams would be a tool contrary to your view of developing true spirituality?
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To avoid hijacking this thread, I’ll start a new one in the Spirituality forum entitled “Dangers of the Enneagram.”.
 
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