Ron Huntley's talk recap Oct 30th 2015

Ron Huntley gave the talk. His talk was titled "Can You Handle the Truth?".
God has chosen each one of us to have an impact within our sphere of
influence. But a lack of self awareness can impede us. Ron pointed out that
we have "blind spots". These stop us as leaders and affect our
relationships. He pointed out that each of us has between 3 and 4 blind
spots. A blind spot is not a weakness. The latter is an area or skill we
know we are not good at. A blind spot is an area that we are not aware that
we are poor at, and often think we are good at it. Often, when someone
points this out to us it can hurt...which means that it is very important
for us to be better able to receive feedback. Three great ways to receive
feedback are through appreciation, coaching (enable us to get better) and
evaluation (tell us how we are doing). The best way to find your blind spots
is through others that you trust. However, asking for that kind of feedback
directly can be difficult for the person involved. We need to have that
person recognize that we need an honest opinion. Not, "I need you to support
me" but, "I need to know the truth". One example Ron gave would be to go to
someone in your family and ask "what do I do that makes you feel good? What
is one thing I do that I should do that would make you feel loved, and
something I do that I should not do". If we are humble enough we can learn
something from everyone. What are your blind spots?

 

Corey Robinson's talk recap Sept 4th 2015

 

Corey gave the talk this past Friday. The title of his talk was "From Disciple to Discipline". Corey's dad was a military man for 35 years. He got up at 4:45 in the morning every morning. Corey learned discipline from his dad. (Like getting up early in the morning) Certain things come easy in the area of discipline. Others do not - depending on our skills and abilities. Corey outlined 5 reasons why discipline is so important: 1. Necessity of discipline. It deters us from destruction - we need self-control. 2. The means of discipline is through our words and actions. 3. The motive of discipline is love. 4. The goal of discipline is to teach obedience. 5. Discipline involves short term pain for long term gain. In his talk Corey gave an example of how discipline helped him confront and work through a difficult situation with an individual he was caring for, rather than take the easy way out and put it off for another day and perhaps leave it for someone else to deal with. Corey pointed out that one important underpinning of discipline is prayer...in this case prayer with that person he was caring for, who was also a Christian. This act of praying together resolved the problem. We must pray and spend time working to develop the disciplines we need. This helps us turn our backs on sin i.e. to repent.

 

 

 

John Roddam's talk recap Aug 28th 2015

 

John Roddam gave the talk this past Friday. John is an Anglican Priest. The
title of his talk was "Knowing the Trinity Personally". Although John is
Anglican, he went to a Roman Catholic school as a child. This experience for
him was very positive and he remembered the love and concern in the school.
As he was growing up he had to go to mass but he had no problem in his
belief of God. As he continued into high school and university he developed
a hunger to know God. At this point God for John was not a personal God. In
university he met Holly, the woman who would be his wife. She had a Baptist
Evangelical background. She helped him understand that our God is a personal
God who loves us. And Jesus truly is alive - He rose from dead. This is
important because if Jesus is alive we can have a relationship with him.
Holly helped John also learn how to pray to a personal God. This deeper
relationship with God made a major change in his life. John began to feel
called to ministry. After ordination, when he went to his first parish he
had strategic plan. It did not work out. He fell flat on his face. Not only
that, he and his wife had the challenge of the added stress of raising four
young children. Friends began to explain to him about the Holy Spirit. This
helped enormously at his parish. Prayers brought about remarkable
healings.... and for John guidance. Empowered by the third person of the
Trinity he turned the parish around in 18 months. John pointed out that our
parish has a very effective means to introduce the Holy Trinity to those who
are searching: Alpha. Through Alpha we can know God as our creator, know
Jesus in a personal way, and be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 

Roger LeFrank's talk recap Aug 21st 2015

Roger LeFrank gave this past Friday's talk. It was on how to break out of prison. The prisons he spoke about are not ones with iron bars, but spiritual ones. He referred to Isaiah 61:1-2. (It is also in Psalm 146:7, which was part of this past Friday's readings too). These can be prisons of fear, hatred or un-forgiveness. We can end up there through our upbringing - abuse and abandonment, through the sins of others, or our own sins. Perseverance and effort is one way to break out. Through fear of ridicule and rejection Roger would avoid asking questions, be it at school or in the store. One time he preferred punishment over giving a speech that was required of him during assembly day at his high school. That day he played hooky and went to the movies. Afterward he realized that this was cowardly and he resolved to change. Through hard work and perseverance he overcame these fears. Prayer: Roger explained that the only way out of the prison of un-forgiveness towards someone who had caused hurt in his family was not to ask "Lord, lord, deliver me", but to pray for the one who caused the harm. That is because prayer is a form of love. Roger pointed out the passage from Mat 7:21 where Jesus explains that  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father". To know you are loved: this Roger learnt through the words of his wife, and from the Holy Spirit through Alpha. All these can help us break out of the prisons we may can easily end up in.

 

Bill Scollard's talk recap Aug 14th 2015

Bill Scollard gave the talk this Friday. His topic: We don’t have to be perfect because God already is. God puts broken people our way so we can help them. This seems scary because we too can be broken and difficult to work with. However: when it comes to serving others we don’t have to be perfect because God already is and He will take what we have to give and make it bear fruit. Bill told three stories to bring home his point. One of the stories was about a talk he gave at the Steubenville conference this summer. He had never talked to youth before, felt he was in unfamiliar territory and was anxious about the talk. Bill prayed much about it. Come the day of the talk there were IT issues with the set up and preparation. Due to a number of issues it took 2 hours to get things up and running at Dal where he gave the talk. Although the IT person did not plan to stay Bill asked him to do so in the event more computer problems arose. Regarding his 45 minute talk, which was about someone dealing with depression, the audience was small, around 20 people. At best it went so-so based on Bill’s impression of the minimal reactions and body language of his audience. Two weeks later he received an email from the fellow providing the IT help that day. He wanted to talk. He shared that he too had been struggling with depression. This individual tried going to church, but unfortunately was ignored and therefore could not connect with anyone there. However, through meeting Bill and staying for the talk, he was able to connect with him, stay in contact and now will likely take part in the Alpha programme this fall which has a very friendly and supportive atmosphere. God puts broken people in our path and we don’t have to have perfect equipment to give perfect talks! Because God already is perfect.

 

Alex Oleforo's talk recap Aug 7th 2015

Alex gave the talk this past Friday, which was titled “My Growth with the Lord”. While growing up Alex lived Lagos, Nigeria. His mother was a Pentecostal Christian and his father a Catholic. During this time he would go to mass on Sundays and that was it. In 2004 he came to Canada for an education and lived in Charlottetown PEI. He was shocked at how secular the culture was here. Despite this Alex was not unduly influenced by our corrosive secular culture and managed to avoid the traps youth fall into such as drinking, partying and drugs. In 2008, which marked the financial crisis, he found it hard, as a graduate, to find work. At one point both he and his applied for the same job. Though less able and not living a good life, his roommate knew someone on the hiring committee and got this job. Alex found himself angry with God. Why did this happen? He did eventually get a job – but not a good one so he decided to go back to school to get an MBA. However, Alex would follow a pattern: whenever he faced these challenges, such as admission into the MBA program, he would pray, and go to confession to make it right with God so God would help him. On the other hand when confronted with failure Alex felt God was punishing him. Things began to change for Alex when, after sharing this with a Priest, who challenged him with the question – “what kind of a god do you worship?” he realized that God is a god who loves him and is with him both in his successes and in his failures. Alex no longer sees God as one standing over him waiting for him to err. From this experience Alex has realized that he now has to do more to better understand God and has now become more involved in the church to achieve this end.

 

Mark Pilon's talk recap July 24th 2015

 

Mark Pilon gave the talk this Friday. He shared his interest growing orchids, some reasons why he liked doing so (beautiful fragrant flowers, a nice diversion to see flowing plants in the middle of winter), but more importantly how he sees a parallel between taking care of these plants and taking care of his spiritual life. Most of the plants he grows have their origins in SE Asia where the monsoon dominates. A monsoon is a prevailing seasonal wind. SE Asia has a very dry northeast monsoon off central Asia from Oct. to Apr. and a wet southwest monsoon off the surrounding oceans from May to Sept. So these orchids have a season of plenty and a season of little rain and cool temperatures – like a period of fasting (or lent). If the plants are not given this “rest period” they will die. If so they will flourish and blossom. Likewise if we don’t fast we may very well ail spiritually. Fasting is a form of penance. It increases the power of prayer (there are many examples in the scripture). It is a form of self-denial with the ultimate goal of self-control. And though this practice has fallen away it is especially important in this “instant gratification” world we have today: We are almost programmed to have no self-discipline with everything from food to music to consumer goods almost instantly available to us. Will it do you good? Think about it – to give Pope Paul VI the last word: Through “corporal fasting” man regains strength and the “wound inflicted on the dignity of our nature by intemperance is cured by the medicine of a salutary abstinence.”

 

Serge Desjardin's talk recap July 17th 2015

 

What is your middle name? Serge gave the talk this Friday. He pointed out that originally he had no middle name. Now he does but got it after many changes. Serge is a cradle catholic, but there was no evangelization in his family. Although he had to go to mass every Sunday, there was not much of a prayer life or sharing in scripture within the family. Because of this his faith did not have a strong foundation. One day at church he had a whisper in his mind: "but he has resurrected".  This only has a brief impact on Serge. Off he went to university and work. From 15 to 45 his middle name was N for “Ne Catholic….born catholique”. After this his middle name became A for Alpha. This was the start of a deepening of his faith. Prior to this he would go to Sunday mass if it fit into his schedule. Initially his reason for joining Alpha was more social so he was not ready to fully commit to Christ during the Holy Spirit weekend. However, that same motive got him invited to serve at the next Alpha. At this one the turning point was the topic “Who is Jesus”. Jesus is God. Serge believed, and his teen revelation "but he has resurrected" took on meaning. Next his middle name was D for dimensionality. As our faith grows our dimensionality grows from 1, being focused on ourselves to 3, serving others. Serge found the Saint Benedict Word Web to be another positive influence. Now his middle name became S for St. Paul as Serge began to understand scripture and reflected on this saint. In our weakness we can think our middle name is H for Hypocrite, but if you want to grow in faith and talk about it you do not need perfection just sincerity. Now Serge has a middle name: C for Christian.

 

 

Robert Cadieux's talk recap July 10th 2015

 

This past Friday’s talk was a personal testimony from Robert Cadieux. He was baptized the day after he was born. However, one day he told his mother that he would no longer be going to church as he had no interest in God. Now the story moves years ahead to 2005: It was at this time Robert began an earnest search for God: life for Robert was good but he found relationships were difficult. He bought a Bible and listened to many Christian preachers such as Dr. Charles Stanley and David Jeremiah. His search was one that was very systematic, in depth and focused on various aspects of the Christian faith. Though drawn to the faith of his baptism, he became discouraged and disappointed feeling that living the Christian life was very difficult. One day in 2009 he prayed from the heart asking for a very clear sign from God that day – or else that was it! After driving a friend to her workplace he stopped in the Sunny Side restaurant. There was another gentleman dining in there and wearing a red T-shirt. He received a very strong and insistent internal prompting to talk to this man…which he did as he was waiting in line to pay for his meal. This man, John, an Anglican Priest told Robert out of the blue: “I am the answer to your prayers”. John had arisen that morning, put on his red T-shirt and told his wife that he felt that he had a “divine appointment” that day. Over the next while John, and then Ron and Bill helped Robert in his search: Robert found community and belonging through Alpha, meeting Christians who loved him. He also discovered peace through forgiveness, and began receiving more graces by a return, after 50 years away, to the sacraments of reconciliation and communion. Like all of us Robert’s story continues.

 

John Kuehn's talk recap July 3rd 2015

John Kuehn gave the talk this past Friday. The title of his talk was
"choices". John pointed out several ways we can and do make choices in our
lives: by the seat of our pants (i.e. On impulse or last minute); through
planning; as we get older - through experience; or lastly through prayer
(reliance on God). How to make choices has been a kind of evolution for John
that has been in step with how his faith life and relationship with God has
changed. And what came from John's talk is not only does our faith life
change how we make choices, but our choices can help move us forward in our
faith life. He made this point when relating how his priority has not been
focussed on work but rather family. This led him to choose to join the
Scouts, which helped lead John to God. Another choice was his joining Alpha.
He has learned to accept the choices God made for him rather than his own
choices.  John tries to let God lead and to be a servant to God. God has a
plan for each one of us: Jeremiah 1:5, the calling of the prophet Jeremiah
is an example of this. To follow and serve is still a choice. To do so we
must listen, wait and follow and pray to the Holy Spirit. Two questions:
What choice can you make to reduce your life stress? Are your choices
centred on God?

 

Scott LeBlanc's talk recap June 26th 2015

Scott Leblanc gave this past Friday's talk about surrender to God. It was
titled "The Dead Poet's Society". This title is from the movie Robin
Williams starred in as a teacher in an elite all boys prep school. The
character he played taught them from poetry to seize the day (carpe diem in
Latin) and live life to the full and forge their own way...rather than try
to live up to the at times unreasonable expectations of others. Scott
pointed out that this notion of seize the moment (or day) has been around
for a long time. We often hear the words "live each day to the fullest.
Don't follow the crowd." But what do we fill our day with? Work, family and
friends are not enough. We need to seek and surrender to God first and
foremost. Surrender is following God without always knowing where, when or
how. Scott pointed out that this involves trust and courage. Like the
disciples who dropped their nets to follow Jesus it can also involve letting
go of something that would otherwise hold us back. Some examples of this are
St. Maximilian Colby who gave his life, or St. Augustine who had everything
the world has to offer. God is asking us a question. Are you willing to
follow my plan? Our response: lord what do you want me to seize for you on
this day?

 

Mark O'laughlin's talk recap June 19th 2015

 

Mark O'Laughlin gave the talk this Friday. Love your neighbour. Jesus tells
people (i.e. - us) 4 times in the Gospel to love their (our) neighbour. This
is one of the most important things we can do. This exhortation is also
present in the Old Testament - for example in Sirach. There are no bounds on
whom we should love. Mark pointed out that the book of James, which was
addressed to the Jewish diaspora, made it clear that there should be no
difference in how people were treated, whether they were rich or poor. Mark
really drove this point home with a story of how a raggedly clothed man
showed up one Sunday at a super church. He was not treated well and snubbed
by many, including some of the church elders. During this particular day a
new pastor was to be introduced. It turned out that this was the church's
new pastor, deliberately dressed this way to make a point! Mark stated that
churches need to be welcoming places...and that role is up to each and every
one of us. We sometimes can learn this lesson of love in the secular world.
Again Mark gave a couple of examples of this. One was how a town of 10,400
looked after 10,500 travellers after 911. The town was Gander. Mark ended by
challenging us to be faithful to this command to love our neighbour, a
command Jesus so succinctly summarized from the 10 commandments

 

Richard Oland's talk recap June 12th 2015

Richard Oland gave the talk this past Friday. He gave an account of his trip
to the Alpha Global Week in London, England this past May. The title of his
talk was "The Winning Goal". The point of Richard's talk was not just to
describe his trip, but put it into context for us...give us the big picture.
For example he recounted a talk he heard given in 1997 by Paul Henderson.
Henderson scored the winning goal in the first Canada - Russia hockey
series. However, Paul Henderson did not just talk about the games he put the
series in context. He told what was going on behind the scene. Events that
impacted the players, the games and the series. Richard put this
international conference in context too by pointing out that it was about
equipping Christians to be effective in their sphere of influence, such as
within the community at large or in the workplace. Aside from the fact
London is a cool town with a pub culture, this was the motivation behind
Richard's desire to go. However, we can never be influential in spreading
the good news if we Christians are divided. Thus this year's theme was unity
among Christians. In brief, the main sessions that everyone attended were
held in Royal Albert Hall, while the smaller ones were at other venues like
Queen's Gate and Courtfield Gardens. The music was very good and so were the
speakers. Of note was Joyce Myers, Ken Costa and Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa
preacher to the Papal Household. Richard attributes the success of their
Alpha to three factors: 1. Their stuff is scripture based 2. They build an
excellent team. 3. They are really good at communicating. The next
leadership summit is in 2017, so consider going.

 

Paul Doiron's talk recap June 5th 2015

Paul Doiron’s talk was titled “How Deep is the Water?”. It was about the woman at the well in John 4. Paul pointed out that there is much content in this story that we can miss. Sometimes we read the passage and don’t reflect on it or fail to understand because we may not be aware of the historical context. For example, the normal route Jesus would have taken during that time would be to travel along the Jordan to get from Judea to Galilee. Jesus took the more direct route through Samaria. This was unusual because there was animosity between the Jews and Samaritans. However, as a result Jesus met the woman at the well in Samaria - around noon. At noon because she was not in good standing in her community so she came later to get water. In addition male Jews were not to talk to females under circumstances such as this one…let alone a Samaritan woman. All of these things would have gotten Jesus into further trouble with the religious authorities of the time. Instead they show Jesus was not bound by human conventions, but rather by his mission to “harvest” the souls of all nations. The fact that Jesus was hungry and tired also brings to light his human side…but the fact that the way the woman changes the manner in which she addresses him throughout the course of their encounter from “Jew” to “sir” to “prophet” shows he is much more than another man. Paul also pointed out that what the woman did after meeting Jesus was like the first Alpha. She ran back to town and said “come and see”, giving her own testimony of her encounter with the Messiah. It’s always good to spend time in reflection when reading scriptures…and in sharing what we learn through personal testimony.

 

Jean Alphonse's talk recap May 29th 2015

Jean Alphonce gave this past Friday's talk, which was on friendship. Jean
was born in Beirut, Lebanon and grew up in Lebanon. During his youth he
joined a church group. They met every week where they learned, laughed,
prayed and played together, and boys being boys, sometimes fought too. It
was there that strong friendships were forged. But these friendships were
special because they were based on shared Christian values and on Christ.
These friendships brought out the best in Jean and kept him well grounded.
During the years of turmoil in Lebanon it was these friendships that helped
keep him from carrying a gun and joining the militias, from getting drunk
and from bullying. He could walk away from these temptations. Friends make a
big difference in our lives. As Christians we chose to gather around Jesus
and form friendships. He fills us with love and joy in a broken world. Jesus
teaches us to carry our cross. When others choose to hate we don't and when
others choose to fight we don't. In today's world with broken families,
drugs etc., we need Christ more than ever. Once we meet Christ miracles
start to happen. The best thing we can do is offer Christ to others and one
way we do this is through our love and friendship

 

Ron Huntley's talk recap May 22, 2015

Ron Huntley gave the talk this past Friday. It was titled "Happy Birthday"
because the feast of Pentecost is coming up, a feast that marks the birthday
of the church. Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit who is God and God
is love. Ron pointed out that life is born out of true love. Each one of us
is born out of a family - and passionate love did this. The church is a
family too. So why is it that here in North America over half the churches
did not bring in any new converts during the past year? The answer lies in
that same Holy Spirit. We each need to have our own Pentecost.  Before
Pentecost the Apostles were hiding in the upper room. Afterward they were
filled with the Holy Spirit... Gods love. At that point they could bring
others in They were no longer afraid because of love. Love conquers fear.
This is something that can happen in Alpha - something that emboldens
people, taking away apathy and fear. And the church can bring in new
converts because people talk about their faith rather than just going to
church. God expects life from us in our families, workplace and church.
There are 40,000 people in our area! Can we get ten tables from that in the
fall? We should be able to. We need to have life and bring those people in.
Ron's challenge: we should renew our commitment to Christ this week.

 

Bob Mutuc's talk recap April 10th 2015

Bob’s talk was about the challenges of evangelization. As an example he used the Lenten Discipleship groups. With the challenges of being a father, husband and having a job, as well as already being involved in parish activities Bob wondered how he would have the time to do this. The solution he found to this problem was through prayer. Bob also quoted the Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium which talks of evangelizing not as an onerous duty but a joy. Bob also mentioned of the challenge of trying to spread the seeds of faith when our culture has put down a "layer of concrete" through the predominant world view, as David Dean, in one of the Discipleship talks put it. We can "deconstruct" this faulty world view by engaging others in debate. To do so is like drilling holes in the concrete in order to reach the fertile soil in which to sow the seeds of the Gospel. To paraphrase a question bob left us to ponder is: can you evangelize others, for example, at work and if not what is the reason why? What is preventing you?

 

Charlie Vaughn talk recap March 27th 2015

Charley Vaughan gave this past Friday’s talk titled “The Three Pillars”. Charley shared a memory from his childhood: when attending the ice capades during the time his father was mayor of Halifax his father had a "reserved" parking spot in front of the Forum in the form of a temporary "no parking" sign that would be removed by a police officer when they arrived to park. That impressed Charley. How many other dads had influence like that? Charley then related how, over the course of his life, from childhood into his adulthood, he learned of three pillars which bring integrity to one's character - learnt through his relationship with his father: 1. Say what you mean; 2. Know who you are; 3. Do what you believe is right. Later in life he has realized that there are an additional three which enable us to succeed in establishing the former three: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Charley pointed out that what he witnessed as a child in the case of his father was influence - influence of office - not power. Real power comes not through the office of one's position but from self-mastery. And, with the help of God, we can achieve this self-mastery to be able to say what you mean, know who you are and do what you believe is right.

 

Serge Desjardins talk recap March 20th 2015

Serge Desjardins gave the talk about the "Green Box": A metaphor and very effective prop he used in his talk. He started with the troubling question of why do tragedies happen in our world. The example he used was the death of children who are innocent. Before man fell he was free. But after the fall we lost our freedom, becoming bound by worldly things and ambitions like pride, power, treasure. The closed and confining green box he used represents these things we are trapped in. There is, however, a doorway into/out of the box that is connected to our faith. That doorway can be opened with our cooperation by the power God through the Holy Spirit, as it was in the Old Testament, as seen through the Prophets. From that doorway the light of love inside the soul which is inside this box can shine out. With the coming of Jesus it is now possible for all of us to have this door opened. But this also gives an answer to the question of misfortune: It is not the box, the things of this world, that are important. It is the light in the box, the eternal soul lit up by our faith, not this brief passing life which is most important.

 

Richard Oland talk recap March 13th 2015

Richard Oland gave the talk at the men's GYM this Friday. His talk was on how he navigated through the, at times, tricky world of the fairer sex and how that walk changed during the various stages of his life from boyhood to manhood and through until the present - from annoyance to acceptance and tolerance to interest and ultimately marriage. That path was made all the more challenging as he grew up during a period when social customs around men and women were dramatically changing. Richard's talk led into marriage and how Jesus must be at the centre of it for marriage to work. He referred to the movie "You, Me and Dupree" as a parallel to make his point. One thing that struck me in his talk was his point on the importance of chastity before marriage, given that it is a serious commitment. Physical intimacy between a couple changes the relationship and should not be taken lightly. This is something that has been largely forgotten in our culture.

 

Mark P's talk recap March 6th 2015

 

Mark Pilon gave the talk, titled: Alleviating Poverty – a Christian Perspective. Most North Americans tend to look at poverty simply in terms of a lack of material things such as food, money, housing, clean water, etc. However, the poor tend to describe their situation more in psychological and social terms such as humiliation, hopelessness and social isolation. Thus we tend to have a disconnect in our understanding of poverty: Material poverty is a result of something much deeper in the human person than a lack of material things. Poverty is one consequence of sin: it is the result of dysfunction in the four foundational relationships God designed in us. Relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with creation as stewards. Because of those dysfunctional relationships we can end up with broken economic, social, political and religious systems. To solve the problem of poverty those who provide aid to the poor, whether in a developing country or here in Halifax, must not involve themselves as “outsiders” but walk with the poor and be mindful of the underlying causes, addressing them.

 

Scott's talk recap Feb 27th 2015

 

Scott Leblanc gave the talk this Friday. He spoke about some of the
obstacles we have in our lives that interfere with our relationship with God
and in our spiritual and personal growth as Christians. He used the example
of his brush with a life threatening illness in his mid-twenties, and
dealing with the fear of that coming back - particularly now when there is
so much more at stake for him - having a wife and children to support and
care for. Scott pointed out that the devil uses things like suffering and
fear of death to keep us in bondage. (Hebrews 2:15) One of the points that
struck me from Scott's talk: Another stumbling block is that we often
compare our own abilities with those of others. That goes nowhere. When we
measure ourselves against others we begin to worry about being a better
version of that guy who has/is: (fill in the blank), rather than being the
best version of ourselves - the person who God wants us to be. We have to
trust in God and turn these things over to him. Having a strong prayer life
is one important way to do this. God does not want us to live in bondage but
to have all good things!

 

Wayne Crawley's talk recap Feb 20th 2015

 

Wayne Crawley gave the talk at this past Friday's GYM. He talked about two paths that we can take in life. One is the path of fear which leads to things like envy, hatred and greed. It is where one attempts to find fulfillment by making oneself into a god by seeking wealth, money, power and fame. It is a self-centred life. It is a path that leads to darkness. The other path is the path of love. Love is a choice to reject the pursuit of self and focus on others. It places God in proper perspective. Sometimes we take one or the other path but must strive to stay on the path of love. Wayne related a story of how on one occasion he had a conversation with someone who had based his self-esteem solely on his accomplishments and material worth and was clearly very insecure about his worth. It really drove home for me the importance of the path of love - and how each person is made in God's image and likeness and our value is beyond measure. Our worth stems from who we are (path of love) not what we own and do (path of fear)…and as Wayne indicated when we get to know someone we must seek to understand them on a personal level not simply through more shallow things like what they do and what they own.

 

 

John Kuehn's talk recap Feb 13th 2015

 

John Kuehn gave this Friday's talk. From it I learnt that his dad is a Texan
and his mom from Atlantic Canada... Newfoundland. John related that his
first experience of the Holy Spirit was during Easter some years ago when he
entered the Catholic Church via the RCIA program and married his wife. One
thing that stuck with John some time afterward was when his father, who
became a very dedicated Christian preacher told him he needed a deeper
relationship with God. This was after he joined the church and felt he was
doing just fine. Then, the Holy Spirit struck again in his life - recently
here at St. Benedict in mass...his second experience that took over 20 years
after the first one to happen. John was filled with joy. His time here at St
Benedict, his involvement in the alpha program and contact groups such as
the GYM and now a brand new family friendly contact group have all been key
to his growth.

 

Roger LeFrank's talk recap Feb 6th 2015

 

Roger gave the talk this Friday: Religious junkies vs Authentic Christians.
What impressed me from his talk is how we need to be open to serve God in
what may seem to be very simple ways. On one occasion Roger's wife became
interested in a course on "basic Christianity". The course was Alpha. Having
been involved in many activities within the church for some years Roger
shared that but for the sake of his wife he probably would not have taken
it. After all, what could he learn? However, this course ended up having a
profound influence on Roger. It was through this course that Roger received
the greatest gift that the Holy Spirit can give - a very clear knowledge of
the depth and breadth of God's love for him. This came out of the blue
during a dinner he served to the Knights after the Alpha Holy Spirit weekend
had finished (and Roger had felt nothing during the prayers that day). God
certainly is full of surprises! It made Roger realize that though he served
God faithfully for many years it had never before dawned on him how much God
loves him.

 

 

Fred Jones's talk recap Jan 30th 2015

Fred talked to us today about the importance of hearing our call to be shepards. That we all have different flocks we are called to take care of. Flocks that are even beyond the scope of our family and friends. Fred shared a story about a young university student that was called out for plagiarising his work. Fred was in a position where he the the students future was in his hands. Knowing in his heart that the student, more than likely cheated he still had two ways he could have handled this. He chose Mercy, even though the other choice could have been to call him out on his poor choice and embarrass the student, Fred chose not to. In no way was the student put off the hook when having to except the conceuquences. Fred offered a loving approach to the student that in turn will hopefully show that his Christian heart and charity can be a choice when handling things. He left us all with a challenge and asked us who our flock is..  

 

Andy Doiron's talk recap Jan 23rd 2015

 

Andy gave a humorous talk about “God and Time” using the timeline of his own life and how he saw God active in his life: His baptism, first confession and how he felt so strongly connected with God during his first communion and knew then how special it was. He also pointed out how different some things were from the present day - kneeling at the communion rail instead of standing in a line. And Andy reminded all of us who are at least 50 of those, at times fearsome nuns that we had as teachers in school – if we attended a Catholic school. Andy related how he got on the wrong side of one of these nuns for misbehaving, meriting the strap. By going back through the past Andy’s talk brought to mind two themes. First, the timeless importance of obedience to God and those in authority for a peaceful life, and second, the contrast between lifestyles 40 years ago and now. Some things being better and some not as good.

 

Mark O'laughlin talk recap Jan 16th 2015

 

Mark O’laughlin gave the talk today titled: “Your life is a testimony” The key message is that our personal testimonies, when shared with others, reveal God’s love and the power of Jesus Christ. Mark O. used some very good examples from previous GYM talks of Dave Webster and Roger LeFrank. He also used examples from his own life: How one Saturday he decided to go to a later movie so he could make it to mass with his family. This was something he had not recently done and how on that day, and that day only, a Christian youth group was visiting his Church. They brought about a conversion in him. He also explained how the love and spiritual support of others helped him in his successful battle with a major illness and also how the love of a woman he was dating and her three children (Now his wife and children) were such a blessing and were a reflection of Gods unconditional love.

 

Jeevan's talk recap Jan 9th 2015

 

Jeevan, who has his own business, gave the talk which was titled: “God loves to own our business or the work we do” God wants to own our business or our work and wants it to succeed. Jeevan related how he began his first business a year or two after he moved to Kuwait from India. However, during the time Jeevan lived in Kuwait he found that the lack of ethics and integrity in the business community made it difficult to run a business there. When Jeevan and his family emigrated to Halifax over 10 years ago he decided once again to start up a business. His first challenge was adjusting to the very different business culture here in Canada. But even then that was not enough. Recently he has come to realize that God wants to own his business so, in his words, he let the Father become the owner, Jesus the chairman, the Holy Spirit the CEO and Jeevan the Steward of the business. As this happened he found that his business networks with other ethical and honest business men grew and his business prospered. The latter emphasizing the point he made at the beginning of his talk that Christ wants us to “have life, and have it abundantly”. This lifestyle has led Jeevan to get more involved in the business community by planning to form a community of business men sharing their ideas about faith.

 

Corey Robinson talk recap Jan 2nd 2015

 

Corey Robinson gave the talk titled: "The Advantage".  His talk was on the
Holy Spirit, who Corey pointed out is a personal being, a "he", just like
Jesus and whom Jesus sent to us after his Ascension into heaven. There are
five ways the Holy Spirit works in our lives. The first is how He meets us
in our weaknesses, be it failings or even addictions and gives us strength
to overcome. The second way is He teaches us and gives us an understanding
of the Word as, for example, it is written in the books of the Bible. And
this can be through others such as our spouses. The third way is the Holy
Spirit works through prayer. One example of how the spirit does this is in
Romans: "but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for
words". The fourth is He tells us what Jesus wants of us. That could be how
to live or where to work. And the fifth is the Holy Spirit convicts us of
our sins, that is, reveals to us our sinful behaviours and habits.

 

Ron Huntley talk recap Dec 26th 2014

 

Ron’s talk outlined the plans for Saint Benedict Parish for the upcoming year and what is key for their success. What really struck me in his talk was that crucial to the success these plans, we have to be engaged, committed Catholics. Ron started by pointing out that unless we have a personal relationship with our Lord the positive message of the Gospel is meaningless to us. Not only that, but the fact that more churches are being built in a given diocese is not necessarily a sign of a vibrant Catholic community unless the growth is driven by evangelization. (As an example Ron pointed out that in parts of Toronto there is plenty of growth but this is due to immigration – not evangelization. That means Toronto’s gain is simply someone else’s loss). Engaged parishioners, good leadership and good programs open to and helpful for everyone allows for a welcoming church which can then evangelize. Ron also discussed the five systems of church life: Evangelization, Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship and Ministry and how these relate to the various programs our church has.

 

Roger LeFrank's talk recap Dec 12th 2014 

 

was about the persistence and genius of God as seen in how he works in our lives. What struck me about his talk is not just how our families and relationships play a major role in our faith formation but also in how we practise our faith. Roger grew up with a faith that focused solely on “the rules” of Christianity such as the commandments. By focusing only on “the law” we will never be able to measure up and this can make us feel like a failure. But as Roger got older, relationships, such as the one he had with his wife, began to show to him what our faith is really about - God’s love. Roger also became aware of the marvellous ways God can work in our lives when, during an absence and without his approval, he was appointed chair of a committee tasked with raising funds in his parish. Though he felt completely unqualified to chair this committee, the subsequent course of events showed that he was the one key person necessary to raise the needed money. The one key person because of his wisdom and the nature of his extensive work and involvement in the parish. Thus he was best able to connect with and convince the parishioners of the importance of the goals of the fund raising. He wasn’t aware of this at the time but God was.

 

 

Mark Young talk recap Dec 5th, 2014

 

“20 months of my life”. I don’t know if I got the title right but an alternate could easily have been “Romans 8:28-29”. He lost his job, he lost his father and suffered a broken leg. Mark related that it was during this period he realized that although he had some pretty clear plans laid out he was not fully in charge of them. His plans weren’t God’s plans. Losing his job in June 2007, he expected to take the summer off and by early the next year find a new job. However, one of the plans God had for him during this time was not to start working for money once again but to provide comfort and support for his father as his life drew to an end. When Mark finally did have the opportunity to land a job he was hit by a car while jogging. Though not aware of it at the time, this broke his leg. This happened just before his final make-or-break job interview. What followed were some mix ups with doctors failing to x-ray him initially, then after finally getting an x-ray done due to a swelling leg, the x-ray was lost for a time. Both good things too. This x-ray would have alerted doctors to the break in his leg. A break which at the time would have required an operation to fix it, rendering him bedridden and thus causing him to miss his interview and the job. (an interview he nailed a few days after with a busted leg). Another bonus: his leg healed just fine without the operation. God walks with us and sees us to the end, but sometimes the most direct route he has for us is not the one we plan.

 

 

Paul Doiron - Talk Re-Cap Nov 28, 2014

 

The topic of Paul’s talk was “joy or pickled peppers”. As Christians do we show joy or rather do we have melancholy faces that have “more in common with pickled peppers”? In his talk one way Paul emphasized how important it is to be genuinely joyful Christians was by relating his experiences in two churches he visited. One where he was ignored by the greeters when he came in and after he sat in a pew near the back he was tapped on the shoulder while praying. He was informed by this individual that he was in “that person’s” pew. In another church he visited he was warmly welcomed and the mass was full of joy and worship. In the former case if Paul had been someone searching he may never again have set foot in a church while in the latter it would have been hard not to come back. Paul also pointed out that Christ is present in 4 ways during the liturgy: in those assembled, the priest, the Word and the Eucharist: Four great reasons that there is no need to be a pickled pepper.

 

Jim Norton - Talk Re-Cap Nov 21st, 2014

 

Jim Norton gave the talk. His talk was a personal testimony on how God has been and is currently working in his life. Some of the wonderful ministries Jim has been involved in include working as a chaplain in nursing homes for the elderly and his involvement in the L'Arche community for three years. ("L'Arche is an international federation dedicated to the creation and growth of homes, programs and support networks for people who have intellectual disabilities") One story that Jim told impressed upon me the importance of us Catholics to become involved in the community and to do good: This was when his apartment lost its roof in a storm, and in spite of being an active member in his parish and community very few parishioners showed up to help him out. 

 

 

 

Father Michael Grace - Talk re-cap Nov 14th, 2014

 

 

Father Grace gave this week's talk. We live in a very materialistic culture
in the west. There are so many things that we "must have", but do not need.
Father pointed out that although two of the commandments are to not covet
our neighbour's wife and goods, in the scriptures it is broader commanding
us not to covet period. Father pointed out that this inordinate desire to
acquire material things is due to a desire to fill a void in our lives - a
void that should rather be filled with Christ. So how is this done? This is
the role of the domestic church, which is based on two sacraments - Baptism
and Marriage and resides within the family. Men as husbands and fathers have
the responsibility to lead as Christ led through teaching and service in our
families to form our children. We must take the time to do this, and for
example, not be the one to tag along into church following the wife and
children, being preoccupied with the Sunday golf game we are missing.

 

 

 

 

Mark Pilon - Nov 7, 2014 Talk & Book Recommendation: The 5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman

 

Today Mark spoke about Gary Chapman's book "The 5 Love Languages". Check out the resource and information on the book by pressing -> here.

 Important to also note. That this book, also comes with a quiz that will help you pin point your 5 love languages in Order from 1-5. Knowing your own order is one thing, but knowing the order of the person/people in your life is the real game changer on building healthy relationships that Mark spoke about today :) The book can be purchased at Miracles Christian book store in Bayers lake, or at Veritas books as well. You can also find it at Chapters or on line at Amazon. The title of my talk was “The 5 Love Languages”, and it was drawn from a book by the same name by Christian pastor and marriage counselor, Gary Chapman. He points out that there are five love languages – five unique ways we communicate and feel loved in our relationships be they with friends or family. Typically most of us are fluent in one of them: 1. Service; 2. Quality time; 3. Touch; 4. Words of affirmation; 5. Gifts. These love languages can be found in the scriptures. As fathers it is important that men “speak” not only their own but the languages of their spouse and children. It is from our parents that we learn and have our love language nurtured…and this is part of the framework for all of our future relationships. 

 

Speakers Recap - Serge D - Oct 16th

 

Serge was planning to talk about the "green box" (stay tuned). But found
inspiration from last week's talk, and carried Charley's comparison of the
Church's mission of evangelization to traditional fishing expeditions
further. The ocean that represents the world where we go "fishing for men"
is polluted, killing fish. We have to rescue the fish and clean the ocean.
One area that Serge focussed on was TV and how this is can be a source of
pollution. Shows such as Master Chef and American "Idol" emphasize
selfishness. Others offer themes such as adultery, greed, pleasure - not
used as moral lessons but purely as entertainment. Serge has found that as
his faith has grown over the past few years he no longer chooses shows to
watch based on their entertainment value, but on the message they are
conveying. To clean up that ocean we all need to make the right moral
choices.

 

Speakers Recap- Bob M - Oct 24th

 

 

Bob Mutuc gave the Friday talk. His topic was on holiness and marriage. Bob used Saint JP-II's definition of holiness: “Holiness is to raise one's eyes to the summits. It is intimacy with God the Father who is in Heaven. In this intimacy, each one of us is aware of our nature, with all its limitations and difficulties.” In the Christian world view one does not marry to be happy but rather to be holy. And holiness is not doing extraordinary things but rather ordinary things with humility, love and gratitude. Bob pointed out in his talk that marriage and the family is the perfect place to put this into practice allowing us to grow into the people God has destined us to be. 

Speakers Recap -Craig Sampson - Oct 31st

 

 

Craig Sampson gave the talk. His talk was on music and it's importance, from
the perspectives of one who appreciates it and as one who is a musician. It
all starts with talent. But that is not enough. Talent without courage is
talent wasted. Furthermore Craig pointed out that music is a universal
language that is understood by everyone no matter their spoken language is.
And music for Catholics should be a way of praising God. One thing Craig
said that really struck me: when playing his guitar in the band at the men's
breakfast, for him the applause after the songs is not important because the
musicians are facilitators rather than entertainers and are there primarily
to help us to raise our hearts and sing songs of praise to God. When we are
really in the worship "zone" the band should fade into the background.