Where are the Men? Part 2

In the last post, I mentioned how while attending a Saturday evening Vigil Mass at a local parish, I noticed that only 4 of 31 servant-leadership roles were filled by men.  Of those 4 positions of service, 1  was a young boy altar server, 2 were Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and 1 was in the happy happy clap clap band.  The problem is not the women, the problem is the men.  Here’s why…

When men are absent from servant-leadership (in anything, not just at Mass) the ‘thing’ does not function properly.  When a father is absent from his family, when a husband is absent from his wife, when a priest is absent from his parish, when a coach is absent from his team, when a boss is absent from his employees, when a commander is absent from his troops… the family, marriage, parish, team, company and unit do not function correctly.  At Mass, specifically, we must correct the dysfunctions because they are widespread and have a large scope of influence.  The way to correct the dysfunction is to encourage and challenge men to act in the way in which God created them to be.  To grasp this picture, let’s look at the creation account in the Book of Genesis.

God created Adam.  From Adam’s side, He created Eve.  Adam was commanded by God to “shamar” the garden.  Shamar is Hebrew for cultivate, protect, care for, etc.  It was Adam’s job to cultivate the land, protect the garden, his wife and all of creation, but from the onset, Adam dropped the ball.  When the serpent convinced Eve to eat of the fruit, where was Adam?  Gone in another place in the garden?  No.  Was he over at some buddy’s house drinking a cold one, watching the big game?  No.  He was right beside her!  [After all, she turned and handed him the fruit that she had just eaten from.]  He was neglecting to protect the garden and his wife and failed to do what God created him to do.  The Fall = Adam’s fault!  When this sort of behavior (when men fail to cultivate, protect and care for) continues to prevail, the Church suffers greatly.

The choices Adam made are, in some way, the same decisions that many Catholic men today are making.  Instead of cultivating the Church, protecting the Church and caring for the Church, men sit back and allow women to ‘do’.  If you look at parishes and/or dioceses that are incredibly strong, that have great priests, that have large properly-functioning families and they have large numbers of seminarians, you’ll see that it is almost undoubtedly because men are involved as leaders!

The problem with men sitting back and allowing women (who are willing and ready to step in) to fill the gap is that the general population of men either don’t attend Mass or simply lose interest, although their backside is filling a spot in the pew.  This sort of behavior teaches children that men don’t need faith and that faith is a ‘woman’s thing’.  Many men believe that faith, religion, prayer, devotion, etc. is feminine and actually, anti-masculine.  They couldn’t be further from the truth.  As I have stated many times before, being manly means that a man is virtuous.  Faith, Hope and Love, the Theological Virtues, are the real signs of manliness.  In an upcoming post, I will continue with the thought of what happens when men and women don’t fulfill their roles and how it affects the Church as a whole, titled “The Church: By Women, For Women.”

TrueMan up!

Earth Day

I bet most of you are surprised to see that I’m writing about Earth Day today.  Now, I’m no tree hugger, or granola- cruncher, but I think there’s something to be said about protecting the environment.  How does a TrueMan do that?

I recommend that we look at the Book of Genesis to get a foundation for this.  Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.”  To cultivate and to care for it – in Hebrew, to SHAMAR (guard).  Everything in the garden (creation) was given to Adam to protect and defend it.  Yes, this included the woman (Eve) and the animals, but it also included the land and plants.  See, God wanted Adam to take responsibility for his surroundings.  Ask any farmer, and they’ll tell you that the land produces more bounty if you take care of it.  Adam’s job was to see to it that the land produced a large bounty.

The same goes for us now.  God expects that we shamar our gardens (our families, our land, our life, our Church).  He expects that we protect and defend all that is around us, therefore, we must protect our earth.  Personally, I’m not going to stop driving my eight cylinder Chevy truck, but what I will do is continue to use cloth diapers and homemade bio-degradable baby wipes.  I’ll continue to throw away my trash in a can instead of littering the side of the highways.  I will instill in my children how to respect the earth.  When I camp, I protect the fire from spreading.  When I see trash, I pick it up.  I’ve recently started using CFL bulbs around the house and just bought a bunch of new ones for the remaining lights.  It’s the little things that add up and really count.

Think about how you can protect the earth in your own little way.  If we all do it just a little bit, it’ll add up to some big changes.

Man up!

Are You Like Adam?

Adam, you know, THE Adam.  The first man.  God’s creation.  He was given dominion over all the animals, and the land, God gave him the crown of creation, Eve, as his wife and God asked him to “shamar” the garden.  “What’s shamar, Dave?”  In layman’s terms, it means to cultivate, protect and/or defend.  [If God asked a guy to shamar his prized hot rod, would anyone drive or touch it?  Probably not.  Certainly,  no one would have the opportunity to scratch it or damage it in any way.]  Why didn’t Adam shamar the garden?

The serpent made his way in (Genesis 3) and began speaking to the woman.  Often times, it’s portrayed as if Eve were alone in the garden and that Adam was somewhere else.  The serpent, being cunning as he is, began to call into question what God said to them.  Eve tried to correct him, but was unsuccessful in her explanation.  (Read the passages in Genesis closely to pick up on this.)  Eventually, Eve gave in and ate the fruit from the tree.  Adam ate it too.  See, Adam was there the entire time.  He sat back and allowed the serpent to twist God’s words and confuse Eve.  Had he been shamaring, as asked by God, the serpent would have never had the chance to even speak to Eve.

Shamar…  do you do it like Adam or the guy with the hot rod?

 Man up!