Tag: God

About Free Advice

I only give free advice. Because there is a lot of it out there, and the advice you pay for may not work out because each person and circumstance is different.

Yes, there is a saying ‘same problem, different name’. But you don’t need to pay for it I think.

It is more important to buy books or webinars or listen to podcasts or read blogs. Gather information and then compile it into what works best for you.

Growing up, my parents believed that a financial adviser was nothing more than an unemployed insurance agent. Today, I find an number of advisers in many fields whom none of them I have found I can trust to pay money to tell me what to do with my career or my life.

True selling is about helping, it is not giving advice.

On the flip side, several people ask me for advice and I would never think of charging them for my thoughts. I make my living making pictures, and if my pictures inspire you then, yes, you should buy them. My advice, no. Though I have over thirty years experience as a photographer.

Likewise, I have several decades involvement with Catholic Men’s Ministry. Every week I’m either one-on-one with other men, or in a group setting, sharing free ideas and advice about growing in holiness, and how to be the best version of ourselves. I would never think to charge for this. Because the information shared and the impact made is priceless.

Seth Godin does a similar thing. He (says that he) does not charge for advice or consulting. He makes his living as a book author, etc.

The words of Jesus are free in the Bible, it’s the publishers who sell the book to be in business.

In comparison, I have over the years several spiritual directors. A spiritual director is a person who helps you discern what God is saying to you. This is advice from a person who is in tune with God and the Bible. A spiritual director has never charged me for their advice. Some people go further in to counseling from a spiritual perspective, however.

In choosing his disciples, Jesus said to them “come and see”. By doing this he invited them to develop relationship with Him so, in turn, they could help others. Jesus invites us all to this mission today.

When we provide sound advice to others, especially when they ask for it, then we help each other to make a positive difference in the world.

“For lack of guidance a people falls; security lies in many counselors”.

Proverbs 11:14

 

Enjoy your day.

 

Frank J Casella is an artistic photographer, and co-founder of Catholic Chicago Men’s Conference. 

 

God Is Good. He Knows Your Needs.

By Frank J Casella

As Men it’s in our DNA to be providers. To fix things. Yet, being a Catholic Man adds a twist to things, as we are called to depend on God as this is His will for us. After all, He knows our needs better than we do, and all we have to do is trust and meet Him in His work.

To be honest with you, for me, sometimes it takes more to wait on God than for me to just get it done. But then, in the end it never fails that His ways are not our ways and He gets the last laugh, so to speak.

It doesn’t matter as much whether we have the resources or means to provide the solutions or not, because what does matter is that we train our spiritual radar to seek God’s agenda.

A few brief examples ….

  • Recently I’ve been trying for a month to get my snow blower to the repair shop, and could not understand the delays and why things were not lining up to get it done. I can’t lift heavy things, and I no longer have a car the machine will fit in, so I have to depend on my twenty-something son’s for help.  Finally as my son was getting the machine looked at, a man also bringing in his repair offered to my son that whether we repair or replace he would cover (the cost) for half of it.  With God there is no coincidences … its about the decisive moment.
  • Here at CMCS we have an iMac computer that is over a decade old. We’ve updated it and it works fine, but we are told its days are numbered (and they REALLY are).  Just then a donation came in with the note to use it to update technology, and then the next day a CMCS man donated a slightly used PC computer.  I gave it to a computer guy I know to look at and, pulling from his computer graveyard, he gave it some newer parts and speed and then we added a new hard drive. The bill was about the amount of the donation, but nothing more, and it’s like a new computer!
  • If you’ve read my articles, or been to the Catholic Chicago Men’s Forum, you’ll know that I’m also a photographer.  I have hosted my pictures on Flickr for about a decade. Well Flickr has a new owner who has changed the business model. So, short of the long, I’m moving my stuff to ipernity. Just about when the ipernity free trial was up, and I was deciding to pay for the service or not, a man from Europe paid for a gift subscription saying that he is inspired by my works and hopes that I will stay and inspire others.
  • Before last winter I was thinking about a new roof for my house, and how I might finance the ordeal. So a Christian man I’ve known for years who is in this business connected me with a contractor to come out to look at it. Turns out I had hail damage on the roof, because the back of the house faces the lake and wetlands of Homewood Izaak Walton Preserve. We got the insurance rep out, the contractor talked with him, and then the insurance bought a new roof and soon the siding. All it cosst so far is my insurance deductible. God uses people to do His work, and these people involved where no exception … They’re meant to be.

So my friends, God is good and knows your needs. Many times, though, we are too busy doing God’s work for Him when He often doesn’t need us to do it. Rather, we are to see where God is at work and then take action to meet Him in His work.  And pray.

I often, depending on the matter, pray for intercession from Our Lady of Good Remedy, Francis Cardinal George,  Fr. Michael McGivney, or St. Rita of Cascia.

 

Frank J Casella makes pictures of moments in time and human interaction that shares hope and God’s love in the word, and is co-founder of Catholic Chicago Men’s Forum. 

 

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Bishop Joseph N Perry: Keep Us Thankful O Lord

10 lepers approached Jesus with the request that He heal them.  Jesus instructed them to first go to the priests and offer what Moses has prescribed.  And, on their way they were  cleansed.  One of them, realizing he had been cured, retook his steps to find Jesus and express his gratitude to God.  Jesus, upon receiving the man, was surprised that only one was inspired enough to give God thanks.  “Where are the other nine,” Jesus explained, sadly.  “Was there no one to give thanks to God except this foreigner?”  Luke 17, 11-19

In my short life thus far I have come to understand that thanksgiving takes on its highest meaning following experiences like suffering, chaos, deprivation, poverty and loss.

We raise our children to say thank-you whenever they receive something from someone’s generosity.  However, it takes time and life-experience for our children to understand the real power behind thanks.

For the pilgrims of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, of that first Thanksgiving in the year of our Lord 1621, the beauty of the world was found in its bounty.  They could hear the author of the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy say, “The Lord, your God, is bringing you into a good country, a land with streams of water, with springs and fountains welling up in the hills and valleys, a land of wheat and barley, of vine and fig trees.”

Having arrived in an untamed world underneath it all for them was a deep love of nature and a sense that God was everywhere in the beauty and bounty of the earth.  They knelt to give thanks for that generous gift.  They were now safe after a long arduous journey and a hard winter of deprivation and the deaths of a number of their companions.

Now, in the Plymouth wilderness sitting down with first Americans, eating foods from the wild never before tasted, undoubtedly motivated by gratitude for survival but more deeply moved by a recognition that the graciousness of God had pulled them through the dark, cold days of the struggle to form a new colony away from oppression and religious persecution in their homeland from whence they came.

Pilgrims, they were trustees for future generations and were to set an example for a civilized new world, to, as St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians urges, sing “with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

So, where do the lepers of today’s Gospel come in?  Well, their story is one of giving and receiving.  A thanksgiving story, no doubt.

The inability to give or show gratitude is a mark of disfigurement, a kind of spiritual leprosy.  One who can neither give nor receive can never enter into a relationship of grace, a covenant of love. The leper who returned to Jesus to say “thanks” enters into a relationship with God.

The other nine stood far off, negating even the possibility that something could happen. They stood on the fringes of life because they could not, in their hearts, find time to give thanks. Their spirits remained leprous.  It is almost as if they took for granted that they would be cured, as if it were their right.  Their bodies were now whole, their souls still marked with decay.

Everyone of us has something for which to be thankful.  It helps, I think, to recall the chaos, suffering, deprivation that has marked your life so that power can be given the thanks you raise in prayer on Thanksgiving Day.  For there is wisdom to be discovered from the crosses we are asked to carry in life.

Like the pilgrims, most of us have fought the storms, banished the threats, overcome the fears and made covenants of friendship with God and each other. We are all pilgrims walking an earthly path on the way to a heavenly land where we will be giving thanks for all eternity.

Sitting down to the big meal seems like the highlight of Thanksgiving, but the highlight really comes a couple hours later.  The pumpkin pie is gone, the turkey is picked over, the dishes are done, relatives, friends and guests are gone, the kids and pets are snoozing and somehow, when all is quieted down, the labor for the feast is done, in the depth of your soul you join a whole nation, satiated with food and drink, as if embraced by the wide arms of God, and give a sigh of relief and say “Thank you God!”

Before you sit down to feast at a table others have prepared, remember to say thanks to the wife, the kids and anyone else who deserves to sense your heart and feel what you really mean to them.  Remember to lead your household in prayer in thanks to an all provident God!

We are born into this world with empty hands and we take nothing from this world with us in the end.  All that we have, we receive from the generosity of God.  Today, we thank God for his care of us and praise him for his kindness.

Please respond, “Keep us thankful O Lord!”

  1. We give you thanks O God for our Holy Father the Pope, our bishop, and his assistant bishops and all of our pastors who share in your ministry and authority; that you may guide them so that they exercise your power wisely, let us pray to the Lord.
  2. We give thanks O God for the many blessings you have showered upon us. For those who have not received as much of your bounty, for the poor and needy of your world, the unemployed and those who struggle in any way, we pray to the Lord.
  3. We give thanks O God for your limitless mercy and the treasury of your goodness which you share with us.  That those who do not recognize your love may become aware of your kindness, let us pray to the Lord.
  4. We give thanks O God for the family and friends you have given us.  That they may always know your generosity and protection and be appreciative of your gifts, let us pray to the Lord.
  5. We give thanks O God for the gift of redemption and the forgiveness of our sins; that our lives may show forth more clearly the predilection we enjoy by your Son’s death and resurrection for our sakes, we pray to the Lord.

Almighty Father, we give thanks to your majesty for the many gifts we have received; we ask you to continue your kindness and forsake us not, through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

+ JNP 2011

 

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Life Mission. Don’t Leave Earth Without It!

By Frank J Casella

I’m sure that you’ve heard of a Lenten Mission and a Mission Statement, but have you heard of a Life Mission?  Do you have a Life Mission and, if so, what is it?

The purpose of a Mission is defined as a vocation or calling of an (religious) organization. As Catholics we are called as a Church to go out into the world and spread the Gospel.

Through a Lenten Mission we are renewed to be an living example of this Mission.

The Mission Statement of Catholic Men Chicago Southland works towards “Living the Goodness of a Catholic Man” …..  to nurture a Man’s character through his spiritual journey.

A Life Mission, however, is the Gospel Mission made personal by transformation from good intentions into right-action.

For example, my life mission is “To be the Man that God has called me to be, being the best husband and father for my family, to be a ‘real’ person to those around me, and to equip others to live a compelling life so they help to equip others.”  A Life Mission is making the Mission Statement personal to the point of living it, eating it, breathing it, sleeping it, etc. (you get the point). It’s transforming Holy Church into Holy Life(style).

I live out my Life Mission by:  1) Daily prayer to see where God is at work in my life, and to meet Him in that work. 2) Spending meaningful time with my wife and kids, and to encourage and lead them prayerfully in their life’s purpose. 3) Allowing my lifestyle and relationship with others to be a living example of my relationship with Jesus Christ – Some people call this servant leadership.

My late Father used to say the famous quote, that if you don’t stand for something then you’ll fall for anything.

Hence, your Life Mission should be your identity in how you serve Jesus Christ, and not by what you do for a living or by what you wear, etc. It’s who you are as a person, and not what you do.

 

“If we build into ourselves a deep understanding and conviction that serving the needs of other human beings is the reason we profit, that the reason we earn money is because we are focused on serving the needs of other people, other people will see this. We must commit ourselves to these convictions. Then and only then will the money follow. The money comes automatically.”
― Daniel Lapin, Business Secrets from the Bible: Spiritual Success Strategies for Financial Abundance

 

When you work for a company, then you are given the company manual. When you become a Catholic you follow the Catechism which leads you to the Bible … God’s Word.  Have you a manual for your life?  In other words, what you do, how you live, and the people whom you hold relationships with will be affected or changed by who you are as a person and your Life Mission.

When I created my Life Mission I then went deeper with my Faith, and something happened …. my friends changed.  Because having one true friend became more meaningful (to me) than to have several ‘friends’.

So, I ask you this question, Man to Man.  What is your Life Mission, and how are you doing it or living it out?  Then too, what is your legacy … how are leaving this life with your wife or kids or those important to you?

The adjustments you make in living your life holy can be felt for three generations.

Do the person’s important to you say ”if Jesus is anything like you, I want to know Him?“  If not, what is stopping this from happening?  Pray and ask God daily how to put your mission into action ..  then watch Him show you .. God’s will is that we depend on Him.

 

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Eve Sinned Because Adam Was Silent.

This is an update from the article archives for Catholic Men Chicago Southland.

By Frank J Casella

My youngest son has always had a love for basketball. When he was 10 years old he called me over to show me how he could make ten free throws in a row.  Not impressed, I said “nice job … now raise the net up to where it belongs”.  Impatient to grow taller, he lowered his goal.

Men, is this what you do?  We lower our standards and then become proud of our accomplishments. What would God be saying to you?

All of this goes back to Adam and Eve in the garden.  Eve sinned because Adam was not protecting her heart.  Adam lowered God’s standards by being silent when the serpent was having conversation with Eve (Genesis 3:6).

Up until that point Adam was talking and leading his life based on his relationship with God (Genesis 3:6). He was a Man who lead in such a way that Eve could not resist him.

Men, are you the priest of your house in such a way that your wife (or future wife) cannot resist you? God created Adam before Eve because Adam was to be responsible to both rule and lead.

Even though it was Eve whom the serpent tempted to eat the fruit that had been forbidden in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-6), it was Adam whom God went looking for. It was Adam who was responsible (Genesis 3:9).

The way to be a servant leader is to align yourself with God and know His will for your life.  When you have this goal, everyone in your life then benefits.  Our culture, on the other hand, would rather you be silent .. and serve your own selfish needs.

The reason so many men today are living without is because we misunderstand our goal and settle for trinkets, sports jerseys, TV remotes, golf clubs, nice cars, video games, careers, and vacations.  Those things are okay – unless they cause you to be misaligned with God and His will and take you off course of pursuing God’s own heart.

Look at it another way, many sports games have an official who prevents chaos by following the rules from the playbook – not his own ‘book’.  Men, is your playbook the Bible, or your own – chaos – human understanding?

Many men today are feeling smothered and gasping within because we do not know how to be a man. One thing that happens to a man when he can no longer breathe is that he will try to live vicariously through others. It is this man who, for example, will wear another man’s jersey with another man’s name and number on the back of it. Regularly.

Any man who has to all the time wear another man’s name on the back of his shirt may need to ask himself how he views his own manhood, and identity in Jesus Christ. Instead, we need to strive to wear our own jersey, and create our own identity in Jesus Christ.

Men, God has a standard. He has a goal in mind for your life: To be a servant leader after God’s own heart is that goal.

Yet what so many us men have done is lowered our standard. The results of this lowered standard affect so many more than just you and me. This lowered standard affects us all.

It shows up in our country. In our culture. In the economics of our world. You don’t have to look any farther than our homes, churches, communities, and globe to discover that men – not all, but many – have missed the goal to live as a servant leader after God’s own heart. The impact of a lower standard leaves its scars no matter what race, income bracket, or community a person is in.

The outcomes are different depending the the location, but they are devastating none the less. Some of which are Inadequacy, promiscuity, emptiness, depression, chronic irresponsibility, family breakup, misuse of finances, divorce, violence, chemical addition, overeating, indulgence, bankruptcy, low self-esteem, and general aimlessness plague our society as a direct result of the abuse or neglect of being the man that God calls us to be.

The call for men to come forth and stand for servant leadership, and being a man that God calls him to be, has never rung louder. Our world is on a path of self-destructive behavior. That must change. Yet that change will not occur unless us men – YOU – will raise the standard to where God had originally placed it.

My son is now 19 and still shooting free-throws. He is a coach for a basketball school. But it’s about more than being a coach. It’s about developing relationships with kids half his age, and showing them how to raise the standard too.

Because, since he was a kid himself, he’s raised the basket (standard) to where it belongs and has made hundreds of shots with the net at the right height – but he had to work at it.

One drill that we played along the way is to shoot ten in a row.  If you miss one shot, you start over.  My son rarely has to start over.  He now shoots over 200 free throws in a row. He tells me once you have the basic (free throw) down, other shots fall into place.

He has raised his goal and maintained that higher standard. Not in his strength, but through Christ who strengthens him (1 Timothy 1:12).  He has applied this standard to his life as well.
You can too. Will you?

 

Frank J Casella is co-founder of Catholic Chicago Men’s Conference, and Executive Direcor of Catholic Men Chicago Southland Apostolate.

 

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