catholic

Here Is A Manly Challenge To Grow Your Faith

By Tyler ⋅ February 7, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Yesterday marked the beginning of Lent, the Christian season before Easter. Today I received an email from a local men’s group called Cast Your Nets that contains a letter from Danny Abramowicz. In this letter he is urging men to take up what he calls the 775 Challenge.

The 775 Challenge is a 7 week program designed to not give up something for Lent, but to take on something instead. Here is an excerpt from Danny’s opening letter:

Lent last for seven weeks and this plan is called the “775 Challenge Plan,” which stands for 7 challenges to take effect over a 7 week period of time and the 5 ways to obtain the graces needed in order to give us the inward strength to complete these challenges. By accepting this 775 Plan we are giving the Holy Spirit permission to remold our lives.

The 7 challenges are as follows:

1. Challenge:

God is challenging us to come to realize that it is time to stand up and be counted, and make our spiritual life a higher priority in our personal lives. (Mt. 6:33)

2. Humility:

Humble ourselves before our awesome Creator, as the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph did, so that He can begin to change our hearts to become holy men of God. (Sir.3:18)

3. Service:

Open our minds and hearts to His word and the teachings of His Holy Catholic Church, so that we can better serve God and our fellow man in our everyday lives. (Mk. 9:35)

4. Boldness:

Once we have been touched by the Holy Spirit inwardly,, we then go forth to boldly proclaim Jesus Christ to our fellow man that He is the Way, Truth and Life. (Mk. 16:15; Jn. 14:6)

5. Commitment:

Commit to the Lord that you will attend or start a men’s sharing prayer group for at least seven weeks/sessions and that you will attend at least one men’s conference. (Ps. 37:5)

6. Fellowship:

We will ask the Holy Spirit, while attending these small sharing groups to give us the courage to be open to share with our fellow men what is truly in our hearts. (1Jn. 1:7)

7. Perseverance:

Persevere in prayer to ask Jesus to give you the strength and the courage to follow through with these challenges. (Eph. 3:14-21)

Danny adds 5 ways to find strength to accomplish the challenges listed above. To find out what those are and to read the full text, you can download the 775-challenge-plan-lenten-letter here. Print out a copy and pass it along to other men in your life.

The challenge that Danny lays out in his letter doesn’t seem easy. But it seems right in line with how to be a better father and husband. We could all use some help when it comes to being a strong and faithful man. And it is impractical to suggest that we can do it alone.

Good luck over the next 7 weeks! If you take up this challenge, I’d love to hear from you!

Tags: better father, better husband, catholic, challenge, faith, family, father, how to, husband, lent, man, manly