Step 7: Practice Superabundant Mercy

Step Seven – Practice Superabundant Mercy

St. John Bosco and St. Therese of Lisieux are the two patron saints of Paradisus Dei. Both point out to us practical ways to practice superabundant mercy in our homes.

St. Therese’s confessor said that she never committed a grave sin her whole life. St. Therese said she would have fallen more than the worst sinner if God had not gone out before her clearing the obstacles from her path. This gives an idea of Superabundant Mercy. It is a mercy that preceeds the souls to prevent it from sinning in the first place.

Don Bosco also understood this idea well. He created his Festive Oratories with a spirit of loving kindness, a place where it was easy to be good and difficult to be bad. Instead of using punishment to correct the children when they did wrong, he wanted to go before them in love such that they would not want to do wrong in the first place.

Apply this to your own life and consider one or more of the following ideas:
Make your home a place of celebration and joy: Intentionally bring joy into your home. Celebrate the feast days of the Saints. Let each member of your family choose a Saint as their own special celebration day.
Declare a “Day of Jubilee”: Dr. Scott Hahn talks about allowing his kids a special day where they can admit to anything they have done wrong and receive forgiveness from him without suffering any punishment. Try it!
Purchase a family book about the life of St. John Bosco and read it as a family. Plan a special celebration with your family on his feast day, January 31st.

Episode 1 of The Joyful Mysteries is NOW AVAILABLE!

We are excited to announce the release of Episode 1 for the The Joyful Mysteries! The second series for Mysteries of the Rosary. The full season, with all seven episodes with be released on October 7, The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. You can start planning now to host a small group in your home or a large group at your parish. You can even sign in to watch on your own. Group guides and promotional materials are available.

Click HERE to watch Episode 1| The Fullness of Joy

Click HERE to visit therosaryseries.com to learn more and view images of the Holy Land

Live Webinar with Steve Bollman

 The Cathedral Builders Initiative – A Look to the Future
By Invitation Only

Please enjoy a recording from the live presentation on December 8th with Steve Bollman, Mark Hartfiel and Tom Lloyd.  Hear Paradisus Dei’s bold response to the current crisis in our culture.  The talk will last approximately 30 minutes followed by a Q&A.  Thank you for the incredible support amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clickable Assets Mentioned in the Presentation are Below:

      1. What is Love? Brochure 
      2. Letter of Intent

 

Meet Our New Program Coordinators

With recent growth of Paradisus Dei to more than 700 TMIY programs worldwide, the ministry welcomes two new TMIY program coordinators – Isaac Mannella and Mary Khadivi!

Isaac Mannella joined the staff of Paradisus Dei in May as a Program Coordinator. He is a graduate of Franciscan University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management. He is native to Bedford, New Hampshire and is enjoying being in Texas. In Isaac’s short time with us he was most impacted when he attended his first TMIY session at St. Cecilia’s in Houston, TX and met a man who had been attending TMIY since the very first day 15 years ago and had only missed 4 sessions.

Mary Khadivi joined the staff of Paradisus Dei in June as a Program Coordinator. She is a graduate of Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science. Following graduation, Mary spent two years mentoring college students as a missionary with Saint Paul’s Outreach. She is thrilled to work now for Paradisus Dei because she really believes in the call to fortify and nurture the family unit.

Paradisus Dei Launches New Event Around St. Joseph

Taking place at the largest Church dedicated to St. Joseph in North America – St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada – Paradisus Dei invites men to journey Into the Heart of St. Joseph. The two primary aspects of the event, pilgrimage and retreat, both seek insight into the question, “what do you find in the heart of St. Joseph?”

The pilgrimage offers participants many opportunities, beginning with the beauty, serenity and spirituality of St. Joseph’s Oratory itself. The Oratory continues the heritage of welcome established by its founder, Saint Brother Andre. Pilgrims may take advantage of prayer, healing and peace in the spirit of compassion. Fr. Peter Towsley, the rector for this retreat, calls St. Joseph’s Oratory his favorite pilgrimage site next to the Holy Land and Rome. Participants will also visit the Notre-Dame Basilica and Mary Queen of the Word Cathedral while in Montreal.

It is fitting for the participants to reflect on “what do you find in the heart of St. Joseph?” Not only has St. Joseph been silently behind everything in TMIY, he is also considered the Guardian of the Holy Family and Patron of our Church. His silent, steady example is a beacon of light and hope for families under attack in our modern world, and especially the men called to lead those families. What an incredible experience for men to consider St. Joseph’s example for families and the Church, both of which are in need of protection.

Out of a deep desire to help connect men to the heart of St. Joseph, and stemming from his own special devotion to this great saint, Mark Hartfiel crafted an experience worth the time and attention of TMIY men. These men clearly valued the opportunity, as it booked to capacity just a short time after its announcement. The hope is that this will become an annual event, allowing many more to participate directly in the future.

St. Joseph is the model for what it means to be a man. And the Into the Heart of St. Joseph event is just one more way Paradisus Dei is helping families discover the superabundance of God.

Hawaii Men’s Conference

Several TMIY Core Team Leaders in Hawaii joined together to start an annual men’s conference.  On March 14, 2020, Steve Bollman and Mark Hartfiel team up with this incredible group of men for a one-day men’s conference hosted by the Hawaii Catholic Men’s Conference.  Learn more with this article from the Honolulu Catholic Herald.

 

The Greatest Confrontation

  • Saturday, March 14th, 2020
  • 8am – 4pm
  • Honolulu, HI
  • All men ages 18 and up are welcome!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

Past Recordings

Next Live Stream:  paradisusdei.org/live
Friday, March 1st:

Friday, February 1st:

A Call to Holiness (2018 Series):

***All Titles Below are Clickable***

Session 1 – A Call to Holiness

Session 2 – The Vision of Great Saints and Mystics

Session 3 – St. Bonaventure and a New Day in the Church

Session 4 – St. Louis de Montfort and a Marian Age

Session 5 – Don Bosco and the Book of Revelation

Session 6 – Pope St. John Paul II and an Epic Battle

 

Amici di Giuseppe:

Amici di Giuseppe, “Friends of St. Joseph,” is a fellowship of men committed to growing in holiness in their lives as husbands and fathers according to the life of St. Joseph in the Holy Family at Nazareth.  Click here to discover more.

TMIY’s Impact on One Man’s Journey of Faith

“As soon as the program began, I was hooked.”

I had heard of other programs for Christian men and wanted to be involved in something where men could strengthen their faith together. As soon as the program began, I was hooked. Although I’m a cradle Catholic, I came to realize very soon that I knew very little about my faith.

My reaction over time was a sense of hunger to learn more, and to become more, using Tradition and Church teaching as a guide. It was clear that there was something to the saying that Steve Bollman often repeats – “Wherever you are in your spiritual life, Jesus Christ wants to meet you right there and take you further.” This is what I wanted after beginning TMIY… for Jesus to meet me where I was at, and make me in to a man for which he could be proud.

“TMIY helped me look at my role as a husband and a father.”

As a result of TMIY, I began to make some major changes in my life. TMIY helped me look at my role as a husband and a father. For instance, I had struggled with our teenage son, and the difficulties his poor choices were making for our family. My approach to addressing his difficulties was coming from a place of authority. I would raise my voice, talk down to him, and basically make him feel bad about his decisions. After discussing this problem at our small group I started to take a different approach, becoming more encouraging, and loving. Today, our relationship is very strong, and now I’m very proud of the man he’s become.

TMIY helped me to see the beauty and richness of our Catholic faith. I started to realize that maybe God had a plan for me that went beyond where I was at that time. Five years ago, I was struggling in my career and didn’t know where to turn, so I visited our parish priest. After a short time, he said something that caught me off guard, “Brian, have you ever thought about being a Deacon?” I was stunned, because, yes, I had. It was TMIY that really cemented that dream in my head. I truly believe that That Man Is You was a key driver towards my entering formation for the Permanent Diaconate. It created in me a desire to be more… to be a better husband, father, and servant to the Church. God willing, I will be ordained a Deacon serving the Archdiocese of Dubuque next July. It is so amazing and exciting to see how God has worked through TMIY in my life!

“It [TMIY] created in me a desire to be more…be a better husband, father, and servant to the Church.”

I’ve given a lot of thought to the impact of TMIY on my Diaconate journey, and have come to the conclusion that it has been a huge contributing factor. To investigate it further, I polled some of the other men in formation. The class that is two years behind ours has 4 men who were, or are, active participants in TMIY at other parishes. 4 out of 14 is not a coincidence!!! Jesus truly does want to meet us where we are and take us further. Praise be to God!

 

– Brian and Jennifer Zeman are parishioners of St. Anthony Parish in Dubuque, IA, where Brian is a former TMIY Core Team Member. Both are currently on the Core Team for The Choice Wine.

The Issue of Male Leadership

This is the recording of a live webinar on Monday, October 22 that included the opportunity for live questions and answers. Steve discussed:

  • The formation of a movement to help men take the next step in their spiritual lives, and
  • Announce a new online series taking a mystical view of the times and crisis through which we are currently passing.

Many Have Expressed Interest:

During moments of crisis in the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit has always raised up men and women dedicated to holiness and that holiness was the true engine of change within the Catholic Church. We discussed our belief that the Holy Spirit is calling us to form a movement that will help lay men and women live the life of the Holy Family right in the midst of contemporary culture and become the seeds of the new springtime for the Church. If you are interested in finding out more about this potential movement, please click here and provide us with your contact information. Someone will be in contact with you in the near future.

We also discussed a new series where we would take a spiritual view of the current moment in the life of the Church – including the current crisis – based upon the vision of the great saints within the Church. This vision will help us to better understand the current crisis for ourselves and explain it to others.

Once again, thank you for taking part in our live webinar. We look forward to hearing from you. Together we can do something beautiful for God.

Past Webinar Recordings:

Next Live Webinar:

November 2017 Newsletter

 

“That’s a Wrap!” – TMIY Filming in New Studios

 

Earlier this year, Paradisus Dei moved into new office space in Houston, TX.  Among its many features – a chapel, a large multimedia conference room, expanded professional workspace, dedicated offices and storage – is a brand new, built-in studio. Large enough to house the TMIY set with room to spare, this studio was put to great use last week during the filming of two semesters of TMIY.

 

The studio includes a production room, a viewing room, and workspace for the production team.  All the spaces were humming with activity as Steve Bollman and crew filmed 26 sessions of TMIY in just one week. Not only did everything go extremely well, the onsite studio facilities resulted in improved production quality.

 

The filming introduced new content – including an entirely new Year 2 spring semester – updated existing content and “refreshed” the look and feel of That Man is You!   Set updates, interactive displays, lighting features and redesigned graphics are just some of the features the men currently in TMIY Years 1 (Becoming a Man After God’s Own Heart) and 2 (The Unveiling of Love) will experience this firsthand in the Spring Semester 2018!

 

The studio is just one example of Paradisus Dei’s commitment to bringing life-transforming programming to families at a fraction of the cost and time of “normal” production.  This studio, and the programming it produces, demonstrate the stewardship of funds entrusted to Paradisus Dei through the program appeals.  We thank you for your prayerful generosity and look forward to providing future updates on the continued studio build-out and usage.

 

***

Discover Radiant and Valiant: engaging, faith-based periodicals for young adults

 

At tradeshows, events and on the phone, we frequently hear about the deep love and concern folks have for our young people, as well as the fervent hope that they will walk the path of faith.  Our Sunday Visitor recently released two new periodicals that will help them do just that – Radiant for young women and Valiant for young men.

 

These periodicals cover a range of current, life-impacting topics with a faith perspective, in a fresh and easy-to-read manner.  Further, each was designed throughout with their target audience in mind.  Beautiful covers, engaging articles and practical spiritual offerings come from compelling authors, each offering the reader unique reflections for their own lives. Radiant and Valiant are offered via subscription from Our Sunday Visitor, either quarterly or annually.  Gift subscriptions are also available.  These delightful periodicals are sure to be a hit with the young adults in your life.

 

***

Registration Now Open for
The Choice Wine: 7 Steps to a Superabundant Marriage

 

Most married couples remember the time before their wedding as full of preparations.  Then the wedding and honeymoon come and go like a flash, and before you know it, the couple is re-immersed in everyday life.  So, too, are all the people who helped plan the wedding!  Many couples are left to answer the question, “so…what next?”

 

Whether or not this sounds familiar, and whether or not it took just days or years as a couple to ask that question, The Choice Wine is a great answer to the question, “so…what next?” Introducing the 7 Steps to a Superabundant Marriage, The Choice Wine teaches couples the steps to having the kind of marriage that God intended for them, from the beginning of time!  Consisting of nine sessions, The Choice Wine offers the flexibility to be done at the Church, in a small group meeting in the home of a host couple, as an individual couple or as a weekend retreat. And couples love it!

 

“You have to do it.  You absolutely have to do it, for your marriage, for your family.  It’s a must…”
-Participating couple, Baton Rouge, LA. Click here for video.

 

Paradisus Dei is accepting registrations for new groups for the Spring of 2018.  Getting started is easy.  Click Here, choose the format, and fill out the information on screen. We will be in touch to help you get started.

 

 

 

1 2 3 4