“The material was stellar and truly impacted the men in very profound ways.”

I can tell you the response has been nothing but positive. We initially launched TMIY in fall of 2013, which by the grace of the Holy Spirit resulted in over 200 men attending our first meeting that first Tuesday morning at 6AM. The material was stellar and truly impacted many of the men in very profound ways. Over 3 years, the participating men not only grew in their knowledge and understanding of the Faith, but forged incredible bonds with like-minded men through the fellowship shared in small groups. Tuesday mornings become something familiar, and when the program culminated, many of the men possessed a great hunger for more.

“We desired new ways to attract and draw men closer to God…”

Out of this desire, several of the men created the Society of St. Joseph, a fellowship of men dedicated to formation in the faith, family leadership, and works of mercy with St. Joseph as our model in all these things. We desired new ways to attract and draw men closer to God through other avenues. Furthermore, there was a desire to help provide a coordinated platform to help men put their faith in to action. Drawing on many of the successful aspects of the TMIY program, we were able to provide the men with a familiar structure, while introducing them to new materials and curricula. By the grace of God, however, we were able to keep the men engaged and further challenge them to “be not only hearers, but doers of the Word.” Over the past 2 years the men of various small groups have served in over 30 works of mercy including our collaborative fund-raiser last year that generated over $25,000 for the Veterans treatment court here in Tampa.

“It was a ‘no-brainer.’”

As our committee sat down to discuss the programming for this fall, our formation chair received the information of your latest program, ” A Vision of Man Fully Alive.” It was a “no-brainer”. The material was just what we were looking for at just the right time…a ‘God-incidence’. As we read about this new program and the formation of Amici di Giuseppe, we felt a confirmation that our mission, and decision to run with this program was in alignment with the will of the Father and His foster father.

“…we have been able to engage over 500 men in our own and surrounding parishes.”

Through TMIY and subsequently SSJ for the past 2 years, we have been able to engage over 500 men in our own and surrounding parishes. Thankfully, this year’s program allowed us to provide once again a familiar structure and material that meets men truly wherever they are in their spiritual journey. The first 3 weeks have been phenomenal! Around 120 men attended our first session, with many new faces and something of a homecoming for many of the faces we hadn’t seen for a while. Thank you for providing the catalyst that continues to re-kindle the desire of the men in our program to grow closer to their Father and to be real Christian men in the world.

AMDG,

Marc