Kepha will be marching in the Dallas March For Life on Saturday, January 21st. We will meet at 7:00 am in front of the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in downtown Dallas and follow the events as they are described on this schedule.
After the rally is over, we will gather at a local restaurant.
Families are welcome to join us. Please bring your friends and families with you!
The retreat schedule for the 2011-2012 St. Peter chapter has now been added to the website. This will be Kepha's 14th year of operation.
Among other things, this year we will host a sports retreat at St. Marks Church in Plano, Texas, a Mother Teresa Charity Day, a pro-life day of public witness and a men's silent retreat and much more.
Next June we will host our first "Proud of the Priesthood" banquet to raise funds for our work.
If you are a dad with sons, or a single man, then you are invited to attend one of our retreats and check out who we are.
Click here to see the schedule.
Click here for the full schedule, packing list and some general information about the retreat..
The Alamo will host the Brotherhood of the Iron Will September 9-11, 2011.
On this weekend retreat for fathers and sons, we will explore the campaign and siege of the Alamo, visit the Missions and engage inDynamic Orthodoxy and Infectious Joy!
Headquarters for the retreat is Holy Spirit Catholic Church in San Antonio. Retreat starts Friday night with dinner and will end Sunday around 12 noon.
What: Kepha's Fight the Good Fight San Antonio Missions Retreat
Where: Holy Spirit Catholic Church, San Antonio, Texas
When: Friday, September 9th - Sunday, September 11th, 2011
Who: For Catholic Fathers and sons, ages 6+
Activities for the weekend:
Kepha-style dodgeball
Reports on famous Alamo figures
2am Yawns for Christ
Review of the campaign to take the Alamo
The Spiritual Battlefield
From Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of the What Does the Prayer Really Say? blog:
Think of the great cares the Holy Father bears in his heavy mandate
as Vicar of Christ. He has need of our prayers to help him be strong
and to guard him from his enemies.
I propose to all readers here a Spiritual Bouquet for Pope Benedict with a ending date of 19 March, the Feast of St. Joseph, which is the Holy Father’s baptismal “name day”. Since we are beginning on 19 February we have about a month.
Will you participate?
You are able to check more than one of the options below. I have it set so that you can participate once per 24 hour period (24 hours from the last time you voted).
Many of these works also gain an indulgence under the usual conditions.
Click to submit your spiritual bouquet
From time to time we will post comments from Kepha wives in order to show the effect the apostolate is having on families. Today's comments come from Diane Fuller of Oklahoma whose husband and two boys have started attending Kepha retreats:
I just wanted to share this with you: on Thursday night, Joshua became very teary and didn't want to go because he would miss me. Carey has been battling a health issue that flared up, Elijah's asthma flared up last week, the rain was POURING when it came time for them to leave and I was overwhelmed with a huge dark fear that something was going to happen to them. I was so tempted to tell them not to go. I asked God that if these things were from Him and it was best for them not to go, that He cause our van to die so they couldn't go, but that if it were the Enemy trying to keep this from happening that God help us to persevere in the effort.
Well, the van didn't die. It took much longer to get there than Carey had thought and he couldn't find the church at first. He was so frustrated and was about at the point of blowing it off and getting a hotel room, coming home in the morning. I have to tell you, that old devil was extremely threatened by the prospect of the boys going to this retreat. He threw up all kinds of blocks. I am SO very grateful they persevered. All three of them had a tremendous experience. They all want to join Kepha. It's EXACTLY what I have been praying for - a way to provide my boys an example of men living their fatih.
Your organization is a BLESSING. Thanks so much for your hard work. Diane.
Click here to see pictures of the retreat Diane is referring to.
Online registration now available for upcoming Kepha St. Peter Chapter retreat on the The Eucharist: The Real Thing! Saturday, March 12th - Sunday March, 13th at the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Grand Prairie, Texas.
APOLOGETICS - Learn to defend the Truth of the REAL Presence of Jesus Christ through a series of Eucharistic talks.
BROTHERHOOD - Sports Games and Skits especially KEPHA’s Unique Style of politically incorrect Dodgeball.
CHARITY - Visit and bring KEPHA’s Charism of its Big 3 Saints to the Elderly Residents of a Nursing Home.
MORTIFICATION - Learn how Men sacrifice to be close to the Eucharistic Jesus with the examples of the Saints, especially St. Tarcisius, the boy martyr of the Eucharist.
PRAYER - with your KEPHA Brothers at 2:00 am Yawns for Christ and Celebrating Mass.
Come experience Dynamic Orthodoxy and Infectious Joy with a brotherhood of fathers and sons that push each other Towards the Top!
Register online now at www.kepharocks.org/northtexas.
Event flier
The Eucharistic: The Real Thing retreat for the St. Peter Chapter of Kepha will start Saturday, March 12th in the morning and continue until Sunday, March 13th around 11:00 am at the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in Grand Prairie.
Need a boost in your current practice of Eucharistic Adoration? On this retreat we will dive into the scriptural and early Church teachings on the Eucharist and encourage each other to engage more deeply in the spiritual life.
We invite all fathers and sons, ages 6+, or single men to come out and experience Dynamic Orthodoxy and Infectious Joy! Other activities include dodge ball, 2 am Yawns for Christ hour of adoration, spiritual talks, prayer, nursing home visit and more.
Watch our web site at www.kepharocks.org for online registration and more information coming soon!
Check out the pictures from our last retreat, the Mother Teresa Service Day. We helped to rake the lawn and clean up around the Maternity Home run by the Missionaries of Charity and visited two Pregnancy Resource Centers.
The boys raised $1,000.00 for pro-life charities and gave each center $500.00!
Click here to see the pictures on our website or on Facebook.
The
next retreat for the St. Peter chapter will take place on Saturday,
December 11th. This retreat will be a one-day service day working with
the Missionaries of Charity in Dallas.
The day will begin at
8:00 am and end around 5:00 pm with breaks for prayers, talks, games
and lunch. We will be assisting the Sisters with work around their
convent and the Guadalupe Maternity Home.
This is a great opportunity for fathers and sons to spend the day doing something good together.
Register for this event at www.kepharocks.org/dallas
It's not too late to join the almost 40 fathers and sons who will be with us this weekend at Holy Name Catholic Church in Chickasha, Oklahoma for Kepha's "Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Saint?" retreat.
Join us for War Games, a special Ceremony of the Cross for 1-year Kepha members, dodgeball, prayer and dynamic orthodoxy and infectious joy! Retreat begins Friday evening at 7:00 pm and goes to Sunday at 12:00 noon.
More information here.
Register online here.
The first Kepha retreat in Oklahoma will take place November 12-14, 2010 at Holy Name Catholic Church in Chickasha, OK. Mark your calendars now. Retreat will begin Friday night at 7:00 pm and end on Sunday around 12:00 noon.
"The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness" - Pope Benedict XVI
With this opening retreat for Kepha in Oklahoma, we will take up the
challenge to carry the Cross of Christ in pursuit of an Iron Will. We
will propose Kepha as a means by which men and boys can eliminate vice,
build virtue and achieve sanctification ultimately so that we will all
go to Heaven.
This retreat is open to father and sons (ages 6 and up) who want to experience Dynamic Orthodoxy and Infectious Joy
in their lives. Activities include games (dodgeball), prayer, nursing
home visit, spiritual talks, Saints reports, 2am Yawns for Christ, War
Games, great food (well, maybe not) and awesome brotherhood.
This retreat will be under the spiritual direction of Fr. M. Price Oswalt of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Rector of the National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague in Prague, Oklahoma.
Register online at www.kepharocks.org/oklahoma
On Saturday, November 27th at St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a “Vigil for All Nascent Human Life” coinciding with first vespers of the First Sunday of Advent. The Holy Father has also requested that “all Diocesan Bishops (and their equivalent) of every particular church preside in analogous celebrations involving the faithful in their respective parishes, religious communities, associations and movements.”
An outline for the Vigil was provided from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Pontifical Council for the Family. Given the importance of the Holy Father’s request, the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship and the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities have collaborated in developing Vigil prayer aids for dioceses and parishes.
Click to read the rest..
Join
the Brotherhood of the Iron Will from Saturday, October 16 - Sunday,
October 17 for the St. Peter Chaper retreat on the Rosary.
Join us for Dynamic Orthodoxy, Infectious Joy as we play hard and pray hard at Lake Lavon Baptist Camp in Princeton, Texas.
Events
on this retreat include spiritual talks on the rosay, dodgeball,
ping-pong, canoe wars, 2am Yawns for Christ, movie night and
discussion, skits and much more.
**Over the weekend we will
pray all 20 decades of the Rosary according to the method introduced by
Pope John Paul the Great in his apostolic letter, "The Rosary of the
Blessed Virgin Mary."
Early registration price is $35.00 per person. Price will go up on Monday, October 11th so register now!
Register and pay online at www.kepharocks.org/dallas.
Ninth Day
Holiness is Jesus Living and Acting
in Me
Our works of charity are nothing but the overflow of God from within us. Therefore, the one who is most united to Him loves her neighbor the most.
Our activity is truly apostolic only in so far as we permit Him to work in us and through us with His power, with His desire, with His love. We must become holy not because we want to feel holy, but because Christ must be able to live His life fully in us. Let us spend ourselves with Him and for Him. Let Him see with your eyes, speak with your tongues, work with your hands, walk with your feet, think with your head and love with your heart. Is this not perfect union, a continual loving prayer?
God is our loving Father Let your light of love so shine before man that seeing your good works (the washing, sweeping, cooking, and loving your husband and the children) they may glorify the Father. Be holy. Holiness is the easiest was to satiate Jesus thirst, His for you and yours for Him.
Thought for the day: Charity for each other is the surest way to great holiness
Ask
for the grace to become a saint
Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of his love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus the grace to become a saint through our commitments to Kepha, our daily prayers, monthly retreats, our anchors, verse reviews and by obeying our parents. Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate his light and love to others. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
Please add to your prayers:
For the healing of Melissa Savoie and Bonnie Nelson all those who suffer from tumors and cancer or recovering from surgery.
Eighth Day
Jesus Made Himself the Bread of Life
and the Hungry One
He proved His love to us by giving His own life, His own being. He being rich became poor for you. He gave himself totally. He died on the Cross. But before He died He made Himself the Bread of Life to satisfy our hunger for love, for Him. He said "Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you cannot have life eternal." And the greatness of that love of His made Him the Hungry One, and he said, "I was hungry and you fed me, and unless you feed me you cannot have eternal life."
That is the giving of Christ.
And today God keeps on loving the world. He keeps on sending you and me to prove that he loves the world, that he still has that compassion for the world. It is we who have to be his love, His compassion in the world today. But to be able to love we must have faith, for faith in action is love, and love in action is service. That is why Jesus made himself the Bread of Life that we may be able to eat and love and be able to see Him in the distressing disguise of the poor.
Our life must be woven with the Eucharist. From Jesus in the Eucharist we learn how much God thirsts to love us and how He thirsts for our love and for the love of souls in return. From Jesus in the Eucharist we receive the light and strength to quench His thirst.
Thought for the day: Believe that he, Jesus, is in the appearance of Bread and that he, Jesus, is in the hungry, naked, sick, lonely, unloved, homeless, helpless and hopeless.
Ask for the grace to see Jesus in the Bread of Life and to serve Him in the distressing disguise of the poor.
Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of his love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus the grace to quench the thirst of God through our service to the distressing disguise of the poor. Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate his light and love to others. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
Please add to your prayers:
For the healing of Melissa Savoie and Bonnie Nelson all those who suffer from tumors and cancer or recovering from surgery.
Seventh Day
God Loves a Cheerful Giver
To bring joy into our very soul the good God has given Himself to us. Joy is not simply a matter of temperament. In the service of God and souls, it is always hard - all the more reason why we should try to acquire it and make it grow in our hearts. Joy is prayer. Joy is strength. Joy is love. Joy is a net of love by which you can catch many souls. God loves a cheerful giver. He gives most who gives with joy. If in the work you have difficulties and you accept them with joy, with a big smile, in this like in any other things others will see your good work and glorify the Father.
The best way to show your gratitude to God and people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love.
Without joy there is no love and love without joy is not true love. And so we need to bring that love and that joy into the world of today.
Joy was the strength of Our Lady, too. Our Lady was the first Missionary of Charity. She was the first one to receive Jesus physically and to carry Jesus to others; and she went in haste. Only joy could give her this strength and swiftness to go and do the work of a handmaid.
Thought for the day: Joy is the sign of union with God, of God's presence. Joy is love, the normal result of a heart burning with love.
Ask for the grace to find joy in loving and to share this joy with everyone you meet.
Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of his love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus the grace to joyfully carry out my duties and to reflect the love of God in my joyful acceptance of everything He sends to me. Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate his light and love to others. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
Please add to your prayers:
For the healing of Melissa Savoie and Bonnie Nelson all those who suffer from tumors and cancer or recovering from surgery.
Sixth Day
True Love is Surrender
"I thirst" has no meaning unless through total surrender I give all to Jesus.
How easy it is to conquer God! We give ourselves to God, then God is ours; and there is nothing more ours than God. For if we surrender to Him, we shall possess Him as He possesses Himself; that is, we shall live His own life. The money with which God repays our surrender is Himself. We become worthy of possessing Him when we abandon ourselves to Him in a supernatural way.
Total surrender is love. The more we love the more we surrender.
Often you see the small and big wires, new and old, cheap and expensive, lined up. Unless and until the current passes through them there will be no light. The wire is you and me. The current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, and produce the Light of the World - Jesus; or refuse to be used and allow darkness to spread. Our Lady was the most wonderful wire.
She allowed God to fill her to the brim, so by her surrender - 'Be it done to me according to thy word' - she became full of grace; and naturally the moment she was filled by this current, the grace of God, she went in haste to Elizabeth's house to connect the wire, John, to the current, Jesus.
Thought for the day: Allow God to use you without consulting you
Ask for the grace to surrender your whole life to God
Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of his love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus the grace to heal Melissa Savoie and all those who suffer from tumors and cancer. Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate his light and love to others. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
Fifth Day
Trust Jesus Blindly
Trust in the good God who loves us, who cares for us, who sees all, knows all, can do all things for my good and the good of souls.
Love Him trustfully without looking back, without fear. Give yourself fully to Jesus. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your weakness. Believe in Him with blind and absolute confidence because he is Jesus.
Jesus never changes. Trust him lovingly, trust Him with a big smile, always believing He is the way to the Father, He is in the light in the world of darkness.
In all sincerity we must be able to look up and say "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." Because of this assertion of St. Paul, you must have a certain confidence in doing your work - or rather God's work - well, efficiently, even perfectly, with Jesus and for Jesus. Be also convinced that you by yourself can do nothing, have nothing but sin, weakness and misery; that all gifts of nature and of grace which you have, you have them from God.
Mary, too, showed that complete trust in God by accepting to be used for his plan of salvation in spite of her nothingness; for she knew that He who is mighty can do great things in her and through her. She trusted once she said "yes" to Him. She never doubted.
Thought for the day: Confidence in God can do all things. It is our emptiness and lowliness that God needs and not our plenitude.
Ask for the grace to have an unshakable trust in God's power and love for you and for all.
Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of his love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus the grace trust in Jesus blindly through our efforts in Kepha in bringing dynamic orthodoxy and infectious joy to as many fathers and sons as possible. Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate his light and love to others. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
Fourth Day
Our Lady Will Help You
How
much we need Mary to teach us what it means to satiate God's thirsting
love for us, which Jesus came to reveal to us. She did it so
beautifully. Yes, Mary allowed God to take possession of her life by
her purity, her humility and her faithful love. Let us seek to grow,
under the guidance of our Heavenly Mother, in these three important
interior attitudes of the soul that delight the heart of God and enable
Him to unite Himself to us, in and through Jesus, and in the power of
the Holy Spirit. It is in doing so that, like Mary our Mother, we will
allow God to take full possession of our whole being and through us God
will be able to reach out His thirsting love to all we come in contact
with, especially the poor. If we stand with Our Lady, she will give us
her spirit of loving trust, total surrender and cheerfulness.
Thought for the day:
How close we must keep to Our Lady who understood what depth of Divine
Love was being revealed as she stood at the foot of the Cross and heard
Jesus cry out, "I Thirst!"
Ask for the grace to learn from Our Lady to quench Jesus' thirst as she did
Prayer to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of his love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus the grace to practice true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary so as to satiate the thirst of Jesus in our land. Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate his light and love to others. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
© 2011 The Brotherhood of the Iron Will. All Rights Reserved.
