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Men of Signum Crucis, I hope your summer is going swimmingly!
As you might know, I was in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, celebrating the Real Presence of the Eucharist with 60,000 very enthusiastic Catholics. It was by far the most amazing event I have attended in a very, very long time. In fact, it caused me to wonder what event in the past has ever exceeded (for me, at least) the excitement and pizzazz of the 2024 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress.
Unless, as we should realize now, every time we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass itself.
You see, each time we witness and participate in the priest’s transubstantiating (is that a verb?) bread and wine into the flesh and blood of our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, we realize that nothing in our lives can ever top that. Some are fooled, since the appearance of bread and wine remain the same after the substance is changed, but that’s because they are relying on their human senses alone, and not on the instruction of Jesus himself, at the Last Supper, when he instituted both the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Holy Orders: “Do this is in memory of me.” This instruction causes us to suspend our reliance on human, physical senses alone and instead take on the nature of the one after whose image and likeness we were made (that would be God) and take part in the metaphysical. When we do, we clearly understand that we are kneeling before Jesus himself after the priest says those words of Consecration.
Regardless, the Indianapolis experience was nothing short of awesome: Adoration and Benediction every night in Lucas Oil Stadium; a Eucharistic Procession in the streets through downtown Indianapolis to the foot of the steps of the famous War Museum on Saturday, where we had Benediction; wonderful, multiple celebrations of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each day, either in Lucas Oil Stadium in the Conference Center, or nearby Churches; Perpetual Adoration at St. John the Evangelist Church across the street from the Convention Center (a most beautiful Church); the Sacrament of Penance offered ten hours each day by hundreds of priests; and many exceptional sessions on the Eucharist (I attended one by Andrew Swafford…)..
Needless to say, I am geared up for the next one–in 2033, the 2,000th anniversary of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, and the institution of the Eucharist. If I am vertical I will be there, and I hope you will put this Eucharistic Congress on your bucket list to attend with me.
Thank You!
Thank you to the over 20 men who participated in Eucharistic Adoration at the Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter on July 4. Your presence and prayer were an inspiration to me and many others. Thank you for being awesome Men of Signum Crucis!
Feast of the Transfiguration
Yesterday, the Church celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, which observes the event when Apostles Peter, James, and John witnessed Jesus in his glorified state. Can you imagine what that would have been like?
As I think about the transfiguration of Jesus, I also think about how we are called to accept a “transfiguration” (perhaps better said, a “transformation”) in our lives as well.
Do we place ourselves in a spiritual position or place to be transfigured or transformed by Jesus? Do we have the depth in our faith to realize that we should strive to be there?
It is difficult to turn over our lives entirely to Jesus–to trust in him alone–with all the distractions of our culture constantly beating us about the head and shoulders. But, it should be (must be) our goal–to walk in lockstep with Jesus. It is something that I work on every day, asking myself how I can be more like him. Let us all pray for one another in our journey toward sainthood.
Marian Consecration…
Men, one practical way to walk in lockstep with Jesus is to take on additional Devotions when we can. Many of us are now slightly over halfway completed with the 33 Days of Marian Consecration. The program at our August Gathering will end a little early so that those who are participating in this devotion may Consecrate themselves at that Gathering. My thanks to Dave Lankford who has led the way on this devotion, and who is now suggesting the 33-Days to Eucharistic Glory that would conclude on Christmas Day. More on that later.
What’s in a Name…
It’s been quite some time since I have explained the significance of the name of our fraternity: the Men of Signum Crucis (MoSC). The Latin words, Signum Crucis, mean, “Sign of the Cross.” We have adopted the Latin name to acknowledge the Catholic tradition and the use of Latin, and in recognition of our tradition, to establish the expectation that our fraternity will grow and survive the ages, as has the Catholic faith itself.
The reference to the Sign of the Cross is very important: as we trace the sign of the cross on our foreheads and hearts, we not only pray to the Father and Son, but we also recognize the importance of knowledge of our faith and God (forehead), and also acknowledge the importance of devotion to our faith and God (heart). We believe that our knowledge of our faith and devotion must be in sync in order to be well catechized Catholics. If we are all knowledge and lack devotion, we will not grow in our faith (and an atheist would rival us). If we are all devotion and lack knowledge, how can we respond to someone asking about our faith? We would be in no position to defend our beliefs and actions (I believe this is one of the major reasons we lose so many young Catholics when they head off to college–they don’t understand our belief in the Sacraments as our entry port to heaven and other basic truths).
I will spend more time in the future discussing this so that we can better inform other men who might be confused about our fraternity: we simply are men who hunger for more knowledge of God and seek ways to express our devotion to him. All men, regardless of their level of knowledge of our faith or devotion, are needed in our fraternity to serve all of God’s family in our area.
Our Next Gathering–August 21
At one of our earliest Planning Group meetings in 2022, members suggested that we have a presentation on the impact of the culture in our world today. I figured it was about time that topic made its way to the top of the list, so I will be presenting on this topic on August 21. Bring your questions, thoughts, and comments–I hope we will have time to entertain some discussion. I realize that such “outside forces” have impacted every family in one way or another, so I hope we can have time to share thoughts, encourage one another in our fights against bad influences on our children and relatives (and us!), and to learn ways to combat them in the future.
Another Thank You!
Thank you to Coach Chris Hentges for sharing his passion for Church History and Apologetics with the Men of Signum Crucis in July. We appreciate that he has taken much time out of his busy schedule to present to our men several times.
In Conclusion…
I hope you are thinking about that one new man whom you plan to bring with you to our August 21 Gathering.
We are called to be disciples, and as disciples we have a calling to spread the Gospel in whatever way we can. Bringing someone new to our monthly Gatherings is a great way to fulfill our missionary calling.
Thank you for your fidelity to the Men of Signum Crucis. Your dedication to this growing apostolate is inspiring. I pray that you are growing in your faith each month, and that you will always invite other men to join u
Men, don’t forget to express your gratitude to your priests as often as possible. Thank them after each Mass you attend for giving you the opportunity to receive the Real Presence of Jesus himself.
And, let us never forget: St. Joseph “chose hard.” Let’s choose to do the same.
St. Joseph, Foster Father of the Son of God, and patron saint of the Men of Signum Crucis, pray for us.
In hoc signo, vinces,
Mark Rehagen
P. S. In hoc signo, vinces: https://veterumsapientia.org/in-hoc-signo-vinces/
Future Gatherings:
August 21, 2024 (Mark Rehagen on Catholicism and the Culture)
September 18, 2024 (The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass)
October 16, 2024 (Ed Galbraith on the Four Dogmas of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
November 20, 2024 (Adoration and Confession)
December 18, 2024 (Father Dylan Schrader on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit)
Mark your Calendars now
2nd Annual Heart of a Hero Men’s Conference–April 25-26, 2025
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