Men Sharing Their Faith and Fraternity.

Most churches are quiet on Saturday morning, but this morning, tucked in a classroom, St. Anselm is alive with 20 or so men conversing about their faith, lives, and much more. This is the beauty of the Men’s Faith Sharing Group: you never know where the discussion topics will lead.

The Men’s Faith Sharing Group started in 2017 when its founders, Mike Vastano, and Joe Garpoli, noticed that some regulars were no longer attending Mass. They discovered they had left because the parish they joined had a men’s faith-sharing group. As Mike says, “A bell went off in my head. I’m going to start a men’s faith-sharing group. We met once a month, and we got it off the ground, and it worked. It really worked!”

About a year ago, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly issued an Edict to all the Knights of Columbus councils to start Cor gatherings. Cor consists of three key elements which must be present for every gathering: prayer, formation, and fraternity. The word ‘Cor’ is Latin for heart and the root of the word courage. Prayer, Formation, and Fraternity all begin with the heart and direct the heart in relationship to God and each other. These three elements build and strengthen each other and help provide consistency.

Mike, the Evangelization and Faith Formation Director of Council 816 was responsible for the Edict. “Tony Goralski (the Grand Knight at the time) and I looked at each other and saw the requirements of fraternity, prayer, and faith formation. We’re doing this in the Men’s Faith Sharing Group already. So, bingo, the bell went off again! We asked the guys at the meeting, ‘Can we incorporate the Knights of Columbus Cor?’ We showed them it’s the same exact thing, and they said, of course! Many of the guys at the Men’s Faith Sharing Group joined the Knights of Columbus because of this, which is beautiful, but you don’t have to be a Knight to come to the Men’s Faith Sharing Group. It’s still open to all men.”

Currently, the Men’s Faith Sharing/COR Group meets on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month at 9:30 a.m. (during the summer months, they only meet once a month). The meeting starts in the Chapel with a reading and some prayer, then moves to a classroom for bagels, coffee, and discussion.

Most weeks, the discussion topics are based on a book. Some titles they have read are “Life is Messy,” “Holy Moments” by Matthew Kelly, and “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Henri J.M. Nouwen. The current book they are discussing is “Living Joy” by Chris Stefanick.

“We base our discussion primarily on the books. You read the chapter, and whatever inspires you, you speak up. We speak about our relationships or something from the book you read that inspired a question or observation.”

Mike continues, “So, there’s a lot of interaction. I would say at least two-thirds of the men participate, and I encourage non-participation. If they don’t want to talk, that’s fine. Just come. Men come up to me after the meeting and say, ‘It was a great meeting, and even though I didn’t contribute, I learned a lot.’”

Not only does the group meet, but they also do charity work.

During the past few Christmas seasons, they donated books Matthew Kelly wrote to hand out to the parishioners after Mass on Christmas. They’ve also donated a computer to the Center in Asbury and a quarterly stipend to St. Anselm for classroom use.

Each meeting ends promptly at 11 am with special intentions for family, friends, or even the members suffering from illness or injury and then a closing prayer. There’s a good chance you will see small groups of members chatting in the classroom or the hallway after the meeting.

“I think that men have a harder time expressing themselves, and this is the format for it. Most of us are like-minded Catholics. We have different political opinions, but we try to educate, nurture, and share with each other, so it works out pretty well. It’s all part of the fraternity of the men in the group.”

If you have any questions or would like to participate one Saturday in the Men’s Faith Sharing/COR Group to see what it is all about, you can contact Mike at [email protected] or Joe G at [email protected] and they will give you more information.