Formation

To Apply to the PAUSE Program, click here.

To Donate to the PAUSE Program, click here.

TRANSCRIPT

The world calls it mentoring. The Church calls it formation. And while there are similarities, there is one big difference. Formation means being formed to the image of Christ within the heart of the Church. Mentoring means being schooled in the ways of the mentor himself.

Church Militant and our sister organization St. Michael's Media is just wrapping up the first year of our PAUSE program, initiated to properly form young men age 18–25 in the authentic faith. One of the major contributors to the current crisis in the Church today is a lack of authentic masculinity. The absolute role model of authentic masculinity, the True Man, of course is Our Blessed Lord. If He did it, said it, preached it, commanded it, then whatever that is is the perfect model of manhood and masculinity.

This is why young men must be formed and not just mentored. Forming a man in the image of Our Lord versus mentoring him in the image of a fallen man translates into a world of difference. So, fully understanding that the crisis of the Church is deeply intertwined with the crisis of manhood, we are committed to helping to change things for the better.

This year we are wrapping up our PAUSE formation program with four young men: Joe from upstate New York; Rob from Indianapolis; Marcus from Cleveland; and Ricky also from upstate New York.

This coming year, starting in August, we will be hosting and helping to form not just four men like this year, but six men — and the good news from a financial standpoint: We will do all this for the same amount of money as this past year, but more on that later. We will increase from four to six young men because the Church needs good solid men who want to be molded into Christ, as St. Paul instructs.

So we are now officially accepting applications for next round of PAUSE men, not just four, but six. If you are a young man 18–25 who understands that the Church is in a crisis and want to help by discerning your role, then please click on the link and apply by following the directions.

We have to be honest here: The program is no walk in the park. Formation and education can be tough areas. It's challenging, no doubt about it. Every one of this past year's men will tell you that. It's time-consuming. There's a lot of reading, a lot of work. But in the furnace, gold is made pure.

You'll be around roughly 25–30 other people who are fiercely dedicated to Holy Mother Church and Her defense. They will take great interest in your spiritual care and place professional demands on you at the same time. We have three major areas where we will be posting the new men: News, Production and Administration.

In addition to the professional working and training, the heart of the program is the religious instruction which happens in the evenings. There is a lot of reading — from Sheen, to Ott, to St. Thomas and others. There are twice-weekly discussions on the reading assignments and a night dedicated to the devotional/prayer life.

The PAUSE program is unique in that it is a kind of throwback to the way the Faith was presented for years — and that is to the intellect and not some modern, emotion-based feelings workshop.

Study. Prayer. Work. And, of course, camaraderie. Some good kidding around and fraternity and occasionally stupid guy stuff. It's a tremendous atmosphere for those who truly embrace it and want to learn about the Faith much more deeply while contributing to the work of building up the Church and discerning how they want their futures to be directed toward this end. 

In the meantime, we are also asking for financial help and assistance like we did last year, but as we said earlier, even though we're adding two additional men, we have found ways to cut costs and save money. So like last year, we are looking to raise $70,000 to house, furnish, partially feed and educate six young men for the entire year, starting in August and going to next July. It's less than a thousand dollars a month for each guy, which we think is a pretty good deal. For those who would like to see more, it's all available by clicking on the link.

So if we may ask you to consider helping out again, or for the first time, we would greatly appreciate it. Just click on the link to make a tax-deductible donation or to apply to be a PAUSE man.

The damage to the Church has been so extensive, so widespread for so long now, that the road back is going to be a long one. We must accept that fact. The enemies of Holy Mother Church didn't do all their damage from within overnight, and the "fix" is going to take a long while as well. But efforts like these must be undertaken. They must be pursued and with great vigor.

We are calling on young men to present themselves to be part of the solution to the crisis, and we are asking others of you to help fund their dedication. The other people here at the apostolate whom the eventual men will be working with are every bit as dedicated to this cause as one would expect.

This will a good year for the eventual six men selected. We urge you sitting out there thinking about this to go ahead and apply. And we humbly ask those of you who can afford to do so to please make a supporting financial contribution to keep PAUSE rolling along.

To Apply to the PAUSE Program, click here.

To Donate to the PAUSE Program, click here.