October 13, 2008

Guest: Mark Houk, President and Co-Founder of The King's Men
Featured Saint of the Day: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Today Deacon Rick and Jenny spoke with President and Co-Founder of The King's Men, an organization built to reach out to men and give them the tools to embrace authentic masculinity. The King's Men was started on August 28, 2006, on the Feast of St. Augustin. The organization strives to foster manly virtues and challenge men to be leaders, protectors and providers. Fundamentals that stem from the biblical priest, prophet, king.

The King's Men strives to call men on to take their faith into action. The King's Men combats the issue of pornography as well as encouraging men to fight against abortion and homosexuality. One of the most important aspects of The King's Men is that of healing. Mark told us that five out of ten men in the Church struggle with pornography. He realizes, though, that this addiction often stems from trauma experienced in the past. Mark told us that The King's Men strives to heal the wounds these men carry first before they progress toward forming a cure.

Part of the success of The King's Men is that not only are they reaching out to hundreds of men, but these men are taking initiative in their families. Reaching out to and mentoring their sons and protecting their daughters. Mark sees in the men he works with a thirst for these fundamental truths and he sees men coming alive.

To start a group in your area, Mark says that there need to be two or three men who will take ownership of the program. Finding the right resources and letting the spirit lead them to discover how often to meet. Mark encourages groups to meet more than once a month. These meetings should focus mostly on formation although it is important to foster fellowship as well.

Mark spoke about the two events he spoke for this weekend. One of them was the Pure Fashion Father-Daughter luncheon. He spoke of the importance for women to understand authentic femininity. To challenge men to be men, women must also understand what it is to be woman.

Mark also spoke at Christ the King, he gave a talk titled "Unleashing the Warrior Within." The focus of the talk was to help men understand their identity in Christ. Part of the talk was to encourage men to lead through their weaknesses. To overcome weakness it is first necessary to acknowledge it. He also spoke of the four archetypes of men: Men as warrior, lover, king and wise counselor. Each of these areas has their positive and negative sides. It is necessary to focus on the noble virtues of these archetypes in order to truly understand what it is to posses them. Mark spoke of how men must always be warriors, to fight to be a man: to give of themselves fully so as to understand what it is to sacrifice, what it is to love, and what true wisdom is.

Resources that were mentioned during the show:
-The Catechism of the Catholic Church
-"Boys to Men" by Curtis Martin
-"Sign Post" a 52 week scripture study
-"Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge

-Podcasts found on The King's Men's website: www.thekingsmen.org
-Articles written by apologists and speakers as well as pastoral letters found at The King's Men's website: www.thekingsmen.org