Author: Richard Beaulieu

September 2023 Man Update

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September 2023 Man Update

September 2023 Man Update

Building Connections

Sean Lynn, President of God Squad Canada

12,607 kilometers and hundreds of prayer requests later, Sean welcomes you to the September 2023 Man Update.   

“Many of you sent prayer requests in and what an honor it was to pray for you on the trip. We were blessed to have Mass every day with Father Marius. Three of the Masses were celebrated by bishops: Bishop Scott and Bishop Christian said Mass for us.”

“What an incredible trip.  We were building connections for ministry to men across Canada… We want you to join in. We need your help. We need you to be a leader in your parish, in your family, and in your community. We need you to reach the men in your vicinity and encourage them, build them up. Whether you start a small men’s group or you take part in one, just get active.”

“There’s so much happening. This Saturday, Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance has a virtual summit that we will have the links below in the newsletter.

There’s Breakfast with the Bishop that God Squad’s gonna be cooking at here in Calgary, with the first nations in attendance.

Men’s Night Out is happening for our Knights of Columbus that we have been proud sponsors or supporters to build fellowship with men.

And Dan Donaldson, the vice president of God squad Canada is going to be in town around that time too. So we’re going to see what we can do. to help him.

Please keep us in your prayers and we will keep you in ours. Let us know what’s happening.

We’ve got lots of exciting things happening in the spring.
We’re finally gonna have our disc golf tournament at St. Mary’s University.
We’re hoping to have the litany of St. Joseph premiere in April, just finalizing the details.

So please keep your ears open about that and save March 22nd, 23rd, I believe, as the dates for our 27th annual God Squad Conference.

Details to come on that.

So, God loves you, I love you, and keep praying for us.”

Nefarious

Richard Beaulieu Uncategorized
Nefarious

God Squad presents the movie Nefarious (trailer), written and directed by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon based on Steve Deace’s 2016 novel A Nefarious Plot
Thursday August 3, 2023, 19:00 MDT
St Peter’s Catholic Church
541 Silvergrove Drive NW, Calgary AB

This movie is classified as a horror movie produced in high definition.  Richard Beaulieu of God Squad Canada more aptly describes it as a “theological thriller”.  The YouTube description says: “On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon, and further claims that before their time is over, the psychiatrist will commit three murders of his own.”

To those who do not believe in God, the cold sobering realization that demons are real may be horrific.  But to those sealed with the Holy Spirit will see in this great movie the realities of Heaven, Hell and the absurdity in which we live in.

Join God Squad for an evening of fun and excitement.  Make it a date night and come with your loved one, and bring your friends.
 

This movie is rated Restricted: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
 
Click the image above to register how many of you are coming.

August 2023 Man Update

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August 2023 Man Update

August 2023 Man Update

Send your prayer requests to prayer@godsquad.ca

God Squad will be riding 16,000 km this summer praying for men and ministry to men.  Our pilgrimage will take us through Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Québec, Vermont, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and back.

We attend daily Mass and everyday we pray the Rosary, amongst many other prayers, often times several times, especially on those long stretches. 

 

We will be doing the Novena to St. Joseph starting on August 8, 2023 finishing on August 16, 2023 the day we arrive at l’Oratoire St. Joseph in Montréal QC.

 

Please let us offer up our Masses and pray for you and/or your loved ones.  Email your prayer requests to prayer@godsquad.ca. 


We partnered up with the Sisters and Brothers of the Seeds of the Word who pray for us daily and want to pray for you too.

 

Lastly, keep an eye out for Wisdom From the Road in our YouTube Playlist Riders in the Storm.  Here’s an installment from last year about vanity and the importance of sleeping like St. Joseph.

May 2023 Man Update

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May 2023 Man Update

May 2023 Man Update

Along with Satan we are the biggest obstacles that stand in the way

By Sean Lynn president of God’s squad Canada and
coach for the Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance.

 

Trying to bring a vibrant ministry to men across Canada, Sean prays that we continue to win souls for Christ and that men feel that they can be part of the bigger mission and picture. 

 

Sean invites you to join us in this mission. God’s squad has a vision that through the guidance of St. Joseph, our vision is to form and strengthen men, inspiring them to embrace God’s vocation in their lives. God’s got a plan for each one of us.

 

Along with Satan we are the biggest obstacles that stand in the way. We need to get out of the way and allow God to work in our lives. We want to positively encourage men amidst today’s darkness of spiritual famine and moral confusion. 

 

Men!  You are needed.  Not to brawl against each other in the streets but to be an example, to be that beacon of hope for our young people. Show them that. “This is the way, the truth and the life.”   Listen as Sean speaks about perseverance and about the new initiatives that are coming up.  

 

Sean offers us a warning and gives us hope in God Squad. 

 

Sean is looking forward to hearing from you. If you’ve got a men’s group going in your parish or if you’re needing help to set up a men’s group, please don’t hesitate to contact him.  

 

Please use this calendar to book appointments with Sean:  https://calendly.com/sean-cmla

 

P.S.:Don’t forget the God Squad Conference in Cranbrook, B.C. coming up on May 27, 2023.  Sean and some of the original God squad members will be speaking on how God made a difference in their lives and how the Holy spirit inspired them to do what they’ve done. 

April 2023 Man Update

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April 2023 Man Update

April 2023 Man Update

If not you, who?

By Father Jim Corrigan Men of Integrity Conference 2023

 

Father Corrigan asks us “what can hold us back from doing the will of God? What prevents us from fully embracing God’s Loving Plan for each of us? Fear! Fear of the unknown, fear of not being accepted, fear that someone will find out how truly weak and frail we are. Fear can be a devastating emotion. Our rational mind knows that the Lord walks with us. We know that He Loves us and that He has a plan for each and every one of us. The fear that we allow to infiltrate our psyches and our hearts is insidious and allows us to doubt even that which we truly know to be true. It casts doubt.“

 

“We know that indeed God has a plan for us and we desire to be leaders in our families, in our communities and in our church, our workplace.”  Watch Father’s video and learn the virtue required to strip away the fears that hold us back; be inspired by the greatest “yes” in salvation history and recognize that He chose you and not the other way around.  See all that is sufficient, what we need to discern, accept and accomplish God’s plan in your life.

 

And to answer:  “If not you, who?”

January 2023 Man-Update

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January 2023 Man-Update

January 2023 Man-Update

Don't let distractions suck life away!

By Sean Lynn, president of God Squad Canada

 

Happy New Year! With a new year comes new possibilities and challenges. It’s that time of year where we start promoting our annual men’s conference. Each year we come up with a theme for our conference.  We trust the Holy Spirit to inspire us to pick a theme that will be meaningful to many, like in 2020 we had a theme of being joyful. We did not know that the world would be locked down and need a reminder of the importance of joy.

 

This year’s theme is “Memento Mori” (remember your death). I started the year welcoming my adult children and grandkids into town as they were all arriving for my Dad’s funeral later in the week. They were able to celebrate with their brother who just got engaged at Christmas and their sister who had just given birth to twin girls days earlier. With all this happening and the funeral, being there for my family gave me a great perspective on the theme of this year’s conference. 

I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on this as it hit very close to home as my dad passed away on December 13th and I was sitting with him in the emergency room just hours before not realizing that it would be the last time that I would talk to him. I was busy doing a crossword puzzle on my phone for a bit, just trying to pass the time. He started talking about what he wanted for his funeral, like carrying him in his casket on our shoulders. “There is no way in hell you are wheeling me down the aisle!” He talked about the importance of family dinners and he wanted me and my siblings to take turns hosting the family. I was oblivious to the fact that it would be the last time I would hear him say anything. It was a very hard lesson for me thinking; I’ll have another week, or another month or year to talk about these things. I wanted to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with him, thinking I would have another opportunity to do so.

 

The question is; how much do we give away by having our phones at the dinner table or vegging in front of the television or computer, watching TV shows and playing games instead of engaging with those we love.

 

 One can see how much life is sucked away with these distractions.  Perhaps we need to set up some rules such as no phones at the dinner table, which allows for discussion and community building and family togetherness. We hope that we will learn from this experience and recognize when it’s time to have meaningful conversations with loved ones. This is just a little reflection of what we have coming with this year’s theme: Memento Mori; remember your death. 

 

We are blessed to have Fr. Raymond de Souza and Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers as our speakers this year. The conference will take place on March 17th and 18th at Saint Michael’s Catholic community. Please don’t miss this opportunity to invite a friend or loved one who needs to belong to a community of men challenging each other to go out in this world and stand strong as a Beacon of hope within their families, the Church, and the world.

Mighty Men

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Mighty Men

Mighty Men

30 mighty men in every diocese and 3 mighty men in every parish!

These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: 

 

Josheb-basshe′beth a Tah-che′monite; he was chief of the three;
he wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he slew at one time.

 

And next to him among the three mighty men was Elea′zar the son of Dodo, son of Aho′hi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand cleaved to the sword; and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

 

And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Har′arite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the men fled from the Philistines.  But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, and defended it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord wrought a great victory.

 

…These things did Benai′ah the son of Jehoi′ada, and won a name beside the three mighty men.  He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

 

2 Samuel 23:8-12, 22-23

Image if we had 30 mighty men working in every diocese and 3 mighty men working in every parish?  Imagine instead of slaining 800 we brought that number of men to Christ! There is nothing we could not do with the power of God!

We are coming out of a very difficult time in our lives and in the church and many ministries became inactive during the last 2 years. God Squad Canada, on the other hand, continued to reach the men of Southern Alberta and beyond. With the world normalizing again, we are receiving many requests for God Squad to do BBQ’s and works of service, not to mention trying to build the network of men in our diocese.  

 

We need you! 

 

Please prayerfully consider joining our mission with your gifts and talents. We would love to see you, and we would especially like to invite the young men to join us in the following apostolates. 

  • BBQ outreach, which is 2-4 hours of volunteer time depending on the event and what is being served. Recent examples are CCO banquet serving brisket, Bishop McNally Grade 12 retreat serving 500 Spolumbos and the same for the 200 at the Diocese Synod wrap up.
  • Parish leaders or captains to help build men’s ministry at the parish level and be a conduit for God Squad to invite men to events.
  • We have requests from Bishop McGrattan and the community to do different works of service. We have recently been asked to paint the church in Brocket and lead a procession for a statue of Our Lady of the Cape from the cathedral to the shrine in Canmore.
  • Disc Golf evangelization is a new endeavour that God Squad has undertaken.  It is still in its infancy and we are hoping to host a tournament, run clinics and create more disc artwork.

Please fill out this form and together we can win the day for Christ!

Mighty Man Form

We are hoping to gather a team of 10 and be able to start and complete the work on a Saturday.
Right now we are tentatively looking to schedule this on one of the two last weekends’ of August 2022.

Volunteer

Disc Golf

Richard Beaulieu Disc Golf, News, Outreach, Sean Blair
Disc Golf

Why Disc Golf and God Squad?

Disc golf is a great fit for God Squad

By Sean Blair

My first exposure to disc golf was a number of years ago when my young family went out to the Canmore Nordic Centre.  We saw the maps of the course and thought “Hey, why not!  Throwing frisbees is fun!”. 

 

We rented our discs and trotted out to the first hole with our small army of (at the time) 6 young children and thought “how hard could it be?”

 

Very hard, actually.

 

We quickly found ourselves off in the trees looking for lost discs, and also found many young adults “playing through”.  Many of them, I noted, had full backpacks of discs, and seemed to know how to handle them.

 

After two holes of playing hide and seek with our discs, we decided maybe this wasn’t the right time and place for our family to figure this game out (Nordic Centre is a tough course), and we instead decided to do some orienteering.  

 

I found out that there was a tournament happening the next day and all the young adults playing through were doing their practice rounds for it.

 

I was intrigued at the passion and dedication that these players showed.

 

Fast-forward a number of years and my kids are getting older.  I see a course built in our local Baker Park in the NW of Calgary and I am intrigued.  My young teens show interest as well and we pick up a couple starter sets and now three years later, it has grown to a passion for our family as well (I don’t have the backpack yet, but I’m getting there!).

 

Disc Golf has a number of positive aspects to it: 

 

  • Depending on the course, pretty much all ages can play
  • It is challenging, and thus rewarding
  • It is easy to pick up (if you can throw a frisbee, you can play!), but difficult to master
  • Fosters socializing and camaraderie 
  • It is not uncommon to see babies in strollers along for the ride, thus is a great sport for the whole family!

 

So why would a Catholic men’s organization be jumping into disc golf?

 

It would seem that the sport is a great fit for God Squad:

 

  • A chance for men and their families to get outside and join other men in a meaningful pursuit
  • Healthy competition between men is always a good thing
  • An opportunity to encourage each other (Iron sharpens iron)
  • A chance to promote our patron Saint Joseph?  Yes Please!
  • Young men really enjoy the sport and it is still an approachable game for all skill levels
  • Last, but not least: Nothing beats a good Spolumbos BBQ after 18 “holes” of golf

 

We want to encourage you, as you register for this year’s conference, to pick up a set of discs, and plan to join us for the tournaments and activities being planned as we speak.  If you’ve been inactive during these past couple years of COVID, I could not recommend a better sport to get limber and moving again.

 

We’ll see you on the course!!



If you are interested in learning more about the sport, feel free to check out the following sites:

 

https://www.pdga.com/news/what-disc-golf-guide-parents-kids

 

https://calgarydiscgolf.com