How much time are you giving God, the priest asked. “Try 10 minutes every day, if you can. Prayer won’t get boring. It becomes something you hunger for.”
After Mass, the young people flocked over to the Boulevard Brewery, about a block away, for an evening of spirited and spiritual conversation and fellowship. Waldo pizza supplied the food, Boulevard Brewery staff filled glasses with beer, and tables filled with young people. The deck outside beckoned, the lights of downtown glowing brighter as the sun set.
Inside, talk and laughter. “Finding out about Tuesdays at the Boulevard is a word of mouth thing,” said Michael, a frequent attendee. “It’s a great young adult ministry. I’ve been coming for about a year now. It’s a safe environment, no techno music blasting in your ears. It almost feels like a Catholic singles group at times, but it’s more than that.”
Joe, another regular, added, “I love crafted beer and being able to enjoy it where it is crafted is so cool. It’s about meeting people of like minds, Catholic individuals, it’s awesome. The dynamic is cool and laid back. We can socialize and meet new people.”
Joe’s wife, Karissa, said, “In college there was a place you could go to be with friends and feel comfortable. After college, with Tuesdays at the Boulevard, there’s still a place you can go. You come together with other people who are into your faith.”
“It’s a Catholic underground,” Michael jumped in. “A tool for evangelization, aided by pizza and beer.”
“We’re celebrating life,” said Joe. “The pizza and beer is good, but sharing your Catholic faith is great — that’s why we go to Mass first.”
“Yeah,” Michael said, grinning. “You get communion, then you come here and commune.”
Reservoir. A relatively new initiative, Reservoir, a monthly holy hour for young adults, is held at St. Peter’s Church in the Brookside neighborhood. The first holy hour only received three days of advertising, yet 35 young men and women showed up for Mass and the holy hour, followed by small group discussions, dinner and night prayer. Kafka said then, “Young people are looking for opportunities to stop all the noise around them, so they can listen to what God is telling them.”
Now, 50-75 young adults gather at St. Peter’s monthly for the holy hour, which gives them a chance to enhance their prayer life and listen to what God is telling them.
Band of Brothers. Several years ago, two young men, Matt Maes and Greg Doring, saw the attraction of Catholic Challenge Sports, the way it helped unite young men and women in a common interest. Recognizing a need for an authentic model of Christian masculinity in society today, they came up with the idea of a Band of Brothers, a group that strives to develop virtue through spiritual and intellectual study, prayer, work and recreation, and socialization.
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The name, Band of Brothers, immediately calls masculinity to mind: Shakespeare’s Henry V St. Crispin’s Day Speech, just before the king’s soldiers marched into war, and the 101st Airborne Division, again soldiers, in WWII. The focus of these young men, however, centers around Catholic manhood, the support and strengthening of men pursuing Godliness in their daily lives.
Now led by Ferd Niemann, 15-20 young men, students and professionals, meet regularly in the UMKC neighborhood twice a month on Tuesdays. Neimann said they come from all over the metro area, from north of the river to Gardner, Kan. Topics of conversation include accountability, ways of living a virtuous life, prayer and worship.
Father Rocha said, “Band of Brothers is a win for the Church. These guys stay close to God in the sacraments, and truly live their faith. They are accountable to each other.”
Neimann said that “Band of Brothers encourages a young man to be a Catholic man, the way you’re supposed to be a man. A real Catholic man is virtuous,” he said, “not just interested in drinking or sexual relationships with 25 women.”
The young men gather for prayer and discussion of their faith, often followed by a poker game or just hanging out.
Sisterhood. Women wanted their own small groups to enhance their faith. So, Sisterhood small groups was formed to give young women the opportunity to strengthen their faith and develop stronger virtues in their lives, as well as form genuine friendships with other young women though group study, fellowship and accountability.