The Revelation of the Father - Week 26

1. S E S S I O N 26
Paradisus Dei

2. Wow! What an incredible journey. It has taken us
10 years. Along the way, I’ve discovered many
things. Three stand out in a very special way.

3. • David commits adultery with Bathsheba and has her
husband Uriah killed to hide his sin.
• The parable from the prophet Nathan.
• Disharmony in the Family: “I will take your wives
while you live to see it” (2 Samuel 12:11).
• Children will Suffer: “The child that is born to you
shall die” (2 Samuel 12:14).
• Conflict in Society: “The sword shall not depart from
your house” (2 Samuel 12:10).
• Worship of God will Suffer: “David may not build a
house for my name for he is a man of war and has
shed blood” (1 Chronicles 22:8).
Discovery #1: The Story of King David

4. The Four Leadership Roles of Men
Moral Leadership
Live in union with God to
receive his blessings.
Military Leadership
Battle Satan over the family,
the channel of grace.
Political Leadership
Harmoniously order society
to peace.
Economic Leadership
Make the earth fruitful, which is tied
to the fruitfulness of the womb.
Men’s
Leadership
Roles

5. Discovery #2: St. Joseph
• Just Man: “Joseph, being a just man …
resolved to send Mary away quietly” (Matthew
1:19).
• Husband: “The angel Gabriel was sent from
God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a
virgin betrothed to a man whose name was
Joseph” (Luke 1:26-27).
• Father: “And when they saw him they were
astonished; and his mother said to him, ‘Son,
why have you treated us so? Behold, your
father and I have been looking for you
anxiously’ … and Jesus … was obedient to
them” (Luke 2:48-51).

6. The Heart of Joseph and Nazareth
• “When his mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph, before they came together she was
found to be with child of the Holy Spirit”
(Matthew 1:18).
• When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the
angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his
wife” (Matthew 1:24).
• The trial of St. Joseph lies between these two
great moments.
• The home at Nazareth is born of St. Joseph’s
trial. It is born when his heart is opened to his
spouse in mercy.

7. Discovery #3: The Home at Nazareth
• The Holy Family “was a heaven, a paradise on earth,
endless delights in this place of grief; it was a glory
already begun in the vileness, abjection and lowliness
of their life” (Monsignor Jean Jacques Olier).
• “It is in the Holy Family, the original ‘Church in
miniature (Ecclesia Domestica), that every Christian
family must be reflected. ‘Through God’s mysterious
design, it was in that family that the Son of God spent
long years of a hidden life. It is therefore the
prototype and example for all Christian families’” (St.
John Paul II, Redemptoris Custos, #7).
Source: Doze, Fr. Andrew, “Saint Joseph: The
Shadow of the Father,” Trans. Audett, F.,
Alba House, New York, 1992, p. 52.

8. The Home at Nazareth as Paradisus Dei
1. The Presence of God:
• “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us … we
have behold his glory” (John 1:14)
2. Holiness – evil remains on outside the home:
• Jesus is the Word Incarnate (Cf. John 1:14).
• Mary is the Immaculate Conception (Cf. Luke 1:28).
• Joseph is the just man in Scripture (Cf. Matthew 1:19).
3. Superabundant Joy:
• “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and
death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning
nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have
passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

9. In a special way I would like to thank all the men
at St. Cecilia – living and dead – who made this
journey together and possible. I’d especially like
to thank Mark Hartfiel. I thank all of you and we
have a certificate for you.

11. The critical question is, “Where do we go from
here?”
We set out to build Nazareth in our heart!

12. The Essence of That Man is You!
1. The desire to live your life as
husband and father as your
pathway to holiness – which is the
life of St. Joseph at Nazareth.
2. The willingness to use the Seven
Covenants of That Man is You! to
build a structured approach to your
spiritual life.

13. Building Nazareth in your Heart
1. An honest evaluation of your spiritual life.
2. The ability to design a spiritual plan of life
to help you take the next step in your
spiritual life.
3. Resources to aid you in your spiritual
journey.
4. A community of men to support you in
your journey.

14. Evaluating your Spiritual Life
1. A rigorous 70 question evaluation of your
spiritual life.
2. Ten questions for each covenant.
3. Answers are evaluated to help determine
individual spiritual struggles according to the
three major impediments in the spiritual life
(flesh, world, devil).
4. St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross
are used for guides.

15. Designing a Spiritual Plan of Life
1. The results of the spiritual evaluation are
combined with the four formation types to
develop a personal spiritual plan of life.
2. Suggestions are made to help you take the
next step: “Wherever you are in your spiritual
life, Jesus Christ wants to encounter you right
there and take you further.”
3. You have the ability to customize the plan to
your personal circumstances.

16. Resources for your Spiritual Journey
1. Paradisus Dei provides resources to aid
you in your spiritual formation and the
discernment of God’s will in your life.
2. Paradisus Dei provides opportunity for
additional formation through pilgrimages
and conferences.
3. Approved third party resources supporting
the mission of Paradisus Dei and That
Man is You! may be used.

17. Companions for your Spiritual Journey
1. The men of That Man is You! are an
indispensible element of the program and
spiritual journey.
2. Paradisus Dei provides a mechanism to
help TMIY men continue their journey
together.
3. Paradisus Dei provides training for parish
Core Team leadership and individual
small group facilitators.

18. A Focus on Formation and Living the Message
1. Individual Men: Provide resource materials for
individual men to evaluate their spiritual life
and develop a personalized spiritual plan of
life.
2. Small Groups: Provide training for small group
facilitators to help lead a group in their spiritual
journey.
3. Parishes: Provide training for Core Teams to
help them guide That Man is You! and other
Paradisus Dei programs.

19. “Wherever you are in your spiritual life, Jesus
Christ wants to encounter you right there and take
you further.”
That Man is You! is getting ready to take a big
step!

20. Laborers in the Vineyard
• “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are
few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into his harvest” (Luke 10:2).
• That Man is You! needs men you can receive
special training to help guide other men on their
spiritual journey.
• If you are willing to be an instrument in the hand
of the Lord, then please contact us at
www.paradisusdei.org.

21. Apostles to the Family
“It is especially necessary to recognize the unique place that … belongs to
the mission of married couples and Christian families, by virtue of the
grace received in the sacrament. This mission must be placed at the
service of the building up of the Church, the establishing of the Kingdom of
God in history. This is demanded as an act of docile obedience to Christ
the Lord. For it is He who, by virtue of the fact that marriage of baptized
persons has been raised to a sacrament, confers upon Christian married
couples a special mission as apostle, sending them as workers into His
vineyard, and, in a very special way, into this field of the family.”
Saint John Paul II
Familiaris Consortio, #71

22. Crossing the Threshold of Hope
“Now is the time for hope … We must not be afraid of
the future. We must not be afraid of man … Each and
every human person has been created in the ‘image
and likeness’ of the One who is the origin of all that is
… with the help of God’s grace, we can build in the
next century and the next millennium a civilization
worthy of the human person … And in doing so, we
shall see that the tears of this century have prepared
the ground for a new springtime of the human spirit.”
St. John Paul II
United Nations
October 5, 1995

23. When I stepped onto a stage at 6:30am on the
Feast of Our Lady’s birthday in 2004, I had no
idea what God had in store.
Today, I realize more than ever that we’re still just
at the tip of the iceberg.
Open wide the door of your heart to Christ. You
will not regret placing yourself in his hands.

24. Next Year
Building Nazareth in your Heart
Small Group Discussion
Starter Questions
1. Are you willing to continue the journey? Who
are you going to bring along with you?
2. How can you step out to become an
instrument in the hands of the Lord?