Leisure
CORE is a weekly Saturday men’s gathering in the basement of St. Mary’s Church, led by the Knights of Columbus, focused on prayer, formation, and fraternity. This month’s theme is work and leisure, with talks and the Into the Breach video series, plus community announcements (youth spelling meet at Queens on Oct. 16, marriage ministry workshops, prayer pamphlets). In this session, Steve Larsen encouraged inviting more men into fellowship, keeping Sunday holy, balancing work with faith, embracing childlike trust in Christ, and making daily prayer—like the Rosary—a habit. The morning concluded with communal prayer and breakouts for small-group discussion.
MC: Adam Hohn
Presenter: Steve Larsen
Deacon: Rick Freedberg
Brought to you By: The Knights of Columbus
Audio Trasnscription
Steve Larsen: So CORE happens every weekend, every Saturday here in the basement of St. Mary's Church. The first three weeks, one of the major councils is in charge of the logistics, bringing the refreshments, which are off to your guys' right. For those who don't know, the restroom's over here on your left. And then we have a speaker that speaks on the topic. We've been going with the theme of this month of work.
Steve Larsen: And then the fourth Saturday, last month we started the video series from the Knights of Columbus into the breach. But what is CORD? Why do we even early on a Saturday morning? Well, CORD is we get together for prayer, formation, and fraternity, love of God, love of self, and love of neighbor. Because the Knights of Columbus, they collected all this data over the years and said that we have too many men in.
Steve Larsen: in the church queues that don't know another man, man by another name, on a first name basis. And then we watched a video, one of the videos last month said that a third of those men only know two men on a first name basis. And these are things that we need to fix. We need to amend these things because we're fighting a spiritual battle out there and we do need warriors that are
Steve Larsen: that are in the fight with us. And so why not men that go to the same church, that have the same beliefs as we do? So let's do what we can to extend invitations to those men to see if we can get them here, so that way they can experience trying to sharpen the sword, being well formed, know another man on a first name basis, other than just maybe a couple.
Steve Larsen: So this is how we're going to not only make Jackson Catholic not only the state of Michigan Catholic, but the whole world Catholic. Does anybody have any local area announcements? Just for your guys' benefit, October 16th stand up and...
Steve Larsen: Are you happy now? The Dyson Columbus District is having a spelling meet. If you know any neighbors, grandkids, sons, daughters, fourth grade to ninth grade, see me. We have a flyer that I can give you and then we'll go through it.
Steve Larsen: Register at the event at Queens October 16th. Just pass the word out, you know, if you know anybody, and then you know one person, I don't invite your friends, we just need to get the word out. Chastity community, don't even have to be Catholic. It's, you know, an event that we're going to have, and then there's going to be many events after that, Christ and Christmas, but I'll be there when it comes up.
Steve Larsen: Fourth grade to ninth grade, if you know anybody, if you have anybody that knows anybody fourth to ninth grade, let's pass the word and let's be active in this. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks, Jim. Any... Some of you may be in the marriage ministry. If you're a married man, you can workshop in October, workshop in November, and a retreat day in December. And I put flyers for that in those on the table. Thank you, Joseph. Yes. Go ahead, Jim. One more thing, and I'm not standing.
Steve Larsen: I put some prayers pamphlet on the front table, help yourselves. It's just hope and throne and prayers for the sacred heart of Jesus. Many of you have your own little area at home where you pray and have your small chapel. That's just another addition for it, so help yourself. Thanks, Jim. No one else has announcements. I would like to welcome up our speaker. Thank you, Jim.
Steve Larsen: When I talked to him just a few minutes beforehand, I said, what kind of introduction should I have for you? And he's like, well, just tell him that I kind of go on and on and he talks too long. So with that in mind, I'd like to welcome Steve Larson. The worst part is that's true. Let's see if we could, I hate microphones, but we'll try doing one with a microphone because it seems like you need a third hand when you have one.
Steve Larsen: But I'd like to begin with a prayer. Let's begin in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. O St. Joseph, patron of the Church, you who side by side with the Word made flesh, worked each day to earn your bread, drawing from him the strength to live and to toil. You have experienced the anxiety for the morrow, the bitterness of poverty, the uncertainty of work.
Steve Larsen: You who today give the shining example, humble in the eyes of men, but most exalted in the sight of God, protect workers in their hard daily lives, defending them from the discouragement from negative revolt and from pleasure-loving temptations.
Steve Larsen: and keep peace in the world, that peace which alone can ensure the development of peoples. Amen. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Is this stand really that much fun? I feel if I'm any shorter. I know I'm short enough compared to everyone in the world, but I figure I'm going to be down here before we're done.
Steve Larsen: You're off to a great start, Steve. At least you're still awake, Phil. That's a good thing. Oh, excuse me. Thanks, Tom. Well, in the two weeks that we've already had talks on work and leisure,
Steve Larsen: It's pretty much been a given that God created the world and everything related to it. Man, the animals, the sky, the earth, and so on. And in the sixth day, and in six days, and he rested on the seventh. Now you would think if the omnipotent, the omniscient, the all-knowing God...
Steve Larsen: rests on the sixth day or the seventh day, maybe we should take a clue from that. So hopefully in the next few minutes, maybe I can give you some ways that you can think about that. So somewhere along the way, though, I didn't seem to get the memo that you're supposed to rest on the seventh day. I've worked jobs that you had to be there on the seventh day on Sundays. I've...
Steve Larsen: had to go back into work. I've had a job that actually it felt like you worked 65 hours a week for stretches, so it seemed like Sunday came and you were just absolutely exhausted. So, you know, and I kind of got that from my father. He spent about that much time, like I think he lived at a department store that he managed. So, I mean, it just seemed like sometimes it just keeps on going. Now, those of you that know of me from Toastmasters or any other times,
Steve Larsen: I started about three years ago doing a challenge that one of their speakers that night did. Try to read 10 pages a day.
Steve Larsen: and see what it does for you. Well, I started out doing that and eventually it ended up being about 100 pages and then a couple bucks a week and all that kind of thing. But I ran into one by Lee Iacocca, which we may remember this guy, especially being from Michigan, that he wrote a book called, which he wrote several books, believe it or not, but he wrote a book called Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
Steve Larsen: And out of the whole part that he read out of the book, the one thing that really stuck out to me was that he made the comment, learn, earn, and return. Now we spent a lot of our early years doing all the learning about work and everything else that's going on, but we also tend to move into the work world and we proceed to work the number of hours that are required to make our job successful. But then as we reach our twilight years,
Steve Larsen: And I'm sure I'm one of those that's reaching the twilight years. You know, when you're on the backside, you kind of get a little worried. But, yeah, like you keep moving up in line. But, yeah, really, let's hope it's not today, right? Yes.
Steve Larsen: but as we we look for some bounty to to our work lives that we try to be share with our knowledge our time and our treasure so we try to give all that back but sometimes i think lee iacocca got it a little bit backwards
Steve Larsen: maybe not backwards so much, but that return part, I think you had to be concentrating on some of that when you're doing the work part and the earn part. And you still have to be willing to give back rather than wait to the back end of your life to try and do it. Now, it's taken a lot of years for me to figure out just how, well, that there's more to life than just work. It took men's retreats,
Steve Larsen: You know, that's kind of where you need to practice. John talked about or Jonathan talked about. Do you want to go by John or Jonathan today? Yes. Okay. If I call him John or if I call him Jonathan, once it's slip and once he's what he's trying to move to. But anyway.
Steve Larsen: Well, anyway, it took, you know, changing your habits. And some of these habits that I've changed is I ended up going on Cursillo weekends. And it actually was about 20 years of serving on teams. And probably each time I served on a team, I learned something different. Somebody else brought up another point. Somebody else had something else in their talks.
Steve Larsen: So, I mean, you learn something every time you go to one of these. I had to attend men's conferences and learn something from them. And I think the one thing, and I've said this before when John and I did a talk here a short time back, Gretchen Whitmer came out with her slogan of Fight Like Hell.
Steve Larsen: And Bishop Boye responded with, well, no, you've got to fight like heaven. And it was that point that I felt that it was necessary for me to change a habit, that I started to make a rosary part of my daily prayer life. And so what I actually thought was kind of interesting is Jonathan and I went to a men's conference, and he and I, it was probably one of the best days he and I had ever spent together, right?
Steve Larsen: And I think between the sharing that both he and I had together that day, he said, you really share your rosary? You really do your rosary once a day? And he kind of said, you know what? I think I could do that. And one of my daughters would probably be interested in doing it with me. And so he kind of, you know, it's just mentioning things like that as to how important it is to others.
Steve Larsen: I think the other thing that really struck me was this last week or week and a half ago now, the Charlie Kirk assassination, as to how much this guy was willing to go into places that...
Steve Larsen: You know, that they were definitely against what he was trying to talk about, and he was willing to stand up there and talk about his faith and what's going on. And I think we need to do more of that as Catholic Christians. So I think that's one of those things that I think it's a challenge as we're going through this today. Thank you.
Steve Larsen: to keep in mind and see where those opportunities. Now I'm not saying that you necessarily have to go on the street corner and bang the drum and what have you, but when those opportunities come up, be willing to say something. And I think that's where it's kind of important. You know, as we pass through our work lives, are we living to work or are we working to live? You know, and sometimes I have to stop, well, sometimes I'm one, sometimes I'm the other, but you have to stop and think about it.
Steve Larsen: Which is more important, your life or your work time or what have you? So, you know, you have to be willing to step back and realize that it isn't all about work. Now, I know God ordained work to be part of our lives, and that was part of the creation. And even in that sixth or that seventh day and what have you, that's where he went on, that he actually explained to us,
Steve Larsen: and through our biblical readings, that work was expected of us. But it was at the same time that we weren't supposed to, well, spend all of our time working, but also that after the fall, that work kind of became a curse of sorts, you know, to experience the sweat of our brow, the thistles and the weeds in our efforts. And even after the curse, we were still instructed to rest, reflect, and relax on the seventh day.
Steve Larsen: After all, the Ten Commandments tell us that there's no other gods and to also remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Now, you know, how many of you, when we thought we started this, thought that leisure was actually we get to sit on the couch and watch football games and drink some kind of a beverage? Anybody in the room think that was part of what we were thinking? And false. Now, just a second.
Steve Larsen: That's not totally untrue. However, what you do with that leisure time, how you react. I mean, there is two different types of leisure. One is to sit on the couch and reflect as to how well Jared Goff's doing and as to what beverage we're drinking. But the other one is to think that there's more to it, that we need to think about our
Steve Larsen: and is to think as to ways that there's other ways that we can go about on Sunday. I think one of the things that we find in Scripture, it's actually in Mark 10, 13 through 16, and it talks about Jesus and the little children. And so the reading goes like this. People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. But the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.
Steve Larsen: He said to them, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. Now, as a grandfather of 12, father of four, I picture my... At this point, I got...
Steve Larsen: seven granddaughters that are in the one and a half to twelve. But I picture Jonathan's redheads, specifically, sitting there in front of Jesus and just enjoying and taking in everything and realizing that everything that it's about as a child is new and fun to experience and something that you actually feel like it's fun to learn.
Steve Larsen: So what I'd like to do is to take another time reading through this. Picture yourselves as that child sitting with Jesus and just how it would be for you for that particular time. So people were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. But the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.
Steve Larsen: for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them." Now just as another example, Teresa of Lisieux expressed her desire to be nothing more than a toy, a little ball for the child Jesus, a toy of no value, a ball, say.
Steve Larsen: such as a child might throw on the ground or leave lying in a corner, or press to his heart if he feels that way about it. These words are not to be taken lightly. They represent a fundamental and properly evangelical understanding of the nature of grace.
Steve Larsen: Here on this highest human level in the region of sanctity, that is to say, we again encounter that unity between seriousness and play, of which Plato had already been dimly aware. And we learn that it means to do all things and account oneself as nothing, even as our Lord enjoined, when you shall have done all these things as they are commanded you,
Steve Larsen: You say we are still unprofitable servants. And that comes from Luke 17.10. The most serious part of the Christian ideal of man is to be found in the fact that he has faith and truly loves God. It's also the man who can truly play, for he only is secure in God, can be truly light of heart.
Steve Larsen: Now if Jesus is in front of you, what would be your first thought to make everything, would your first thought be to make everything perfect or to stop and spend time with the Savior? What is your mind's intention on? When we give our mind's attention, what we give our mind's attention to gets our heart's affection. If you offer or someone wants you to pray for them, do you stop and pray for them right then?
Steve Larsen: Do you stop and pray for them right then? Or do you take it home and think about it and get distracted by everything else in the world and forget to actually do it? I found that it's a lot easier than if somebody asked for prayers. Let's do it right now. Let's take the moment right this minute because that's the moment that we're in and ask for prayer right that time. Now, I also got a question for you.
Steve Larsen: Have you ever asked Jesus to go hunting, golfing, or fishing with you? After all, he's a real live person, a real live being. You know, what's wrong with asking Jesus, do you want to go golfing, hunting, or fishing with me today? I mean, there's nothing that says that you have to spend all that time in, you know, as far as at church or in your prayer room or even at... Watching football. Yeah.
Steve Larsen: or watching football thanks phil good you haven't fallen asleep yet that's at least saying something right now mother teresa was yet another example and it was only after her death when her spiritual director published her diaries that the world discovered that mother teresa struggled in her doubts and her faith making her life of charity even more extraordinary now is there anyone in here that's ever doubted or had their you know it's like what's going on god i mean
Steve Larsen: Yeah, it's like there's a few of us out there. And so when a saint like Mother Teresa actually expressed that, that the determination to face disease and death like she did each day with serenity and calm is a reminder to us that we make an act of faith each day, a conscious choice to live God-centered, self-oriented life despite the many challenges we face all around us.
Steve Larsen: Now, I don't know how many of you subscribe to Bishop Boye's, to his weekly dissertation that he sends out. But his last one was talking about how do you treat Sunday? And he said that we Christians believe that Sunday, the day of God's resurrection, has replaced the Sabbath of the Old Testament. Thus, there should be a good amount of rest. So do we do that? And in that rest, are we actually thinking about God? No.
Steve Larsen: Now I realize that the Catechism also comments that Sunday is traditionally consecrated by the Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week.
Steve Larsen: But Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life. Now we also can't expect our government or our broader society to support us in this effort. It must remain a challenge for each person and each family to seek a bit of a retreat on Sundays. So I guess I ask you the question, do you dedicate Sunday to being the Lord's day?
Steve Larsen: Are you considerate of those that have to work on that day? Now I do have a list of upcoming events that comes from the mission memo from Craig Pohl, and I put some of that on the desk and I have some of those up here in front. I also have, I talked about all those books that I read. Well I picked 10 of them and I actually made a list of those with their names and authors and believe it or not,
Steve Larsen: Your public library, you need to make it your best friend, and they have pretty much every one of those books available to you from somewhere in the United States, if not the state of Michigan. But I also have a closing thought from Erica Kirk, the wife of the slain gentleman from this last week. Thank you. Oh, you are awake. Thank you.
Steve Larsen: Her reflection was prayer isn't always words whispered into the heavens. Sometimes it's silence, a still heart, a quiet soul, a surrendered spirit. You don't always need to speak. Sometimes you just need to be still and know that he is God. Meditate on his words like it is oxygen. Don't let your heart grow numb. Don't let your eyes skim over the sacred sentences you've read a hundred times.
Steve Larsen: This isn't just a book, that Bible. This is the living, breathing voice of your Savior. Treat it as holy. Stop multitasking with the holy. Don't habit stack Jesus. Drop everything and worship. This is not productivity. This is presence. This is sacred. Be intentional. Be still. Be postured in awe.
Steve Larsen: Because you're not meeting with a character in one of the greatest books ever written. You're meeting with the King of Glory. And I don't know if you wanted to leave the... Well, I'd like to close with the third luminous mystery of our rosary. And that was the proclamation of the gospel. So, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Steve Larsen: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Steve Larsen: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Steve Larsen: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Hail Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Steve Larsen: Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Steve Larsen: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Steve Larsen: at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. And pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Amen.
Steve Larsen: Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Steve Larsen: for sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's all trippy.
Steve Larsen: THANK YOU, STEVE. AT THIS TIME, WE NEED TO SELECT TABLE LEADERS FOR DISCUSSION. SO, JOSEPH, WOULD YOU LEAD THE TABLE? JONATHAN, LEAD THE TABLE. DEACON RICK, LEAD THE TABLE. I'LL LEAD THE TABLE. AND JIM FOUNTAIN, WOULD YOU LEAD THE TABLE? BLOOD FOOD. ALL RIGHT, PERFECT. AT 5, WE NEED ONE MORE. STEVE. THERE WE GO, PERFECT. SO,
Steve Larsen: Take some time, get some more coffee, and then us table leaders will head back and you can choose which tables to engage in conversation.
