The Montreal Challenge Movement

If there is one organization whose ministry I would like to promote, it is one that I helped found: the Montreal Challenge Movement (whose web site is proudly hosted on the Adventus.org server). Please do go to their blog site and check out their ministry.

As a founder of Challenge here in Montreal, I was recently asked to offer a "testimony" about how I got involved in Challenge. I first got invited to Challenge through my younger brother. My whole family had moved to Ottawa a few years earlier, while I had stayed behind to finish my degree (and later I got a job in Montreal). Chris had invited me while I was working as a professional, and I remember thinking "There is no way I am going on some retreat with a bunch of kids." Never mind that Chris is only 18 months younger than me, I only wanted to play with the big boys now. :-)

But Chris believed the weekend would be good for me, and he was clever. He knew how to appeal to my pride. Once I began as a seminarian he invited me again, only this time as the Assistant Spiritual Director. To be a candidate was one thing, but to be part of the team was quite another, so I accepted. Of course, what I didn't know was that I was, in fact, a candidate anyway, given that it was my first weekend and I really didn't know what to expect.

The weekend was a whirlwind. I did my best to participate (rather than anticipate) but for me it was hard. I am a guy who likes to plan, and given that I felt I had responsibilities I felt I needed to know what would come next. Of course, again, that was my pride. I was afraid of looking stupid or wierd in front of others. But my major turning point came the Saturday night, in the small-group circle prayer. Each person in the circle took turns going in the middle, while the others would lay on hands and take turns praying for them. My stress level went through the roof. Pray in front of others? Like, spontaneously, without any preparation, planning, a text, or anything? Again, the fear of looking stupid took over, and my mind raced as I tried to think of something to say. And then, as the participants were taking their turns, we came to one 17-year-old guy named Dave. He opened his mouth, and the most beautiful prayer to Jesus I had ever heard came out of his mouth. It was so simple, yet so full of devotion. I was in awe, and I remember thinking "I want whatever this kid has". It was a conversion for me: my faith started going from my head to my heart.

I didn't realise what an impact my Challenge weekend would have on me at the time I was living it. The full fruits only came later as I continued to grow in my faith with my Challenge brothers and sisters. But the seeds were planted in March of 1996 when I sat at the "Anything but predic-" table. On the night I was ordained a priest, over 5 1/2 years later, I offered words of thanks to all those who had been a special support to me in my journey towards the priesthood, and I included the members of Challenge: "You taught me to pray from the heart."