I’ve encouraged our writers to write articles on other ministries that are tremendous boons for proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins and resurrected giving us eternal life. The Exodus 90 ministry for men is a tremendous blessing for my spiritual life—hands down. I have been active with the program for nearly 3 years now and the group of men, Exodus 90 refers to them as “fraternities,” is a place of refuge for me to discuss my daily struggles with living a life of holiness by my failings in sin.
I first began Exodus 90 three years ago with the 90-day program founded on the three pillars: prayer, asceticism, and fraternity. The program asks you to make a fundamental transformation of your life in the hope of growing closer to God. The guidebook stresses several things, the first being for married men is letting your wife know that you’re about to change all your daily habits, which includes: fasting and abstinence two days a week, times of prayer, no T.V., no computer or phone unless for work, no sweets, no soda, or alcohol, etc. It may be difficult at first to convince her, but from my testimony, your wife early on will begin to appreciate the differences produced by these changes. I remember playing on the floor with my son for an entire evening because I had nothing else to distract me, and my wife looked on said, “this is awesome.”
And this gets to the heart of the program, “Your why?” Why do you want to commit to a program of intense prayer, reflection readings on the book of Exodus, asceticism, and fraternity? Naturally, every man’s reason is going to be different, but mine is this, “To live a life of holiness to lead my wife and kids to heaven.” I’ve often commented in confession that I know my flaws and my sins…that my sins are always before me. (Ps. 51) Nonetheless, I recognize the responsibility of being a parent and that my children are a gift from God. So, I must do whatever I can to help them become saints! Exodus 90 has helped me with that mission.
It may not be apparent, but Exodus 90 is geared toward the mission of evangelization itself. I remember during one of our fraternity meetings, one of my fraternity brothers, discussing his week of asceticism, told an anecdotal story of being at a reception. The brother was offered a piece of cake, and he replied, “I must decline because I am in Egypt.” Of course, the cleverness of the brother’s remark about his fasting from sweets gave him the opportunity to proclaim the gospel to the person offering the cake.
Exodus 90 gives laymen and clerics the opportunity of living their life by a Christian rule. I can attest that it certainly will bring them closer to God and it will provide the means of showing others what it looks like to live an authentic Christian life striving toward holiness. I encourage all the men reading this article to visit Exodus 90 or find their outstanding app in your app store. After completing the initial 90-day challenge, the ministry has several programs geared toward biblical reflections and other aspects of day-to-day life for men to continue to help us men strive to live holy lives.
I loved Exodus 90. It was extremely challenging and I can't claim to have gone through it with full honors but I can at least say I have gone through it. It jumpstarted my faith at a time that I really needed it. I revisited it the year after my first attempt with a little less gusto, and did not return year 3--I hope to return again in the future though. I revisited it recently and realized how many little things I've kept. It is a valuable program and I am glad to see you promoting it.
If I may presume to make a request, I hope one of the ministries you highlight will be the Legion of Mary. It has likewise leveled up my faith life and deepened my relationship with Mary.
God bless you!
As a wife of a husband who completed Exodus 90 (and still participates), I stand by this program 110%. It’s not for the faint of heart; and watching my man go through this, it inspired me to treat him with a tenderness I never had before. His heart became more tender towards me and the kids, and in turn, my heart reciprocated. This is a grace-filled program that I can say changes families because the head and the heart unite in a way that turns the family completely to the Father.