Men of Promise - San Gabriel Mission Parish

I originally started coming to Men of Promise because I helped found the group in 1997 in an effort to continue the great feelings I enjoyed while spending a weekend with my son, Ryan Verharst, at a Promise Keepers stadium event at the L.A. Coliseum. I knew I wasn’t much of a guy for joining things, but I was on a journey attempting to get closer to my Lord, and I came away from that weekend so uplifted that to simply go back to my old ways truly scared me.

   Still, that isn’t what gets me up early on a Saturday morning and keeps me coming all the way from Pomona to be with you guys once a month, ’cause let me tell you, I really want to sleep in. No, the truth of the matter is I walk away from our conversations, readings, discussions and prayers, rejuvenated and clean, very similar to making a good confession. And the afterglow continues with the added bonus of understanding the readings so much better during Mass the next day.

   But perhaps, most importantly, I feel that while I am there I am truly in God’s presence, that I may just be, exactly where I am supposed to be in order to listen and, hopefully, help.... the way you men have always helped me.

   Thank you for your prayers, your concerns, and for your friendship. Thank yourselves for making that extra effort to be there for the rest of us who get so much out of our little group. And especially, to Dan, Charlie, and Mike.... we all know that without your continued efforts and time, well, we would have no place to go and eat donuts and drink coffee and, through God, get tuned up.

Richard Howe