Why Every Catholic Man Should Join Exodus 90

John Kubasak

Why Every Catholic Man Should Join Exodus 90

This year, the start date for Exodus 90 is January 20th.  For those unfamiliar, it’s a 90-day program for men.  It involves a daily regimen of prayer and fasting, with an added weekly regimen of exercise and a group meeting.  The 90 days works out to more than double the Lenten season, with day 90 being Holy Saturday.  Easter Sunday is truly a day of redemption and freedom! 

Convinced to join?  Did I mention the cold showers?  

After doing Exodus 90 for a few years now, here are things I’ve learned, tips for success, and why I think every Catholic man should join an Exodus 90 group. 

 

No Experience, No Problem

Groups like these can develop their own culture and jargon.  So much so that when I went to a kickoff meeting the first time I tried Exodus 90, the other guys were talking about things I couldn’t quite understand.  The website has a clear, helpful outline of the program.  The main areas of the program are asceticism/physical training, spiritual life, and fraternity.  

The ascetical practices involve things every man gives up for 90 days, among them: sweets, snacking between meals, alcohol, television, unnecessary internet & phone use, video games, meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, and music that doesn’t lift our hearts to God (which, sadly, eliminates a large percentage of popular music). On Sundays, everyone can pick one discipline to relax.  This area also includes exercising three times a week and getting a full night’s sleep.  

Giving up worldly things is a solid spiritual practice, but what makes the program is not just what is taken away.  The goal of the ascetical practices is to make room for God.  We empty ourselves so that God can fill us up.  The spiritual elements are a daily holy hour, Scripture reading and reflection, praying the morning offering, and an evening examen.  A step-by-step guide for each of those practices is provided in the Exodus 90 app.  

The final element that glues all the disciplines together is the fraternity.  Every man pairs up with an anchor—a partner to check in with every day for inspiration, encouragement, and friendship.  On my first Exodus, I wasn’t sure whether the daily check-ins would be uplifting or burdensome.  Every year it’s turned out to be overwhelmingly uplifting.  The program is not an easy one, and knowing you’re not alone is a great help.  In addition to the daily check-ins, the whole group meets once a week.  I’ve found the fraternity meetings to be one of the best parts of the program.  Once everyone becomes comfortable, men share more than just their success rate on the disciplines.  They start to share their lives: joys, struggles, and great needs for prayer.  

 

Why Do I Need a Dose of Daily Hypothermia?

Men need training in just about every other endeavor in life.  Sports teams require practice, drills, and physical training.  There’s not a job that doesn’t need some kind of training programs; certain professional fields have extensive training programs.  Why do we expect the spiritual life to be different?  That minimal effort on our part will earn us a free pass to heaven?  None of us would hire a doctor, lawyer, or contractor that put in minimal effort to their training.  

Exodus 90 provides a regimen to learn how to put effort into our spiritual lives.  It may sound strange, but I think a lot of modern Catholics don’t know how to grow in holiness.  I speak from my own experience!  We know the Our Father, go to Mass on Sundays, and even listen to solid, Catholic podcasts.  But do we know Jesus?  And how to get close to Him?  How to pray deeply?  How to grow in holiness?  How to get to the kind of faith that we go all in?  When I was in that spiritual “place” of minimal effort, sometimes the lives of the saints didn’t click for me.  Yes, I could see their heroism and virtue.  But the extent of some saints’ virtue felt completely unrelatable.  I couldn’t fathom that level of holiness.  

Here is the overarching “why” of the program.  Worldliness can very easily drown out God.  The Exodus 90 formula, in a sense, is to give men a taste of what it feels like to be less worldly and more Godly.  St. Paul’s exhortation to the Romans speaks to this: 

“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  –Romans 12:1-2

 

Quick Tips for Success

The fasting (eating) disciplines were very difficult for me.  I have a bad habit of snacking, for one.  Giving up that habit was hard, but I found some help in planning my meals.  On the non-fasting days, if I put more thought into what I packed for lunch (instead of the “what aren’t the kids eating in the fridge” method), the snack lack was easier to handle.  For someone with a well-developed sweet tooth, one of the most helpful aids was fruit.  Several years ago, I did a similar fasting program where giving up sweets was part of it.  Well into the program, I was shocked how good strawberries tasted.  Sure, I liked them before, but I couldn’t taste them nearly as well when I ate more processed sugar.  

The other main tip I have is to take advantage of the increased prayer time to try new devotions.  If you haven’t done a consecration to St. Joseph, Fr. Don Calloway has a great book on it.  St. Joseph’s feast day is March 19th, which falls within the Exodus 90 timeframe.  There are many chaplets, and ones I’d recommend are the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the St. Michael Chaplet.  If the number of chaplets, novenas, saint devotions, and recommendations is a bit overwhelming, try focusing prayer on specific things each day of the week.  I found it to be a helpful way to maintain more than one devotion without getting overly scrupulous about it.  By exploring new devotions, you could find one that really fits for you.  

G.K. Chesterton famously quoted, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult; and left untried.”  I encourage all Catholic men to give the Christian ideal a try through Exodus 90, no matter the difficulty.  Growing in the spiritual life is impossible without sacrifice.  Impossible! 

Wouldn’t the Christian ideal for a man include self-control with worldly things, entertainment, food, and drink?  And wouldn’t the Christian ideal include daily prayer, weekly exercise, and supporting our brothers?  Jesus promised that the life of His disciples included a share in His cross; there’s no denying the difficulty.  He led the way, showed us the end result, and promised to be with us at every step: “I am with you always, unto the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)