Bruce Downes has had phenomenal success as The Catholic Guy on TV and in parishes far and wide. At a MenALIVE breakfast in Brisbane recently he encouraged other men to follow their dreams in faith. PAUL DOBBYN reports
“IF you have a dream, you have to go after that dream if you’re going to be fully human and fully man.”
A group of Brisbane men recently received this advice from a West Australian man who’s living proof of its truth – Bruce Downes, the creator of the television series The Catholic Guy, now shown around the world.
However, the men attending the MenALIVE breakfast at the Tattersall’s Club last month also heard that “following that dream” may not be all plain sailing.
“You may have to risk everything to fight for your Promised Land,” the man who has come to be known as
‘The Catholic Guy’ told the gathering which included students from Padua College, Kedron, just back from a MenALIVE Extreme Year 12 leadership camp.
“This applies whether your Promised Land happens to be marriage, career, whatever,” he said.
The 140 or so men of all ages gathered took more than the Catholic Guy’s inspirational story – and enjoyment of a decent breakfast – away from the MenALIVE Catholic Man Breakfast Series hosted by Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane.
The men had the opportunity to listen to the archbishop’s reflections on the meaning of life as he entered the year of his silver jubilee as a bishop, and presumed retirement.
Thanks to MC Peter Gabauer, they also got to share in a thought-provoking table discussion on “the knots in your rope” – in other words, current challenges specific to their particular lives.
Archbishop Bathersby reflected “it’s amazing how quickly life goes by”.
“It doesn’t seem so long ago as a young man in Stanthorpe I knew a 49-year-old priest who was celebrating a jubilee.
“I thought: “Gee, he really is an old guy’.
“Now I’m going to hit 75 in July this year – I’ll have to write a letter telling Pope it’s time for me to retire.
“The Pope is still running around the world in his 80s so he may say: ‘Gee, that’s not old’ and say I can hang around another year or two – but I hope he doesn’t say that.”
“The Catholic Guy” opened his remarkable tale of success by saying it could be summed up in the words:
“My story is about wondering where God is in the midst of my life”.
“My story is somewhat like that of Moses, too … he spent 40 years looking after sheep in a paddock before he could be used to lead God’s people,” he said.
The guest speaker also summed up his life in the words he would close his talk with: “I’m just a kid who was a 16-year-old living in a WA suburb most of you probably haven’t heard of who had a dream”.
“When I was 16,” he went on, “after attending a prayer meeting to which a priest took me I felt I didn’t have the gift of a calling to the priesthood.
“However, I had a feeling that God was asking me to speak to millions of people, not hundreds …”
That feeling continued but Bruce’s only problem was that even by age 27 “nothing was happening”.
“Night after night” he was pacing the floors of his house, wondering when his dream would become reality.
He was desperately asking God: “Is this just a joke?”
“I spoke to a priest who said what was certain was nothing would happen unless I made it happen,” Bruce said.
“Within three months I got involved in a local youth ministry.”
Then came his next challenge.
“At a youth camp, I was given two hours to prepare a talk to kids who couldn’t sleep.
“The talk was due at midnight so I was put in a spot.
“Then God said to me: ‘Why don’t you preach like you do in the shower?’
For Bruce the success which followed was a breakthrough moment … and his confidence has grown to the extent he now gives talks all over the world as a motivational speaker.
He also paid tribute to his wife Rosemary and her ongoing belief and support in his ministry.
Through her prayers and belief in him he recaptured the sense of conviction of destiny he had first felt at 16.
“I next mentioned my dream of reaching millions with the Gospel message to the Archbishop who said it was prophetic work … he would support me but not pay me a wage,” Bruce said, to chuckles from the crowd.
Another major breakthrough moment on the way to realising the dream came at a café in the Vatican.
“We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary,” he said.
“I was praying in the café when an extraordinary thought came.
“It was God speaking and he was saying: ‘I want you to start a Catholic TV program’.”
Several events were to bring this dream to fruition.
A son-in-law tied in with a Christian TV programming company told him a big conversation on the board had been how to start a Catholic TV program.
And so The Catholic Guy, produced in Perth by Bruce and the City Impact Catholic Ministry, started on Fox TV in Australia.
Before long the program had spread to New Zealand, Indonesia and then to Europe and the United States.
Since then it has also been launched on free-to-air television in Western Australia.
Bruce’s story over, he challenged those present at the MenALIVE breakfast to fight for their dreams, reminding them again: “I’m just a kid who was a 16-year-old living in a WA suburb most of you probably haven’t heard of who had a dream”.
The next Catholic Man Breakfast Series event will be in September.
Details of other MenALIVE events including Growing Good Men, a father-and-son camp being held at Burpengary from June 3 to 5, can be found at http://www.menalive.org.au
