What happens when a highly successful, Enneagram 3 Carmelite priest confesses to being an "inadequate son" and strips down in the woods?

In this special encore presentation of Follow Me to the M-R-O-P!, host Brian Mueller brings back his conversation with Bob Colaresi. As Brian heads to the Illinois Men's Rites of Passage this week, we revisit Bob's powerful 2005 initiation in Minnesota. Bob, the founder emeritus of these rites, shares his journey of overcoming his fear of mosquitoes, discovering the profound impact of drumming, and confronting the false self that drove his messianic need to fix everything.

Episode Highlights

• The Mosquito Fear: Bob admits he almost backed out of the rites after reading Adam's Return, only to be lovingly guilted into going by his spiritual director, Susan, who made him a drum.
• The Inadequate Son: How a profound grief ritual forced an Enneagram 3 administrator to publicly name the deep inadequacy driving his worldly success.
• Heaven Smiled: Spending a day in the woods on the three-year anniversary of his father's funeral, Bob finally heard the words he had waited his whole life to hear.
• Moses and the Veil: The powerful story of returning home in tears, and Susan's beautiful recognition that she had looked right into the heart of his soul.
• Dropping the Messianic Complex: How the rites helped Bob stop treating people like projects to be fixed and instead listen to them with genuine, self-emptying love.

Links & Resources

• Brian Mueller (Host)
• BriansPoems.com
• Illuman MROP
• Choosing Presence (Sponsor)
• Practicing Presence App
• The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr
• Adam's Return by Richard Rohr
• Breathing Under Water by Richard Rohr
• Trust Stillness by Brian Mueller

Credits

• First and foremost, thank you to Bob Colaresi for sharing his journey and his heart with us today.
• Thank you to Fr. Richard Rohr and the men of Illuman who have stewarded the Men’s Rites of Passage since 1996.
• Thank you to Jim Heaney and Jim Taylor for their dedication to Choosing Presence.

Music Credits:

• Slow Mo Dreams by Soundroll
• Becoming a Legend by Vens Adams