Men, a thousand times strong

“My brothers, I wish you could see what I and others in the sanctuary see – over a thousand men, gathered together to pray and to continue to nourish one another for a life of discipleship,” Archbishop Aymond said in his homily during the conference Mass. “I give thanks to God for you and for all that we do today. Thank you for taking so seriously your life of discipleship.”
 

Record numbers
 

The number of attendees easily tripled the attendance at the last recent men’s conference held two years ago in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. 
 

David Dawson, director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life that coordinated the new conference, said although seating was capped at 950 the week before, many more men showed up at the door on Saturday morning and asked to join.
 

Planning for this conference, which is the first of what will become an annual event, centered on attracting three powerful keynote presenters – Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS ministry to college students; Peter Herbeck, head of Renewal Ministries and noted Catholic author and speaker; and New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi, who has seven children and stressed the necessity of Catholic men, just as NFL players do, consistently practicing their “fundamentals.”
 

“In football, the most important things are fundamentals,” Lombardi said. “A lot of times we think it’s going to be a secret play or a secret blitz that’s going to win games, but it really comes down to blocking and tackling. I think it’s the same thing with your faith – the fundamentals are prayer and the sacraments, fasting and almsgiving, things Jesus told us to do.”
 

Not a single event
 

One of the fundamentals that conference organizers insisted on was that the seven-hour event was not intended as a one-time, energy boost to the faith but would encourage men to join small faith groups in the parishes so that they could gain strength from the experience of other men trying to live out Gospel values.
 

In the church vestibule, representatives of the archdiocese’s 10 deaneries – or geographical groupings of parishes – told men about what kinds of faith groups are offered near where they live.
 

Rod Stieffel, a deanery representative from St. Dominic Parish in New Orleans, is a member of “Men of St. Joseph,” a group of about five to 20 men who gather at 6:30 a.m. every Wednesday to reflect on the coming Sunday’s Gospel, along with sharing coffee and donuts. They are done in one hour to allow men to get to work.
 

“ We talk about the Sunday Gospel ahead of time so we get to pray about it,” Stieffel said. “Someone will give a short presentation of their take on the Gospel and then we all discuss it. It’s a wonderful way to start the day.”

Vincent Bologna attends not one but two men’s groups associated with St. Peter Church in Covington (“That Man is You”) and with his deanery (“Men of St. Joseph”). Each group meets early in the morning to fit most men’s work schedules.
 

“It’s been great in my life because you can’t do this by yourself,” Bologna said. “We create relationships, and I always see guys challenging me and keeping me accountable. It’s the only way to stay on your path of faith.”
 

Rudderless in college
 

Martin, who founded his outreach to college students as a man in his 30s, recalled sitting in his dorm room as a student at LSU wrestling with a life that he was not proud of. He was ruining relationships “with friends, with the Lord, with my family.”
 

“You can’t be in a relationship with a liar, and I lied about everything,” Martin told the men.
 

He finally came to terms with his sin and used the parable of the Prodigal Son as a way to find his way back to God, and he suggested that men who feel estranged from the church get back into the habit of confession.
 

“When you’re dead in sin and come back to church, it validates the priesthood,” Martin said.
 

Regular Bible reading
 

He suggested two initial ways to “ignite the fire” are to commit to 10 minutes a day reading the Bible – he suggested reading the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles entirely two or three times over a period of weeks and months – and then joining a small faith group with other men.
 

“All the work is done in small groups,” Martin said. “It’s like, ‘Do you want to get to heaven? Yes. Let’s go together.’ It’s hard to get there on your own. Saints come in clusters – St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi, St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier. Together, the fire continues to burn. A charcoal fire gets burning hot and ignites other fires.”
 

Herbeck concentrated on the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians, in which St. Paul affirms man’s dignity.
 

“He tells us, ‘I am a son of God, I am beloved by the Lord, I am chosen, I am saved, I am sanctified for this purpose, I am going to glory,’” Herbeck said.  
 

Culture wars are real
 

Herbeck cautioned men that the culture wars are real, and the church is being attacked for promoting “hate speech” simply by affirming traditional marriage.
 

“God’s design is under assault,” Herbeck said. “The family is under attack because the family is an icon of God. As the family goes, so goes the faith.”
He suggested that if a Catholic is ever persecuted for standing up for the Gospel, Jesus has already provided the solace.
 

“When this happens, leap for joy,” he said. “If you love the king first, he is going to do something amazing for you.”
 

The daylong meeting included a panel discussion of how important it is for men to find a small group to continue strengthening their faith journey.
 

“The best time is when we are keeping our eyes on Jesus and not just looking at our own problems,” said panel member Jean Charbonnet.
 

The next men’s conference will be held Feb. 27, 2021, Dawson said. 
Bologna is hopeful the success of this year’s conference will continue to feed on itself and produce much fruit.
 

“When you see all these men,” said Bologna, “you want to know how do you keep it going. Hopefully, they will funnel into these small groups and keep it alive. It’s like going on a retreat at Manresa. You come back and you’re all blessed and it doesn’t last because no one’s holding you accountable. To be held accountable is a big thing.”
 

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at pfinney@clarionherald.org.