When a confession line is longer than a king cake line

“That’s the real story of today – men going to confession,” Abramowicz said.

Abramowicz knows all about conversion and the power of  confession. For years during and after his NFL career, he lived in a world of his own design until he got the wake-up call, kind of like St. Augustine going over the middle, and decided to go all-in on Jesus.
 

That’s why last Saturday at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Metairie, Abramowicz, who will turn 75 in July, couldn’t believe his eyes.
Actually, he could believe them because he knew his vision would become a reality.
 

More than 1,000 men squeezed inside the church, one of the largest in the archdiocese, for a rousing Men’s Conference entitled “Mission: Possible,” whose goal was to take what was done during seven hours of prayer, teaching, confession, Mass, eucharistic adoration and fraternity to produce the fire or plant the seed that had saved Abramowicz’s life.
 

The view from ground level was amazing but was even more awe-inspiring from a second-floor window of the Msgr. Barrett Complex – situated across the St. Catherine of Siena parking lot from the church.
 

Hundreds of men – maybe a thousand? – lined up to make their way to confession with 25 priests spread out, sitting in chairs on the second floor.
 

The real story? That was the real story.

 

Abramowicz called the day a booster shot for a church that has been brought to its knees by clerical sexual abuse and a crisis of authority. He said lay Catholics – and, in particular, men – have to get their acts together.
 

“We got positive things,” Abramowicz said. “We know the outcome. We know we’re saved already. Why are we walking around like we got doubt? We have to help save others.”
 

The idea planted by the three keynote speakers – New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi, FOCUS founder Curtis Martin and Renewal Ministries evangelist Peter Herbeck – was that the men utilize the impetus of the conference to join small faith groups of men in their individual parishes.

David Dawson Jr., director of the archdiocesan Office of Marriage and Family Life, said those groups provide regular accountability and faith-strengthening for men with busy lives.
 

Several attendees who are already part of such groups exchanged information on faith-formation programs such as “That Man is You,”  “Men of St. Joseph “ and “Viri Dei” (Men of God).
 

There is strength in numbers.
 

“One of the things that was most impactful was just the number of men who showed up,” said Jeff Young, a parishioner of St. Peter Parish in Covington, who has participated in the “Exodus 90” spiritual exercise program for two years. “This is indicative of the fact that there is a hunger for more of what they found here – more faith, more fraternity, more of Jesus.”
 

Young said the followup from the conference will be vital.
 

“Because you can’t live on Mount Tabor every day – you’ve got to come down from the mountain,” Young said. “This is kind of like a mountaintop experience, but you have to sustain that in daily prayer. You also need to rub elbows with other men who are on the same journey. Steel sharpens steel.”
 

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].