Conference challenges men to be faithful and fearless

Photos by Andrew Junker/CATHOLIC SUN

More than 800 men attended this year’s Feb. 20 Lenten Conference at St. Paul Parish. Attendees sang praise and worship music, heard a variety of speakers, went to confession and celebrated Mass with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted.

Annual gathering recognizes men’s spirituality

Wet roads and chilly temperatures couldn’t keep them away. They streamed into St. Paul’s Parish Hall Feb. 20 for an all-day Lenten Men’s Conference.

“There are more than 800 Catholic men in here today,” said Mike Phelan, director of the diocesan marriage and respect life office. “Praise God.”

And they did.

Throughout the day, the men heard from a variety of speakers on spiritual challenges, sang praise and worship music, went to confession — there were 25 priests on hand — and celebrated Mass.

The theme for this year’s Lenten conference was “All In.”

“This conference is always going to be tied to this season in our Church when we’re called to go into the desert and lay some things down and suffer with Christ,” Phelan said.

He identified three goals for the conference. First, he wanted the men to deepen their personal encounter with Christ; he wanted them to go all in by dedicating their lives to Christ and His Church; and, he wanted them to change the culture.

“This is a great sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in our Church, and it’s a great encouragement to me as bishop of this Church,” Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted told the crowd.

 “Love is not genuine unless it’s all in,” the bishop said.

He called on the men to allow God to be their Father so they could be good fathers to others, and prayed that everyone be given the grace to listen well.

Former Major League Baseball all-star Terry Mattingly served as master of ceremonies at the conference for the third year in a row. He pointed out the fact that there were many more young men in the crowd this year. Fathers brought their sons, which was a great thing, he said.

“This is a great opportunity for all of us,” he said. “Let’s give everything we’ve got for the hours that we’re here today.”

The conference featured speakers like local priest Fr. John Lankeit, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, apologist Peter Herbeck and Timothy Gray, a biblical scholar who teaches at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. Local Catholic musician and songwriter Chris Muglia provided music for the conference.

Gray said that the world today has lost its narrative.

“The world doesn’t know why it exists. Therefore, we don’t know what we were made for,” he said. “We become men without a mission when we lose the meaning.”

He challenged the men to rebel against the soft, consumer-driven culture that pervades everything.

“The goal in modern culture is to get granite countertops and drive a Lexus,” he said. “That’s not something worth dying for.”

Rather than get caught up in the “spectator culture,” Gray encouraged the men to be selfless and active, to love their families and sacrifice for them.

That was a theme echoed throughout the day — the need to be faithful and fearless.

“If 800 men in Phoenix take to heart their duty, we will impact the culture,” Phelan told the crowd to loud applause.