March 24, 2010

Catholic men’s conference draws 1,200

By Bill Howard, The Colorado Catholic Herald

COLORADO SPRINGS—More than 1,200 men from Colorado and surrounding states absorbed a day of inspirational talks on the theme of “Seize Life” at the second annual Rocky Mountain Catholic Men’s Conference March 20 at Pikes Peak Center in downtown Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan co-hosted the event with Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., who celebrated the closing Mass, and Pueblo Bishop Fernando Isern, who concelebrated Mass and also led a Spanish-language breakout session on fatherhood. All three dioceses sponsored the conference.

Dennis Murphy, a Colorado Springs-based licensed counselor and theology teacher at St. Mary’s High School, opened the morning with a laughter-filled presentation on differences in how God created men and women. Behind the humor, however, was a serious message—challenging men in all vocations to regularly study the Scriptures and to take seriously St. Paul’s call in Ephesians 5 for men to serve their wives as Christ served the Church—ultimately giving his life for her.
“We are to love our wives unconditionally,” he said. “Love your wife as she is. Clergy, fall in love with the Church, because I know how she can break your heart, too.”

Father Tad Pacholczyk, director of education for the National Catholic Bioethics Center of Philadelphia and a priest of the Diocese of Falls River, Mass., concluded the morning schedule with a discussion on beginning-of-life issues such as human embryos and assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Father Pacholczyk broke down the specifics of several medical procedures such as IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (known more commonly as “ICSI”) in order to show how they contradict the beauty of procreation through the union of husband and wife as professed by the Catholic Church. He talked about how some doctors have turned the marital act into one of production instead of procreation.

Father Pacholczyk said that at the core of assisted reproductive technologies is a sense of children as a couple’s right rather than as a gift. He said that sex between spouses, which should always be open to life, should be seen as a petitioning of God for children rather than a demand. Father Pacholczyk called on men to understand the lies promoted by supporters of assisted reproductive technologies and to defend the Church’s teachings on procreation.

Following the morning talks, there was a two-hour period where the men could go to confession and then eat lunch. Long lines crisscrossed the Pikes Peak Center lobby as men waited to take part in the sacrament of reconciliation made available by some three dozen priests spread around the upper levels and in empty rooms around the main seating area.

Bishop Sheridan introduced the confession time by reflecting on the life of St. John Vianney, who is being honored through June as part of the Catholic Church’s Year for Priests focus. As part of the Year for Priests, the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ large traveling icon of St. John Vianney was displayed on the stage for part of the day, as was a relic of the saint courtesy of the Archdiocese of Denver.

Bishop Sheridan said that the sacrament of reconciliation is at the core of the priesthood. He noted that St. John Vianney spent up to 18 hours in the confessional.

“(The confessional is) where we belong,” Bishop Sheridan said. “We belong as mediators and dispensers of the mercy and forgiveness of God. Now maybe we would say that it was a little excessive on the part of the Cure of Ars, but it’s how he became a saint. It’s why the Church holds him up especially for parish priests. In the course of this Year for Priests, he is our special patron.

“I call on our priests, as the Holy Father has, to renew in us zeal for all the sacraments, but in a particular way for the sacrament of penance,” the prelate said.

Tim Gray, president of the Augustine Institute in Denver, opened the afternoon schedule with a talk on “How to Lead Our Families to Abundant Life in Christ.”

Steve Bollman, founder of “That Man Is You,” a parish-based men’s ministry program that is active at several parishes in Colorado, followed with another discussion about the need in society for men to strengthen their roles in their marriages and families. Bollman decried a societal attitude that developed over the last three decades that says that a woman does not need a man and does not to be married to have children.

“We need men to step up to the plate. At the end of the day, as Pope John Paul II said in his letter Familiaris Consortio, the future of the world and of the Church passes through the family,” he said. “Men are important to their families and families are important to society. Beyond that, God has made the family the foundation for the work he wants to do in the world today.”

Bollman related several studies that show that the father-child relationship often affects that child’s education and that, when the father is more involved a child’s life, that child is less likely to end up committing crimes. The studies also show that child is more likely to be confident and have healthy self-esteem. Bollman used the parable of the prodigal son (Lk 15) to add that a father needs to be merciful and just.

Bill Moyer and his 23-year-old son Billy, who co-founded the Texas-based SOS Leadership Institute, challenged the men in attendance to embrace the leadership tendencies that God places in them so they can become spiritual role models for their children. Bill shared his faith journey of a conversion to the Catholic Church, then taking a passive role in the faith before finally awakening and creating a leadership ministry. His son capped the presentation with a reflection on why he looks up to his father.

“Kids don’t want the PlayStation 3 that they tell you they want. They don’t want all those material things. They want you,” Billy Moyer said. “So give them a hug, tell them you love them and tell them you’re proud of them. That’s being a leader. That’s making a difference. That will make them become a leader who will make a difference.”

Curtis Martin, president and founder of Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) in Northglenn, closed out the lineup of speakers with a message that “you were made for more” and that Catholic men need to be active in their families and in society.

“We’ve got to change the way we’re living because if you always do what you’ve always done then you’re always going to get what you’ve always had and that’s not enough,” he said. “Today—right now—pick a part of the culture that is in crisis. Turn to our Lord and get on your knees and say, ‘I don’t know how to do this, but I’m committed to serving you and to being light in the darkness and to be the salt of the earth. “Because that’s what you called me to do, and if I don’t do that I’m not living to the call that you made me for.’ What’s holding us back is sin and fear.”

Sean Dalton, west regional director for FOCUS, emceed the event and a band led by Shaun Garrison, a fulltime missionary with FOCUS, provided music between talks and during the closing Mass.
In his homily at the closing Mass, Archbishop Chaput brought the day full circle back to the theme of seizing life.

“The purpose of your being together as brothers in Christ today is … that you stop compromising your vocations as Christians, as husbands and fathers,” he said. “You’re supposed to seize life, because Christ came so that you might have life and have it more abundantly. The way to that is through lives without compromise.

“When it comes to the Lord Jesus, we do not compromise with him. What Christ wants from us is everything, and he wants it now. … Go and sin no more. The way you can seize life from the one who has given you life and desires you to give your life more abundantly is to go forth from this gathering and embody in your lives the mercy and the justice of God. May God bring to completion the things he’s begun in you today.”

Conference CDs available
CDs of the Rocky Mountain Catholic Men’s Conference talks, with the exception of Father Pacholczyk’s talk, are available through www.ncrsusa.com. A DVD of the conference, also minus Father Pacholczyk’s talk, is also available by sending $15 to Father Gregory Golyzniak at St. Joseph Parish, 1830 S. Corona St., Colorado Springs, 80905.