By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
About 400 men came together at St. Michael Church March 18 for the annual Archdiocese of Louisville Catholic Men’s Conference.
Father Dave Dwyer — a Paulist priest and executive director of Busted Halo Ministries who once produced shows for MTV and HBO — delivered the keynote address on the day’s theme “Go Be The Difference.” Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz also presented a keynote speech on the theme and later presided at the closing liturgy.
Father Dwyer began by telling the hundreds of men that the world is facing a “new age of secularism” that is “not just about denying God’s existence,” but also believing that God “is not relevant to human thinking or action.”
This belief is “fundamentally not true,” said Father Dwyer. And it’s “up to us, people of faith, to reverse that.”
Many feel they cannot do anything to change the tide, he said. He assured the men that they “not only can, but need to” if they are to “be the difference.”
Being the difference, said Father Dwyer, starts with dropping a stone into a pond and watching the ripples spread out.
“Faith is that way,” he said, telling the men that each one of them is that “stone” dropped into the pond. He advised them to heed the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI that one is “ ‘called to walk first on this way that is Christ, to make others know the beauty of the Gospel that gives life,’ ” said Father Dwyer.
“Before we can be the difference in the world, we are called to walk this way.”
Father Dwyer recommended several tools to help the men to “be the difference.”
They include:
n Prayer — “Being aware of God’s presence in your life. … How often are you doing that?” he asked. Father Dwyer suggested the men try a new type of prayer.
n Mass and the Eucharist — This nourishment, Father Dwyer said, is “the summit and source of our faith.”
n Reconciliation — Father Dwyer told the men this sacrament “is the grace of our God coming to us as tangible as a hug.”
n The Bible — He recommended they read the Bible, which is “God’s inspired word” and “is alive,” he said.
n The saints — He urged the men to get to know the saints.
n “Spiritual welfare” of the family — He urged the men to tend to their families by praying together, talking to their children about what they’re learning at Mass or using family vacations to go on pilgrimage.
n Share the faith — Father Dwyer said the faith “grows stronger in you when you share it.”
“If we’re to be a cup pouring out to others, the cup has to be filled up,” said Father Dwyer.
Finally, Father Dwyer urged the men to embrace who they are. Quoting St. Catherine of Siena, he said to them: “ ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’ ”
Archbishop Kurtz, addressed the men after Father Dwyer, began his presentation by reading from the Book of Romans, chapter 12, verse 2.
“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect,” he read to them.
Then he posed a question:
“What are the obstacles that typically stand in your way from being transformed?” he asked the men.
The archbishop also spoke to the men about achieving harmony in life, comparing harmony in one’s life to a wheel with properly aligned spokes. The metaphor, he said, comes from C. S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity.”
He went on to explain that harmony is “having our life in right relationship.”
“Things are in order — God in your life, other people in your life and your interior life matches the rest of it,” said the archbishop.
Five obstacles can get in the way, the archbishop said. Among them:
n The “distance that happens between the people we love and us.” It’s very rare these days, he said, to give anyone undivided attention, which creates a gap between people.
n Internet and television pornography are, “on a practical level, for this age, the biggest obstacle” that prevents many men from being able to “make a difference,” he said. The use of pornography “promotes isolation and saps you of energy. It has no useful purpose,” said the archbishop.
n Fear of failure, which “stops a lot of good from being done.” That fear, the archbishop said, can come, in part, from a belief that God has not given a person any talents.
Archbishop Kurtz asked his listeners to strive to be “men of communion” and to keep belief, morality and worship in the forefront always. He urged them to cultivate “eulogy virtues” that you “carry with you into eternity — fidelity, commitment, desire for what is right and compassion,” said the archbishop.
Among the conference participants was Glen Murphy, a member of St. Patrick Church. This was his third conference experience, he said, noting that he seizes“any opportunity to come together as one community.”
“You realize there are several hundred men all here looking to find and act on their purpose,” said Murphy. “Everyone is on their own journey, but you come here and you understand that our paths are going in the same general direction.”
Paul Tadatada, another parishioner of St. Patrick, said he had returned for his fourth conference experience.
“I’ve been feeling like I need to say and do more” about his faith, he said. He appreciated Father Dwyer’s suggestions to go out and be the difference.
“Our religion is a wonderful religion that should be shared with others,” said Tadatada, noting he’d already posted on social media what he’d learned that day.
The conference also included opportunities for reconciliation, two panel discussions and other speakers.
Joan Smith, founder and executive director of Lifehouse Maternity Home, which serves pregnant women and their children, spoke about the organization. A young mother, who receives assistance from Lifehouse, also spoke to the men, telling them how the center changed her life.
Donna Young, director of volunteers and conference affairs at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and a young man who receives assistance from SVDP spoke about the society’s work.
