The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
The sanctuary of Christ the King Church in Little Rock shook as the sound of 600 men’s voices came together in praying the rosary to open the 13th annual Arkansas Catholic Men's Conference on “Super Bowl Saturday,” Feb. 11.
Before attention was wrapped up in which team won the game and the halftime show, men from across Arkansas and surrounding states gathered to put Christ at the center of attention at an event Bishop Anthony B. Taylor calls “the premier event for Catholic men in our diocese.”
The one-day event, held annually since 2010, is designed to unite Catholic men in the Diocese of Little Rock by inspiring them to act on their faith by providing education and encouragement.
Conference organizer Brian Gilmartin said attendance was up 50 percent from a year ago.
“It gives you confidence,” he said. “As we see more younger people come you know that the Church is in good hands. Despite what the world says there are men hungry for Jesus that really want to go out and be disciples.”
Edward Sri, a theologian, best-selling author, host of the “All Things Catholic” podcast and co-founder of Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) — which just launched a chapter at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville — was the featured speaker. He gave two 45-minute talks, “Following Jesus” in the morning session and “Into His Likeness” in the afternoon.
In his morning talk, Sri said the goal for Catholics was to let others see Christ radiating through them.
“Do we act like Christ?” he asked.
He encouraged those gathered to take small steps to follow Jesus by committing to 20 minutes of daily prayer.
“Talk to our Lord each day,” he said. “Prayer is not just repeating words. Read Scripture and think about it. Ask God what he meant. Listen. Talk to God.”
Between Dr. Sri’s presentations, Father Ruben Quinteros, pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and St. Mary Church in North Little Rock, gave his talk, “I have called you friends,” on the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Father Quinteros shared that types of prayer that work for one person may not work for someone else, and Catholics can make use of multiple resources — Scripture, prayer groups, online apps — to find what works best for them.
“Be intentional in spending time with Jesus,” he advised. “Do not be afraid. It will change your life.”
In the afternoon session, Sri told the men to be aware of the gaps in their relationship with God and work on and improve them.
“God wants to meet us in the valley of humility not on the peak of sanctity,” he said. “Ask yourself, ‘How can I be better?’ Being a man is about doing the hard things,” he said. “Are we willing to do the hard things for our spouse, for our family, for our faith?”
Tyler Garza, a member of Our Lady of the Lake Church in Lake Village, made his second trip to the conference, this time as a Catholic.
“I was kind of new to everything because I was working on getting confirmed,” he said, “so it's a whole lot better to be here and truly take part being Catholic now.”
Garza was particularly interested in hearing Sri speak because his RCIA class used a lot of his work in its curriculum.
“It's crazy even though they’re speaking to 600 of us how it feels like they're speaking right to you,” he said.
The free event was paid for through donations and sponsorships. The Knights of Columbus provided breakfast burritos and Corky’s Ribs and BBQ donated pulled pork sandwiches and side dishes for lunch.
Clay Rougeau, a member of St. Joseph Church in Conway, has attended several men’s conferences and said he always comes out feeling better than before.
“It adds a lot to my spiritual well-being,” he said. “It brings awareness that men are getting in tune with their faith, how to be a better person, husband and father. All these men are searching and it’s reassuring to know we are not alone.”
Robby Cole, who handled marketing for this year’s event, said the planning committee reached out to parishes in the state and increased social media promotions to gain attention of this year’s event.
“Each year you do it you have more men that are impacted,” Cole said. “Being our 13th year, you have more fathers and grandfathers that are inspired to come back and bring people with them. Sometimes people will grumble about giving up an hour to go to Mass in a weekend. And here you've got all these guys giving up seven, eight hours on a Saturday to be here. It shows that there are men out there that yearn for a better relationship with our Lord. They’re getting off the couch and enjoying fellowship with other men of our Catholic faith. Hopefully, their proverbial cup gets filled, and they're able to go out and spill that positivity and light of Jesus with others.”
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