PROVIDENCE — More than 230 men were in attendance for the Men of St. Joseph’s annual diocesan conference, which was held on Saturday, August 6, at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul. The theme of this year’s event was based on Psalm 33:20, “Our hope is in the LORD.”
The Men of St. Joseph is an association of Catholic men meant to promote the role of men as positive spiritual influences in their family and community.
The day-long event began at 8 a.m. with breakfast in the cathedral hall, which was followed by opening remarks from Keith Kline, coordinator of the St. Philip’s chapter of the Men of St. Joseph. Kline, the principal of St. Philip’s parish school in Greenville, along with his wife Lisa, serve as the presidents of the Serra Club, an organization meant to foster vocations to the priesthood.
Kline began his remarks by reading from Psalm 33:20-22, after which he noted, “With all that’s going on in our world, and all that we’re faced with each and every day, the battle continues to rage on. Our hope is in the Lord. That’s why we’re here.
“Our hope is always in the Lord,” he continued. “We place our trust in Him today.”
A performance followed by a praise and worship band, composed of musicians from the People of God’s Love, an informal charismatic prayer group formed by parishioners at St. Philip’s parish.
Peter Herbeck, the executive vice president and director of missions for Renewal Ministries, presented two lectures during the conference.
Founded in the early 1980s, Renewal Ministries holds rallies and lecture events in which they attempt to defend Catholicism in light of recent social and ideological challenges to the faith. They also help to coordinate overseas missionary activity. Herbeck has also authored several books, and is the host of the radio show “Fire on the Earth,” as well as the television show “The Choices We Make,” which airs on EWTN.
In his first lecture, Herbeck focused on the theme of how to foster a proper mindset that Catholics should have when faced with rapid social change and negative trends in the Church and society. He noted that while the mindset of the world only fosters a sense of fear, anger and helplessness, a Christian sees hardships as God exposing the weaknesses and shortcomings of the Church in her mission, something which is necessary for the Church to grow and better carry out its God-given responsibilities.
The Christian mindset is thus defined by having a sense of joy and inner peace even in the midst of hardship.
Those who lack faith cannot make sense of the notion of having joy in the midst of hardship, Herbeck said, but that one who has faith in Jesus notes that the only real obstacle to true happiness is sin and the work of the devil, something that Christ has overcome. Christ, in His death and Resurrection, has “taken away the power of sin and sin’s dominion over your life, and the devil’s claim over your life,” and allows us to belong to Christ, Herbeck went on to say.
Herbeck’s second lecture placed the current crisis in the Church within a larger sociological framework. Herbeck stated that the standard for spiritual health in the Church is whether or not it can be honest about the reality of the spiritual warfare that the human race finds itself in, and firmly proclaim the Gospel within that context. Unfortunately, Herbeck stated that most Catholics do not have a good grasp even of the fundamentals of Catholic theology.
The reason for this, according to Herbeck, is that “the biggest influence on almost all of us is not the Church, it’s the culture, and the values of that broader culture.” The reason why the Church is no longer a formidable influence in the culture is because Western society has slowly begun to conceptualize itself less in terms of the traditional notions of Christendom and has begun to see religion as something of secondary or no importance.
The main way to counteract this trend, Herbeck stated, is for the faithful to increase a sense of fellowship with their fellow Catholics.
Herbeck’s talks were followed by Mass at 11:30 for the Feast of the Transfiguration.
Bishop Tobin, the principal celebrant, began his sermon by greeting the organizers and participants of the conference.
“We pray that the Mass we celebrate here today, and the conference you attend, will really strengthen you in your faith, in your mission,” Bishop Tobin said.
“You’re doing very well. We’re very proud of the Men of St. Joseph, and we pray that God will continue to bless your work and your ministry in the days and in the years to come.”
Bishop Tobin also offered words of gratitude and congratulations to Father Christopher Murphy for recently accepting the role of chaplain of the Men of St. Joseph.
Following lunch, Father Murphy, who serves as rector of Our Lady of Providence Seminary, spoke to the group.
“I have come to believe, and have become more convicted, that the only way that we get good and healthy and holy priests is if the other vocations in the Church are strong as well, and only if we have strong fathers in every sense, that all of these vocations support one another,” he said.
“If one vocation is suffering and weak, then the other one is going to suffer as well,” Father Murphy said, going on to quote from Pope St. John Paul II, who said that marriage and family life on the one hand, and the priesthood on the other, support and strengthen one another.
He said that men can find the highest example of how to live out their role as fathers by looking to St. Joseph.
Father Murphy concluded that those sources of anger and disappointment in our lives — corruption in the Church, increasing secularism, struggling with a particular sin, relationships falling apart, larger societal issues — are not insurmountable obstacles to our salvation.
“Christian faith, my brothers, is not about ignoring these things,” he said. “Faith does challenge us, though, to recognize that the Lord often uses these things to wake us up.”
The conference was well-received by the audience.
“It was very enlightening,” said Emilio Fernandez, a member of the Men of St. Joseph chapter at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Cumberland.
“It’s excellent,” said Glenn Ford of St. Joseph’s Parish in Cumberland. “It’s good to be brought back to the beginning, the bones of what our faith is, because it gets so clouded.”
Also in attendance was Father Jude Kasaija, a Catholic priest from Uganda who hopes to establish a Men of St. Joseph chapter in his home country.
“It had a lot of words to encourage men for the good fight and to trust in God,” said Father Jude. “Back in Uganda, men come to church, but they’re not so engaged in serving God. I think there’s a lot to be done to be more engaged, to be more involved, in the Church.”
“The Men of St. Joseph,” he added, “brings men together,” noting how the organization allows for a sense of spiritual and moral intimacy that allows for spiritual strengthening.
