Diocese of Phoenix Combats Crisis of Men in the Church

[Disir]

PHOENIX — The Diocese of Phoenix is helping to spark a movement to bring men back into the life of the Church and encourage them to answer their calling as Catholic men who are fathers, husbands, sons and brothers.

The blueprint for this effort came last September, in the form of a 40-page apostolic exhortation from Bishop Thomas Olmsted. Titled “Into the Breach,” it struck a nerve nationally for the simple-yet-bold call it issued to Catholic men to step up and engage in the spiritual battle raging around them, from their homes to their local parishes and beyond.

“To me, it’s really just a simple call to action,” said Steven Pettit, co-director of the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Phoenix, a lay organization that works closely with the diocese.

“Men are rarely hearing this message in homilies, and, many times, they don’t believe the Mass is directed towards them. So this is being seen as an abrupt wake-up call by men,” Pettit added. “Bishop Olmsted is calling to every man, ‘You are to be involved, and here are the reasons why, and here are the things that you’re called to do as men.’”

The extent to which that message is resonating is evident in the group’s annual men’s conference, which was held in early February and was dedicated to the exhortation. In a first for the conference, it sold out a little over three weeks in advance and could easily have drawn hundreds more men than the 1,300 reserved seats. Participants also came from farther than usual, including some from Kansas, Chicago and even Alaska, according to Pettit, who serves as coordinator for the conference.

“Into the Breach” has had an impact beyond the United States as well, with translations in German, French, Portuguese and Hungarian, according to a local diocesan official.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-new...ts-crisis-of-men-in-the-church/#ixzz462mH2ZWT

This is a rather interesting update.

 

[Blackrook]

I am glad to see this happening. Men need our own place where we can hear the Gospels applied to our own unique problems. Men hear contrary messages from the world that we do from the Church. In the world, we are taught to be tough, and competitive, and to grasp every advantage over our adversaries. The Church teaches us to love our enemies and forgive them, no matter what they do to us. These messages are difficult to reconcile, and we need someone to help us do that.

 

[Moonglow]

They should give away beer after mass, like they did 600 years ago..

 

[Blackrook]

They should give away beer after mass, like they did 600 years ago..

You really don't know anything about Catholicism, do you? Your post smacks of ignorance.

 

[Moonglow]

They should give away beer after mass, like they did 600 years ago..

You really don't know anything about Catholicism, do you? Your post smacks of ignorance.

I know that monks for centuries have brewed beer and that beer was drank by the entire family due to it's lack of bacteria, which water was bad and contaminated......