The First Annual Men’s Conference was a HUGE success! The registration lines were out the door by 7:30am and well over 600 men took advantage of the amazing day of prayer, spirituality, and brotherhood. We were challenged by the realities of manhood and fatherhood presented by Fr. Larry Richards, touched by the testimonies of Fr. Johnathan Roberts, Corey Flemming, and Fred Beretta, and sanctified by the abundant graces present during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered by Bishop Peter Jugis and adoration held by Fr. Timothy Reid.
We had countless priests available for the hundreds of confessions heard throughout the day and a number of vendors & sponsors present including Tan and Knights of Columbus Supreme representative Brian Caulfiled with Fathers for Good offering the spiritual tools needed to continue our Good Fight.
It was truly an amazing day and fantastic accomplishment pulled off by Council 770. I want to thank Dan Trapini who has worked tirelessly for the better part of a year in organizing the event and all of our core team including: Shawn McAllister, Rick Caron, Mike Witt, and Tom Mathis. These men poured blood, sweat and tear into ensuring the success of this conference which will the first of many to come! A great thanks is also due to Fr. Christopher Roux who helped us through all of the liturgical logistics and details needed to pull things off. And a big thank you to all our knights and friends who helped setting up, running, and cleanup after all was done.
After the conference was over, there was still one final layer of icing left to finish off this cake. Through a connection through the Knights, the Catholic film marketing firm of Maximus Group was present at St. Patrick’s to present a premier screening of the new movie “Courageous” due out in September. “Courageous is the third film of Sherwood Pictures who produced “Fireproof”, “Facing the Giants”, and “Flywheel”. They were present to get a Catholic response and perspective on the movie. There were a handful of celebrities present including EWTN’s “Life of the Rock” host Doug Perry, “Fireproof” actor Ken Bevel, and “Fireproof” & “Facing the Giant’s” producer and actor Jim McBride. The movie is based on the theme of fatherhood and was very moving. It related perfectly everything presented at the day’s conference. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.
More info on the movie available at http://www.courageousthemovie.com/home.
Vivat Jesus,
Jason Murphy, GK
