On March 22, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis held a men’s conference hosted by Epiphany in Coon Rapids and spearheaded by the archdiocesan Office of Discipleship and Evangelization and the archdiocesan Catholic Watchmen movement.
The keynote speaker for the conference was Edward Sri, who gave a presentation on the Mass to young adults the night before at Station 10 in St. Paul. During the men’s conference, Sri gave two talks, one called “Art of Living” based on the four cardinal virtues and the second, “The Vibrant Life,” on relativism and being courageous with the Catholic faith.
The conference began with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda. In his opening remarks, the archbishop said that he was encouraged to see so many cars in the parking lot of Epiphany, and that many men, over 500 in total, came to the conference “to offer their very best to our God and to be able to support one another,” Archbishop Hebda said.
To start the morning with Mass, Archbishop Hebda said, was a great privilege and that there is no better place to be than “in our Father’s house.”
“He’s always calling us to leave behind those times when we put our needs first,” Archbishop Hebda said. “We continue to be in this period of Eucharistic revival, in our archdiocese and in our country. How significant it is that we would begin this day with this Eucharistic sacrifice and to have the opportunity to be nourished, to be open for all of the graces that God intends to bestow upon us this day.”
Archbishop Hebda ended his homily by thanking Epiphany staff and Father Thomas Dufner, the pastor at Epiphany. The archbishop also joked that Father Dufner and Deacon Gordon Bird — who ministers to St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville and assists with the Catholic Watchmen movement — could compete in a Clint Eastwood impersonation competition.
Sri began his presentation shortly after, talking about the painting by Caravaggio, “The Calling of Saint Matthew.” Sri recommended that those in attendance put themselves in the shoes of Matthew at the moment in which he was called.
“Do you consider in your life the ways Jesus, the light of the world, is stepping into areas of darkness in your own soul?” Sri said. “I think that’s what this painting invites us all to do, because that’s what it really means to be a disciple. … The heart of the Spirit is always looking for the ways Jesus is inviting us to grow to love more, to surrender more, to give more, to trust more.”
In explaining the cardinal virtues — prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance — Sri said that virtue makes it possible for a person to be capable of truly loving another. For Sri, growing in virtue is not just a self-improvement project, but rather a way to love the people in his life well.
“The people in my life are depending on me being the kind of man that doesn’t just meander through life,” Sri said. “(Someone who) is intentionally growing in virtue, imitating Jesus — my wife, my kids need me to be the kind of dad (and) husband that is intentionally striving to be more. Why? Because … the more I grow in virtue — say generosity, courage, prudence — the more I give generous, courageous and prudent things to bless the people in my life.”
During his talk, Sri advised conference attendees to act out virtue consistently, easily, properly and with joy.
In his second talk, Sri explained that Catholic youths are bombarded every day with images and ideas that aren’t neutral via modern media such as social media. Sri suggested these images and ideas undermine the Catholic understanding of love, marriage, happiness and true beauty.
“My children need the faith, but they need more than that. They need me to prepare them for what they’re going to encounter in the secular world,” Sri said.
Sri said many young adults he meets struggle with exercising opinions about morality without it drifting into relativism, that there are no absolute truths. He said that the culture today may label people as bigots or intolerant. But this fear of being labeled can lead people to abandon their moral compasses, Sri said.
“Truth is not an abstract concept in a book or in a library,” Sri said. “Truth is a person. Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life.’ When I play games with truth, I’m playing games with Jesus, and I don’t want to do that, and I don’t want the next generation to fall into that trap. … We need to stand up for truth.”
Following Sri’s second talk, there was a time for Eucharistic Adoration, held by Bishop Kevin Kenney. Between talks and before and after breakfast, several local Catholic vendors set up shop in Epiphany’s hallways. Some vendors included St. Joseph’s Guild, the Knights of Columbus, Franciscan Brothers of Peace, Catholic United Financial, Catholic Watchmen and others.
