By Billy Kwiatowski, Parishoner
On a Saturday in the middle of November, one hundred and fifteen Catholic men disconnected from the noise and chaos of daily life and reconnected in brotherhood and fellowship to experience words of wisdom and a renewed sense of hope.
At Saint Francis Cathedral in Metuchen these men gathered for what was the first annual Men’s Conference. A ‘Renewal of Hope’ was the theme of the conference inspired by the 2025 Jubilee year of Hope. Attendees were inspired by three amazing faith-filled speakers and Eucharistic Adoration, a time where the men reflected in the presence of the Lord on the speeches and fellowship and gave thanks to God for the many graces of the conference.
“We produced this conference to give men throughout the diocese a chance to receive the Holy Spirit, in brotherhood and fellowship and to hear the wisdom of the speakers,” says Paul Zensky, leader of the Men on Mission at Saint Francis and committee chair of the Conference. “We intended this as an opportunity to get conversion, to foster fellowship and to bring guys back to the church and back into the fold.”
Father Christy, the rector of Saint Francis Cathedral and the conference MC reminded us that the real strength of being a man comes from our heart – our yielding to a power that is not ours.
“You have to believe in something in order to be able to have Hope,” says Father Christy. “Because we cannot have hope unless we first have Faith. If you don’t believe in God, Hope won’t do anything.”
Three speakers shared inspiring talks with the men, mixing humor and humility to deliver compelling stories of hope.
Dr. Ray Guarendi of EWTN and Sirius Radio fame, talked about the importance of Catholic men standing strong in a culture that is no longer on our side. To instill discipline in our children because, as he said it, “discipline without love may be harsh – but love without discipline borders on child abuse”.
He shared - when children enter the world without discipline their minds and souls can easily be twisted by society to the point where they no longer have faith and hope. His practical, faith-filled advice wrapped in humor, had the audience laughing throughout his two speeches.
“It was funny because its true – and that truth has a lot of wisdom in it,” said Tom Sharlow of the Saint Francis Men on Mission.
Kevin Wells, best-selling author of The priests we need to save the church, told a deeply personal story of hope. How only with hope he had persevered through health and marital challenges but how the lack of hope led to a dear college friend taking his own life. He implored us, as men, to do the hard things – to be strong powerful men of hope, to be blazing furnaces of light in this world that sorely lacks. To find that one person in our lives who needs hope and to be that source of hope for them.
Father Kevin Kelly of Saint Joseph in Raritan NJ, was on fire with the Holy Spirit as he walked the men through passages of the bible. He reminded us that as Catholics, our hope is deeply rooted in the person of Christ who, through everything Jesus says and does, shows us the nature of hope. How through Christ’s word and actions we can gain strength and confidence in hope.
Reflecting on the five-hour conference, Deacon Rick Fortune said, “the conference exceeded my expectations because the speakers drew us into our own experiences and taught us to look at them differently, especially in the eyes of our faith. How faith drives us to hope and without faith we really can’t have hope. That’s what today meant to me. How through faith and hope we can persevere. I am more hopeful today thanks to God’s grace.
“The conference offered the men a time of reflection and a time for connection,” said Jose Guerrero. “We left inspired as Catholic men with a renewed sense of hope.” A hope that the Saint Francis Men on Mission trust will carry us all through to another successful Men’s Conference in 2026.