Where can you find two men, friends from age 5, who are still best friends 30 years later, celebrating their faith?
At the Oklahoma Catholic Men’s Conference in Norman.
On March 9 more than 1,000 men attended the conference “In the Father’s Footsteps,” and powerful talks were heard by speakers on such topics as shame, the pro-life mission and how manhood is seen today.
Chris Stefanick opened the day speaking on the latter when he opened the 28th annual conference, the longest running of its kind in North America. His talk title, “Modern Masculinity: Power and Authority from God’s Perspective,” moved many to say Stefanick’s energy and message were impactful and precisely what many men needed to hear in the current social climate.
Popular author and podcaster Jeff Cavins followed with his talk designed on helping men rise above past shame that may be hindering their relationship with Christ.
Once out of the doors of the conference room people were greeted with a spread of different Catholic organizations, spreading from that hall to a separate room filled with Catholic vendors. At a table near the back of the room sat the two-man team from Tulsa who currently run Saint Michael Catholic Radio. When asked how they got started, one part of the duo, David Niles, said, “It was kind of like a trial by fire at the beginning.”
The two, Niles and Adam Minihan, seemed close, and rightly so, since they met at the age of 5. At 8 they attended the second Catholic Men’s Conference together. They have been attending ever since. Niles noted the impact of the years spent diving into a full day of Catholic speakers, especially for young adults who can be misdirected by the wiles of the world.
“(The Men’s Conference) was a really crucial moment for me.”
Above it all, the chaos of the day and new connections made, a bright light seemed to shine on all the men as they gathered for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. A male voice chanted in Latin and reverence filled the room as the men quietly lined up to receive absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
“I wished I had come to this conference sooner,” Caesar Villejo said. “It helps (men) find their way back.
“Once you find yourself as a man, it helps your family.”
Villejo seemed particularly moved by Stefanic.
“Chris was very timely,” he said. “There is a global movement against masculinity.”
Calling the men to a sense of duty and purpose in the fight for life, the two pro-life speakers – David Bereit and Brett Attebery – spoke back-to-back. To many, one quote stood, taken from the Saint John Paul II and delivered by Attebery: “It is the duty of every man to uphold the dignity of every woman,” combatting the argument that the male population has no say in the pro-life movement.
Jim Beckman closed the conference with a talk formatted in what he called a three-act play. This talk contained in the second act a prophetic dream Beckman he experienced almost a year-to-the-day. He ended by challenging the men to be vigilant, as people are in a spiritual war.
After the many talks Archbishop Coakley celebrated Mass, with Tulsa Bishop Konderla, and all the men renewed by penance came together in communion.
Even the two men, best friends at 5, and still friends today.
Anne-Marie Hagen is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: (above) Men prayed over speaker Jeff Cavins at the “In The Father’s Footsteps XXVIII” Oklahoma Catholic Men’s Conference on March 9 at Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Norman. Photos Chris Porter/Sooner Catholic.