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March 24, 2021By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
Despite - and even because of – changes this year, attendees praised the diocese’s annual men’s conference.
“Saturday was a day I was wowed about, particularly given the world events we are living in and through,” Roger Monette told conference committee member Angelo Guadagno in an email, expressing abundant thanks for everyone’s efforts. “To think, two talks from Scott.” (Popular author and speaker Scott Hahn spoke about conversion and sacraments, among other topics.)
The conference was “awesome, given how we’re all trying to keep our communities together,” Mr. Monette told The Catholic Free Press. He said he’s from Holy Family Parish in Worcester, but gathered with faith-filled men at St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge, where his Cursillo men’s group met before the pandemic.
The Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference traditionally brought about 1,000 men together, at what’s now Assumption University, for a day of talks, fellowship and visits to vendors’ tables, with many priests hearing confessions.
But because of gathering size restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s half-day conference was remote and interactive.
Participants watched the pre-recorded welcome by Bishop McManus, talks and Mass - at home or in small groups in church facilities.
Array of Hope, the New Jersey-based ministry producing the conference, provided a chat option so the men could comment or pose questions, some of which organizers selected for speakers to answer in live online sessions, Mr. Guadagno said.
Reported technological problems were few, he said; about five people watching from home had difficulties due to internet speed or their choice of the wrong browser, and tech support volunteers helped them.
He said he did not yet have the total number of participants. The website firstmensconf.org shows nearly 200 people signed up to attend at 25 host sites, 14 sites in the Worcester Diocese.
Not everyone who signed up came, but Mr. Guadagno said there were walk-ins. He said he heard from people coordinating gatherings at three additional sites: one in Montana, one at Rutgers University in New Jersey and a Spanish-language group in Springfield.
Those who pre-registered can watch the conference later or again, using the access code emailed to them, Mr. Guadagno said. He said he’s not sure if the speakers will grant permission for their talks to be made accessible to the general public.
During the brief break Mario Costabile, Array of Hope’s producer and executive director, who moderated the conference, told the men why they were there: More than 20 years ago someone had a vision.
“Do it on the chat; show your thanks to Bishop Reilly,” he said. Mr. Guadagno said many people responded with thanks to the now-retired bishop who started the conferences more than 20 years ago.
Bishop Reilly, watching from St. Mary Parish in Shrewsbury, waved.
Brian McIntosh, who leads the Men’s PPK (Priest, Prophet and King) group at St. Mary’s, said it was great to have Bishop Reilly and men from different places there for the conference. He said it was the first time he’d met the retired bishop.
“His eyes just kind of dance,” he said. “He reminds me a lot of my grandfather, a happy soul.”
Mr. McIntosh said it was great to hear Mr. Hahn, whom he was hoping to meet last year. (Speakers for the 2020 conference, which was cancelled because of the pandemic, recorded talks for this year’s event.) Listening to Mr. Hahn on the radio helped draw him to the Catholic Church, which he joined in 2016, said Mr. McIntosh, who has attended a couple of the men’s conferences.
“It’s very different” this year, he said. “In trying times, you have to find innovative ways” to do things.
Father Donald Brick, a Discalced Carmelite in Brighton, said he was just transferred, so this was his first Worcester men’s conference, and he found Luis Soto’s talk about Our Lady of Guadalupe interesting. He said he previously attended men’s conferences in Milwaukee with 2,000 or 3,000 men.
It was “this or nothing,” this year, he said, but he doesn’t think a virtual conference provides the bonding that attending in person with 1,000 others does. He said it’s hard to replicate that experience by gathering with just 20 men.
Others saw advantages to this year’s format.
“The women loved the conference,” said Bob Mecca, who coordinated the group of six women and nine men watching at his parish, St. Mary of the Hills in Boylston. (Securing permission, he invited men, women and teenagers to the conference, during talks at the parish’s Masses, he said.)
He said he thought everybody felt the speakers were worthwhile, and some would prefer future conferences to be remote; their church hall is a comfortable setting, they don’t have to travel as far, and, that way, both men and women can attend. There might be too many people to accommodate if 1,000 men, plus interested women, attended live conferences at Assumption, he said.
“If it’s properly promoted and we’re not dealing with a pandemic,” more people could attend in the church hall than the 20 they had space for this year, he said.
Brian LaRoche, who organized the gathering for his parish, Annunciation in Gardner, saw advantages this year, and suggested using both formats.
There had been skepticism about a virtual conference; people feared losing the powerful experience of all being together, he said.
“It was a different feeling,” this year, he said. “It felt more homey. You could get up and walk around … stretch out. I think it’s something we should continue in the future ... to go along with being there in person. … Give them all the options.”
He said 10 people came to their site, including two from other parishes. It was good for the older men because they did not have to drive to Worcester and the conference was shorter, he said.
Organizers worked on the technological aspects ahead of time and were ready when the conference started at noon Saturday, he said. During the preceding hour, they had time for lunch and confessions, he said.
“The guys were pretty psyched about it,” he said, noting that confessions are a big part of the conference and there wasn’t really time for the sacrament during the virtual conference.
The conference ended just in time for the men to attend Mass in person in the parish’s Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, where they could receive the Eucharist, instead of watching the online Mass, Mr. LaRoche said.
He said the conference gave him the “shot in the arm” he needed – like the coronavirus vaccine – especially during this pandemic, and set the framework for Easter.
Patrick Kiefer, of St. André Bessette Parish in Laconia, New Hampshire, said he and others usually attend Worcester’s conference.
This year they thought it was wonderful, except for not being all together in person, he said. But it was convenient not to have the long drive.
They were impressed with Mr. Hahn, whom several had not heard, Mr. Kiefer said. He said that in some ways he liked Mr. Hahn’s recorded talk better than live ones he’s heard; it was as if he was “just speaking to each of us.”
Mr. Kiefer said he had thought he knew everything about the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe but got “additional insights” from Mr. Soto’s talk. And he called Bishop Robert Reed’s talk about reconciliation “excellent.”
Mr. Guadagno said on Monday that he’d received about 25 emails and chat messages, all commenting positively about the conference.
He said a questionnaire will be sent electronically to this year’s participants, asking them what they enjoyed the most and least, how they would compare this conference with past ones and whether a virtual component should be included in the future.
