About CCMC

To bring together Catholic men, renewing their faith in Christ in an inspiring, motivational, prayerful atmosphere.  The result will be stronger men fulfilling their mission as husbands,  fathers, and brothers in Christ who help renew their parishes through apostolic works.

There is a vital need, today, for every Catholic man in Connecticut (and in every state) to become more aware of his God-given talents as a man and the responsibility that goes along with having that talent.

With the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the continuous support of the Archbishop of Hartford and Bishops of Bridgeport and Norwich, the organizers of the annual Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference hope to offer vibrant speakers to address the contemporary issues that affect Catholic men in an atmosphere of true Christian fraternity.

By both encouraging and challenging those in attendance, it is hoped all will leave the event equipped to become leaders in their homes, in the church, in their local parishes and in society.

St. Joseph, pray for us!

The Event has been consecrated to St. Joseph, patron saint of the Catholic Church, unborn children, fathers, immigrants, workers, carpenters, realtors, against doubt and hesitation, and for a happy death.

O dearest Saint Joseph, I consecrate myself to your honour and give myself to you, that you may always be my father, my protector and my guide in the way of salvation. Obtain for me a greater purity of heart and fervent love of the interior life. After your example may I do all my actions for the greater glory of God, in union with the Divine Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. O Blessed Saint Joseph, pray for me, that I may share in the peace and joy of your holy death.
Amen.

FIRST CONFERENCE WAS ON November 15, 2008
Reflections on the Beginning by Robert Marcarelli, O.P.

I am a cradle Catholic, but most of my faith, like many people in the 1950”s and 60”s, was ceremonial and superficial. As a new “Freedom”, in American society emerged along with the release of the Vatican II documents, and it’s misinterpretation, traditional values were challenged. Eventually, I strayed from the Catholic faith. The more I strayed the less light I was able to see. An analogy I often share is straying from God is like being in a long tunnel with a bright shining light. The further away you move from the light the dimmer it becomes until you can no longer see it. When I travelled too far from the Light, I became an atheist.
Living a dissolute life alone did not estrange me from God, I also had some legitimate questions that I could not find answers to. This was my life from 1971-1986. God, “The Hound of Heaven” never gave up on me. Over time, God’s grace captured me. I came, once again, to believe in Jesus Christ but in a deeper and entirely new way. At the invitation of a friend, who had been Catholic, I came back to Christ through Protestant Evangelical denominations.
These Churches presented a new experience for me. The churches were smaller and placed an emphasis on studying the Bible, apologetics and fellowship. Because the central part of the Protestant church service was the sermon, many of them were informative, thought-provoking and enthusiastic.

I returned home to the fullness of faith and truth, the Catholic Church in 1988. It was such a joy to participate in the sacraments once again, go to Mass and inebriate my soul with the Eucharist. I discovered EWTN and numerous Catholic Apologist that I had not known existed. I noticed many of our parishes were lacking in Scripture study, apologetics, fellowship and those enthusiastic motivational sermons that I heard in the Evangelical Protestant Churches. My goal was to introduce men and eventually the Church in Connecticut to these another important element of the Christian faith. While our Protestant brothers could learn much from us, there were certain things we also could learn from them.

Tom Wehner, of the National Catholic Register, suggested that we put on a men’s conference. Having experienced a general apathy from many Connecticut Catholics, especially men, I was not enthusiastic about the idea. He told me a friend of his Kevin O’Brien was the head organizer of the Milwaukee Men’s conference which had been going on for a few years and was quite successful. As fate would have it, I was heading to Milwaukee for a few day. I met with Kevin, picked his brain and decided to move forward with the men’s conference.
I consulted with a few friends, David Craig, Jim O’Day, Dan Duarte, Phil Liquori, Dan French and they agreed to help. Step one was to get the approval of Archbishop Mansell. I called his office, asked for permission, let him know this would be self-funded and cost the diocese nothing. I invited him to celebrate the closing Mass. He was gracious and agreed on all counts.
I had a few conditions for the conference that I thought was necessary.  It would be for men only. I did not any women involved. From experience, I knew that if the women, who do most things in the Church, were involved, the men would let them do everything.  I wanted to keep the cost low so that would not be an obstacle to having men attend.  I did not want the men to feel as if they were going to Church
Most men did not want to go to Church.  I was also trying to draw men who were away from the Church.

Most men do not want to go to church, so I chose the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford at a cost of $10,000 for the day and $8,000 minimum for food if we wanted it. I needed sponsors.
A Catholic Men’s Conference, to my knowledge, had never been done before in Connecticut. There was a great deal of scepticism from all corners especially priests. As we called parishes and tried to build parish captains some priest actually called us to say don’t bother and waste our time-no one will come. I did have one priest call me to apologize and he explains how many things he has tried to no avail. I told him to pray for us, I would pray for him and please attend. He did.
We were hoping to get 800 men. If memory serves me right 600 men attending and we would pay for the convention center. This still left us without the food or paying for the speakers. The men I mentioned above did a tremendous job. They were the core of it all the burden fell on us to mobilize the parishes, captains, putting announcements in bulletins. We went on the local Catholic TV show and had Fr. Gatzak as our MC. We wore ourselves out and yet the most pre-ordered tickets we could get was about 300+

It looked as if we were going bust. Because of our low numbers, a few days before the event the Convention Center wanted to cancel. I pleaded with them not to and promised to cover the cost. They agreed.  While all this was going on, I wanted to ensure the integrity of the process. I set up a system by where all the money flowing in and out went through Deacon Bill Lovelace, at my parish, St. Augustine (now merged with St. Monica and called St. Jerome). The process was also was overseen by my pastor, Robert Rousseau.  As the number of pre-registered attendees did not increase the situation got grimmer. Fr. Rousseau offered to give us $10,000 of his own money.” I would like to get it back if possible, but if not, oh well.” There aren’t too many guys like that around. I will forever remember this wonderful gesture and be grateful for a man like Fr. Rousseau.

Incredible and inspiring story!!  God truly has been behind the Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference!
 
First conference theme: “Take Your Faith to the Next Level”
 
The speakers at the first Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference were:

• Danny Abramowicz (former NFL player)
• Bishop Michael Cote (don’t remember if he was actually a speaker)
• Sean Forrest
• Bishop William Lori
• Archbishop Henry Mansell (main mass celebrant and homilist)
• Father Larry Richards
• Father Charles Sikorski
• Sean Wolfington (producer of movie: Bella)

 
Here’s a picture from the first conference inside the Connecticut Convention Center: