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The annual Hearts on Fire Men’s Conference draws hundreds each year, first to Gonzaga, then more recently to convention halls of a local hotel. Two speakers, Father Wade Menezes of the Father of Mercy, and Peter Herbeck, a lay evangelist, inspired and challenged the men this year who gathered at the Mirabeau Park Hotel.
Father Wade Menezes called the men in attendance to a life of valor, rejecting vices and the seven deadly sins. In their place, he encouraged men to grow in the heroic virtues. Herbeck called on the need for men to be fathers by sharing some of his own experiences in ministry. An especially poignant story was that of his own father’s conversion away from alcohol to a life of great devotion.
Midway during the day, during Holy Hour with Adoration, Father Menezes offered a reflection. Following prayer, many priests from the diocese heard confessions; at one point the line numbered well over 100 men waiting to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Before the conference came to an end, Bishop Thomas Daly celebrated Mass with the men, reminding them that “we cannot be Christians in isolation.” Praising the importance of gatherings of like-minded Christians, Bishop Daly encouraged the men to lead their families to the sacraments, and especially to the Mass. “We go to Mass to be released from the self-delusions that you and I are the center of our own universes. And that’s always a temptation.”
Herbeck is the Vice President and Director for Missions for Renewal Ministries, a Catholic lay apostolate dedicated to “set the hearts of both God’s faithful and those who do not yet know Him on fire with the Holy Spirit” (www.renewalminsitries.net). Herbeck has been involved in evangelization efforts internationally for the last 30 years and is a co-host for the EWTN series The Choices We Face and Crossing the Goal. Herbeck also hosts the radio show Fire on the Earth. He is the author of When the Spirit Comes in Power and When the Spirit Speaks, along with other booklets and CDs on discipleship and life in the Spirit.
Father Wade Menezes is a member of the Fathers of Mercy, a missionary preaching Religious Congregation based in Auburn, Kentucky. He is currently the Assistant General and has served as Director of Vocations and Director of Seminarians for the Fathers of Mercy. Father Wade has been a contributing writer for numerous Catholic publications. He is also the host of the EWTN segment series The Crux of the Matter and The Wonders of His Mercy as well as serving as the host of EWTN Global Catholic Radio’s Open Line Tuesday.
