By Andrew Junker | February 2, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

When the Catholic Men’s Conference and the diocesan Office of Marriage and Respect Life Issues hosted their first pre-Lenten conference last year, they weren’t exactly sure what to expect.

For one thing, the all-day event was scheduled the day before the Super Bowl. Conference organizers also understood that many men in general are reticent about attending spiritual retreats.

But, surprisingly, “guys came out in droves,” said Mike Phelan, director of Marriage and Respect Life Issues.

Nearly 800 guys, to be exact.

They participated in a series of talks focusing on Christian life, marched in a eucharistic procession, attended Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and many went to confession for the first time in years.

In fact, so many men made use of the sacrament of reconciliation that 11 priests — including the bishop — sat in confessionals for four hours.

In other words, Phelan said, it was a great success, which he hopes is repeated again this year.

This year’s Catholic Men’s Conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Feb. 21, at St. Paul Parish. The venue change will help accommodate an even larger crowd — Phelan expects close to 1,200 men — but the location also dovetails nicely with this year’s theme.

“This year we’re focusing specifically on St. Paul,” Phelan said. “We have four speakers speaking on [subjects] relevant to men’s lives and connected to Paul.”

For example, Fr. John Klockman will speak about St. Paul and the mercy of God the Father, highlighting the need families have for their fathers to act as spiritual leaders.

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, who recently gave the homily at the diocese’s annual Mass in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., will focus on St. Paul and the Mass and why it’s important for men to attend Mass with their families.

Phelan said he had help planning the topics in part from a survey the conference gave to attendees at last year’s event. The feedback from those surveys was almost entirely positive, with a majority of the men responding that they would attend this year’s conference and bring new people as well.

That’s what Tucson resident Peter Gariepy plans to do. He said he was a little wary of participating in the conference last year.

“Like any retreat, some are good and some are bad,” he said. “Let’s say my hopes were high but my expectations were low.”

When he arrived in Phoenix last year, he was “blown away” by the number of men in attendance.

“That was really intriguing,” Gariepy said. “All my reservations fell by the wayside as the morning progressed. It was just the fact that it was men being able to share their faith. This was all new to me. It wasn’t like any retreat I’d ever been to before.”

This year, Gariepy is “dragging” four other men up to Phoenix with him.

That sort of response was typical, Phelan said.

“We learned just how much of a felt need there is for this,” he said. “Men like exhortation. They don’t want to be given Melba toast. That’s going to be the case again this year.”

There will be as many as 20 priests available for confession throughout the day this year so that the lines won’t be as long. Some of the men last year missed a talk or two while waiting for the sacrament.

And Phelan promised a hearty lunch, which he described as an important consideration when planning a men’s conference.