By Mark C. McCann
The 2019 Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference will be here before we know it. Our committee members share a passion to see Catholic men come to a deeper appreciation of their faith and to live that faith out in a more meaningful way. We hope the conference will reach into that empty space within each man’s heart and offer him something that will satisfy his deepest inner needs.
We all have our pictures of what it means to be satisfied. For some, it is having the best of everything: the biggest house in the finest neighborhood, the most expensive car, or latest and greatest gadget. For others, it is being the best at what they do in their job or their hobbies. It may lie in completing our bucket list or accomplishing a life-long dream. Whatever we seek to satisfy us, we remain restless until we achieve it, many of us for an entire lifetime. But is this all there is to a life of fulfillment?
David was a man who longed for satisfaction in the dry desert places. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah, he was far from the trappings of the kingly power and everything familiar, comfortable, and satisfying. He was tired, weary, lonely, hungry, and sad. Yet, from his aching heart he penned a psalm of praise to the God he knew had not abandoned him – Psalm 63. For David, God and God alone was his satisfaction.
There in the wilderness, David had a harsh reminder of his inner need – a living parable of the emptiness he felt before God. In that place of emptiness, he experienced the secret to true satisfaction: the steadfast love of God. The word for this kind of love is "Hesed" – that deep, personal, merciful love that God richly pours out upon those who seek Him. It was that love that David remembered and longed to experience once more. In his remembering, he made it live again within his soul and it brought him satisfaction so incredible that he compared it to a full meal of rich and satisfying food.
Men have this same spiritual memory living within us, waiting to manifest itself in our lives. In whatever wilderness we find ourselves, we can still experience that same kind of satisfaction when we turn our eyes to the Father. The Connecticut Catholic Men’s Conference is a refuge in the wasteland of modern culture, an oasis in our deserts of disappointment and despair. Though we struggle to find purpose and fulfillment, this is a place where brothers come together and discover the satisfaction that comes when we seek God together as Catholic men.
We invite you to join us on Saturday, October 19th at St. Paul Catholic High School, in Bristol, Connecticut, where you will find a place of acceptance, refreshment, and supreme satisfaction; where you will once again come to see your place within the Body of believers and claim your role in God’s plan for your life. For more information, visit us at https://www.ctcatholicmen.org/. We hope to see you there!
