CHARLOTTE — Nearly 300 men attended the ninth annual Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference March 16 at St. Patrick Cathedral.
During the conference, entitled “Fight Like a Man,” participants were treated to powerful talks on Catholic manhood by Father Richard Sutter of Waynesville, Father David Miller of Lincolnton, and Doug Barry of EWTN’s “Battle Ready.”
Carolina Catholic Radio Network broadcast live from the parish’s Family Life Center throughout the day-long event.
CHARLOTTE — More than a thousand confessions were heard March 15 during St. Matthew Church’s first “Day of Reconciliation and Adoration.”
The occasion, held in lieu of a usual Lenten penance service, involved more than a dozen priests who heard approximately 1,200 confessions over the course of more than 12 hours, starting at 7:30 a.m. that day. The St. Matthew Parish priests probably heard about nine hours of confessions each, and they had help from Father Richard Hanson (six hours) and 10 other priests from around the Charlotte area who each generously offered about two hours each, Father Patrick Hoare, pastor, reported. By way of comparison, he noted, a parish penance service would have enabled them to hear around 600 confessions at most.
“I have had numerous expressions of gratitude from parishioners who were moved by the day and the number of people seeking God’s grace,” Father Hoare said, adding that seeing so many people seeking the sacrament of reconciliation brought “tears of joy” to his eyes.
The effort was so successful that the parish is considering repeating it in future years, he said.
— Catholic News Herald