Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  Statewide men's conference: Fathers, sons

by Jay Spranger, Jason Spranger and Michael Campbell
Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published July 2, 2010

Jay Spranger, center, attended the statewide All Men's Conference in Ypsilanti with his son, Jay, left, and son-in-law, Michael Campbell.

Editor's note: The first-ever statewide men's conference was held Saturday, June 26, in Ypsilanti. We asked two fathers and their sons to share their experience.

This year we, Jay Spranger (father), Jason Spranger (son) and Michael Campbell (son-in-law), had the privilege of attending the All Men's Conference with each other. The conference started like no other, as emcee Paco Gavrilides, adult evangelization coordinator for the Detroit Archdiocese, entered on a horse. After reaching the stage, he shared with us how sometimes a tamed horse must become wild again in order to break away from conformity. This was an analogy about us. When we conform to today's society where abortion, pornography, drugs, violence, and many other sins are accepted like candy, we must go back to being untamed and not caring what others think about us. Strength is not measured in how much you can bench press or how many pull-ups you can do. It is measured in wisdom. The strongest men know we are all powerless and weak. This set the stage for Fr. John Riccardo, pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Plymouth, to talk about power — or lack thereof.

Many of us need sin in order to become closer to God. After this was said we said to each other, "Doesn't sin distance us from God?" Yes, but when do we call on God most? When life is going good or when we realize we are powerless? Tragedy has the power to tear things apart, but it also has the power to mend and strengthen. Similar to how Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina helped unite the nation, we came away with the ideal that our brokenness can lead to a stronger and deeper relationship with the Lord. This isn't a pass to go out and sin. This is a wake-up call to all of us. We need to remember that God is responsible for our good times and we must continue to praise Him when life is good. As Matthew Kelly, international speaker and author, later pointed out, when we do fall short, we are only to blame, no one else.

He focused on how we can evangelize by simply being stronger Catholics by going to confession and attending Mass regularly. He encouraged us to bring a Mass journal to church in order to write down and remember our thoughts in an attempt to continuously learn about our faith. This is something we are going to try to implement in our lives. He further added that we should focus on one theme or topic, no matter what it is, and then pray about it through the rest of Mass. He mentioned this because when our habits change, so will our lives, as habits, good or bad, are hard to break.

Led by Danny Abramowicz, former New Orleans Saints all-pro wide receiver, Vic Faust, weekend news anchor for WXYZ, and Curtis Martin, TV host and founder of Fellowship of Catholic University Students, the conference continued with this ideal of breaking bad habits. They challenged us men to become spiritual leaders once again in our daily lives. We gleaned from them that we cannot be afraid to stand out and be different, even if it results in people disliking you. Being Catholic isn't easy; it's not supposed to be. In other words, as Eminem has put it, "You've got enemies? Good, it means you stood up for something." We don't have to do the big tasks individually, but if we focus on the smaller tasks, the tougher burdens will be easier to overcome.

For us, the all men's conference is a time to get back to the basics, and there is no better way than experiencing it with each other. This experience not only fed our minds with good, holy ideas, but it also fed and nurtured our relationship with each other. We learned together, sang together, and grew in our faith together. Sometimes we tend to forget about the basic fundamentals of our faith, such as becoming a better person, praying, listening during Mass, standing up for our beliefs, loving others, and praising God. These fundamentals can be summed up in one word — love. So let's get back to the basics, because like the Beatles said, "All you need is love."
Jay Spranger, Jason Spranger and Michael Campbell are members of St. Anastasia Parish, Troy.