St. Mark’s to launch Catholic men’s formation program

Father John Mosier says a prayer to start the annual Good Friday Cross Walk back in April. PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Long

By Philip A. Janquart

ICR Editor

Men at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Boise will have a new opportunity this fall to deepen their Catholic faith, strengthen their families and build relationships with other men through a program fittingly called “That Man Is You!”

The national Catholic men’s formation program, developed by Paradisus Dei, is designed to help men grow in their relationship with Christ while exploring the vocation and responsibilities of Catholic manhood.

Father John Mosier, pastor of St. Mark’s, said the program is part of a broader effort at the parish to provide Catholics with multiple opportunities for faith formation.

“We’re trying to present a portfolio of ways to engage where an individual can say, ‘Oh, I like all of them. I like this one. I like none of them,’” Father Mosier said. “We just want to make it available to them. To do what? To teach the faith.”

That Man Is You!

That Man Is You! is offered in more than 1,500 parishes across the United States, according to program information. It combines professionally produced presentations with small-group discussion and is intended for men at various stages of life, including husbands, fathers, young men discerning their vocation and men who may be considering the priesthood.

The program at St. Mark’s will follow the school-year calendar. Men will gather Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. for coffee and fellowship before watching a roughly 30-minute presentation. Participants then will divide into small groups of eight to 10 men to discuss questions prompted by the presentation.

Each meeting will last about 90 minutes.

The first session will focus on leadership, with subsequent sessions addressing various aspects of Catholic faith and masculinity.

Fostering conversation and developing relationships

Father Mosier said the format is intended to foster conversation among men of different ages and experiences.

“The younger men learn from the older men. The older men learn from each other,” he said. “Sometimes the older men can learn from the younger men.”

An important goal, he said, is to develop relationships that extend beyond the meetings themselves.

“We want to develop that mentorship,” Father Mosier said.

That could mean an older man being available to a younger husband or father who is facing challenges in his marriage, parenting or vocation.

“How do I engage my wife? How do I talk to my 14-year-old daughter, my 14-year-old son? How do I navigate this question or this moment?” Father Mosier said. “That peer-to-peer or older-man-to-younger-man mentoring is so powerful because it’s a been-there-done-that experience. It’s credible.”

The program also is intentionally multigenerational. Organizers said they hope men will avoid forming groups exclusively with others their own age and instead benefit from the experience and perspectives of men at different stages of life.

Providing catechesis

For Father Mosier, the need for this type of formation is connected to a larger challenge facing the Church: helping Catholics know and understand their faith.

He said many Catholics who grew up in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s received limited catechesis and may have reached adulthood without a strong understanding of Catholic teaching.

That Man Is You!, along with other formation efforts at St. Mark’s, is intended to help address that gap.

“It is, first of all, let’s learn our faith,” Father Mosier said.

The parish also is launching programs focused on discipleship and apologetics, which Father Mosier said complement the men’s program.

He noted that converts to Catholicism sometimes enter the Church with a deeper knowledge of Catholic teaching than Catholics who were raised in the faith.

Some “cradle” Catholics have observed and acknowledged this fact, leading them to seek further formation and education in their faith.

Father Mosier said his own understanding of the faith has continued to grow throughout his priesthood.

“As a priest, I should know things,” he said. “I had a concentrated time in seminary, for sure, but there’s always something new I’m learning. Always.”

He said a deeper knowledge of Catholic teaching also can lead to a deeper appreciation of the Mass.

Deepening knowledge of liturgy and the Mass

“There’s history in the liturgy, or the statement the priest makes is anchored in history, or it’s anchored in Scripture,” he said. “‘Oh, that’s where that came from.’ And it’s so beautiful when you discover that.”

St. Mark’s parishioner Deacon Peter Lauder was “tasked” by Father Mosier to bring TMIY to St. Mark’s.

Fellow parishioner Dan Long, who is helping to implement the program, said he has participated in meetings of the program at Holy Apostles Catholic Church in Meridian and appreciates its emphasis on Catholic teaching.

“What goes up in front of the man’s ears is not someone’s opinion,” he said. “The Catechism, the Catholic Church, says this. The Catechism is right dead center. This is Catholic teaching.”

The presentation provides a topic and questions, he said, allowing the men to discuss the material and share their experiences.

The program’s emphasis on Catholic teaching is intended to help keep conversations grounded in the faith rather than becoming simply a discussion of personal opinions.

“What does the Catholic Church have to say about this particular topic?” Father Mosier said. “And then we deploy that knowledge and help give guys the tool sets, the toolkit, if you will, to work through different things that come up.”

Exploring the vocations of husbands, fathers, and priests

The program also will explore what it means to live as a Catholic man, including the responsibilities of husbands and fathers.

Father Mosier said authentic Catholic masculinity is not defined by aggression or domination but by a man’s relationship with God and his vocation to love and serve others.

“What does it mean to be a son of God? What does it mean to be a man?” he said. “What does it mean to be a man after God’s own heart?”

The program is not intended merely to increase attendance at St. Mark’s, Long said. Rather, organizers hope it can become a model that eventually can be used more broadly throughout the Diocese of Boise.

Evangelization and faith formation

Father Mosier said the Diocese of Boise already has numerous initiatives aimed at evangelization and faith formation. The goal is to make proven resources available rather than developing every program from scratch.

“There are so many good initiatives taking place in this diocese,” he said. “There are so many inspiring things happening.”

He said Bishop Peter Christensen gives priests and lay Catholics latitude to develop and implement initiatives that respond to the needs of their communities.

Organizers at St. Mark’s already have formed a core team of about 16 men to help launch the program. They plan to promote it at weekend Masses and encourage men to register.

Long said he hopes wives will encourage their husbands to participate.

“Encourage your husbands to step forward on this,” he said.

For Father Mosier, that encouragement can be part of a broader effort to strengthen Catholic families by helping men understand their vocation and responsibilities.

The program will begin in the fall and run through the school year, with a break during the Christmas season and the summer months.

Men interested in participating can register through the QR code provided by St. Mark’s. The program is open to men of various ages and stages of life.

Ultimately, Father Mosier said, the goal is simple: to help men encounter Christ, know their Catholic faith and support one another in living it.

“Let’s learn our faith,” he said, “and engage God’s design for masculinity and help form men — both current husbands and fathers and future husbands and fathers, as well as potential priests.”