A Day of Brotherhood, Worship and Renewal
On March 14, more than one hundred and twenty-five men from across the Diocese of Youngstown gathered in Louisville for a morning of teaching, fellowship, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Iron sharpening iron, from across the diocese.
Attendees moved through a full morning of prayer, formation, and honest conversation. Small groups clustered around coffee before the program began, longtime members welcomed first-time attendees, and Knights of Columbus from councils across the diocese served as the day's honor guard.
The theme was simple, and drawn straight from the banner at the front of the room: Rise Up, O Men of God. The day made a strong case that men still answer that call — and that they answer it best together.
What began at the check-in tables at 8:00 a.m. quickly became something larger — a room of fathers, sons, grandfathers, and single men, from parishes across six counties, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Keynote Speaker
Elvis Grbac
Faith Under Pressure
A Cleveland native raised in a devout Croatian Catholic family, Elvis Grbac spent a decade in the NFL as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens, earning a Super Bowl ring in 1994 and a Pro Bowl selection in 2000, before retiring in 2001 to give the rest of his life to a different assignment.
Prayer. Humility. Trust in a plan bigger than the one on your clipboard.
Grbac spoke candidly about the pressures of professional sport and the ways success itself can pull a man away from what matters. His witness, grounded in Catholic education, parish life, and years of mentoring young athletes, challenged every man in the room to build his life on faith first, and to take that leadership seriously in his own home this week, not next year.
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