February 27, 2026 // Local

Rekindle the Fire Encourages Men to Seek Faith and Fraternity

Ken Hallenius

 

“Faith and Fraternity” was the theme of the 2026 Rekindle the Fire men’s conference, which drew more than 550 men from across the diocese and as far away as North Carolina to the Century Center in South Bend on Saturday, February 21. Keynote speakers Robert Rogers, Father Larry Richards, and Dom Quaglia each delivered inspiring talks, and Bishop Rhoades took questions from the audience before celebrating Mass to conclude the day, encouraging men to “Rekindle the fire. Spread the fire of God’s love. That’s our mission.”

Father Jay Horning, pastor of St. Bernard Parish in Wabash, served as the event’s master of ceremonies, as he introduced the speakers and sponsors throughout the day and kept the conference moving. He introduced the theme by asking, “Will you be my brother today? Will you be my brother tomorrow?”

The conference began with the enthronement of the Gospels at center stage, which several presenters referenced in their talks as they encouraged the men to read Scripture daily. “No Bible, no breakfast. No Bible, no bed,” chanted Robert Rogers, quoting an oft-repeated phrase of his fellow speaker Father Larry Richards.

Rogers, a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne, spoke and sang movingly about entrusting one’s life to God through the greatest adversities. He drew the audience in with his deft storytelling about his personal faith journey, meeting and falling in love with his wife, the difficult pregnancies they experienced, and the joy they shared as they added a daughter to their family through international adoption. Within months of his daughter’s arrival, a tragic car accident killed his entire family and spared him alone. Rather than collapsing in on himself due to the grief, Rogers embraced God’s call to be a “brave and mighty man of God” and to live a life filled with no regrets.

Rogers shared a number of lessons that he had learned through the tragedy, drawing parallels with the suffering of Job. He spoke of the importance of coming to know God personally and intimately through prayer, daily Scripture reading, and fasting. He encouraged men to cherish their families with intentionality, to be fully present to their children and grandchildren without allowing the distraction of devices or screens, and to bless and pray for their families daily. He encouraged his rapt audience to serve others sacrificially, beginning with one’s spouse. He advocated praying as a couple, taking monthly date nights, and showering each other with notes of love and encouragement.

Following Rogers, Father Richards brought his engaging and bombastic style to the stage, where he delivered a message of “tough love” to those in attendance. He frankly told the men that “masculinity is so messed up today it’s ridiculous.” He said that when he signs books for men at conferences such as Rekindle the Fire, he writes their name and adds, “Be a saint!” When he hands the book back, he tells them, “or go to hell. There’s no other choice.”

Addressing the widespread addiction to pornography among American men, Father Richards suggested: “I think the problem is that most men don’t know Jesus Christ. You’ve got to get to know Jesus, the perfect man, if you’re going to become a man yourself. You have to do as Jesus did; you have to think as Jesus thinks.”

Reading Scripture regularly, even the parts that seem to be “boring,” are how men can come to know Jesus. “What does the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew teach us? He had a rapist, a murder, an adulterer, and a whore in his family. Jesus entered into the messy stuff of the universe!”

The afternoon session featured Dom Quaglia Jr., returning to Rekindle the Fire for the first time since 2018. In his talk, he encouraged attendees to reflect on three phrases of Jesus in the Gospels: “follow me,” “remain in my love,” and “love one another.”

“We all have to make a decision” about following God, Quaglia said. “‘Decision’ means ‘to cut away.’ Michelangelo said about carving his statue of David that he just had to cut away everything in the block of marble that wasn’t David. Becoming a man of God is letting God chip away everything that isn’t needed, to reveal the beauty that is in us.”

As in past years, Bishop Rhoades joined the conference to take questions from the men in the audience. He led off his remarks by explaining that at the fall assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops late last year, he proposed to his brother bishops to consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus this coming June in honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The bishops’ conference wholeheartedly agreed, he said. Bishop Rhoades also remarked that the particular painting of the Sacred Heart on display at the conference has held a special place in his own heart since his seminary studies in Rome, where he would often pray in front of the original painting in the Church of the Gesú.

Bishop Rhoades expressed his joy at beginning the diocesan process of inquiry into the sanctity of Holy Cross Brother Columba O’Neill, known as the “Miracle Man of Notre Dame,” who himself had a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart. He was a cobbler who was renowned for his personal holiness, and he handed out thousands of badges displaying the Sacred Heart to those who asked for his prayers. “So, it’s all amazing to me – providential, it seems. I encourage your own personal devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

In response to a question about the recent uptick in people entering the Catholic Church, Bishop Rhoades gave credit to the explosion in lay-led Catholic apostolates, especially those focused on evangelization, and to the recently concluded Jubilee Year of Hope.

“There’s a lot of hopelessness out there,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Every person has this inner longing for communion with others and communion with God. Well, we have the answer; it’s Christ. And that’s the message that the world needs. This is an evangelizing moment for us, to help those who are really struggling. We have the bread of life. That thirst in people’s souls, we have the living water, which is the Holy Spirit.”

In his homily at the conference’s concluding Mass, Bishop Rhoades echoed themes addressed by each of the day’s speakers, urging the men to daily prayer, Scripture reading, and the Sacrament of Penance.

“When we trust in God and live our lives alongside Jesus, we can resist the seductions of the devil and reject his temptations,” Bishop Rhoades said. “And we have weapons to do so: prayer, especially listening to the word of God; we have fasting and almsgiving; we have the nourishment of the Holy Eucharist; and, when we fall, we have the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation so that we can get up and continue on the path of salvation.”

John Coriden, a parishioner at St. Joseph Catholic Church in South Bend, told Today’s Catholic he has attended the Rekindle the Fire conference six times and views it as his annual retreat.

“Father Larry Richards was so good,” Coriden said. “He has so much experience being a pastor, being on the radio, and he was very enthusiastic. His message was simple: be a saint. Ask God, ‘What do you want me to do today?’ and then listen. Bishop Rhoades advised us to read the Bible daily and to listen to God. That went hand-in-hand with what Father Richards told us. Learning to listen to God is what caught my eye and ear. It’s so critical. Learn to listen.”