Men encouraged to develop a culture in their households

The Catholic Week
MOBILE — Men in the Archdiocese of Mobile were encouraged to build a Christian culture in their households.
Fr. Patrick Driscoll, pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Mobile, highlighted the Archdiocese of Mobile’s “Called to Lead” men’s conference March 4 at St. Bede the Venerable Parish in Montgomery and St. Pius X Parish in Mobile. During his talks, Fr. Driscoll stressed what a culture can do in the home.
“We are called to build that culture in our households and that’s hugely important to build that culture,” Fr. Driscoll said.
“If a mother takes her child to Mass, it increases the likelihood that (the children) will continue to go to Mass when they get older and out of the house. If a father takes his children to Mass, that likelihood goes up statistically significantly. You can expand that to a life in general. You have a tremendous impact on your children’s life. … That’s something to take seriously, to build that culture.”
Fr. Driscoll took it to the football field when highlighting the importance of culture. Legendary San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh won three Super Bowls in the 1980s and thus, many of his assistants were lured by other NFL teams for head coaching jobs.
None could come close to matching the success Walsh had.
“Bill Walsh’s comment was there was a lack of culture,” Fr. Driscoll said. “He created that. You needed a solid culture, realistic gameplan, strong leadership and talented personnel. Culture was absolutely the most critical element. He had the system down, but it was the system within the culture that made that work for him.”
For men trying to build a culture in their households, Fr. Driscoll recommended focusing on the simple.
“You don’t want to let the great defeat the good,” Fr. Driscoll said. “We would like to do all these things and we’ll be a mini-monastery. Yeah, you will until the baby cries and the diapers are dirty. Then the monastery ceases. (Do) a couple simple things, whatever those things are.”
Fr. Driscoll also centered his talks on the topics of love and hope. He discussed Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclicals “Deus caritas est – (God is Love)” and “Spe salvi (Saved in Hope).” Both evenings also included Adoration and Mass.
This marked the third archdiocesan-sponsored “Called to Lead,” which takes place every two years as part of the archdiocesan conference series. The biennial “Called to Love” women’s conference is Sept. 26 at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School.