2025 was the 7th annual men’s conference for the Knight of the Precious Blood, and for me was my sixth. Each year, the event keeps getting better, with more inspiring talks and a different group of men with whom to share a weekend of faith, as we all continue on our spiritual journeys.
This year it was great to see so many new faces. We were blessed with many father/son duos, a testament to the lasting fruits of the conference and the faith passed down through generations.
After checking in and finding my room, we made our way to the chapel for Krizni Put (Stations of the Cross) followed by Mass, presided over by our spiritual director for the weekend, Fr Davor. The Mass and stations in the Chapel were, as always, beautiful – made even more moving by the choir’s heartfelt contribution.
Following the traditional Lenten Friday meal of fish and chips, we gathered in the hall for another round of Rob’s infamous ice-breaker quiz. True to tradition, I finished the icebreaker feeling more clueless than I did last year. I really need to study some Croatian trivia or find a way to hack into Rob’s computer to see where he’s pulling these questions from. 2026 will be my year!
This was also our first time meeting the famous “Big show”, our newly recruited MC, Ante Spralja, who certainly didn’t disappoint, both as an MC and a comedian! Definitely a great addition to the conference line up.
Dr Andrew Wood kicked off the speaker sessions. Most of us have heard Andrew speak before, and he never fails to both enlighten and challenge us. His talk, titled “God’s Chosen Race and Royal Priesthood”, offered pearls of wisdom. He simplified salvation with his quote: “Salvation history is all about man getting back into the garden.” Another standout quote was “you can never outdo God in generosity – he deserves the best, Our Best”. I am convinced Andrew has shares in the Cardinal Newman Bookstore – we cleaned them out of every book he recommended!
Saturday began with a 6:30am Rosary and 7am Mass, followed by a hearty breakfast serving of bacon and eggs. Then we commenced the conference formalities for the day. The morning’s sessions were all delivered by Jakov, who got me thinking deeply (as he always does) and delivered 2 fantastic talks titled “Chosen but wounded” and “Chosen: steps to living in freedom and healing”.
The highlight of the first talk was Dr Bob Schuchts concept of the “7 deadly wounds” – rejection, abandonment, fear, shame, powerlessness, hopelessness, and confusion. If you have time it’s worth looking deeper into these as we have all experienced some level of wounding. As Jakov remined us, “A wound not transformed is a wound transmitted”.
Jakov’s second talk addressed the concept of repetitive sin and offered practical steps towards healing. Practical step 3 in his presentation, “Unforgiveness” – stood out for me: how we ask the Lord to forgive us our sins as we forgive others what they have done to us – yet often fail to hold up our end of the bargain. These were powerful words to meditate on, and it gave our small group some really good points for discussion and sharing some of our personal stories.
After a quick break and team photo we returned for the conference testimony session. This year we had the pleasure of hearing from Andre Abouharb, who many of us have seen around the Catholic events as the guy with a bad leg who sells the Catholic t-shirts and hoodies. What a powerful testimony! He shared the story behind his leg injury and also how corporate “LGTV” propaganda played a role in inspiring the creation of the Catholic Apparel brand. If you see him around say hello – he’s a great guy with a great apostolate. https://www.catholicapparel.com.au/
Lunch followed, along with some free time to gather thoughts, reconnect with old friends, and – of course – buy more books from Cardinal Newman Bookstore (which, let’s be honest, will likely collect dust unless we commit to actually reading them!) If you haven’t already, open those books and dive deeper into our beautiful faith. Reading not only gives us the opportunity to put our phones down but opens the mind and heart to truth, wisdom and spiritual nourishment. Always have scripture or a great spiritual book open to help you on your faith journey.
Saturday afternoon gave us an introduction to Michael Jaksic, who has taken on the role of leading Maximus Men’s Ministry for the Archdiocese, following Ivica who has settled in Croatia with his family. His session in the chapel focused on a meditation on the presence of God. The text that Michael walked through was very powerful, and one line that stood out for me was that “the cases where total conversion is reached in an instant by a very special grace are rare; ordinarily, we do not arrive at it except by a daily progressive conversion…our cooperation is nevertheless required”.
After another excellent meal provided by the Benedict XVI Retreat Centre team, we gathered again for the evening keynote with Fr Greg Morgan, who spoke on “Hope in the Person of Jesus”. What an incredible speaker! I’ve attended a few of Fr Greg’s talks and he never disappoints! He shared some of his personal experiences on hope through his ministry, and it’s quite alarming to hear some of the stats regarding teen suicide from the shire. He reminded us of our role – to be a beacon of hope to the world, through our witness to Jesus Christ and continue to pray for our priests who have such an important ministry within their communities.
We then had the pleasure of listening to Fr John Rizzo. All I can say is: wow! What an amazing servant of God. He spoke to us in the chapel, offering a powerful reflection on the Prodigal Son. Though we’ve all heard the Gospel many time, Fr Rizzo brought new life to it. His words moved many of us to a deeper repentance and appreciation of the Father’s love and mercy – and to action. As soon as he concluded and mentioned which confessional he would be in, half of the men in the chapel stood up and made haste to join the queue for confession. A powerful statement of the impact that he had on the men that night. Some haven’t been to the sacrament since their teens. It was life changing.
Sunday began early with 7am Mass. Fr Davor gave a great homily for the First Sunday of Lent, reflecting on Christ’s temptation in the desert and inviting us to enter deeply into our own Lenten journey.
The final and morning’s session, included time for reflection on the weekend and some of the ways that we can take what we’ve heard and apply it to our lives. Zoki introduced us to the “Zavjet Hrvata – Croatian Covenant” and played a powerful video commemorating the 125th anniversary of the moment when 160,000 young Croatian men and women consecrated themselves the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In honour of this momentous event in our Catholic history, the Knight’s have compiled resources for us to make our own consecration. I encourage everyone to take this seriously – commit to the First Friday Devotion and make the vow to consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and do the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our homes with the family.
The weekend wrapped up with a farewell lunch before we returned to our families and loved ones – hopefully renewed and ready to live with grater love for our Lord. Now that the dust has settled, I encourage you to revisit the flame that was ignited that weekend. Go through your conference pack again. If you haven’t yet, start reading through the pocketbook “The Rosary: My Treasure” and grow your devotion to this beautiful prayer we have been given by our Blessed Mother. And don’t wait for the next retreat to visit the Lord in Adoration. Many churches will have either daily, weekly or monthly adoration, so make some time to cultivate a deeper relationship with the Lord.
A massive thank you to the Knight’s for all that you do to put the weekend together. You sacrifice so much for this group and without your time and effort many of us would never have had the relationship with God that we currently have. A huge thanks also to Fr Davor, who provides great spiritual direction to the Croatian Men in Sydney.
Stay connected to the fraternity through the various men’s ministries and keep an eye out for upcoming events. Join the various signal group chats and keep an eye out for email updates as they’re sent, and events advertised on the Knights website.
NEXT YEARS NATIONAL CROATIAN MEN’S CONFERENCE
“MILES CHRISTI 2026”
Friday 27th February – Sunday 1st March 2026
God Bless and looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
Steve F
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