By Bob Sullivan
Matthew James Christoff is a Catholic convert best known for a project he named “The New Emangelization.” He actually has many projects under his belt, including his role as one of the co-founders of the Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance and Heroic Men.
As of September 2025, he can call himself an author as he has published a book titled, “Becoming a Happier Catholic Man.” We just had him as a guest on In Layman’s Terms on Spirit Catholic Radio, so hopefully you will get to know him as well. More importantly, maybe he can help you get to know Jesus a little more, assuming that is an appealing concept for you.
I find it kind of humorous that when Matthew reached out to me to see if I knew some men who might like to use a book to grow in their faith, he wasn’t aware that In Layman’s Terms is one of the podcasts on the Heroic Men App – the very smartphone application he helped inspire and launch!
In our interview, Matthew talked about the “Man Crisis” in the Church, but also in our culture and the fact that the culture is in extreme need of men in every aspect of our lives – including the obvious ones such as marriage, family, the priesthood, and business and civic leadership. But men are needed in many more ways, all ways actually, a fact too often disputed in our culture today. Unfortunately, the crisis has only grown more severe since Matthew started his first “emangelization” project more than 12 years ago.
Matthew frequently proposes three fundamental steps for happiness. First, we must come to know that Jesus is the savior of man. Unfortunately, there are a lot of men, including Catholic men, who do not think about this. Without knowing that Jesus is the savior of all mankind, a man will live with discontent, disorder, and confusion in his heart. Sometimes he won’t even realize it.
But once a man knows that Jesus is the savior of mankind, he himself can make a personal decision to be saved by Jesus. This is the second step: The man must desire to be saved by Jesus. This is a fundamental reality echoed by all faithful Catholic teachers and preachers over the centuries right down to today’s most gifted evangelists such as Father John Riccardo (a recent guest on our radio show as well) and Monsignor James Shea.
The third step is to embrace Christ’s call to be His disciple. In Matthew’s words, “Am I willing to zealously embrace His Holy Catholic Church, the only way of salvation?”
Too many people stop short of the belief that Jesus is the savior of man. To many men, Jesus is a good example and a man who had some good ideas, and some ideas which were not as good. Some mix in other world religions, but most of these men choose to seek happiness through their own efforts alone. A lot of men never even seriously consider the matter. Because of this, many men do not consider themselves to be a sinner who is desperate for salvation. They either already consider themselves damned, or they think they are good enough and should be allowed into a decent if not above-average afterlife. With ideas like this in our head, why would we ever embrace any faith in Jesus or the Church He founded?
With all this in mind, I thought a short challenge would be useful for all of us. Ask yourself these questions:
Am I a disciple of Jesus or would I describe myself more as an admirer, a fan, or someone who is loyal to Jesus because of my family or my friends?
Regardless of where I am right now in my faith, should I be open to seeing if Jesus can take me to the next level?
What can I consume in the next 30 days in order to see what Jesus wants to do within me or with me?
You could consume more booze, news, work, or entertainment. Would any of that help you grow closer to God? Would any of these things assist in your eternal salvation? Would any of these things fill the hole in your heart or help you understand the reason for your existence? Most of us regularly consume things which actually end up consuming us.
Instead, consume the sacraments, Scripture, adoration, private prayer, prayer with your loved ones, faithful Catholic resources, and maybe Matthew’s new book for the next 30 days. Let Jesus rearrange you into a happier Catholic man, as ONLY Jesus can.
