Catholic men are experiencing a crisis of faith, one author says, but his new book offers a way forward for men seeking fraternity and affirmation of their masculinity through Christ’s example.
Matthew James Christoff, a convert to Catholicism, told the Register that Becoming a Happier Catholic Man 2026 “fills a niche because it addresses men directly and calls on them to support each other to find true and lasting happiness through Christ and his Church.”
“The genesis of the book goes back 10 years, when I spent time with my father at the end of his life, helping him die,” he said. “I spent a lot of time praying with him.” While Christoff’s father was not a Catholic, he had a devotional book that guided and inspired him every day. After his father’s death, Christoff wished he had “something similar as a Catholic man.”
Published in September 2025, Christoff noted that the book has been endorsed by prominent Catholics, including Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, Wisconsin. The bishop wrote: “I highly recommend Becoming a Happier Catholic Man 2026 to everyone who is looking for a simple and sure method to grow in daily holiness and meditative prayer.”
The book offers commentary for the scriptural readings for Sundays and feast days, a guide to the Rosary, morning and evening prayers, reflections on virtues and vices, gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, and an examination of conscience.
Committed to supporting the Church in recognizing and responding “to the Catholic ‘man-crisis,’” Christoff is the founder of Every Catholic Man and the New Evangelization Project and co-founder of the Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance and HeroicMen.com.
Following the foreword by biblical scholar Jeff Cavins, Christoff writes in his “Letter to a Brother,” which forms the front part of the book, “We are living in a time of grave crisis for men. Many are lost, distracted, seduced, and overwhelmed by a culture that stigmatizes masculinity and undermines the natural call for men to lead, protect, and provide.” This has caused a drift from “heroic and meaningful purpose” and a descent into “pornography, gaming, food, sex, alcohol or drugs … and all kinds of curiosities and diversions,” he writes, while adding that the resulting isolation means alienation from women and a loss of Jesus as the focus of their lives.
Writing in a subheading of his “Letter to a Brother,” Christoff states that the Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms that the desire for true happiness is a “fundamental truth of human nature.” Unfortunately, he writes, “Instead of finding true and lasting happiness, many men only find fleeting pleasure, leaving them constantly restless.” Pleasures such as intellectual stimulation, sex, status and achievement are fleeting and do not lead to real happiness because God alone is happiness.
“My personal happiness has dramatically increased since I started following Jesus and striving to live as a faithful Catholic man,” Christoff writes.
Prominent members of a burgeoning Catholic men’s movement recommend the book. Evangelist Cavins writes in the foreword of a “severe crisis among Catholic men,” many of whom have left the Church and lost a sense of its promise to help them “grow in holiness and happiness.” Endorsers of the book — which include Bishop Emeritus Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, in addition to Bishop Hying — said it serves as an adjunct to the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival to renew men’s faith in “Jesus as the source and summit of our faith.”
Christoff writes in his book that it will help men to “ascend the three steps to happiness by recognizing that: Jesus is the Savior, I need Jesus to save me, and I will strive to live a zealous Catholic life.” He writes that its purpose is to help men find “true and lasting happiness through Jesus Christ and his Holy Catholic Church.”
Needed Devotional
Sean Lynn, host of the weekly podcast A Dram With Friends, told the Register that the book could deepen faith and the “profound joy only God can give.”
“It is so important to give men the tools to step into Scripture in a way where they can dip their toes in and be guided through that,” Lynn said. “It’s like getting the playbook.”
Sam Guzman, founder of The Catholic Gentleman website, told the Register that he is unaware of other devotionals specifically addressing men. “Christoff has always had a heart for bringing men closer to Jesus Christ, and he offers unique reflections specifically for a male audience,” he wrote in an email to the Register. Writing that Christoff’s book gives pride of place to the Gospels, Guzman noted that “Christoff structures his studies to assist readers in encountering Jesus in all his power today.”
Guzman said that the crisis among men is evident in “male suicide rates, the devastating effects of fatherless homes, declining happiness, and more.” He shares with Christoff the “same desire to point men back to the Divine source and summit of our faith: Jesus, God with us, in the Eucharist. Without the Eucharist, there is no Catholic faith.”
Both Christoff and Guzman see hope for the future. Guzman, for example, observed: “A renaissance, a rebirth, is happening. I’ve known Christoff for over a decade. When I first met him, there were very few resources for men, especially Catholic men.” Since then, there has been an “explosion” of social-media channels, podcasts, conferences and other initiatives.
“It’s a great time to be a Catholic man. The Holy Spirit is at work, and just when it appeared masculinity was done for,” Guzman said.
Men can relate to the times Jesus confronted his enemies, as well as his eventual death as a victory over death, Christoff told the Register. “When men confront their own impending death, the idea of Jesus as Savior, conquering death, sin and Satan, really resonates with men. They are built for combat.”
Christoff also told the Register that his book offers spiritual aids and concepts that men may not have encountered.
“The idea of spiritual combat has not been expressed of late as it was in the past,” he said. “Men really understand the combat thing. When you see Jesus in battle to overcome the kingdom of Satan, establish the kingdom of God, trample death, lift men up to become saints, and be resurrected, that is the language that compels men.”