Becoming men who seek God with every breath, in every way

Modern life has all but quenched man’s heroic spirit, smothering it with lame distractions, from fantasy sports to petty internet debates, or killing it with evils like pornography. But men are called to so much more. It is easy to see how society’s concerted effort to weaken men has brought with it tragic results. Men need to be reawakened, to see what they are called to be, to come fully alive and rediscover the courage of the apostles, who risked pain, humiliation, and death in the pursuit and defense of the truth. A new book addresses this very question, and it is a needed resource in a very trying time.

The book is called The First Line of Defense: The Catholic Man’s Call to Heroism (Ignatius Press, 2026), by Doug Barry and Daniel O’Connor. Doug Barry will be well-known to many readers, as he has been the host of two popular series on EWTN television, Life on the Rock and Battle Ready, for many years. He is currently a co-host of the podcast U.S. Grace Force. Daniel O’Connor is an adjunct professor of philosophy and religion at a State University of New York community college. Both men are husbands and fathers of many children, and bring their wealth of experience to bear in this important book.

Barry recently spoke with Catholic World Report about his new book and the important role that men play in families and in society.

Catholic World Report: How did the book come about?

Doug Barry: I was approached by Ignatius Press back when I was hosting Life on the Rock on EWTN. I had been discussing, on different episodes of the show, the importance of Catholic manhood and masculinity, but in a more complete way that didn’t just focus on the spiritual piece of a man, but the physical, emotional, and mental, and how these pieces are all so important to the overall understanding of what God calls a man to be.

CWR: Many people seem to think that a man’s primary responsibility is to provide financially for his family. But what are the real primary responsibilities of husbands and fathers?

Barry: The truth is that the responsibilities of a man will take on different dynamics as he goes through life. The book details how, as a man moves through life and enters into a vocation such as becoming a husband and father, his primary duty becomes to care for the well-being of those given to him in multiple ways. It is to protect, provide for, and lead, spiritually and naturally, those that God has entrusted to his care.

CWR: Do you think many men in our society (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) have been slacking in their responsibilities to their wives, their children, and society as a whole? And do you think this is a cause of many of our problems today?

Barry: Pope St. Pius V said, “All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics.” This is a powerful statement that can also be applied in many ways to the very serious problems that have come from men not being the spiritual and natural leaders that we are called and created to be. There is a very real life-changing and life-giving power in a man, by God’s hand, that can save worlds!

Men will often dream of being the hero in the story, especially when we are young, who saves the world by defeating the villains that seek to destroy and bring global chaos. Realistically, the chances of you as a man saving the world from, say, a nuclear bomb, are slim at best. But there are many worlds that you are meant to be the hero of. Each life that God has entrusted to you, such as a wife or a child, is a world that God has given you to play a role in saving. He, of course, is the Savior, but He works powerfully through a man to spiritually and naturally shape, lead, protect, teach, provide for—and so much more.

CWR: One chapter is about how men are called to greatness. What do you mean by that? In many ways, the world’s concept of greatness clashes with that of the Church. What do we mean when we say that men are called to be great?

Barry: There are different ideas of a great man, both in the worldly sense and even in the Church.

Yes, there have been and are men who have done and do great things in the world for the good of society, or they have accomplished incredible things through their hard work, perseverance, and skill. None of it is great, though, if it does not honor God in some way.

Some in the Church define a great man as only those who are pious and saintly in the way they practice the Catholic faith or how they pray, compose deep spiritual writings, and so on. These can indeed be great men. But consider another understanding of a great man. One example is that there are many men, whose names we will never know, who gave their lives in service of the faith that we profess, but they did it in battle, such as the Battle of Lepanto or the Siege of Vienna or the siege of Malta, and in so many other worldly conflicts where men stepped up and stood between evil and the innocent lives that evil sought to destroy. Many of these men did it selflessly and without reservation. Some of these men consecrated their lives to God and to Our Lady and they trained for battle.

Consider also the countless men who live heroic lives by the way they wake up every day and go out into the world and slay dragons by praying, working, and suffering on behalf of those God has given to them to care for. They do it because it needs to be done. They do it because, down in their heart and soul, they know it is right—no matter what the odds are against them.

The simple and clear definition of a great man is a man who seeks God in every breath of his life, striving to listen to the still, small voice that Elijah heard in the cave. He is a man who trains up in the ways that are necessary, spiritually and naturally, to be ready to go and to do whatever God asks of him whenever God asks it to be done. He is ready to fight for and defend those that God has entrusted to his care. He is a man who cares for his body as it is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and in many ways, through his body, the will of God is done.

He realizes that at the end of his life, the one thing that matters above all—the one thing that is most necessary—is that he has lived a life seeking a deep relationship with God.

CWR: Another one of these traits that we as Catholics might have a different approach to is toughness. How should we approach toughness as Catholic men? What is it we are called to, in being tough?

Barry: Matthew 24:13 states that the one who perseveres to the end will find salvation. Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint…”

There are different ideas of toughness, such as physical toughness, mental toughness, and spiritual toughness. Most do not think of being spiritually tough as a thing to take seriously or even to understand as a real thing. It is, however, the most important area of your life where you need to be tough. Being tough—to be able to persevere and continue to move forward in the face of the greatest storms and battles in life—is something not only to understand as critically important, but it is something that needs to be trained up in a man.

There is a need for a man to be physically, mentally, and even, at times, emotionally tough, in the right ways, for the purpose of being able to endure difficulties and challenges. He must lead others. He must protect others. He must defend his own soul from the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

He needs to have a degree of toughness to do these and other things, and he needs to take appropriate steps to develop this ‘holy’ toughness so he can fulfill his duty. Prayer, fasting, and other spiritual practices are essential, but there are other things, even physical things, that a man should do to accomplish this.

CWR: Is this book only for married Catholic men, for husbands, for fathers? Or does it also speak to unmarried Catholic men, to religious brothers, to priests?

Barry: One of the goals of this book is to reach all men from every area of life. Even non-Catholic men will benefit from this book. It speaks to the heart and soul of what a man is created by God to be. Every man, single, husband, father, priest, religious brother, will on some level be called to lead, protect, provide for, and at times possibly even physically defend what is good, holy, and true.

Older men need to train up and mentor younger men in the ways of a true man. This book is a powerful help in doing that. The heart of a man is designed to be a warrior’s heart, in the truest sense of what a Christ-like warrior should be. Many men in today’s world have lost that warrior’s heart or have never had it fully developed or trained. Sadly, many men have been neutered in this way.

This book is also for women. It is imperative that a woman know what a man has been created by God to be. Over the years, the feminist movement has been very effective in destroying the respect needed and the understanding of the true Christ-like warrior heart of a man. Women have been formed to believe many lies about what a true man is, and there is nothing in the natural world that impacts a man greater, for good or evil, than a woman.

Mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters should all know these important things about a man. Too many women completely misunderstand the heart and soul of a man. Not understanding the true role of a man is bad enough, but to not realize what his heart has been created for can be devastating on many levels for families, for society, and for souls.

CWR: As a husband and father, and of course as a Catholic, who are some of your saintly role models, and who do you take inspiration from?

Barry: I have found a lot of inspiration from many saints and individuals over the years. As the chapters of life advance, we start to identify with the strengths of different people for different reasons. Because of what we go through in life, we sometimes see or appreciate later the significant moments of inspiration or mentorship we received when younger, when at that time we might have taken them for granted.

There are many that I could talk about, but I would have to say that several of the Old Testament characters, such as King David, Elijah, and Jeremiah, because of the way they sought God and listened to the still, small voice, as is talked about with Elijah.

I also appreciate the men who consecrated their lives to God and who trained to protect and defend others, such as Grand Master Jean De LaValette of the Knights of Malta. He and others through the years who gave of themselves and trained themselves, body, mind, and soul, to care for those that God had entrusted to them, are always a powerful inspiration and lesson.

CWR: What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

Barry: I hope that whoever reads this book will find a deeper understanding of what God has done in the heart and soul of a man. I hope that every man will be able to look at himself and see where he can and should go deeper in his relationship with God and where he can cooperate with God and take action in the areas of his life that will build and shape him to be a true hero as God would have him be.

I also hope that every woman who reads this book will understand better what she can do to be that feminine genius in the lives of the men that God brings into her life.

CWR: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Barry: Yes. Find Jesus more deeply. Listen to the still, small voice Elijah heard in his heart when he sought God in the cave. Remember that Jesus made it clear when speaking with Martha that Mary had chosen the better portion by sitting at the feet of the Master. He reminds us all that one thing is necessary. The relationship with God is paramount, and it should be sought after with every breath and the thing that we allow most to shape our lives.

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