Fighting the Good Fight

Luke attributes the Holy Spirit for planting on his heart from an early age the desire to do ministry. Growing up as an older sibling of eleven children, he learned leadership and responsibility early on. Led to a habit of daily prayer in college by FOCUS and the personal witness of a friend, Luke knew firsthand the importance of community, fraternal support, and individual invitation in coming to deeper discipleship. “Truth becomes transformation through relationship,” Luke said. God, revealed through his Son, who came among us in relationship is how we all come to know the truth.

Inferno, which its members call “an apostolate of friendship,” was started in 2017 with a group of men who got together for community and prayer. While it is largely a Colorado Springs ministry where it started, the fire has begun to spread. Inferno aims at empowering men to lead in evangelization and the battle for sainthood. Men often experience isolation, which is why Inferno is so focused on building friendship and honest, confidential fellowship while, at the same time, inviting others into the community. More information about Inferno or to make a donation in support of the ministry, visit www.infernomen.com. 

Guest: Luke Vercollone
Title: Co-Founder, Inferno Men

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Transcript

Christopher Beaudet  0:05  
I'm Christopher Beaudet with the Steier Group.  In the Gospel, Jesus fed 5000 with only five loaves and two fish. After the crowd was satisfied, there were 12 wicker baskets left over. It seems that whenever you and I set to work and do our part, God provides the abundance. In each episode of this podcast, I'll explore with pastoral leaders and development professionals from across the United States and Canada, all the many ways God meets the spiritual and temporal needs of our parish communities, our Catholic schools and the diocesan church. And not only meets those needs, but provides in abundance. You're listening to Twelve Wicker Baskets.

Hello and thank you for joining us on Twelve Wicker Baskets at the end of January. I hope you've had a great start to 2025. My guest today, Luke Vercollone was born in Connecticut and raised in Pembroke, Massachusetts. He attended Seton Hall, where he played college soccer, and later Luke enjoyed a successful 15 year career as a professional soccer player before retiring in 2018 during his playing career. He also founded and operated several soccer related businesses, which he later sold as he transitioned into a full time work of ministry. Luke now serves part time as the executive director of Inferno Men, a ministry committed to inspiring and equipping men to lead in the spiritual battle for sainthood through evangelization and mentorship. Additionally, Luke works as a national development manager for Save the Storks, a prominent pro life organization dedicated to empowering women and families. Luke's journey is marked by a deep commitment to his faith family and mission to make a meaningful impact in the lives of others. Luke is a devoted husband to his wife Andrea, and a proud father of six children, three boys and three girls. He and his family reside in Colorado Springs, where they embrace a faith centered and purpose driven life. So Luke, thank you so much for being the inaugural guest of Twelve Wicker Baskets for 2025. We're thrilled to have you. 

Luke Vercollone  2:39  
What an honor. And Christopher, thanks for having me.

Christopher Beaudet  2:42  
Absolutely Luke, I usually ask guests at the outset, just to share a little bit with our listeners, maybe some pivotal moments. And you, as you tell your story of your journey, what brought you to where you are now, currently and and maybe what brought you to be a co founder of Inferno. And then we can delve into talking about Inferno in particular. 

Luke Vercollone  3:03  
Yeah. I mean, I guess the short story is, it's been the Holy Spirit all along. I remember as even as a child, wanting to do ministry full time, just a passion. And actually, my mother's side of the family is evangelical Protestant, and when I go to their services, I'm like, oh, I want to be a Protestant pastor, because they get to do ministry and be married. Now, being a part of Inferno and doing from life ministry as well, I'm able to live out that calling that's been consistent on my heart ever since a child to do ministry full time and raise a family. 

Christopher Beaudet  3:40  
Did you grow up in the evangelical tradition? 

Luke Vercollone  3:44  
No, my mother did. My father was Catholic. I was baptized Catholic, and we had a good Catholic upbringing, pretty solid, especially being from the Northeast of the United States, which is a lot to lot to be said for my parents and their strength and raising us in the faith, but yeah, I was raised Catholic, got out all the sacraments, say my prayers, before meals and before bed, and so blessed to have that foundation to build off of. Yeah, that's 

Christopher Beaudet  4:09  
Where in the Northeast Did you grow up? 

Luke Vercollone  4:12  
So, South Shore, Massachusetts, Plymouth area. 

Christopher Beaudet  4:15  
Ah, okay. And so do you come from a large family or pretty small? 

Luke Vercollone  4:19  
Yeah, relatively large Catholic family. I'm the second oldest of 11 kids. 

Christopher Beaudet  4:24  
Oh, okay, yeah, relatively large, yeah, yeah.

Luke Vercollone  4:30  
You know, I always felt like I had that responsibility as it from a child, like having a lot of younger siblings, so that leadership was kind of in my DNA and instilled in me from a young age, right? 

Christopher Beaudet  4:45  
So you've always had a ministry on your heart, the desire to bring people to the Lord, bring the Lord to people. Was that pretty steady throughout your upbringing? Was there ever a time where you kind of got maybe tepid or lukewarm with the practice of the faith? Or were you pretty, pretty on fire the whole time. 

Luke Vercollone  5:02  
So I definitely wasn't on fire the whole time. My childhood, I was blessed to be raised in the faith and go to, we call it CCD, religious education, and, you know, get some solid formation. I went to secular High School. I was an athlete, played all the sports, and definitely lukewarm, I would say, through high school and the beginning part of college, even whereas I thought, you know, these traditions are more about my my parents, and they're instilling them in us, which are great, but I hadn't fully embraced it for myself. I had learned about the faith. I had formed a relationship with Jesus, but it just wasn't a deep relationship at that point. And then in college, I met a group called Focus, which is Fellowship of Catholic university students. They do missionary work, and one of the missionaries became a good friend of mine, and he discipled me, and that's when I really caught fire. I mean, I was doing a Zen and Buddhist class in college at Seton Hall University, a good Catholic school. But this class was, you know, pretty Eastern and, you know, new age. However, they would have us do meditation every day. And so that's when I started going to the chapel every day for daily prayer. And that really started the fire. And then seeing a friend I looked up to live in the faith. I just really caught fire. Gave everything to the Lord, whereas before that, I was trying to hold on to being the cool kid, being the jock, being the soccer player and being the Christian at the same time. But when I gave it all to God, he set a fire, and that has just been blazing ever since, ever since. Well, I noticed with Inferno, one of the the core principles, it seems, is to bring other men to this encounter with the Lord, just like this Good friend of yours did in college, and that the witness, that personal, direct witness, of one person who's intentional about being a disciple of the Lord, can have such A profound impact on others to do the same.

Christopher Beaudet  7:03  
So talk to me about Inferno and its name and what originally got you and the co founder to start thinking about, you know, what did you perceive, I guess, as the need that that this ministry had to address. 

Luke Vercollone  7:19  
Christopher, you brought up some really good points, so I wanted to address a couple of those before you said the name. But you know, through that relationship, as I mentioned, you know, I feel like truth becomes transformational through relationship. And I just think about Jesus and all the time he had with his disciples around the campfire, right in the conversations they had, in the fellowship they had, and the experiences and how he chose, how the God of the universe chose to instill the faith into his successors, right into the apostles who are to to evangelize the entire world. So that relational piece that is a huge part of Inferno. It's an apostle at a friendship and just getting guys together, which is a huge need in our culture today. So that's really how it originated. It was 2017. The name Inferno, our first little gathering. We had a few of us talking about it, you know, we should get together, you know, few leader, Catholic leaders in the community, and we got together. And it was just powerful. It was just like, you know, we need this. We need this for ourselves, but other people need as well. And that night, we just hung out at our Bible study. We did, let's see how Divina and one of the guys said, Oh, we should call this inferno, and the name has stopped fighting. It means the unquenchable fire, the Holy Spirit, right? Sure, there's been some questions about the name, just because it can also refer to hell, however, you know, for us, and also in Scripture, often the Holy Spirit is depicted as a fire or a consuming fire, like an unquenchable fire, and that's what we view the name of so 2017, four guys got together. The Holy Spirit showed up, and we called it a small group, or a core group. And now those have multiplied throughout the diocese. 

Christopher Beaudet  9:02  
And you're, are, you are in Colorado Springs, correct? And is that that's where this started?

Luke Vercollone  9:08  
Yeah, yeah, 2017 in Colorado Springs. And where it's mainly local here, I mean, there, there are some other Inferno groups starting to grow around the country, um, organically and slowly, which is good, but we're focused here on our diocese right now, sure, and if other local groups develop, that's all to the better, but obviously the whole point and nature of Inferno, it seems, is brotherhood. Be where you are and connect with the people around you. Yeah. We call it an apostle at a friendship. Our mission statement is to ignite a culture of evangelization that empowers men to lead in the battle to sainthood. And we feel like the need is high right now in our culture, where for decades, men have been emasculated in terms of isolation is a big thing. Sameness with women has been a big narrative that the culture tries to indoctrinate as well. Whereas it's like, oh, you 

Christopher Beaudet  10:10  
Can you say that third part again, Luke? 

Luke Vercollone  10:12  
The third part is passivity as well. If, if a lady or if somebody else, often it's the clergy as well, where the guys, just in our nature, oh, you know, they're doing it. So I don't need to be involved. Like, what? A lot of times in the church, women are leading apostolates, which are awesome. But sometimes that men, the man might feel that they don't, they are not needed to lead. And similar, with the clergy, you know, where we see the priest, or we might say, Oh, the professional religious, you know that missionary or that priest, they're going to evangelize. I don't need to evangelize. But the reality is, God calls us all to evangelize, especially in the Catholic context. We can sometimes think of evangelization as extra credit or bonus points, but that's not the reality. The truth is, God calls us all to get off the sidelines and onto the pitch, and we're all meant to evangelize. 

Christopher Beaudet  11:04  
I could tell you're a soccer player.

Luke Vercollone  11:06  
yes, sir.

Christopher Beaudet  11:08  
So you spoke of clergy. Is there a chaplain to your Inferno group? Is there any kind of spiritual guide or spiritual advisor, or is it completely lay driven as you as you gather together.

Luke Vercollone  11:22  
So it's a lay led mission. The first three years, we didn't have an official chaplain, but the last four years, we have, we've always had an advise, advisor, Fr. Nathan Cromley, who is a who was a brother. Now he's a he's always been a priest, but now he's a diocesan priest, but he's outside our diocese. He's in Denver. He's always been an advisor, which has been awesome. But now the bishop has blessed this over the years and given us a chaplain. We even have a deacon as well. So it's definitely a Catholic apostolate within the diocese blessed by the bishop, and we do have our own chaplain.

Christopher Beaudet  11:59  
That's That's great. Now, I think you're right about with, you know, in the modern in the contemporary context of gender questions and the like and ours, what is the meaning of human sexuality? What is the significance of being embodied creatures? Is our body just something we have, or is it truly constitutive of our being. You know, the the church has a a very defined understanding of the human person as body and soul. We're not an angel. We're the lowest of intellectual beings, but we're the highest of animal beings. We're so we have that blessed struggle sometimes, as St Paul says, between the flesh and the spirit, right? Or even the Lord, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and we have that struggle. And we're also designed in order to know the truth as as angelic beings are, and to not only know it, but then with an act of the will to love, but that can be belabored or confused by that whole aspect of our being. You know, bodily creatures again. But the thing is, and this is what Christmas is all about, we just celebrated it, right, that God became flesh and dwelt among us, yes, and that raises our dignity. So, how does this friendship with Inferno help each other? Do you have specific I think you do from your website, but you know certain there's a pledge, there's a certain degree of commitment and accountability to that commitment. Can you talk to that?

Luke Vercollone  13:37  
Sure! Yeah, it's funny. You asked because we just had our pledge last Saturday. So we do an annual pledge. It's a commitment to daily prayer, to friendship and evangelization. So those are our three pillars. We call that the foundation of our mission. So prayer, friendship and evangelization. And it's always been from our first meeting, our board chair and co founder, Tom Waits. He's so passionate about that, and he's been wanting to be a part of a men's mission ever since he left Denver with Bishop Chaput. And so he was, you know, behind the scenes, trying to gather some local leadership before this started. And it's always been prayer, friendship, evangelization, and that is what the pledge is about. So every year our leaderships come come together. This past Saturday, we had 60 men commit to daily prayer. And when we say friendship, the tangible measurement of that is monthly meetups. So we want to meet up one or three times a month with another guy, one on one, just to have coffee or a pint or a meal and get to know him and talk about the faith and ask them how their prayer life, ask them how their family, ask them how they're doing right check in and build that friendship. Our advisor, Fr. Nathan, says a pinch of salt or bag of salt is how you grow in friendship, a pinch at every meal and so when you're done that bag, then you know that you're friends. So just the time together, we're always creating these environments to gather and to grow in that fellowship. So the prayer, the friendship and then evangelization. So we do certain events, and it's not just about the event, but it's about inviting a friend to it and sharing that and getting some formation and but also having that fellowship too. So those are the pillars. That's the pledge, prayer, friendship and evangelization. 

Christopher Beaudet  15:16  
So you mentioned 60 men getting together, but that weekly gathering...

Luke Vercollone  15:21  
That's not of all 60. So those are leaders that are often leading small groups. So we call the pledge the foundation, and we call core the heart of the mission. So core means heart, C, O, R, Latin for heart and the root word of courage. And it is about getting together monthly with a small group of guys. So our leadership is always evangelizing, always bringing in small groups, just like our first small group, and then of those four leaders, we met for and we invited people in, but then we went out, just like in Acts of the Apostles, right when they were kicked out of Jerusalem and the fire just spread. So we want to get together, but we also don't want to stay there. Want to be too comfortable. We want to go out and bring other people in. So when we started in 2017 with four guys out of fire, that fire has spread to now there are 45 different small groups throughout the diocese, okay? And those 60 men who committed to that leadership pledge are the ones leading those small groups, and those are called the core groups, yes, okay, okay. Groups, C, O, R, yes, hard groups. 

Christopher Beaudet  16:29  
I love it. 

Luke Vercollone  16:30  
Yeah. We also made an acronym for like... So the C can stand for confidentiality and Christ centered. The O stands for orante, which is means prayer, or prayerful, and then the R stands for relational. So in order for it to be a choral group, we make sure that it's Christ centered. Guys are the information stays there with guys sharing, you know, as we're checking in on our prayer lives and on our Faith Journeys, and then having that relational piece, having that prayerful peace, we always include scripture too. So those are the elements of a song group. They take all sorts of different form because it's not a lot of structure there, as you can hear, but it's about the leadership. You know, some of the groups meet and go for a jog. Some of the groups, there's a basketball group, there's a music group, there's a BMX bike off off road biking group. And some of them mean at the Paris. Most of them mean it at people's houses. 

Christopher Beaudet  17:23  
So is there a soccer group? 

Luke Vercollone  17:26  
Um, I'm working on it. Okay, I'd like to, but not yet. You want to play? 

Christopher Beaudet  17:33  
Yeah! In your experience, what what have been, what is maybe the most significant struggle or challenge that you've heard men talk about in their discipleship walk, or top two or three, maybe, like some questions similarities or things you've observed. 

Luke Vercollone  17:56  
Totally. I mean, doing this work, it's humbling, because maybe from the outside, you're like, oh, you know, practicing it all figured out, right? And realize that, you know, we're all a mess. We're all broken, in need of a Savior, right? And praise be to God that we have one. And so I think, for my, for our generation, Christopher, it's interesting how the smartphone device, it has so many benefits, right? But it also it was new, you know, for us, and it's tripped up so many guys, and not just with pornography, because that's an obvious one, but in terms of just addiction, in terms of, you know, isolation, in passivity, like I was mentioning earlier, but you got every all the entertainment, all the information in the world at the palm of your hands, and it's easy to be distracted, and to be distracted from your family, or distracted from what will really matters. And guys are visual. And so we weren't equipped when all this potential came in front of us, and so navigating that with guys overcoming addiction and overcoming habits, bad habits, so I would say that is the biggest challenge, but it relates to a lot of other things too.

Christopher Beaudet  19:15  
Yeah, and again, I think that's something that a lot of men can relate to, you know, and it's and it is isolating, and we're not made to be solitary beings. It seems like whenever we're alone, we become prone to all sorts of temptations, just as the Lord was tempted as he went alone into the desert, you know, and then when he resisted the devil's temptations, Scripture ends with "and the devil departed to await another opportunity," which I wonder now as we're talking if that other opportunity is from the diabolical perspective, when Jesus would be alone again,

Luke Vercollone  19:58  
that's a really good, uh, perspective. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes sense. Well. Said, Yeah, that's a huge that's another huge struggle, Christopher, to answer another part of that question, is isolation, right? We weren't meant to be alone, right? And studies show that isolation is even more unhealthy than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So getting guys together, we're comfortable with our smartphone in our you know, in our house, without being challenged or but if you get out there, even just inviting another guy, that's intimidating too. Even shaking another hand at Mass, they say that a third of the men at Mass, they don't have another close male friend. So there's a huge need you know, that the enemy has been at work, especially for on on men, I'd say. And we're trying to address that. We're seeing the spirit really find victory through what he's helping us do out here. 

Christopher Beaudet  20:57  
Luke, what? Why is? Why is it that men tend to be more isolated, or find it more difficult to be vulnerable and connect at an intimate level with other men, as opposed to women who tend to, you know, socialize and be together, have very close friendships, maybe to a greater degree?

Luke Vercollone  21:19  
that's a good question. I would say that, in my experience, men, they also like to get together, but it's just, it's just a tougher shell to break through. That's what it is like the women in my wife and they have great groups. There's never really been an issue in terms of gatherings for the ladies. But when we started this in front of there wasn't really anything for the men, other than, you know, Knights of Columbus, which wasn't appealing to all men, but so I what I found is the men like it, but we just have a tough shell. Like it's not our natural tendency. Like women are a little more comfortable just being together and talking and opening up. Or guys, it takes a lot to open up. So if you can, but if you can break that shell, it is really fruitful for the guys. We are meant... and you think throughout history, men have always been on teams. They've always been leading. They've always been in groups, whether it's in war, whether it's in battle, whether it's in protecting the community, protecting the family, building up a family or civilization or whatnot. So it's part of our DNA, but just right now in our culture, we're just so comfortable. It's really easy to be comfortable, and it's not our natural tendency, and it's not very healthy. And so I think we are intimidated, and we might be unconfident when those situations appear, but it's not a psychological or a scientific answer that I gave you, Christopher, but just in my experience, yeah. You know, guys like they have a tougher shell, but we do really enjoy and benefit from being together and opening up. 

Christopher Beaudet  22:50  
Yeah. And I can imagine the the apostles, you know, the first core small group of men that that the Lord called together. And, you know, he even the Lord, had to say, you know, correct them, because an argument broke out among them, who among them is the greatest? You know, we need hierarchy here. Somebody's got to be in charge. As it turns out, Peter was, but because he was called to be the servant of the others, not, not over and above them. Yeah. And I'm also thinking to in men, when we get together, we often are getting together not for the purpose of being together for each other, per se, but maybe for a common end, whether it's a battle to be fought or a game to be won or a presentation to make for work. And so that's a great call that you've got in Inferno is to invite people to relationship for the sake of relationship with each other, so that you can be in relationship with the Lord. If that's a fair summation.

Luke Vercollone  23:51  
it's pretty fair. I would say that, you know, drawing closer, yeah, like you said, with each other, in order to draw closer to the Lord, or like the proverb, As iron sharpens iron, just as one man sharpens another. So there isn't that, that there is that ultimate end which is to be a saint. Right is to grow in holiness and authentic friendship. Not just we share common interests, but we're on mission to grow in holiness and to lead our families to heaven, and to be saying so that's a huge part of you know, it's authenticity, vulnerability. It's a hard nut to crack, but it's an important one, and when you can break through, it really encourages the guys. Like your wife might tell you, you know, Christopher, how's your prayer life? Or you need to pray more. You need to be holier. And that that might resonate with you. However, if you develop a friendship with a bro and he looks in the eye and challenges you and says, How's your prayer life going, you're going to be encouraged to pick it up, and next time he asks you, you'll want a better answer.

Christopher Beaudet  24:54  
yeah, the accountability is different, right? Just in the last, in the last minutes that we have here, Luke, I wanted to ask you, I know there's a Donate button on your website, talk to me about the fundraising you guys do, and how does how have people responded to your your need for fiscal support?

Luke Vercollone  25:14  
Yeah, great question, and it's a very unique model, because I do work in other ministry background, and this is very unique, because we're inviting guys to lead. We're inviting guys to engage in this mission, and then they're the ones executing the mission, in a way, but then we invite them to invest into the mission. So it's like we're all owners, and we all have skin in the game, and it's worked out really well. It's not like we have an angel investor, it's not like we have big oil money, but we've got an army of volunteers, and we've got 100 guys given about 100 bucks a month, like these guys are invested in watching what we're doing, and they're giving of their time and their resources. And so it's allowed us to do some really cool initiatives, including our conference, which draws about 1000 men, and all sorts of great other initiatives as well. 

Christopher Beaudet  26:07  
And how often is the conference? 

Luke Vercollone  26:09  
So we have an annual conference takes place in November, and yeah, we draw about 1000 men, but we open it up to teenagers as well. So 13 and up, and we get a fair amount of teenagers as well. We had about 150 teens last conference. So, yeah, glory to God so that, yeah, that's the big like, forward facing the biggest thing that we do. But like I said, the foundation is the pledge, and the heart of this mission is the core groups. 

Christopher Beaudet  26:36  
Yeah. If somebody listening, you know, wanted to investigate letting the fire spread and starting an inferno in their diocese or in their parish, or where they're living currently, who can they contact and how?

Luke Vercollone  26:54  
Sure, I would encourage them to check out our website, and then they'll send an they could send an email and I'll receive it. And we actually have a director of empowerment who is a full time missionary. He worked with Emmaus journey and with us, so we employ him part time, and he helps with the leadership training and discipleship, but I oversee as the executive director. And so if they're looking to start a small group, he'd be the guy. But if they're looking to bring Inferno to their diocese, then I'd be the guy. However. You know, we do that slowly. We want the Spirit to lead, and we're still, we're still discerning as the spirit's leading here. So we don't want to grow too big, too fast, out of control. But we are open. And ultimately, if we're, if it they're using this platform to bring people closer to the heart of Jesus than we're winning, and we encourage that. So definitely check out our website. And if they want to start a small group, check out that Cor tab, and that gives some great info about, you know, doing these impactful small groups, because there are other different small groups out there, in terms of Knights of Columbus or That Man is You, and they're also solid, and they serve a specific niche, too. But what we found is, when we call it core, because a heart, and when you are authentic, invulnerable and open your heart in front of a bro, what we find is that the Holy Spirit comes in and heals, and we need that. And so it's not just content, you know, the content is very light, you know, we'll do this scripture. But the big thing is those check ins as spiritual check ins. How can we pray for you? How are you doing? What is God doing in your life? Um, what did the scripture say to you? How's your prayer life? These questions that the leader facilitates and and Guys, guys open up, and guys need it, and they're blessed by that. 

Christopher Beaudet  28:37  
Well, I want to thank you for the gift of your time, and you know, for how you responded to that fire within, the fire in the belly, made there by the Holy Spirit and all the good that that's born, I think that's a clear sign of something led by the Spirit. You know, you judge tree bites fruit, and there's already so many men benefiting from Inferno and, and I have a I have a suspicion that that's going to continue to grow, the fire will spread. So thank you for your good work there. 

Luke Vercollone  29:08  
Oh, and you likewise, thanks for your good work and thanks for your encouragement. I agree God's on the move. We just got to be faithful and let Him lead it. So, Glory to God. Thank you, Christopher. 

Christopher Beaudet  29:18  
Thank you, Luke. Appreciate it. My thanks to Luke Vercollone for sharing his journey of faith and for showcasing yet another example of how the Holy Spirit prompts us to be men and women, for others, to foster community and to serve in joyful witness to Christ. Luke and Inferno are fresh reminders of something St. Catherine of Siena said centuries ago, namely, "If you become who you were created to be, you will set the world on fire." If you're interested in learning more about Inferno visit infernomen.com and if you have any feedback or suggestions for us, you can reach out to us at twb@steiergroup.com. We are looking forward to a great line up of guests in 2025 and hope you will subscribe and share the podcast so that you, and many more, can join us each month here on Twelve Wicker Baskets.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai