Some men who claim Catholicism are marginal in living their faith. Those might include men who attend Mass solely at the behest of their spouse, or only on Christmas or Easter.

Deacon David Profitt, director of the diaconate program for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, noticed there is little in on Catholic bookshelves targeting marginal Catholic men.

“There are lots of great Catholic authors for guys who are deep in their faith, but I’m trying to write to the guys sitting on the sidelines, the guy who goes on Sunday because his wife makes him or goes at Christmas or Easter. He is just is not engaged in his faith.”

To address the need, Deacon Profitt wrote a book a few years ago — Gird Up Your Loins Like a Man.”

“The purpose of my book is to really to show my experiences. Men need direction. They need simple how-to steps. Give them a great big bunch of theology and they’ll never get it; but give them some direction on how they can reconnect to their faith and make it simple, that works,” Deacon Profitt said

The book, written several years ago and before Deacon Profitt’s ordination, has recently been published by Tate, a Christian book publisher headquartered in Mustang, Okla.

“It’s like 12 steps (men can take) to renew their Catholic faith. I sent Tate a manuscript and two years later I had forgotten about it. I didn’t hear anything, so I thought well no big deal. It was good for me to write it. Then, I got a call from them and they said they would like to publish the book.

“The chapters are short. It’s an easy read. The first part of the book is my journey into faith and how I came from Free Will Baptist to Catholic. The second part is the things I do – adoration, reading Scripture, reading about my faith – the simple things that we all need to do in order to keep our faith,” Deacon Profitt said.

“The biggest ones to me are adoration, Confession, spiritual direction, service, getting involved in serving people, seeking knowledge, and learning how to trust God. The gist of this is that at the end, by persevering, you will come to know where God is in your life and what is expected of you.

“One of the things I say in the book is that you do not have to do all 12 steps,” he said “Just start with one. The first one I list is confession. Go to confession and reconnect yourself back to the sacraments so that confession is a launching point. Once I’ve done that, I’ve shown a focus and dedication to what I’m going to be doing with my life.”

Deacon Profitt said he has a special affinity for the Book of Job.

“That’s why I chose the title, and I think that Job illustrates our faith today. All of these bad things happen to him he has these buddies around to get all stirred up. Finally, Job calls God out and, in essence, God says, ‘Gird up your loins like a man’. I’ll ask you questions. Don’t ask me. I’m a big believer that the Book of Job is a great example for all of us.”

The book is available at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and at Catholic Station, a bookstore in Florence, Ky., owned by Deacon Profitt. He is a deacon at St. Timothy Parish in Union, Ky., in the Diocese of Covington.